A Study Of The English Translation Of Chinese Lyrics

Poetry translation is a very important branch of literary translation. However, owing to its unique elements and features, poetry presents a lot of difficulties in translation. Enough consideration or attention shall be given to both meaning and form, as well as sound effects, in poetry translation.Lyric is a special form of classical Chinese poetry. It originates from poems and however embodies its own characteristics and charm. It is very necessary to have an idea of the artistic form of lyrics and some special points in composing a lyric. The first chapter of this thesis gives a brief introduction to some social and cultural background of lyrics, in addition to the origin and development of lyrics.Chapter Two is dedicated to the introduction to the artistic form of lyrics and that of English poetry, which serves as a basis for the further explanation and comparison of the English translation of Chinese lyrics.Chapter Three introduces the famous "functional equivalence" theory proposed by Eugene A. Nida. More focus is put on the poetry translation theories and approaches. The theories and approaches which are to be adopted in the study of English translation of Chinese lyrics in this thesis are stated in this chapter.Chapter Four is the core part of this paper. This chapter concentrateson the study of English translation of Chinese lyrics. Some typical examples are listed and the explanation of these examples may give a more vivid demonstration on how to achieve the equivalence in the process of English translation of Chinese lyrics.The last part of this paper is conclusion which is a summary of the difficulty and problems which should be given enough attention in the process of translation.