A Study Of Xin Qiji’s Ci Poems Translated By Xu Zhongjie-from The Perspective Of Steiner’s Hermeneutic Theory

It is known to all that Song Ci poem has occupied a pivotal position in Songliterature and even the classical Chinese literature. As one of the most influentialrepresentatives, Xin Qiji has also played an indispensable role in the literature of SongDynasty. In recent decades, with the frequent cultural interaction between China andwestern countries, lots of scholars have increasingly emphasized the translation of SongCi poems. Since the1920s, a great amount of famous translators, including Xu Zhongjie,began to embark on translating Xin Qiji’s Ci poems. Characterized by its rich culturalconnotations, concise expression and distinctive linguistic features, the translation of Cipoems becomes a difficult and challenging task.Hermeneutics, as a subject about understanding and interpretation of meaning, hasprovided a new perspective for translation studies. As an important hermeneutic theorist,George Steiner deems that understanding is translation. Having related hermeneutics totranslation process, he put forward the fourfold hermeneutic motion which involvestrust, aggression, incorporation and compensation. Apparently, Steiner’s hermeneutictheory has provided a theoretical basis for studying a translator’s whole process oftranslation and his or her translation strategies. In the light of Steiner’s hermeneutictheories, this thesis attempts to reproduce Xu Zhongjie’s whole process of translation byanalyzing the versions of Xin Qiji’s Ci poems he translated. It is easier to find out whichaspects the translator has considered and what kinds of methods he has applied in theprocess of translation, so as to achieve the translation effects he seeks.According to this research, at the first stage of “trust”, Xu has mainly taken thefollowing two factors into consideration: the value of Xin Qiji’s Ci poems and thetranslator’s competence himself. With regard to the process of “aggression”, Xu choseto invade the source texts from cultural and linguistic aspects (especially culturalaspects). What he tried to achieve is to break through the constraint of source languageand to extract its essence from the source text. What’s more, with the purpose oftransferring source texts at the third stage of “incorporation”, Professor Xu has adoptedvarious methods and strategies to express the complete information of original in termsof form and meaning. At the final stage of “compensation”, Xu Zhongjie has adoptedannotation and explanatory expansion to balance source texts and target texts and tocompensate the loss in his translation. All in all, from the perspective of Steiner’s fourfold hermeneutic motion, Xu Zhongjie has dominated the whole process oftranslation. The translator tried to fully exert his subjectivity by adopting variousmethods and strategies in his translation of Xin’s Ci poems. This attempt will betterpromote readers’ understanding and acceptance of target texts as well as externaltransmission of the source texts.