Reflection On The Translation Of Poems In Hong Lou Meng

Among the tremendous amounts of literary works, Hong Lou Meng (HLM hereinafter) is a resplendent jewel. The stroke of genius described a vivid and real historic picture of the last years of feudalism with significant traits of the times. It is an encyclopedia of Chinese culture, covering architecture, preservation of people's health, diet, medicine, etiquettes, customs, poetry, art and so on. Up till now, Hong Lou Meng has more than 60 translation versions in 23 different languages, among which 12 are complete translation versions, which are the best resources for studying translation of Chinese culture. The two versions rendered by the British Sinologist, David Hawkes and the Chinese Scholars Yang Xianyi and his wife, Gladys Yang, are quoted in the thesis for a comparative study.The verses in HLM play an important role in deepening the theme and ideology and unfolding the plot and frame. These tones and harmonious sounds sang a plaintive elegy for the tragic-fated heroes and heroines, at last aggregated into the soul-stirring, poignantly sensual HLM.The translation of poems in HLM is a very important part of translation of ancient poems. This thesis tries analyzing the translation of poems in three aspects: linguistics, aesthetics and rhetorics.Chapter one is introduction which presents the development of ancient poetry translation theories and the necessity and significance of the research. It applies the linguistic, aesthetic and rhetoric translation theory into analysis of versions of poems in HLM, and tries to explore the best style.Chapter two covers linguistics and translation of the poems in HLM. Meaning is the key problem of philosophy of language, as well as the key problem of translation theory. The crux of any translation is to realize equivalent transferring of meaning. Meaning is the axis of translation process. The task of translation meaning theory(翻译 学意义理论) begins with grasping the meaning of the source language and ends with the best expression of it in the target language.Chapter three covers aesthetics and translation of the poems in HLM. The translation should convey the original's aesthetic feeling of mood, form and sound so as to attain the goal of culture transmission. Whether the English version of an ancient poem is good or not should not be judged by the style—verse or prose or rhyming or not, but should be judged by whether it has seized mood and literary interest of the source text. When scenery is intermingled with feelings, the mood of the literary work is produced. The mood of the literary work is one of the most important aesthetic categories. Poems should put feelings and interest in the major place. Interest and feelings are contained in the images. Image is the shadow of particular things cast in one's heart. Various images construct the artistic space of various literary interests. There are three ways to construct images:赋,比,兴. The beauty of mood and literary interest is the focus of this unit.Chapter four covers rhetorics and translation of the poems in HLM. Rhetoric is an important factor that embodies the style of the article. If well employed, the rhetorical devices may enrich the imagery of the poems, deepen the poetic flavor and acquire thought-provoking artistic effect. Most figures of speech have equivalent expression in Chinese. But because of different cultural background, mechanic literal translation may spoil the manifestation and aesthetic effect of the original, resulting in inaccuracy and difficulty in understanding, so we change the form of rhetoric. This thesis will make a case study of pun, simile, metaphor, parallelism and so on in the translation of poems in HLM.Chapter five makes a conclusion of the whole thesis. Through the appreciation of linguistics, aesthetics and rhetorics in the translation, the author has a deeper understanding of translation theory and hopes to offer some referential advice to the translation of poems in HLM.