On The Translation Of Allusions In Tang Poetry From A Cultural Perspective

The Tang poetry is widely recognized as a gem in the history of ancient Chinese literature for a variety of reasons, among which is the abundance of allusions. However, due to the pragmatic implicature and cultural restraints embodied in allusions, only those who share the same culture with the poet can understand their implied connotations. Therefore the key to allusion translation is to convey the pragmatic implicature to the target language readers. The present thesis aims at revealing, through classification and comparison, the commonly applicable strategies for allusion translation, so as to contribute to the development of the translation of Tang Poetry (TP).Considering the close link between TP allusions and the Chinese culture, we should first explore the sources of allusions, second make their classifications and then sum up their features, so as to approach allusion translation systematically. After that, the thesis reviews, in light of the implicitness and cultural restraints inherent in allusions, the important concepts of implicature and explicature i.e. the implication and explication of cultural connotations. Prof. Qian Guan-lian, in favor of implicature, argues that it is the very implicitness that the literariness of the source text lies in and that explication is capable of harming this literariness. Prof. He Zi-ran, on the other hand, holds that the cultural connotations should be made explicit in order to help the target language reader overcome cultural barriers. The author of the present thesis thinks that the two professors' arguments respectively represent, in fact, the principles of faithfulness and equivalence and, when applied properly, can be reconciled to function in harmony.It is under the principles of faithfulness and equivalence that the source-language-oriented (SL-oriented) and the target-language-oriented (TL-oriented) approaches originated. As to translation strategies, an SL-oriented translator tends to use word-for-word translation, cultural amplification and literal translation with annotation; while a TL-oriented translator resorts to adaptation and generalization. By comparing and analyzing the translations of allusive lines of different types, it is revealed that whatever the type, the SL-oriented approach is more likely to be used when the translation does not harm the integrity of the whole poem. However, when word-for-word translation is not consistent with the context and contextual amplification does not suffice, the source text may be translated through TL-oriented adaptation or generalization or an annotation needs to be provided. It should be noted that with the increasing mutual understanding between the Chinese culture and the English culture, translations produced through the TL-oriented approach tend to become more readily acceptable in the long term because they are more coherent with the original and more beautiful in sense. Therefore a translator of TP allusions should bear in mind that since his target reader are chiefly English-speakers and their ability to understand the allusion is generally determined by the mutual understanding between two cultures, it is his responsibility to adjust to this dynamic process so as to produce translations more tangible and more acceptable to his readers.This thesis consists of five parts. The first part serves as an introduction, which gives a brief account of the purpose of study and study method. In the following chapter, the previous studies on allusion translation and TP translation are reviewed after the working definition of "allusion" has been set. The next chapter discusses the relationship between allusion and translation, in which the allusions in Tang poetry are classified according to their sources and characteristics, together with two contrasting views on the translation of pragmatic implicature as well as the principle and approaches of allusion translation. In Chapter Three, different versions of TP translation used for analysis in this thesis are generally introduced and examples are provided to show how different types of allusions are translated into English. The examples are then analyzed to summarize the approaches and strategies commonly adopted to translate TP allusions. The last part is the conclusion.