A Study On The English Translation Of Fir-Flower Tablets

Fir-Flower Tablets,a significant collection of classical Chinese poetry translated into English in the early 20th century,was the fruit of collaboration between Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell.Its publication in the U.S.in 1921 was met with such a warm reception that it was released in England the following year.In 1928,a French version entitled Tablettes de Fleur de Sapin appeared in Paris.The fact that the book has been reprinted many times in the past hundred years is good evidence of its popularity.The book has caught the attention of some scholars but they focus mostly on the translated poems,giving little thought to the factors that affected the translators’ decision-making.Therefore,there is a need to conduct the study with a broader vision.The study has been conducted by detailed reading of the translated poems and a close analysis of first-hand materials collected in America so as to demonstrate every step the two translators had taken to ensure the success of the book and uncover the factors that affected their decision-making as well as the discussions they had about the translation.To illustrate the distinctive features of the book,a comparison has been made between Fir-Flower Tablets and other volumes of English translations of classical Chinese poetry in the first two decades of the 20th century.In addition,the dissertation has traced the influence of Amy Lowell’s poetic style on the translation of classical Chinese poems and the influence of the translated poems in Fir-Flower Tablets on Amy Lowell’s poetic creation.This dissertation consists of four chapters.Chapter one gives a general introduction to the historical context of the book,the identities of translators and other volumes of English translations of classical Chinese poetry in the first two decades of the 20th century.Chapter two provides a descriptive analysis of the translators’motivation,their guidelines for the selection of poems,their translation procedure,standards and methods.It also provides a rough picture of the preparation and promotion of the book before its publication.In addition,there is a brief introduction to the classical Chinese poems translated in the book.Chapter three elaborates on the rivalry between the two female translators of Fir-Flower Tablets and three famous male translators of classical Chinese poetry who were their contemporaries.Also included in this chapter are the influence of the rivalry on the book and the comparison of their overlaps in translation.Chapter four discusses the distinctive features of Fir-Flower Tablets,including its unique paratexts,the creative treason in translation and the preservation of Chineseness in translated poems.Furthermore,it examines how Amy Lowell used her own poetic techniques in the translation and how she borrowed the new expressions and syntactic structures from the translated poems and incorporated them into her own poems.In conclusion,the study indicates that Fir-Flower Tablets,a book with enduring appeal,has great historical value and the findings can be of practical significance for the modern-day translators of classical Chinese poetry.