Transference Of Artistic Conception In Prose Translation-from The Perspective Of Translation Aesthetics

Guided by theories of translation aesthetics and artistic conception, this thesis sets out to make a systematic study of the transference of artistic conception in prose translation.Historically speaking, in literary translation studies, much attention has been given to the translation of poetry and fiction in China. In comparison, the study of prose translation has been relatively neglected. At present, prose translation study is mostly found in articles which are descriptive or commentary, and its systematic and theoretical study is scarce. According to the features of prose,"aesthetic qualities"are the most important and difficult problems for translators to overcome, and the"beauty of artistic conception"is an indispensable and vital component of"aesthetic qualities"in prose. The transference of artistic conception in literary translation is a very significant yet difficult subject to be explored. The difficulties mainly lie in the complexity of the aesthetic constituents of artistic conception. Artistic conception is the core of Chinese aesthetics and has a close relationship with aesthetics. It consists of three main aesthetic constituents, namely, images, emotions and"images beyond images". Apart from general characteristics, artistic conception in prose has its unique features that deserve to be paid much attention to. From the perspective of translation aesthetics, the thesis is intended to make a theoretical and practical exploration of the transference of artistic conception in prose translation. Regarding the transference of artistic conception as an aesthetic activity, the thesis is also devoted to the study of the process of aesthetic activity in an attempt to put forward some enlightening principles for translators to use for reference when they translate proses.This thesis consists of five chapters besides introduction and conclusion.The introduction gives a short account of the research background, purposes and the main content of this thesis.Chapter Two firstly defines prose and introduces its main features. Then an aesthetic comparison between Chinese and English proses is made.Chapter Three explores theories of artistic conception and translation aesthetics in two parts. Part one displays the definition and features of artistic conception and pays special attention to the unique characteristics of artistic conception in prose; in part two, translation aesthetics is reviewed from the diachronic perspective and then the relationship between translation aesthetics and prose translation is revealed.Chapter Four makes a holistic analysis of aesthetic constituents of artistic conception on the basis of aesthetic objects and aesthetic subjects so as to bring to light the correlation between artistic conception and translation aesthetics.Chapter Five assumes the transference of artistic conception in prose translation as an aesthetic activity and makes a detailed analysis from theoretical and practical perspectives so as to propose some guiding principles. Of course, translation involves not only the rendering of linguistic information between original and target languages, but also the communication between two cultures. Naturally, certain cultural factors that influence the transference of artistic conception in prose translation are also probed into from the perspective of Chinese and westerners'aesthetic ideas.Chapter Six is a case study on Zhu Ziqing's He Tang Yue Se translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang.The conclusion summarizes the major findings and the limitations of this thesis are also expounded.