A Study On Xu Yuanchong's Translation Of Xi Xiang Ji From The Multimodal Perspective

With the rapid development of the multimedia and computer technology,more and more scholars pay their attention to the multimodal discourse analysis.This theory is an approach with combination of various modalities.At present,researches on it are mainly about explanations of the theory,and very few are in the drama field.Yuan Drama,as a synthetic art,is a Chinese treasure.It involves music,dance,clothing,and performance,so has the property of multimodality.Besides,all nations spread their own national culture,which makes a necessity to translate national works into foreign languages.What's more,Chinese culture going-out strategy makes translation of culture more significant.This study adopts the perspective of the multimodal discourse analysis,and employs the qualitative method and case analysis method to do research on Xu's English translation of Xi Xiang Ji.Besides the analysis on textual meaning and multimodal information of the original text,this study mainly explores how the translation conveys multimodal information from the source text.According to the theoretical framework of the visual grammar from Gunther Kress & Theo Van Leeuwen,and the audio grammar from Theo Van Leeuwen,the author tries to build a right framework for the multimodal discourse analysis on the Yuan Drama Xi Xiang Ji.Then,under this framework,this study explores multimodal signs both in original work and translation.In terms of visual modality,this study mainly explores Xu's translation from the representational meaning,the interactive meaning,and the compositional meaning,which mainly involves signs like shape,action,scenery,and color.In terms of the audio modality,it mainly conveys the time,the melody and the voice quality & timbre,and the audio signs are rhyme,reduplication,and modal particular.According to different contexts and intended functions,by analyzing Xu's translation of Xi Xiang Ji,there is a conclusion that the multimodal discourse analysis is useful for drama translation,and we hope that it will contribute to the Chinese culture going-out.Through the case study on Xi Xiang Ji,it can be concluded that the visual grammar and audio grammar are significant for drama translation.This study not only broadens the multimodal discourse analysis into drama translation,but also makes readers comprehend hidden information under different modalities.Hence,it will improve readers' appreciation level.This study is a new approach in research on translation of Yuan Drama,and we hope it will provide reference for choosing translation strategies.Our drama translation will be more powerful,so it makes the world learn more about Chinese culture.