A Comparative Study On The Two English Translations Of Lin Daiyu's Poetry: An Empathetic Perspective

Hongloumeng is a condensation of traditional Chinese culture, embodying diversiform genres like narrative, amoebean and poetical style, among which the poetical style is affluent in different types as well, such as regulated poems, lyric meters, dramatic lyrics, rhyme prose, antithetical couplets, songs and eulogies. These poems are indispensable as an organic component of the whole novel. However, it is really regretful that the poetry in it is sometimes neglected in translations. Such a situation of ignoring poetry translation in Hongloumeng has not been changed until 1970s, the time when two complete English versions translated by the British sinologist David Hawkes and his son-in-law John Minford, and Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang respectively were published, in which poetry translation has been well dealt with.Nowadays the study on poetry translation in Hongloumeng is becoming more and more popular along with the appearance of the two translations, whereas the individual study on Lin Daiyu's poetry is rarely found. It is believed that Lin Daiyu has indited the largest number of poems among all the characters, which has not only characterized her personality, but also adumbrated her miserable fate and tragic ending. These poems are closely related with the plot development of the novel, appearing so frequently in the whole novel.This thesis will choose some of the poems composed by Lin Daiyu, doing a comparative study between Yang's and Hawkes's poetry translations from the perspective of empathy. It will be the main goal to exemplify how the translators of these two translations empathize with the poets of the original in poetry translation under the guidance of empathy theory.The whole thesis includes four chapters apart from the introduction and the conclusion.In the introduction, the writing motives of the author, the subject and structure of the thesis are introduced. Chapter 1 is a general survey over empathy theory. In this chapter, the definitions of empathy and its development are briefly stated, and there is a comparison between Chinese and Western empathy. In Chapter 2, the application of empathy theory in C-E poetry translation is the main topic. The difficulties of poetry translation due to the linguistic and cultural differences are mentioned and then the theoretical and practical foundations of applying empathy theory to C-E poetry translation are narrated. In Chapter 3, the author makes an empathetic comparison between the two English translations of Lin Daiyu's poetry. Firstly, it is an introduction to Lin Daiyu's poetry and its two English translations. Secondly, the empathetic comparison from the perspective of exerting translators' subjectivity is made. Finally, it is the empathetic comparison from the perspective of conveying the "three aesthetic aspects". In chapter 4, the author's enlightenment from the studies in the former chapters is elucidated briefly.The conclusion is a retrospection and summary to the whole thesis. In the conclusion, it is emphasized that sentiments are the soul of poetry, so the transference of sentiments is quite necessary, and the application of empathy theory is of great help in poetry translation. To transfer sentiments accurately, translators must fully and actively exert their subjectivity to resonate with the author of the original in sentiments. The beauty in sense, in sound and in form is also closely related with the transferring of sentiments, so the demonstration of sentiments in poetry translation has to attribute to the correct transformation of the sense, sound and form in the original poetry. Comparatively speaking, Yang Xianyi's translation fundamentally pays more attention to the meaning and the form, while David Hawkes's translation mainly resorts to the sound effects and the fluency. Both of them have done well in the transference of sentiments, but in quite different ways.