| Burton Watson is the most representative translator in the circle of contemporary American sinology.He is also one of the translators who have translated the most classical Chinese poems,only second to Arthur Waley,making great contributions to the dissemination and popularization of traditional Chinese culture among general readers in the west.Watson’s translation of Su Shi’s poems,in particular,has exerted a profound influence in the west.His representative translated work Su Tung-p’o:Selections from a Sung Dynasty Poet(hereinafter referred to as “ Selections ”)is selected into UNESCO Collection of Representative Works,Chinese Series,becoming the most influential English anthology of Su Shi ’s poetry up to date.However,at present,the research of Watson’s translation of Su Shi’s poems has not acquired its fair share of attention from Chinese scholars.Existing studies mostly focus on text comparison based on specific translated poems and few studies have noted the fundamental feature of Su Shi’s poems translated by Watson—literary localization.The cultural spirit and literary norms of Su Shi’s poems translated by Watson have been transformed,showing the qualities of American culture and literature.As a result,his translation is well integrated into the American cultural and literary fields,becoming part of American literature.Therefore,with Watson ’s Selections as the research object and the literary localization theory as the analytical basis,this thesis aims to explore how the translator integrates the American cultural spirit and poetic norms into his translation.This study is undertaken from three aspects: the reconstruction of cultural spirit,the transformation of poetic norms,and the canonization of Watson’s translation in America.After detailed analysis,the author has derived the following findings: 1)The reconstruction of cultural spirit is reflected in both the variation of Su Shi’s image and the localization of cultural images.Because of the cultural filtering in text selection,Su Shi’s image has changed.In Selections,Su Shi is no longer a politician who cares for his country and people but an artist with high achievements and an optimistic person with endless enthusiasm and love for life even in adversity.The localization of cultural images caters to the recipient’s cultural habits.2)The transformation of poetic norms is reflected in three aspects: variation of language style,rewriting of form and structure,and recreation of rhythm and rhyme.The above two aspects reveal the mechanism of literary localization in Watson’s translation.They also serve as the prelude to the canonization of Watson’s translation in America.3)The canonization of Watson’s translation in America is achieved through the following ways: his creative translation gets into important American literary anthologies and is used as the textbook for Chinese literature by many American universities;American sinologists and literary critics think highly of his translations;his translation influences the creation of American poets.Finally,thanks to the above-mentioned three aspects,Su Shi’s poetry as “the other” has gained a second life in America.This study provides a deeper understanding of literary variation and the mechanism of literary localization in poetry translation,which implies the internal regularity of literary translation.It also sheds light on the translation practice of classical Chinese poetry.Besides,the study explores a new research route for study on the translation of Su Shi’s poems.It can serve as a reference for future research on poetry translation from the perspective of literary localization. |
