A Study On The English Translation Of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poems From The Perspective Of Cultural Filtering

Chinese Classic Poetry is the dazzling Milky Way, in which the Song Ci-poetry is the most luminous star. Flexible in form and subtle in expressing emotions, the Song Ci-poetry occupies a prominent position in the history of Chinese literature. Generally, the Song Ci-poetry falls into two schools:the Wanyue School, and the Haofang School. As one of the representatives of the Wanyue School, Li Qingzhao and her Ci-poems which are delicate in language, elegant in style and strong in emotion, have long been introduced to the English world. However, it’s not easy to deliver the characteristics of her Ci-poems in translation, especially the cultural connotation, which will be filtered to varied degrees unavoidably.Cultural filtering is an unavoidable phenomenon in cross-cultural communication. For any culture in history, the absorption of foreign cultures is accomplished by means of deviations such as selection and misreading, during which cultural filtering plays a very significant role. Cultural filtering usually contains two levels:cultural filtering done by the translator, and cultural filtering done by the target readers when they read the translated work. And the target readers’ interpretation of the translated work depends on how the translator deals with the original work to a large extent. Due to the distinctions in thinking modes, social customs and aesthetic tastes between two cultures, no matter how hard the translator or the target readers try, they may fail to interpret the cultural phenomena in the text correctly.This thesis makes a comparative analysis of the phenomena of cultural filtering in the English translation of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poems diachronically and synchronically. Based on the translated versions and other research data collected home and abroad, the thesis makes a comparison between the original lyrics and the translated versions and also between different translated versions to find out the similarities and differences. Diachronic method is applied to analyze how different historical and cultural backgrounds exert impact on the translator while synchronic method is used to examine the similarities of translated versions produced within the same historical period. However, in the actual analysis, these three methods are employed comprehensively.By applying the above research methods, this thesis attempts to explore cultural filtering in the translation of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poems in three aspects—norms, values, language and symbol, and probes into the underlying causes, means and degrees of filtering. In the actual analysis of examples, some phenomena of distortion and mistranslation in the translated versions are pointed out. It has been found that the underlying causes of the cultural filtering in the translation of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poems are comprehensive and complicated. And those phenomena of cultural filtering in the English versions are conducted by means of translation methods such as addition, omission, adaptation, and literal translation plus annotation. Also, the degree varies in the three aspects. In addition, cultural filtering exerts both positive and negative influence on cross-cultural communication, for which it should be minimized and should not be done at the expense of "fidelity".Through discussion, the thesis on the one hand, has proved that it is feasible to analyze cultural deviation in translation from the perspective of cultural filtering. On the other hand, it has broadened the research perspectives of Li Qingzhao’s Ci-poems and further facilitates the introduction of Li’s Ci-poems as well as cross-cultural exchanges. Meanwhile, it helps the foreigners to hold a more objective view towards Chinese traditional culture and appeals that cross-culture dialogue should be carried out on the basis of equality and mutual respect.