On The Translation Of Culture-bound Words In Tang Poetry-A Cultural Translation Perspective

Nowadays, with the development of cultural globalization, translating Tang poetry into English has a far-reaching significance to the effective spreading of Chinese culture and the promotion of cultural exchanges. This thesis probes into the translation of Tang poetry by taking culture-bound words in Tang poetry as its research objects. Translation of poetry is considered as a difficult activity, but it seems more difficult to translate Tang poetry into English. The author believes that one of the important factors is that there are a great many culture-bound words which bear rich cultural connotations in Tang poetry, and it is difficult for translators to find out appropriate equivalents to those words in the target language. In the process of Tang poetry translation, how to deal with the culture-bound words has a direct impact on the transmission of cultural information. Whether or not the translator fully understands the implied meaning of culture-bound words and renders it appropriately in his translation is undoubtedly of great importance. That is to say, researchers are expected to find out effective translation strategies of culture-bound words in Tang poetry.This thesis, based on Susan Bassnett’ cultural translation theory, studies the translation of culture-bound words in Tang poetry. It is divided into seven chapters. Chapter One introduces the research background, research necessity, research purpose and significance, research methodology and structure of this thesis. Chapter Two gives a brief introduction to Tang poetry and then reviews the studies of the translation of Tang poetry at home and abroad. Chapter Three provides several authoritative definitions of "culture" and discusses the relationship among language, culture, and translation. Chapter Four comes out the theoretical framework, involving the explanation of Susan Bassnett’s cultural translation theory and its significance on the translation of culture-bound words in Tang poetry. Chapter Five gives a study of "culture-bound words" and makes a classification of culture-bound words in Tang poetry. Chapter six discusses specific cultural translation strategies on different culture levels in the translation of cultural-bound words in Tang poetry. Chapter seven is conclusion part in which the author presents the findings and limitations of this thesis and calls for further research to improve the translation of culture-bound words in Tang poetry.