A Study On The English Translation Of Imagery In Wen Tingyun's Ci Poems

Poetry reveals poets' ambition,while Ci poems express poets' most tender feelings.Ci poems and poetry can be described as the two most influential literary forms in Chinese classical literature.Ci poems are freer than poetry in expressing feelings partly because of their use of vernacular language.Ci poems are one of the classic forms that best reflect Chinese classical culture.As the basic factor of artistic imagination and artistic conceit,imagery is greatly valued by Chinese literary theorists.For a Ci poem,if imagery is arranged just right,then it can achieve the effect of “adding the finishing touch”.At the same time,imagery can help readers understand poets' inner world,life experience,living environment,values,aesthetic tendency and so on.Therefore,how to accurately grasp the communication and reconstruction of imagery is the key link in the process of translating Ci poems.This thesis is based on Wen Tingyun's twenty-four Ci poems translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang in Chinese Literature.With the study of imagery characteristics in the original Ci poems as the prerequisite,Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang's translations are carefully read and the translators' methods,those methods' effects and deficiencies in reproducing imagery in English translations are systematically studied.With the study of imagery translation as the starting point,the thesis aims(1)to study the two translators' general strategies in translating Ci poems;(2)to explore how Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang who harbour both Chinese and Western culture backgrounds translated Wen Tingyun's Ci poems,and try to sum up the translators' strategies for translating Chinese imagery into English;(3)to explore the impact of the two points above on translated images.According to the findings of the thesis,the translators in general adopt literal translation but apply non-literal translation methods when necessary.As to the literary form,they don't rigidly conform to principles of the original form.What's more,mostly they adopt the third-person perspective to translate.When it comes to imagerytranslating,they adopt literal translation,omission,substitution and free translation.All the strategies they have adopted have brought changes to the characteristics of images.As a result,first,their impressiveness has been reduced.Second,the reduced number of images has wrecked the mode of juxtaposition.Third,the room of association has been narrowed.The study of the English translation of the imagery in Wen Tingyun's Ci poems is of great significance in deepening the study of English translation of Ci poems in general and the research in the field of translation practices by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang.At the same time,it tries to find a potentially effective mode for translating Chinese classical literary works.