A Study Of David R.knechtges’ Translation Of Fu In Wen Xuan

Fu, commonly translated as “rhapsody”, is a typical genre of classical Chinese literature. And Wen xuan, or Selections of Refined Literature, is an important Chinese anthology which collects all major works of fu before Tang Dynasty. Professor Knechtges translated the fu of Wen xuan into rich and readable English, which attracts interests of acdemic studies among Chinese scholars. This thesis attempts to study Professor Knechtges’ translation of the fu in Wen xuan from various aspects, exploring the basis and background for the translation and the translation process, analyzing the guideline and strategies that the translator adopts, and expounding on its characteristic style and its unique acdemic value. In terms of field of study, this thesis is an interdispline between translation studies, comparative literature and cultural studies.This thesis can be divided into three parts, with the first part as an introduction to the studies of the fu in Wen xuan, a literature review of the studies of fu in Western Sinology, and a statement on the value and significance of this thesis; the third part as a conclusion of the major points made in the thesis, with an expectation of further study; and the second part as the main body in between.The main body of this thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter explores the common essence of fu as well as its national characteristics, in a comparative study of Western and Chinese literary genres. By tracing the origins of literary styles, it is concluded that the genres in Wen xuan is not randomly arranged but instead has its own structure with a certain principle behind the arrangement. The special status of fu in world literature is explored by analysing the differences of genre development and literary conception between Chinese literary tradition and Western tradition. In accordance with different understandings of fu on the part of translators, fu is translated variously into rhyme-prose, prose poem, poetic description, “enumeration” and rhapsody. Among these translations, “rhapsody” has been accepted most widely as equivalent to fu, due to its declamatory nature which fu shares. If literary genres are defined by their original media of circulation, fu and epic of which rhapsody is a part or a type belong to the same category – declamation, just as drama to acting, lyrics to singing, novel to narrating or prose to speaking. Viewed in this way, fu is niether a sub-genre of Shi(lyric poetry), nor a hybrid of shi and wen(prose works), but rather an independent genre equal to them. Besides this aspect of universality of fu, we also explore its nationality, tracing its roots to Chinese literary tradition and ancient Chinese political culture.The second chapter explores the hermeneutic basis and the historical background for the translation of the fu in Wen xuan with a particular focus on the academic background of the translator. It begins with a brief textual analysis of the fu in Wen xuan, then moves on to a review of the interpretation of Wen xuan through history. The interpretation of Wen xuan through history is part of a tradition of so called “Wen xuan Studies”. It is argued that “Wen xuan Studies” or Wen xuan scholarship constitutes a diachronic intralingual translation of Wen xuan. And Professor Knechtges’ s translation of the fu in Wen xuan is based on the “Wen xuan Studies”, particularly the glosses on the Wen xuan texts. The second part of this chapter begins with a review on the history of the translation of the fu works in Wen xuan, then further analyzes the development of the translation through a comparative study of the fu translations by Waley, Watson, and Knechtges, and based on the review and the annalysis concludes that English translation of fu has moved from popularization orientation to acdemic approaches.The third chapter is a discussion of the translation strategy and a description of its textual mode. The problems of intended readers of the translator is discussed first, before moving on to an analysis of the guideline of the translation – “absolute accuracy with copious notes”. And against these discussions this chapter also analyzes the limitation of “absolute accuracy” in the translation of Wen xuan. The second part describes the layout and structure of the translation texts, and it is found that the textual arrangement of the translation is right in accordance with its guideline and translation strategy, thus making it an example for later works to model on.Chapter Four deals with translation problems of the cultural factors in three aspects: the names of plants and animals; architecture, institution and customs; historical allusions and references. To sum up, the translator adopts a strategy of “thick translation” in dealing with the cultural factors of the original texts. “Thick translation” means “thick contextualization”, that is, to provide for the translated lines with contextual support by adding notes, introductions, references, etc.Chapter Five discusses the language problems of the translation from three aspects: the rhetorical devices adopted in fu; Lianmianci, or Chinese binomes; vagueness of expressions in fu. For the rhetorical devices, it is found that mostly they are either untranslatable or unnecessary to translate. For Lianmianci, it is found that their euphonic effects can be preserved to some extent by rendering them into alliterative phrases of synonym and it is because of their phonetic iconicity that all languages share. And in dealing with the vagueness of Fu language, the translator generally adopts the strategy of explicitation, making the vague context-dependent expressions explicit.Chapter Six expounds on the relationship between the translation of the fu in Wen xuan and Western Sinology. The notes in the translation place it in the network of sinological texts, and Sinology constitutes the background against which the translation is conducted. And The translation of Wen xuan is part of the sinological tradition. Basically, translation and acdemic research of humanities are both activities of interpretation, and in this sense translation can be regarded as a type of acdemic research. The translation of classical literature involves more acdemic research, for its historical and cultural value overrides its esthetic value.The last part is a conclusion in which major viewpoints of this thesis are presented and some issues and problems are discussed as an invitation for further study.