Strategies For The Translation Of Tu Fu’s Poetry:Domestication And Foreignization

Venuti established the theory of domestication and foreignization. According to this theory, though the translation strategy that makes the translator invisible is popular in the western world, it is not appropriate in the globalised world. This strategy may cause cultural hegemony and harm other weak cultures. Therefore, he suggested the translators should use foreignization methods to bring readers to the original work. The argument of domestication and foreignization continued and expanded the argument of free and literal translation. Many Chinese scholars have argued about it when translating Chinese ancient poetry.In the early20th century, many Chinese translators tended to use domestication methods to translate Chinese literature into English and use foreignization when verse visa. This situation showed that the strong western culture overpowered the weak Chinese one. On the contrary, during the same period, foreign translators started the free-verse movement through foreignised Chinese poetry. Today, both domestication and foreignization methods are used to translate Chinese poetry. They are often mixed in one translation.This paper explains the main features of Tu Fu’s poetry, including the format of regulated verse, the style and themes of Tu’s verses. It compares the different translations from the perspective of form, sounds and meaning. In this way it discusses where the foreignization is possible and the different effect produced by domestication and foreignization. I hope that this study can make translators value the cultural transmission effect of translation.