The Applicaiton And Expansion Of Aesthetic Principles In Translation

The prose which is famous for its shortness and pithiness is one of the literaryforms as the same as fiction, poetry, and drama. The prose created by Chinese writersafter the May Fourth Movement are always called“modern Chinese prose”. In thisperiod, well-known writers such as Zhu Ziqing, Yu Dafu, Lao She, Bing Xin, etcproduce many excellent prose works. However, for a long period the prose is notgiven enough focus, and the exploration to prose translation from those scholars andtranslators who work in this field is not deep and profound enough. This is one reasonthat many good essays of Chinese essayists have no opportunity to go aboard. Untilrecent years, prose and prose translation begin to draw more attention all over theworld. In the eye-catching and notable area of prose translation, Zhang Peiji is amongthe few scholars who devoted his whole life to the enterprise of prose translation. It ishis everlasting pursuit of prose translation and high awareness of Chinese culture thatenables English readers of all nations in the world to have the opportunity to shareappreciating these beautiful essays.Prose translation belongs to the range of literary translation which needs theconsideration of various aesthetic factors. If these aesthetic factors are not handledwell, the translation will lose its practical meaning. Translation aesthetics is one of themost valuable theories for literary translation with the closest relationship betweenthem. It has the practical significance to study the prose translation from theperspective of translation aesthetics because this angle will help the translator to master the aesthetic elements of the source text. Successfully representing theaesthetic value of the source text is the most important reason that readers praiseZhang Peiji’s translated prose. His particular aesthetic perspective, the pursuit ofperfect translation criteria, and high awareness of Chinese culture are all worthlearning for the following translators. This thesis attempts to summarize his particularaesthetic perspective, that is, the target text is both faithful to the content and faithfulto the style, at the same time, smooth in accordance with the standard and code of thetarget language. Meanwhile, though a variety of comparison studies, this thesis alsoattempts to conclude his application and expansion of aesthetic principles, that is, withdiscourse consciousness in his mind, Zhang Peiji comprehensively balances eachaesthetic factors, emphasizes the harmony and consistence between the inner rhythmand the whole style of the text, and adopts foreignization method with notes to spreadChinese culture on the basis of not affecting the understanding and transmission ofbeauty.