A Socio-Semiotic Approach To The Translation Of Classical Chinese Poetry

Du Fu was one of the most significant figures in the history of Chinese literature.Full of patriotism, his poetry plays a positive role in education not only in Chineseliterature but also in Chinese history. Du Fu mastered and used all the verses at that timeand creatively used each verse’s functions and features, which had set a brilliant examplefor poetry. His contribution and influences to poetry were immense in the development ofChinese classical poetry. Du Fu is considered as the “Poetic Sage” in Chinese literature.This fact, along with the great refinement of language and feelings that feature many ofhis works, makes his poetry particularly difficult to translate. Nevertheless, dozens offamous translators and scholars have been attempting to make researches on his poetry.From this perspective, their research on the English versions of Du Fu’s poetry isinnovative and representative.As a new interdisciplinary theory, the sociosemiotic approach to translation offers adifferent perspective for translation studies—the perspective of meanings and functionsof language signs. Therefore, this theory occupies a significant position among moderntranslation theories. The semiotic perspective explores the world both inside and outsideof the text so as to realize the multiple dimensions of textual meanings. The study ofEnglish translation of classical Chinese poetry under the sociosemiotic theory oftranslation promises a new approach and breakthrough.Based on the English versions of Xu Yuanchong, Wu Juntao, Li Weijian and someforeign scholars’ English versions of Du Fu’s poetry, this thesis makes contrastiveanalysis of the examples of referential meaning, linguistic meaning and pragmaticmeaning in the original text and English versions, trying to reveal the reproduction ofmeaning as well as their gains and losses in the translation process.This thesis holds that the referential meaning, linguistic meaning and pragmaticmeaning can hardly be reproduced in the target language simultaneously as people’slanguages, cultures and the ways of thinking are different. In other words, the absoluteequivalence in translation cannot be achieved. This thesis analyzes the English versionsof Du Fu’s poems in the light of sociosemiotic approach and the author believes thatdifferent versions provide reference for future translators. Retranslation is needed andnecessary. It is hoped that this thesis can contribute to the exploration of the translation of classical Chinese poetry.