A Functional Equivalence Perspective On The Cultural Meanings Of "Moon" As Translated In Tang Poetry

Tang Poetry is the gem of Chinese literature. In the past two centuries, translators both abroad and at home have made great efforts to render classical Chinese poetry into English. Their efforts have produced a large bulk of translated works as well as some guiding theories. These works contribute a lot to the translation studies, but their adequacy in conveying the cultural information into the TL vary considerably. The theories set forth by the translators can help the readers solve many technical problems, but cannot be taken as ideal criteria to judge the translated texts. Adopting the Functional Equivalence Perspective proposed by Eugene A. Nida and taking the readers' responses as proof, the author attempts to analyze the translated versions, to judge to what degree they have been adequately translated, and to propose the better translation methods to be adopted.Focusing on the heavily culture-loaded image Moon in Tang Poems, the author made a general survey on its associative meanings in both English and Chinese cultures. Moreover, two separate questionnaires have been designed to collect the responses of the native readers both in English and Chinese and to make a micro analysis of the cultural meanings of the image Moon. The findings of the survey and questionnaires show that both Chinese and English speakers tend to be ready to accept the associative meanings, which are closely related to the physical features of the Moon, but they often hold different opinions on these associative meanings concerning traditions and conventions.We shall never ignore the differences in associative meanings of the culture-loaded words since between Chinese and English cultures there is a surprising gap, which may lead to such problems as partial equivalence, cultural trap and cultural default. The partial equivalence in the associative meanings of the Moon often results in surface adequacy in translations, so the translator must always bear in mind how to better convey the cultural information implied in the original so as not to make the readers misunderstand the original poems. They can adopt in-text compensation by adding necessary expressions containing the cultural information in question. Since different dictions can reinforce or reduce the associative meanings, the translator shall be very careful in his choice of words. The cultural trap may lead to blunt mistranslations in the target language. The translator must be aware of the cultural information of the source text and try hard to probe into the culture so as to avoid abrupt translations. Cultural default may block the audience's understanding ofthe translated versions. It is a popular practice to make some compensation both in-text and out-of-text so as to help the readers picture the situation the poet is in. With these compensations, the English readers may see the reason why Chinese people value or disgust some images so as to promote cultural exchanges between China and the western world.Poetic styles may have much influence on the readers' acceptance of the translated versions. Prose is distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech. Therefore, it is more fitted to be used for newspapers, magazines, novels, encyclopedias, screenplays, philosophy, letters, essays, history, biography and many other writings rather than poetry. Free verse is a modern poetic form, which is rhymed or unrhymed poetry composed without attention to conventional rules of meter. The natural flow of sense in free verse is very appealing, but it is not rhymed and varying in line length. If the translator adopts free verse, much formal and musical beauty of Tang Poems will be lost in the translated versions. Rhymed verse is widely adopted poetic style since it is rhymed and generally regular in line length. It helps to produce the perfume of the original both in formal and musical beauty.The paper takes the heavily culture-loaded word Moon as an example to analyze the reproduction of the associative meanings in th...