The Aesthetic Representation Of Xu Yuanchong’s English Version Of Song Ci From The Perspective Of The Image-G Actualization Theory

Song Ci, as the precious pearl in the treasure of classical Chinese poetry, is renowned for its refined language, flexible style, lyrical quality and diverse artistic image. Every piece of Song Ci is an organic whole of sound, form and sense bearing remarkable aesthetic value. By reviewing the previous studies of Song Ci translation, it is found that much attention has been given in seeking the linguistic equivalence of the original, which can not demonstrate the aesthetic value of Song Ci to readers. In fact, to transfer the aesthetic beauty of Song Ci in practical translation is of equally significance. This thesis attempts to make a tentative study of the aesthetic representation of Song Ci from the perspective of image-G actualization theory, combined with the case study of Xu Yuanchong’s English version.The image-G actualization theory has been put forward by Professor Jiang Qiuxia in Aesthetic Progression in Literary Translation:Image-G Actualization (Jiang Qiuxia,2002). In light of the theory, the image-G is an image in the gestalt sense and ubiquitously exists in classical Chinese poetry. The aesthetic representation of the original depends on the transference of its overall gestalt qualities, rather than’ the translation of the mere sum of its individual parts. Besides, successful literary translation lies in successful image-G actualization process, which consists of two phases:(1)understanding of the original-a mental actualization of image-G (2) re-creation of the original- a linguistic actualization of image-G. Professor Xu Yuanchon’s English version of Song Ci appropriately demonstrates its refined language, deep emotion, and aesthetic characteristics, which mostly retains the form of Song Ci without distorting the sense, as well as reproduce the aesthetic beauty of it. This thesis aims at discovering the affinity between the image-G actualization theory and Professor Xu’s translation thought, providing a new model for the translation of classical Chinese poetry.Based on the detailed analysis, the thesis has found that each Ci poem is an organic image-G, the aesthetic elements of which should be studied from the whole.There indeed exist remarkable similarities between the image-G actualization theory and Professor Xu’s transaltion thought, and the combination of the two theory can offer a new model for the translation of classic Chinese poetry in the future.