The Application Of Gestalt Image On The Analysis Of Different Translations Of Deng Gao

Poetry is a treasury of Chinese culture, in which abundant Chinese culture also lies. It is a channel for foreigners to know more about Chinese. Therefore, poetry translating is always given much attention to. Chinese poetry, especially the Tang Poetry, has its unique characteristics. Several short poetic lines can arouse rich, unlimited imagination, and in the process of reading, the readers can also get aesthetic experience. The reason for such phenomenon is the inseparable relationship between the unique way of expressing of poetry and culture. This uniqueness, however, conflicts with the common ground acquired in translating. The thesis is to apply gestalt theory in poetry translating, using a holistic point of view to analyze source text, process information and do the translation. In this way, the gestalt image of the original work is rebuilt and the translation will be smooth and natural. Most importantly, the"taste"-- aesthetic quality can be maintained to a great extent.The thesis then analyzes and compares the different versions of Du Fu's Deng Gao. Some versions do not confine themselves to the formal equivalence, so they are much freer to represent the artistic conception of the poem, while other versions try to imitate the original poem from all aspects with the purpose to show the uniqueness of the poetry to the target reader. This thesis applies gestalt theory in the analysis to find advantages and disadvantages in each translation. Not only the concrete aspects, like single word, sentence, form, sound are taken into consideration, but also the reconstruction of the gestalt image from a holistic view is paid more attention in translation. The analysis of Aycough's version tells us that, without the guidance of gestalt image, all parts cannot compose an organic whole, thus the"spirit"of the poem can hardly be transferred to the target readers. Therefore, gestalt image should be a standard to judge the translation. It means that, first, the version should convey the basic information of the poem accurately and completely, second, the aesthetic value should be recreated as much as possible. While this thesis applies the equivalence of gestalt image to analyze different versions of Deng Gao, the feasibility of the application of gestalt theory in translation is also testified.