Study On Jiang Feng’s Poetry Translation Theory And Practice

Jiang Feng (1929—), whose original name is Wu Yunsen, is a famous translatorand poet of China. And at the same time, he is a senior researcher of ChineseAcademy of Social Sciences, adjunct professor of School of Foreign Studies ofTsinghua University, member of China Writers Association, and also one of the mostimportant translators and literature theorists of contemporary China. In1991, JiangFeng won the State Council Special Allowance; in1995, he was granted the RainbowTranslation Lifetime Achievement Award (the only one who got this award inEnglish-Chinese translation in China); in2011, he won the Lifetime TranslationAchievement Award.In the literary translation circle in China, translation theory and practice are oftentreated as the main study objects, while the study on translators is relativelyinsufficient. As one of the most influential translators of China, Jiang Feng’stranslation theory and practice have a great influence on the academic circle in China.The dissertation starts the research from diachronic and synchronic perspectivesthrough studying and sorting the relevant literature to clarify Jiang Feng’s theoreticaldevelopment venation, trace his translation thought origin, and further do in-depthdiscussion and research on Jiang Feng’s point of view on poetry, poetry translatingand motivation.The dispute between Similarity in Form and Similarity in Spirit has existed for along time in the translation filed in China. For different translators, the concreteconnotation of “form” and “spirit” of poetry are not the same. The dissertation makesa correct and scientific interpretation on Jiang Feng’s “Similarity Implies Fidelity”theory through making specific analysis of “form” and “spirit”. Jiang Feng thinks thattranslation’s first task is fidelity and there is exception for literary translation, andpoetry translation must pursues for “integration of form and spirit”, which is an important part of the Literary Translation Theory of the Chinese School. Thedissertation extracts Jiang’s translation text of Emily Dickinson’s poem to discuss anddemonstrate Jiang’s way of pursuing “fidelity” and his theory’s scientificity andreasonability by adopting textual analysis method.Jiang’s translation texts on Shelly and Dickinson are regarded as the bestsamples in China, which translate the original information faithfully, and Jiang Fenghas never stopped his pursuit of “Integration of Form and Spirit” on the basis of thecurrent achievements. Jiang Feng’s theory on poem translation is mainly derived fromhis practice of translating English poems into Chinese, and his theory conforms to thenature of translation that poetry as language art and translation must comply withfidelity, which has a certain rationality and feasibility for the guidance of translationpractice and plays an irreplaceable role, and further his achievements make asignificant breakthrough and innovation on contributing to the development of theLiterary Translation Theory of the Chinese School.