Studies On English Translations Of Lu Xun's Classical-style Poems From Sociosemiotic Perspective

At present,“Going Global” strategy for Chinese culture is in full swing.Serving as the founder of modern Chinese literature,Lu Xun has exerted a profound impact on Chinese literature.As an essential part of Lu Xun's literary creation,his classical-style poems are not only the spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation,but also the priceless treasure of the world.Regrettably,the studies on English translation of Lu Xun's classical-style poems have not been paid enough attention to within the academic circle:the academic achievements of the studies of these translations are few and limited to the micro-level language conversion,which is by no means to be systematic or comprehensive.Based on the deficiency of the previous studies,this thesis intends to make a comparative study on the three English versions of Lu Xun's classical-style poems translated respectively by Huang Hsin-chyu,W.J.F.Jenner and Jon Kowallis from the perspective of sociosemiotic approach to translation,exploring the merits and demerits of the three versions and the reasons for their differences,so as to provide references for the re-translation of Lu Xun's classical-style poems in the new century.Sociosemiotic approach to translation emphasizes that translation is an activity of cross-language and cross-cultural communication,attaching importance to the transmission and reproduction of meanings and functions of the source text.Guided by sociosemiotic approach to translation,this thesis makes an objective study on the transmission and reproduction of sociosemiotic meanings and functions of the three English versions,and sums up the merits and demerits of each translation: Huang's and Jenner's versions give priorities to the acceptability and aesthetic expectancy of the general Western readers at that time.They focus on the transmission of referential meaning and pragmatic meaning as well as the reproduction of informative function andexpressive function,while they fail to represent the linguistic meaning and aesthetic function of the source text;Kowallis' s version takes scholars who study Chinese literature as its presupposed readers,striving to preserve the culture and flavor of the original poems by adopting foreignization translation strategies in most cases.Each of the three translations bears marked brands of the time,and they meet the aesthetic expectations of different readers in different times.It is because of the different English versions of Lu Xun's classical-style poems that Lu Xun's “holographic images” can be revealed to the Western readers.However,new translations are needed in the new era.Re-translating Lu Xun's classical-style poems to spread the Chinese culture contained in his poems to the World is not only a concrete manifestation of the growth of Chinese cultural soft power,but also the inevitable requirement to further enhance the soft power of China.