An Analysis Of Different English Versions Of Tao Yuanming’s Pastoral Poetry From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Wei Jin vigor of style has always been the consistent theme that Chinese scholars concernand Tao Yuanming is the representative character and has made great contributions for thecreation of pastoral poems. Although the researches on his poems are abundant at present，mostof them concentrate on the literature field. From this point we can find that Tao Yuanming’spoetry translation lacks the corresponding theoretical support and research.How to transmit the culture which is expressed by the form of poetry effectively to foreignreaders is a hot issue in translation field. Reception aesthetics is introduced to this field becauseof the sameness in searching objects and range. Based on the theory, the paper analyses Tao’sdifferent translation versions of the pastoral poem in detail. Reception aesthetics supports thetheory that the work itself is an“appealing structure”which contains many“indeterminacies”and“gaps”and waits readers to complete the understanding and reconstruction of the work withtheir own“horizon of expectations”. Reception aesthetics turns the attention to the interactionbetween text and reader and emphasizes the subjective initiative of readers (includingtranslators).In Tao’s pastoral poetries, the natural and pure styles, rich images, beautiful artistic realms,flexible verves, profound cultural connotations are all the“indeterminacies”. How to translatethe aesthetic effect to make the readers’“horizon of expectations”interact with those of theoriginal and finally achieve the fusion is the leading significance of reception aesthetics.This paper is divided into six parts. The first part briefly introduces the research statement,background, objective, outline and theory applied. The second part is literature review, whichincludes a brief introduction of Chinese and western pastoral poems, and then discusses TaoYuanming and his pastoral poems. The third part of the research is translation strategies andEnglish versions of Tao’s pastoral poetries. Chapter three is theoretical framework. This chapterelaborates on the reception aesthetics and discusses two important concepts which are“horizonof expectations”and“indeterminacies”(or“gaps”). Chapter four is the central part of the paperand is also the specific process of research and analysis. It mainly selects Yang Xianyi, WangRongpei and David Hintons’translation versions and discusses their translation standards,strategies and translation versions in detail from the perspective of reception aesthetics. Yang Xianyi translated parts of Tao Yuanming’s poems in Poetry and Prose of the Han, Wei and JinDynasty while the other two translators translated most of his poems in their works. The last partis the conclusion.Through the exploration of the relationship between translation versions of Tao Yuanming’spastoral poetry and reception aesthetics, the paper gets the inspiration or enlightenment for thetranslation. First, readers’role and status should be paid much attention to and meanwhile cannotbe over-exaggerated during the translation process. The traditional translation standards shouldnot be denied as well. Second, individual differences of“horizon of expectations”bring enoughroom of imagination for the translators. Appropriate creation should be encouraged and theflexible strategies should be adopted for the translation of Tao Yuanming’s pastoral poetry,especially for the translation of reduplications, images and culture-loaded words. Third, payattention to the reader’s times and cultural background and takes readers’reception into fullconsideration. It is necessary to meet the readers’aesthetic needs and also to expand their“horizon of expectations”.