On Translating Su Shi's Ci-Poetry From Perspective Aesthetic Empathy

The Ci-poems composed by Su Shi in the Song Dynasty are treasured for their outstanding artistic achievements and distinctive individual features. This literature heritage has aroused increasing interest among renowned scholars from home and abroad, such as Chu Dagao, Gong Jinghao, Xu Yuanchong and Yang Xianyi who have made enormous efforts to introduce Su Shi's Ci-poems into the English-speaking world.As the translation of Classical Chinese poetry aims at representing the artistic conception of the original work and art is the subject of aesthetic studies, the application of aesthetic theory in translating Classical Chinese poetry appears to be a necessity. The distinctive artistic features of Su Shi's Ci-poetry, thanks to the author's eventful life experience and the complexity of his attitude of mind, particularly require a translator to integrate his or her own aesthetic experience into the rendition of the original text. In this sense, aesthetic empathy plays a key role in the whole process of poetry translation. The concept of"empathy"was first introduced by Edward Titchener(1867～1927), an American psychologist at the beginning of the 20th century as a psychological proposition. Later, Theodor Lipps(1851～1914), a German psychologist and aesthetician, together with other aestheticians, developed it into an influential aesthetic mechanism. In translation, only when the translator puts him or herself in author's position and employs personal aesthetical experience and perception, can he or she fully convey emotions and hidden information in the original text.The thesis reviews the historical development of aesthetics in both China and the West to lay a theoretical foundation for further study. And through analyzing examples taken from English versions of Su Shi's Ci-poetry translated by Chu Dagao, Gong Jinghao, Xu Yuanchong and Yang Xianyi & Gladys Yang, this thesis examines the aesthetic objects (original text), the aesthetic subjects (translator) in the context of translation, and the role of aesthetic empathy applied in reproducing figures of speech, images and author's sentiments in the original Ci-poems. Meanwhile, the thesis explores translator's subjectivity in overcoming obstacles in the process of aesthetic empathy and the pursuit of On Translating Su Shi's Ci-poetry From Perspective of Aesthetic Empathycultural literacy and inspiration through active aesthetic participation, imagination and creativity. Hopefully the thesis can provide a new perspective for the translation of Classical Chinese poetry represented by Su Shi's Ci-poetry.