Ezra Pound's Cathay In The Light Of The Rewriting Theory

Ezra Pound (1885-1972),one of the most outstanding poets in modem American literary history,is also an excellent translator. The year 1915 saw the appearance of Pound's Cathay,a collection of English translations of 19 Chinese ancient poems from Earnest Fenollosa's manuscripts.Ever since its publication,Cathay has been controversial,both arousing admiration and provoking condemnation for various reasons.This thesis, which is essentially descriptive rather than prescriptive,is an attempt to reexamine and reevaluate Cathay in the light of the Rewriting Theory in translation studies.The Rewriting Theory proposed by Andre Lefevere subsumes translation under a wide range of text-processing practices or rewritings,which are motivated,conditioned and manipulated by two factors, namely, ideology and poetics at a given time in a given society;meanwhile,all rewritings,translation being the most obvious type,reflect and serve a certain ideology or poetics.The crucial role played by translation in the struggle between opposing ideological and poetical currents is also highlighted in the theory.In this thesis, through an investigation into the historical and literary background against which Cathay was produced,and through a careful reading of the poems in Cathay alongside the Chinese original as well as the available Fenollosa's notes,we argue that Cathay is a rewriting whose image is constructed jointly by ideology and poetics of Pound's era. In terms of ideology,the overpowering atmosphere of the First World War inclines Pound towards a deliberate selection and compilation of translation materials from Fenollosa's notes.The 19 poems presented in Cathay share the same concern for war-time themes of separation, exile,estrangement,nostalgia,disillusionment,etc.,which is a true reflection of people's psychological and emotional responses to the war;furthermore, in the translating process,Pound makes painstaking efforts to emphasize and intensify the inner emotions of the war-stricken people in spite of obvious deviations from both the original text and from the intermediary of Fenollosa's notes.In terms of poetics, Cathay is an effort by Pound to demonstrate and advance a new poet.ics as against an old one.In order to revolutionize the decadent late-Victorian poetics prevalent at the turn of the twentieth century,Pound launched Imagism and Vorticism which featureprecise presentation of images and vortexes,economy of expression,musical rhythm, common language, etc.Certain characteristics of Chinese poetry are found in perfect accordance with the credos of the new poetics so that Chinese poetry is enlisted to support and enhance the newly spruced-up poetics. In his translation,Pound consciously manipulates the original texts according to his own poetic beliefs,hence the highlighting of images,the invention of vortexes,the method of emotional suggestion,and the employment of modem language and flexible rhythm.In conclusion,whether viewed as a compilation of Fenollosa's manuscripts or as a translation of Chinese poems, Cathay is a rewriting determined by ideology and poetics in Pound's era.This understanding may be conducive to a more scientific and objective evaluation of Cathay and to a deeper insight into Pound and his translations as a whole.