Translation Of English Songs Into Chinese From The Perspective Of Translation Aesthetics

Songs, which possess remarkable aesthetic value, can not only express one’s feelings, but also transmit thoughts. Therefore, they are popular among the masses. Nowadays, with more and more international exchanges, plenty of excellent English songs are introduced into China and sung by a wide range. However, the differences between two languages impede people to understand and appreciate the English songs, and to some extent, confine the more in-depth exchanges of musical culture between China and the west. Moreover, in the domestic translation field, the song translation has not been received much attention. Professional song translators and works are scarce, and research on this field only pays attention to lyric translation, which obscures the concepts between lyric translation and song translation. Meanwhile, because of lack of theoretical guidance, lots of Chinese translation versions are deficient in aesthetic perception, which can’t be sung. Therefore, via the author’s practice as well as collecting and analyzing some English songs and their Chinese versions, this thesis attempts to discuss the translation of English songs into Chinese from the perspective of Translation Aesthetics, so as to make the targeted listeners feel the similar sense of beauty as the original listeners do. From the angle of Translation Aesthetic Object(TAO), the principles of song translation are summarized to reproduce the beauty of rhyme, rhythm, words and sentences, figure of speech, style and culture in the translated songs. From the perspective of Translation Aesthetic Subject(TAS), the qualities for song translators are also proposed.