On Reproduction Of Aesthetic Value In Translation Of Chinese Prose From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Prose, as a flexible literary genre which integrates representation with image, appeals to the aesthetic feeling of the readers and always has the reputation of "beautiful essays". According to the characteristics of prose, "aesthetic qualities" are the most important and difficult problems for translators surmount. Prose is widely used as a literary style, however, different linguistic structures, expression modes and distinct cultural backgrounds all pose many obstacles in translation process. The research of prose translation is also far behind the creation and development of prose. The emergence of Reception Aesthetics has casted a new light on translation field. The breakthrough lies in that the reader's position is elevated to the highest level, resulting in the shift of the literary studies'focus from the text to the readers. Whether the readers accept it or not acts as the primary factor in evaluating the quality of translation. The translator plays the role of both a reader and a writer. Reception Aesthetics has not only made a fundamental change in trend of literary studies, but provided a new perspective for the translation studies.As far as Chinese modern prose is concerned, it can be traced back to the May Fourth Movement. Since then modern prose writers have been writing in vernacular Chinese and have rendered numerous prose works. In terms of prose translation, although the road of prose translation is fraught with hurdles, many trail blazers have contributed a lot and provided us with tremendous achievements to learn from. Zhang Peiji, as one of the most successful prose translators, enjoys great renown for his immense and high-quality translation works. The aesthetic analysis of Zhang's translation style here serves as the practical evidence to prove the feasibility of the notion that Reception Aesthetics can be applied to prose translation, and the specific technique of handling aesthetic value on different layers is also beneficial for the general translators to choose from. In the practice of prose translation, the translator is expected to be possessed of broad horizon of expectations and present an accurate reproduction of indeterminacy of the original. Based on Reception Aesthetics, this thesis will explore the aesthetic reproduction of Chinese prose translation by taking Zhang Peiji's translation style as examples.The thesis here consists of three chapters besides introduction and conclusion. Chapter one introduces Reception Aesthetics and its key concepts. Chapter two conducts a systemized analysis about prose and Chinese prose translation, and then points out the enlightenment of Reception Aesthetics and its application to Chinese prose translation. Chapter three first illustrates the relationship between Reception Aesthetics and translator's style. Then an aesthetic analysis of Zhang Peiji's prose translation style is conducted to further illustrate the significance of Reception Aesthetics to Chinese prose translation and provide insightful methods for the general translators.