A Study Of The Title Translation Of 300 Tang Poems In View Of Skopos Theory

Tang poetry is not only the very precious cultural heritage in the ancient Chinese literature but also a dazzlingly brilliant treasure in the world literature as well. Translating Tang poetry can spread its charm to the world and attract public attention to appreciate this resplendent form of literature. Making a general survey of translation study on Tang poetry, researchers at home and abroad lay their attention on the poems'contents. In a specific way, translators research the poem's content through various angles, as imagery, rhythm, translatability, etc. However, there is little research on the title translation of Tang poetry.Generally speaking, when readers pick up a poem, they usually read the title at first. That's to say, it is the title that first comes into readers'eyes and leaves the initial impression, which is the most vital, to them. A poem's title is an essential part of this literary form with the function of expression, and its meaning to the poet is the ultimate key words after careful consideration and repeated deliberation. Furthermore, readers would like to think that the title of a poem is really its identity as well as a mark for the theme of a poem. The title is not only the high generalization and compact of a poem but can also render the topic and convey the emotion as the same.The purpose of translating a poem's title is to help target readers to get similar sense as source readers do after reading the translation. Starting from comprehending the title of a Tang poem, experiencing its subtleties, a target reader is likely to appreciate the poem itself. For these reasons, this paper is intended to take Skopostheorie into application and probe the title translation of Tang poetry systematically. On the basis of Skopos theory, title translation of poetry is a purposeful activity. Its aim is to adhere to the intention of the poet, and convey the most valid and adequate title information to the target reader who has a different cultural background from the source reader. The specific purpose of title translation of Tang poetry is decided by poets and translators who want to spread Tang poems to the target reader; therefore, title translation of poetry is an interpersonal activity. At the mean time, the translation is also affected by the translation purpose, as the translation aim must be defined before the translating action starts. What's more, target readers have different language and cultural background from the source reader, so it is also a cross-cultural activity as well.Tang poetry embodies several types; hence the method and purpose of its expression are not the same. Translating poems'titles ought to adopt various strategies as well. In the light of Skopostheorie cultural analysis will be employed to study the strategies in the title translation of Tang poetry. In order to well demonstrate the thesis, poems used for explanation are selected from the book 300 Tang Poems.Chapter One offers a brief introduction to the research background and issues together with the thesis structure; Chapter Two will be the literature review, covering Tang poetry and functions of its title. Chapter Three is to apply Skopostheorie into title translation of poetry and try to prove that the theory is suitable for directing title translation; Chapter Four puts emphasis on the method, in which a detailed analysis of the different problems and response strategies will be made; In the last chapter, the author comes to the conclusion that the aim of title translation is to catch readers' attention and arouse their interest to appreciate the entire poem. According to these purposes, many strategies are employed to cope with the cultural factors, so as to keep the intra textual coherence of titles, which ensures the legibility of TT and immediate comprehension of its target readers.The thesis is intended to prove that Skopstheorie can be well applied in title translation of Tang poetry, and conduct the translation activity, with an expectation to draw the attention on title translation of poetry and improve the quality of title translation.