A Study On Ezra Pound's Cathay In The Light Of The Rewriting Theory

Ezra Pound's Cathay should be viewed as a rewriting of 19 classic Chinese poems. American tradition demonstrates that Cathay, a success, bears legendary beauty and enjoys general popularity, although it has ever been sandwiched between condemnation and defense. This thesis employs descriptive studies instead of prescriptive studies to discover rewriting in Pound's Cathay, and in particular, to explain extrinsic and intrinsic factors that govern the reception and rewriting in Cathay. A new research paradigm, Andre Lefevere's, Gideon Toury's, and Even-Zohar's system theory, provides a sound basis for exploring Pound's Cathay as a practical case study.Chapter one gives a brief account of the background and the structure of the study. Chapter two is devoted to the theoretical framework of the thesis. Apart from the involvement of the translator's literary orientation and style, translation concept, and translation purpose in a rewriting of an original text, extrinsic constraints must be taken into consideration. Given the systemic status of translated literature in Even-Zohar's polysystem theory, it is accepted that translations are determined by the conditions currently prevalent in the target polysystem. Certain norms in Gideon Toury target-text theory: "preliminary norms", "initial norms" and "operational norms" govern the production and reception of a translation. Deeply indebted to Even-Zohar's and Gideon Toury's system theory, by extension Andre Lefevere develops rewriting theory: ideology and poetics mainly confine a rewriting of an original text.Chapter three and chapter four form a major portion in the thesis. Chapter three manifests rewriting in Pound's Cathay from content as well as form. In terms of content, certain source texts are selected to form a tropic motif in Cathay; local tastes of the originals are mostly suppressed to give way to emotional and psychological atmosphere of the poetry; and images and vortex are highlighted to radiate maximum energy. In terms of form, Cathay presents itself in a new mask: colloquial in language, graphic space in versifying, free and flexible in its movement. Strikingly, the new mask is...