On The Translation Of Classical Chinese Poems From A Perspective Of Translation Aesthetics

Classical Chinese poetry, a gem in the treasure house of Chinese literature, is a symbol of cultural beauty. Thus, to some extent, the classical Chinese poetry translation into English is a transfer of beauty.Xu Yuanchong, a well-known scholar in classical Chinese poetry translation, has successfully translated many classical Chinese poems into English. He spares no effort to reproduce aesthetic values in three aspects-beauty in sense, sound and form.The translation of the classical Chinese poetry involves almost all of the aspects in translation, such as the transformation of meaning, the treatment of cultural differences as well as the ideal transformation of the art of language, which includes the translation of images, artistic ideorealm and style. Hence, it is difficult for the traditional translation theories to explain the phenomenon and solve the problems, since most of the propositions in traditional translation theories and their scope of application are limited. Similarly, it seems difficult for modern linguistics to explain the transformation of the art of language. Therefore, this thesis tries to probe into the classical verse translation from a perspective of translation aesthetics. This thesis chooses Xu’s translation as the research data for an analysis of the aesthetic subjects and the aesthetic objects in details and analyzes the translator’s translation purposes and the readers’ expectation, aiming to reveal Xu’s thoughts of translation and explore some hidden elements which contribute to Xu’s great success in verse translation and hoping to shed some light on the future classical Chinese poetry translation. Finally, it concludes that for quality translation, the translator should have a thorough understanding of every aspect of the aesthetic objects including form as well as non-form constituents, ensuring an effective transfer of both of them. It is also recommended that the translator have a good command of both languages, have a keen aesthetic perception and keep a balance of sound, form and sense in verse translation.