A Contrastive Study On The Translations Of Tz'u Poems By Li Qingzhao

Being part of Chinese literary studies, translation studies on Li Qingzhao has not been progressed equally. Based on a philosophical view of language and Hermeneutic understanding of translation, this dissertation is first of all a detailed contrastive study of the English versions of Li Qingzhao's T'zu (lyric poems). We hold that language has its influence upon man's world outlook, and people's way of thinking gets reflected in their national language. As already widely recognized, Chinese is characterized by Hypotaxis, but English, Parataxis. Considering the big differences, poetry and T'zu (lyric poems) can hardly be translated satisfactorily. Translatability is relative and has its limit while intranslatability is basic and absolute. Hermeneutics regards interpretation as a way of translation and denies the possibility of complete expression of the meaning of the original. For us, translation is still practicable and recommended.This dissertation consists four parts. The first part is the first chapter, which serves as an introduction to the general ideas and structure. It illustrates the background, methods, purposes, philosophical bases and significance of the study. The second part is the second chapter, which concentrate on an overall description and deep-going analyses of the researches upon Li Qingzhao done in Chinese and Western cultures so as to understand the course and general tendency. Here, we present some stages of the history of Li Qingzhao studies in both cultures, also some doubts and difficulties to be pondered on.The third part includes the third and fourth chapters. The third chapter offers a theoretical contrastive analysis of English versions in both cultures, which we divide into three types. We ponder on some issues about tz'u translations of Li Qingzhao, thinking that translation of Li Qingzhao must not be done by Western translators alone. Both Chinese and Westerners have their advantages respectively. And that poetry should be translated into poetry is not at all unreasonable. What is important is how toget the rhythm to a proper degree.The fourth chapter, following the analysis done in the previous chapter, deals with the English versions from different aspects such as phonetic, lexical, syntactic, discourse levels and rhetorical devices in an effort to reveal some rules in translating classical Chinese poetry and T'zu. We believe that Western translation theories can be used for reference on the one hand, and on the other, rich resources of our traditional culture and literary theories should be explored in order to offer constructive suggestions for translation of classical poetry and to establish our own poetry translation theory based on our nation's tradition.The fourth part of the dissertation is the conclusion (the fifth chapter). In this last chapter, the author summarizes what is advisable and what is deficient in her study, and manages to point out challenges and directions of future study of translation of Li Qingzhao's T'zu. The whole paper ends in sincere hope that more researchers and scholars would participate in and contribute their thoughts and creativities to the translation and studies of Chinese classical works so that our classical works and translations would be better appreciated. Our translation studies will hopefully promote culture exchange and culture development in the world.