A Translation Study Of Painting Poetry From The Perspective Of Multimodal Discourse Analysis

This thesis focuses on the translation of Chinese painting poetry. Chinese painting poetry consists of both Chinese poetry and Chinese painting. As a unique Chinese form of art among all cultural fruits in the world, this special form of art shows a real depth of traditional Chinese culture. It not only embodies the spirit of traditional Chinese painting, but also presents the vigorousness and forcefulness of Chinese calligraphy and the profound cultural essence of Chinese poetry. One of the typical features of painting poetry is that it is an inseparable integration of both painting and poetry, which generates its multimodal attributes. Nowadays, with the rapid development of multimedia, multimodal discourse analysis(MDA) is becoming more and more popular in academic fields. To conduct a translation study of painting poetry from the perspective of MDA not only accords with the academic trend, but also contributes a lot to promoting the widespread of this traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, a study of Chinese painting poetry from the perspective of MDA is of great significance.The study of Chinese poetry and its translation has always been a focus in the translation field at home and abroad. Especially in recent years, painting poetry has aroused increasing attention from scholars domestically. More and more translators have devoted themselves to translating Chinese painting poetry, and numerous related works have been published. However, foreign scholars tend to concentrate merely on poetry in a certain dynasty or written by a certain poet. It is a pity that the translation study of painting poetry abroad is neither systematic nor extensive. In addition, from the perspective of MDA study, ever since its emergence in the west in the 1990 s, the application of MDA is more and more popular in academic fields. Up till now, the application of MDA mainly covers academic fields of foreign language teaching,teaching materials study, the computer language and network language study, etc.However, this method has not been applied to Chinese poetry translation yet. Generally speaking, traditional poetry translation study tends to concentrate on text discussion.Based on previous studies, this thesis will link paintings and texts together, discussing the function and impact of painting on poetry translation and finding out how painting can be integrated in English versions so that translators can present a better translation version of painting poetry.This thesis constructs a theoretical framework based on Zhang Delu’s integrated framework of MDA. In addition, by drawing a reference from Kress & van Leeuwen’s visual grammar as well as Zhu Guangqian’s rhythm theory, the thesis tries to enrich and customize a framework that is particularly suitable for the translation study of painting poetry. The thesis conducts a translation study of painting poetry at four levels, namely,cultural level, contextual level, content level and expressional level. Cultural level mainly discusses the influence of cultural elements embedded in paintings on painting poetry translation. Traditionally speaking, contextual level includes linguistic context,situational context and cultural context. However, under the circumstance of painting poetry translation, context here mainly refers to painting context. Therefore, contextual level in this way concentrates on discussing the impact of painting context on painting poetry translation. Content level is further divided into meaning level and form level. In traditional translation study, content and form are two separated parts. However, form level that Zhang Delu mentions refers to the manifestation or the cooperation function of different modalities or semiotic systems, which departs from the traditional definition of “form” study. Painting poetry translation at the meaning level is further divided into ideational meaning, interpersonal meaning and textual meaning. Discussions at the form level mainly concentrate on the relationship between painting and text. Last but not least, expressional level, which is also called media level, includes two aspects:language aspect and non-language aspect. Against the background of painting poetry translation, language aspect includes pure language and other language features, such as font, poetic temperament and overall layout of the written text, etc. Meanwhile, in the process of practical expression, non-language elements, such as printing quality, paper quality and the size of the book, also play an important role in winning readers’ favor of translation versions. The aim of this thesis is to help direct audience from different cultural backgrounds to understand and appreciate Chinese painting poetry much better.The thesis mainly adopts three research methods to make the research findings more objective and scientific. Firstly, literature research method. By reading adequate literature on painting poetry and its translation studies, the thesis acquires a general picture of the research. By comparing different translation versions, the thesis attempts to figure out the challenges under the guidance of MDA. Secondly, case analysis. This thesis takes some typical painting poetry as examples and, from the perspective of MDA, conducts a translation study of painting poetry at four levels.The thesis, first of all, distinguishes painting poetry translation from other poetry translation by pointing out its unique features of multimodality. Then the thesis proposes taking advantage of MDA in painting poetry translation, thus leading in research methods, research objectives and the theoretical framework. Then by dating back to ancient China with the evolution of painting poetry and the impact of MDA on translation practice, the thesis presents a review of painting poetry and its translation studies both at home and abroad. As the core of this thesis, based on Zhang Delu’s integrated framework of MDA, various specific painting poems are discussed at four levels(cultural level, contextual level, content level, and expressional level) to tackle three major research issues: Multimodal features of painting poetry translation, impact of painting on text versions and how to improve painting poetry translation quality under the guidance of MDA. In the end, limitations and implications are introduced for further studies.As the research shows, first of all, both painting poetry and its translation have multimodal features. The universal standard to recognize a multimodal discourse is to see how many modalities it involves. Given that paintings involve many semiotic systems like images, texts, colors, painting poetry is definitely not all about texts.Therefore, naturally painting poetry has multimodal features, and the same is true of painting poetry translation. The multimodal features of painting poetry translation include texts, paintings, colors, etc.Besides, paintings have a great impact on translation versions. Generally speaking,painting interacts with poetry translation versions in three aspects, namely, interactions shown by image expression, content expression, as well as emotion expression. First of all, in terms of image expression, due to the fact that painting and painting poetry translation are indispensable with each other, images shown by the painting and the painting poetry translation version are enriched and reinforced by each other. Paintings set all the images in a visual picture, thus giving readers and viewers a general idea of the poetry. Similarly, poetry translations enrich and reinforce the images set by the painting, which helps a lot leaving an impressive image on the readers. Secondly, in terms of content expression, painting plays a vital and positive role in visualizing and explaining the description of poetry translation, while poetry translation is the summary and essence of the painting. Last but not the least, in terms of emotion expression,painting may influence viewers’ emotions by actions, facial expressions, colors, and overall layout of the picture, which contributes a lot to smoothing a way for poetry translation’s expression.In addition, under the guidance of MDA, translators may improve the translation quality of painting poetry at cultural level, contextual level, content level and expressional level. For instance, at cultural level, translators should be more careful with cultural elements showed by the painting so that they can modify their understanding of the original work. At contextual level, based on taking all contextual elements of the painting into consideration, translators should translate very plain words into vivid ones and inject vigorous vitality into the translation version. At content level,in order to avoid adding repeated information that has already been shown in the painting, translators should take advantage of the painting and make the translation version correct and concise. In addition, appropriate translation methods should also be taken to close the distance between readers and the work. At expression level, it is necessary for translators to take full advantage of the overall layout of the translation version, the use of the poetic temperament such as sound and rhythm, and the print quality, so that the original meaning can be expressed to the full.This thesis, aiming at enhancing target readers’ comprehension of Chinese painting poetry, carries out a tentative research on painting poetry translation from the perspective of MDA. A detailed and comprehensive translation study of painting poetry can also arouse scholars’ more attention to multimodal translation, thus enriching the scope of MDA study. Meanwhile, this thesis is also constructive to poetry translation practice, for it tends to analyze in detail the way to improving painting poetry translation under the guidance of MDA.This research has made some innovations so far: First of all, it tries to usher in the MDA method for the translation study of painting poetry. Secondly, based on Zhang Dele’s integrated framework of MDA, the thesis tries to enrich the existing framework,and to tailor a proper one that is especially suitable for the translation study of painting poetry. Thirdly, by combining a documentary research with an empirical study, the thesis employs both qualitative and quantitative analyses so that the research findings will be maximally scientific and objective.