On The Translator’s Role In Classical Chinese Poetry Image Translation From The Perspective Of Intertextuality

Image is the soul of poems. Therefore, the successful translation of Classical Chinese poems, to a large extent, depends on the successful translation of CCP images However, many of the studies in this domain are still limited to the translatabilily of CCP itself and translation strategies of CCP images, with the translator, one essential part of the translation process, overlooked. This thesis intends to probe into the translator’s role in CCP image translation from the perspective of intertextuality. with the aim to fill some of the blank space of CCP image translation study and add a new perspective to it.Intertextuality proposes that any text is the absorption and transformation of another. From this perspective, every image in CCP can be regarded as an intertextual signal, absorbing and transforming other texts. They are there for a purpose:to better convey the poet’s emotions. To understand these images and make them understood, the translator has to take both the source and target intertextual contexts and the interaction between them into consideration. As the reader and interpreter, he/she should conduct dialogues with the poet, the poem, other texts and the whole context so as to capture the intented feelings and associations of the image. As the rewriter, the translator should examine the target intertextual context and the interactive relation between the source and target intertexual contexts to ensure that similar associations and feelings can be evoked in the target readers.In this thesis a comparative, data-analyzing research method is adopted. Dividing the images into four groups, the Author compares the image translations of translators at home and abroad and analyzes how the translator’s roles are reflected in the three stages. In the conclusion part, the Author gives some suggestions for CCP image translation and points out that only when the translators are equipped with full awareness and competence of intertextuality throughout the three roles they play in CCP image translation can they come up with good translations.