The English Translation Of The Book Of Songs Viewed From The Angle Of The Prejudice Theory

The prejudice theory is the essence of Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics. Based on the pre-structure of understanding developed by Heidegger, the prejudice theory holds the position that every understanding or interpretation is dependent upon the prejudices of interpreters. Prejudices here are no longer the obstacles in the process of achieving correct understanding defined by traditional hermeneutics, but the prerequisites of understanding or interpretation. Apart from history and tradition inherited, the temperament cultivated and the viewpoints absorbed by individuals, also a kind of heritage of history and tradition, constitute interpreters' prejudices together. Prejudices stem from various historical and cultural backgrounds;differences in prejudices lead to the diversification of understanding and interpretation. Prejudices cannot avoid being marked with characteristics of the historical and cultural backgrounds of interpreters, which exert influence upon interpreters' understanding of texts.As interpreters of texts, translators are bound to take along their prejudices to interpret when translating. The differences in their strategies in the process of interpreting and translating also consist in the differences in the various prejudices of translators, to a large extent. The differences in interpretations and strategies compose the two reflections of the diversification of translated versions. Prejudices of translators are composed by history and tradition inherited, as well as the temperament and accomplishments acquired by translators themselves. In view of the above, we intend to divide prejudices of translators into three constituents for convenient discussion: the translators' cultural environment, historical background, and their personal temperament. The prejudice theory offers general guidanceand feasible means for us to understand the differentiation of translators' strategies and interpretations and thus the diversity of translated versions.As a great ancient anthology of poems incarnating splendid national culture, The Book of Songs, one of the classics of Confucianism, is regarded as a unique treasure of the ancient and magnificent culture of China. Its English translation has been a focus of attention of translators at home and abroad for a long time. Various classical versions of translation of this anthology provide useful methods for the spreading of Chinese culture. Due to the different understandings and interpretations of translators and thus the diversity of strategies of translation, the verified versions of this great work will no doubt lead to differences in its cultural and traditional essence disseminated to readers. To a large degree, these differences in the translators' strategies counts on the verified prejudices of translators, that is to say, the cultural environment, the historical background, and the personal temperament of translators.The thesis comprises an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion. As a preliminary to the discussion, the introduction gives a literature review, and explains the research objective as well as the structure of the thesis.Chapter One gives an overview of the prejudice theory, including its basis, essence, function and types, and relates it to translation. It puts forward the view that the difference in the prejudices of translators results in the difference in their understanding and interpretation in translation and their choice of translation strategies. It further points out that the prejudice mainly consists of three parts: the cultural environment, the historical background, and the personal temperament of translators. The influence of prejudices will be studied from these three aspects.Chapter Two makes a general introduction to the historical role and value, main content, artistic devices and translation of The Book of Songs, as a preparation for the following discussion of the relationship between the prejudice theory and the translation of this anthology.Chapter Three discusses the relationship between the prejudice theory and the English translation of The Book of Songs. It makes a comparison among the three classical translated versions: the version of James Legge, the version of Ezra Pound, and the version of Xu Yuanchong (i^^HHO , discusses the features of their interpretations of this classic, and then summarizes the general characteristics of strategies used by the three translators. Consequently, it argues that these differences of interpretations and translating strategies are attributed to the prejudices of the three translators, to the differences in their cultural environment, historical background, and personal temperament.Based on the analyses in the previous parts, the last part makes a conclusion of the discussion, pointing out the rational guidance of the prejudice theory for the research of the English translation of The Book of Songs.