A Comparative Study Of Two English Translation Versions Of Changhenge From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Changhenge, created by Bai Juyi in Tang Dynasty (806A.D.), is regarded as theessence of classical Chinese poetry. Changhenge has presented the keen and memorablelove story between Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine Yang Yuhuan with perfectartistic images, which has been pulling at the heartstring of readers generation aftergeneration. Since being created, Changhenge has attracted a lot of attention fromscholars at both home and abroad, with translated versions emerging one after another.Even though, the author has found that the interpretation and studies on Changhengefrom the angle of Reception Aesthetics are still at the initial stage and the furtherexpansion is required. Considering the special characteristics of poetry translation, thisthesis attempts to analyze the two versions of Changhenge by Xu Yuanchong and theYangs (Yang Xianyi and his British-born wife Gladys Yang) in light of ReceptionAesthetics and find out which version fits the English readers better and meets theirhorizon of expectations.As a challenge to the traditional literary theory, Reception Aesthetics highlightsreaders’ creative role and has shed light on literary studies, especially translation studies.Because translation study itself should be treated as a means of cross-culturalcommunication, and the end of this communication process is readers’ reception.Based on the comparative study, the following thesis comes to this conclusion:Since there are a certain number of spots of indeterminacy in a poem, in order to caterto readers’ horizon of expectation and reproduce a poem in a better way, the translatorshould consider fully the reader’s cultural background, requirement of times andreception. Poetry translation is not only the correct conveyance of meaning but also thetransplantation of beauty. Compared with the English version of the Yangs, XuYuanchong’s Everlasting Regret has brought readers both auditory and visual delightsby giving a full presentation of the beauty in sound, form and sense, meeting thedemand of poetry translation better.