On Translation Strategies Of Classical Chinese Poetry From The Perspective Of The Theory Of Reception Aesthetics

Translation is difficult, but not more difficult than the poetry translation; as a part of poetry translation, the translation of classical Chinese poetry is particularly of extreme difficulty. As the highest form of literary translation, the poetry translation has long been a controversial issue in the circle of translation. Xu Yuanzhong and Pound, as the renowned world-wide translators of classical Chinese poetry, have attracted great controversies due to their distinctive translation theories. The research on them and on their theories is quite a lot and the angle varies, but few people have studied them from the angle of the reception theory, which stresses the active involvement of readers. The translator, as one of the aesthetic subject of literary translation activities, in the first place is a reader. When translating texts, he needs to consider the horizon of expectations of the reader in order to make the translated work alive; furthermore, the translator would adjust his/her translation strategies to accord with the specific aesthetic judgment of target language in specific time. Therefore, according to what has been mentioned above, the thesis, based on the reception theory, probes into the reasons why they employ different strategies when translating.This thesis is divided into six parts. The first part introduces the research background, the purpose and significance and the thesis structure of the research. The second part is literature review, which includes a brief introduction of the reception theory, the study of poetry translation at home and abroad and the research on Pound and Xu Yuanzhong. The third part of the research is the theoretical framework. The fourth part is the research design, in which the research questions are raised and the methods adopted. Chapter five is the main part of the research that is the research process in details. The last part is the conclusion.Within the framework of the reception and the comparative analysis of the translation strategies of classical Chinese poetry employed by Xu Yuanzhong and Pound, the thesis comes to the conclusion that though aesthetics is characterized as"not utilitarian", which, however, is not unique. Different translators possess different horizon of expectations, leading to different translation strategies. Xu Yuanzhong, deeply influenced by traditional Chinese culture, has been advocating his theory"Three Beauties", namely beauty in sound, beauty in form, beauty in sense to realize his"comprehension, appreciation and admiration"goal. His distinctiveness in translation is particularly reflected in his skilled uses of the end rhyme in sound, the juxtaposed images in form, and the flexible proper nouns'translation in sense, resulting in his tendency to foreignization in translating classical Chinese poetry in order to reach the maximum of the beauty in those three aspects. On the other hand, Pound shows his tendency to domestication in translating classical Chinese poetry with his imagist principles in order to promote the development of his theory of Imagism by translation. Omitting the strict rules and forms of classical Chinese poetry, he has employed the free verse rather than the rhythm. Secondly, after the translation of the original text, the next step is the filter by readers. According to the reception theory, a text can be a real"text"only by the interpretation and understanding of readers, which is based on their individual cultural background and life experience. Xu Yuanzhong and Pound from different countries at different times have employed different strategies in the translation of classical Chinese poetry, but they are all successful. Therefore, in comparison with the traditional translation standard, the translated text is more than faithful. The more shared heritage a reader has with the translator, the more s/he will understand the translator's intended meaning, the more s/he will accept and take in.