A Study On The English Translation Of Du Fu’s Poems By Xu Yuanzhong From The Perspective Of Eco-translatology

Du Fu, honored as the Sage Poet, was one of the greatest realistic poets in the Tang Dynasty. As the treasure of Chinese literature, Du Fu’s poems contain rich Chinese traditional culture, and are well worth studying. In addition, translating Du Fu’s poems into English is helpful for the transmission of Chinese culture all around the world.Eco-translatology, which stresses on the integrity of translational eco-environment,was put forward by Professor Hu Gengshen. He defines translation as “a selection activity of the translator’s adaptation to fit the translational Eco-environment”. That is to say, translation is a process of translator’s adaptation and selection. According to his definition, both adaptation and selection are done by translators. Therefore, this is another translator-centered theory after Translator’s Subjectivity.The English versions of Du Fu’s poems have been studied from different perspectives. However, few scholars have studied them from the perspective of Eco-translatology systematically. Xu Yuanzhong’s English translations are adopted in this study because he has made great achievements in poetry translation and his translations enjoy great reputation. The question that whether Xu Yuanzhong’s translation of Du Fu’s poems is a process of adaptation and selection is analyzed in this study.The research methodologies adopted in this thesis are qualitative research method, literature research method and descriptive research method. With the help of these methods, a general introduction to Eco-tranlatology is given; Xu Yuanzhong’s adaptation to translational eco-environment is explained from such aspects as his adaptation to his internal needs, external needs and his bilingual and bicultural competences; and Xu Yuanzhong’s adaptive selection is analyzed from linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions respectively.According to analysis, the author finds that Xu Yuanzhong’s translation of Du Fu’s poems is out of his internal needs, such as his interest in classical Chinese literature, his wish to introduce Chinese culture and literary works to the west, etc.; and fits for external needs, such as western world’s interest in Chinese culture and its acceptance of Chinese literature. In addition, his excellent bilingual and bicultural competences make him competent to translate Du Fu’s poems. The author also analyzes Xu Yuanzhong’s adaptive selection from linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions with examples, and comes to the conclusion that Xu Yuanzhong’s translation process is a process of adaptation and selection.In this study, the analysis of Xu Yuanzhong’s translation process of Du Fu’s poems is not only helpful to manifest translator-centeredness, but also helpful to broaden the horizon of the study on the English versions of Du Fu’s poems and illustrate the explanatory power and feasibility of eco-translatology.