On Wen Yiduo's Exploration Of Form Of Poetry Translation

Wen Yiduo is an important poet and poetry translator in the history of modern Chinese literature. Besides his excellent poems and poetry translations, he has made an earnest exploration of the form of poetry translation. Despite a spate of criticisms over his tofu-shaped translations, his exploration of the form of poetry translation inspired the translation practice of some of his contemporary and modern translators. The translation norms of the form of poetry resulted from his exploration are well accepted by a group of translators. They also influence the birth, development and maturation of the modern metrical poetry. Moreover, his exploration of poetry translation form is a pioneering effort in the establishment of new poetry. This essay aims to reveal his exploration of poetry translation form by careful text analysis and associating it with the social and cultural background at that time.The thesis starts with the review of the social and cultural background at that time. In pursuit of freedom and under the influence of the western poetics, most poetry translators pay little attention to the establishment of the form of poetry translation. In the second chapter, detailed analysis is made to unfold Wen Yiduo's exploration of the form of poetry translation from the perspective of music beauty, architectural beauty and painting beauty. The last chapter looks into the inspiration of the translation norms resulted from his exploration to the poetry translation and their driving force on the development of modern metrical poetry and even the new poetry.