A Study On C-E Translation Of Classical Chinese Ci-Poetry

Classical Chinese Ci-poetry, abbreviated as CCCP, is an importantgem in Classical Chinese literature. In the past centuries and up to now,CCCP has attracted abundant audience by its unique artistic flavor.Classical Chinese Ci-poetry is simultaneously of the whole world.However, the absence of a systematic translating theory poses greatdifficulty in translating process. This thesis thus attempts to analyze andverify the reasonableness and validity of Prof. Liu Zhongde's translatingprinciple of "Faithfulness, Expressiveness, and Closeness" in translatingCCCP.To discuss and sum up the methods and strategies of renderingCCCP, history of CCCP, representative ci-poetic personages ofsuccessive dynasties and ci-poetic structure must be firstly and clearlystated. The author of this thesis summarizes three main schools ofinterpreting CCCP from a great amount of English versions. They areSchool of Metrical Verse, School of Free Verse and School of Prose.Then this thesis gives a sketch of definition of "Faithfulness,Expressiveness, and Closeness", and generally states the relatedtranslating viewpoints of Tytler and Yan Fu in this section.In the above introduction, the author takes apart "Faithfulness,Expressiveness, and Closeness" word by word and discusses them respectively. Initially, from Yan Fu's explanation of "Faithfulness" in histranslation of T. H. Huxley's Evolution and Ethics, it can be elicited Prof.Liu's annotation of "Faithfulness", which means "to be faithful to thecontent of the original". Liu further analyzes what must be faithful is the"meaning" of the original. This thesis takes CCCP as its object of study,therefore, "Faithfulness" here does not only refer to the "meaning" oflinguistics, but also to the "meaning" of ci-poetic flavor of aesthetics—"imagery". From the perspectives of linguistics and aesthetics, flexibletranslating methods can be obtained under the guidance of "Faithfulness",and the degree of "Faithfulness" is discussed accordingly.After that, the origin of "Expressiveness" is presented; the definitionsof "Expressiveness" of Yan Fu and Liu Zhongde are expounded. Liuinsists that "Expressiveness" means "to be as expressive as the original".So far as "Expressiveness" in CCCP translation is concerned, smooth andintelligible expressions are the basic requirement for English readers'receipt. In addition, from grammar issues, Ci Pai, allusions and formwhich influence "expressiveness" in translating, different strategies oftranslation are thus summed up.Last century, "Elegance" put forward by Yan Fu has beencontroversial. The author of this thesis tries to state the scientificalness of"Closeness", which is proposed by Liu Zhongde on the analysis of"Elegance". Liu holds that "Closeness" refers to "to be as close to the original style as possible". Literary style, the distinguishing feature ofone author's writing, is affinitive to the certain writer. Ci-poems of LiQingzhao, representative of "Gentle and Restrained School", serve as acase study. The stylistic features of Li's ci-poems are: colloquial wordsand numbers are employed; description is vivid; reduplicated words arefrequently used and musicality is enforced. To testify how the stylisticfeatures are reproduced in English, agile translating skills can be obtainedfrom the analysis of choice of words, rhetorical devices and musicality.This thesis treats "Faithfulness, Expressiveness, and Closeness" asnorms of translating practice, aiming at discussing and summarizingeffective and reasonable methods of translating CCCP. The author of thisthesis believes, on the one hand, as an instructional theory, "Faithfulness,Expressiveness, and Closeness" is able to make translating practice ofCCCP systematized and regulation-abided, to improve the quality of thetranslated text, and to stimulate translators to perfect themselves. On theother hand, translating methodology of CCCP demonstrates schematismand scientificalness of "Faithfulness, Expressiveness, and Closeness" andthe reasonableness and operability of the terse theory in concrete literarygenres have been attested.