A Study On The Imagery Translation Of Shakespeare's Sonnets From The Perspective Of Palmer's Cultural Linguistics

American famous poet Robert Frost once regarded poetry as"what is lost in translation". Imagery is the bridge to link sentiment and thought, serving as the soul of poetry. Thus, to translate the imagery resided in poetry is much harder. The sonnets in Renaissance are abundant in vivid and profound imagery. Furthermore, Shakespeare's Sonnets are just like a continuous imagery picture. They are not the mechanical expressions, but the integration of multi-facet thinking. The utility of the imagery can enrich the sense of beauty, and deepen the connotation of the poetry. What's more, they serve as an aid to have an insight into the complicated inner world of the poet and comprehend the political, religious and literature features that embedded in the English culture in Renaissance period. For centuries, the translation form is always the focal point of discussion. This dissertation aims to break the fetters of it, and make a though analysis of imagery in Shakespeare's Sonnets from the perspective of imagery, culture and sentiment. It tries to take on the cultural dimension in the translating productions under the premise of imagery theory in Palmer's cultural Linguistics.This dissertation is composed of five parts. First, it makes a general survey on imagery study and specifies the significance of this thesis. Chapter Two introduces the motivation, tenets of the Palmer's cultural linguistics. Expound the image study and image translation study in China. Then illustrate Palmer's definition, the features and the close connection to culture of the imagery. Chapter Three makes a though analysis of the humanistic background, features and classification of the imagery of Shakespeare's Sonnets from Palmer's cultural linguistics perspective. Chapter Four further the study to analyze the shared and specific imagery in Chinese and English culture, and illustrates respectively their translation versions on the basis of cultural linguistics. It aims to find out an effective method to transfer the cultural imagery, thus exhibiting the original text perfectly and ideally. Then it raises some implications for poetry translation. The last part makes the main conclusion of the whole dissertation, summarizes the major findings, points out the limitations, and sets forward the aim for the further study as well. By and large, it is the translators'high task to transfer the superficial and latent cultural information of imagery. With the close communication of different cultures, the target readers are equipped with the capacity to absorb the exotic imagery. As Palmer expounds in cultural linguistics, it is a world desperately in need of healing by greater cross-cultural understanding and tolerance. With the promoting exchange, it can easily achieve the reception and appreciation of different poetic imagery. There is definitely a tendency that poetry of different cultures are studied and internalized under the umbrella of world poetry.