Poetry And Distance: The Image Of China By Judith Gautier

As a romantic writer at the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century in France, Judith Gautier (1845-1917), with great passion for the Orient, has created lots of literature works based on Orient. China is her cradle for dreaming of Orient while Chinese classical poetry should be taken as her start in China. All of her works about Chinese classical poetry, considered as a carrier of Chine, penetrate throughout her life and show her idealism. The target of the thesis is Judith Gautier and the relationship with Chinese classical poetry in order to discuss from a new view her annotation, her deep relationship with China and mutual influences and to study the alienation of Other in compared literature.Now that most of researchers are aimed to study Le Livre de Jade from the view of traduction and that there're less reseaches involved in the relation study between China and Judith Gautier. In use of the theory of Imagologie and on the basis of the Chinese images in her writting, the thesis is going to research the alienation caused by misreading et its influence. Besides, wed like to figure out several problems: How did Judith have relationship with China? Via Chinese classical poetry what are the moulded images? How has she realized the cultural acception, filtration and fusion between China and France in the process of her translation and moulding the images? What influence did it take on Chinese classical poetry and herself.The main body of thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter mainly introduces the origins of Judith Gautier and Chinese classical poetry, and her related works.The second chapter summarizes the images of China and Chinese people: the Chineses respect the poetry, link deeply to their hometowns and pursue beautiful life. In China, the poetry is placed above imperial authority and it's taken as an ideal and poetic place where people pursue the peace and conform to the nature. The third chapter indicates that her misreading leads to the difference between the moulded images and the reality. After analyzing the reasons of her misreading of Chinese classical poetry, this thesis confirms the rational alien of image, states the influence of her creative adaption of Chinese classical poetry on the Chinese images and Chinese classical poetry and reveals her ideal, utopian view on China.The conclusion part summarizes the whole text and indicates that the great differences between her moulded images and reality should be attributed to her misreading of Chinese classical poetry which doesn't mean to the negative part. On the one hand, we should admit the mistakes in her traduction and her partial description. On the other hand, we'd better confirm her creative adaptation of Chinese classical poetry which continues its life in France, represents a poetic China. It subverts the negative image of Chine in 19th century and at the same time it also reflects her utopian view on China.