A Study On English Translation Of Emotional Imagery In Song Ci From The Perspective Of Palmer's Cultural Linguistics

Chinese classical literature is rich in style, such as Tang Poetry, Song Ci and Yuan Qv, etc. All of these literal forms attract the attention of scholars from both China and other foreign countries. Among these literal forms, Song Ci has been the treasure of Chinese classical literature because of its richness in imagery and intriguing ideorealm. Many Chinese scholars have already translated Song Ci from the perspective of culture or semantics, but few of them have mentioned the transference of imagery and the emotions expressed by emotional imagery in the translational course. This thesis which is based on Palmer's cultural linguistics makes a study on the emotional imagery in translation of Song Ci.Palmer's cultural linguistics combines cognitive linguistics with Boasian linguistics, Ethnosemantics, and the ethnography of speaking, and makes imagery the key point of this theory. Imagery includes not only visual imagery, but also imagery attained from other sensory organs, and the imagery which has been digested by mind as well. Imagery, languages, and cultures integrate into one system. Cultures express their connotations by language and imagery, while language and imagery are decided by cultures. At the same time, languages reflect cultures by imagery. Imagery, language, and cultures cannot be separated and all of them compose the core of Palmer's cultural linguistics. The emotions existing in Song Ci, can be expressed through imagery. Emotions can be divided into five general kinds: loving yourself, loving mother, loving brothers, loving opposite sex and loving others. Other emotions can be derived from all these five emotions. Emotional imagery passes the emotions which are given to Song Ci by the author to the target language readers'mind by their cognitive course, and this has made Song Ci gain higher position in many Chinese and other foreign scholars mind.This thesis has analyzed the transference of emotional imagery between the English versions of Song Ci to its original text, and analyzed the emotions expressed by emotional imagery by using Palmer's cultural linguistics. This thesis has studied on the translation strategies as well, finding that there are difficulties in imagery transference between different cultures because of the differences in cultures and languages. Palmer's cultural linguistics has some practical guiding significance in the appliance. But it also has limitations. And I hope that this thesis can give a certain inspiration for the later transition study.