A Study Of Lin Yutang's Poetry Translation Strategy From The Perspective Of Translation Norms Theory

Lin Yutang is an excellent translator in the cultural exchange between China and the west.He has stayed in the United States for many years and he is familiar with the thinking mode of westerners.He has created a series of books that introduce Chinese classical culture,of which The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo is one example.Su Tungpo is one of Lin Yutang's favorite Chinese poets.In this biography,Lin Yutang translates hundreds of poems and letters written by Su Tungpo into English,showing them to western readers incisively and vividly,so that western readers can understand China and Chinese culture better.Lin Yutang's profound literary background and the choice of appropriate translation strategies are indispensable for its dissemination in the west.Translation norms theory is one of the most core theories in descriptive translation studies,which emphasizes that translation activities are not merely text operations,but closely related to social,cultural,ideological and other elements.Toury is the first scholar to make a systematic study of translation norms and he divides translation norms into three categories--initial norms,preliminary norms and operational norms.Initial norms determine the overall translation strategy;Preliminary norms affect translator's choice of the source text,including social and cultural factors,individual factors;On the other hand,operational norms affect the specific translation methods and techniques at the textual level of the target language.According to the classification of Toury's translation norms,the author takes poems in The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo as case studies,combining with these cases to discuss translation norms theory proposed by Toury,namely,the embodiment and influence of initial norms,preliminary norms and operational norms in the translation process of the poems in The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo.The characteristics of Lin Yutang's poetry translation is summarized,including Lin's flexible handling of the content and form of poetry by five translation methods,namely free translation,imitation,adaptation,literal translation and transliteration.These adjustments are not random,because Lin Yutang takes the fidelity of target text as well as the socialcultural factors at home and abroad into consideration in order to achieve the best effect in the west.This thesis draws three conclusions: Firstly,the translation of the poems in The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo is affected by multiple socio-cultural factors and the translator's personality,mainly including the following factors: social-cultural context of both China and America,Lin's personal preference and the economic conditions at that time.These all prove Toury's preliminary norms.Secondly,Lin adopts a variety of translation methods,including free translation,imitation,adaptation,literal translation and transliteration,which reflects Toury's operational norms.In the meantime,he focuses on the characteristics of poetry translation,which is in accordance with his poetry translation thoughts.Thirdly,Lin tries to seek a balance between “adequate” translation and “acceptable” translation,which also reflects Toury's initial norms.These poetry translation strategies and methods adopted by Lin have an enlightening effect on majority of translators,and also have a positive role in promoting Chinese culture “going global”.