A Functional Equivalence Approach To Xu Yuanchong And Pound’s English Translations Of Classical Chinese Poems

Classical Chinese poetry is an important part of Chinese traditional culture. It contains the essence of the Chinese culture. So classical Chinese poetry translation has been an important practice for the translators. Many Chinese and foreign scholars have done a lot of research and have put forward relevant translation theories, which has laid the theoretical foundation for the future research work in translation. However, poetry translation has always been the most challenging work in literary translation. How to evaluate the quality of the translation of poetry is also a controversial research issue. If poetry translation is also the creative process which pursuits maximum equivalence, what is the essential characteristic of equivalence in classical Chinese poetry translation and what is the unique characteristic are also the important theoretical and practical issues for the literary translation studies. Based on Ezra Pound and Xu Yuanchong’s translations of classical Chinese poetry, and with reference to their concepts of translation, the thesis explores the problem of functional equivalence in classical Chinese poetry translation.Ezra Pound is one of the early scholars who work in classical Chinese poetry translation. He is the founder of the Imagist school and also sets an important precedent for modernist poetry in the United States. His translation of ancient Chinese poetry has created a great sensation in the United States. His Cathy is regarded as his "most enduring contribution" to the translation of classical Chinese Poetry. Xu Yuanchong is the most influential translator in poetry translation in China. In addition, his theory of "three beauties" has been widely accepted and supported. There are common ground and also differences in Ezra Pound and Xu Yuanchong’s translation, but they have both achieved success. They are a native speaker and a foreign learner, and they are representatives of two languages and cultural perspectives. On the basis of Eugene Nida’s functional equivalence theory, this thesis attempts to do a comparative study of Xu Yuanchong and Ezra Pound’s translations of classical Chinese poetry and explores the similarities and differences between their translations. It is hoped that the study will help to promote classical Chinese poetry translation theoretically and practically.In the first chapter, the thesis gives a general introduction of Eugene Nida’s functional equivalence theory, which is the theoretical basis of this paper. It summarizes the correct connotation of functional equivalence and its contributions to the translation of classical Chinese poetry. In the second chapter, this thesis introduces Ezra Pound and Xu Yuanchong’s academic contributions to translation. It points out that their translation theories concerning classical Chinese poetry translation are similar in one aspect, namely, Pound’s creative translation and Xu Yuanchong’s re-creation. These two methods are similar but have been treated differently at home. The reason is that their attitudes towards faithfulness and equivalence are different. With reference to their translation of important poems, the thesis analyzes them in great detail.In the third chapter, following Eugene Nida’s theory, the author analyzes Ezra Pound and Xu Yuanchong’s translations of important classical Chinese poems in terms of the form, the content and the style respectively.Three methods, namely, literal translation, free translation and creative translation are discussed in the fourth chapter. The differences in languages and cultures caused the untranslatability of poems. In this case, it requires the translator to choose the appropriate translation methods according to the different situations. Whatever translation method one chooses, one should make the version faithful and achieve functional equivalence to as far as possible.Taking functional equivalence as the research method, this thesis does a comparative study of Chinese and western translation of classical Chinese poetry, evaluate its value and explains the cultural background behind the language. In this case, it requires the translator to choose the appropriate translation methods according to the different situation. In addition, this paper holds that faithfulness in poetry translation and equivalence in poetry translation are complementary to each other. Translation equivalence is relative, but not absolute. Whatever translation method one choose, one should make the version faithful and achieve functional equivalence to as far as possible.