1朱素珍：Appreciation of poetry translation in the cross-culture background

Aesth_App_EN_1

Abstract

It is such a thoughtful question that how to translate poetry in the cross-culture background. It is not difficult to translate poetry, and large quantities of translators and writers have provided us uncountable excellent versions of translation of poetry. A professional translator has the responsibility to achieve the effects of three principles put forward by Yan Fu: faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance which are one of the important criteria for translation. This essay would mainly discuss the appreciation of poetry translation based on the three principles as discussed before with the analysis of different versions of translation of the same poetry. After the comparable analysis of these versions, whether the translators have obeyed the three principles as well as whether the cultural factor has been considered or not can be uncovered clearly. Furthermore, in the process of appreciation, people can also learn how to translate the poetry properly. Besides, such analysis is conducive to the appreciation of poetry translation in the cross-culture background, which is inspiring and instructive.

Key words

poetry translation; cross-culture background; Yan Fu’s three principles of faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance

Introduction

Poetry as an important part of human literature, experienced ups and downs in the long river of history from the period of Greece to the modern days. Human varieties of emotions and feelings can be recorded and transmitted by the form of poetry, which is the essential part of human life. For China, poetry has played a special and crucial role since the ancient times, with Tang dynasty as its prime priority period. Because of its strong function of expressing people’s feelings and amazing entertainment, it is preferred by thousands of poets such us Li Bai, Du Fu, Vans, etc. At the same time, piles of wonderful poetries have appeared like the mushroom after rain. Actually, poetry is universal and common for humankind, and it is being chosen by some western poets including Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Burns and Emily Dickinson, etc. According to Aristotle, literature should have the function of education, that is to say, instructing people’s mind. Poetry is positive and it provides chance for people to imitate and create their own lovely poetry, and during this period, their virtue can be promoted, so they can be more morally great. However, in Plato’s opinion, poetry is the second remove from reality, and it is the great danger for the unity of the state of philosophy. Moreover, the poets should be exiled, and there should be strict censorship for the publication of poetry. Different philosophers have different ideas about poetry. And different poets can create different kinds of poetries with rich titles and versatile structures. Besides, people speaking in different language and living in exotic culture are capable to write the poetry that is special to them. However, no matter what are the difference, one point is true: poetry is a powerful tool for people to know and create the world. Such special point is stemming from the difference of language and culture. People are not unfamiliar with Sapir Wolf’s Theory of Linguistic Relativity which put forward that language decides how people think. It is such a strong and even a little decisive theory. However, it at least uncovers the relationship between language and culture. It is understandable that language is to some extent reflects how people are thinking， and the thinking can further show the influence of culture in the process of communication. For example, in China, people would say” Have you eaten?” when they meet each other occasionally. But the Chinese are not intentionally asking whether the hearer has eaten or not, and they are only expressing a kind of greeting. Therefore, when the foreigners hearing such a sentence, they would get confused. This is a typical example showing the culture’s important role in communication. Except for the spoken communication, culture would also influence the translation of literary works, such as poetry, novel and play, etc. In the translation of poetry, a professional translator has to put the factor of culture into consideration well in order to achieve a high-quality translation effect. Actually, poetry cross-culture translation is always an inevitable issue for translation, especially today we are in a high-speed developing cross-culture Time, naturally how to appreciate the translation of poetry is of great importance.

Comparative analysis of different version of translation of poetry

In this part, it is necessary to make some comparative analysis between different versions of translation. As we all known, translation is also a process in which the translators try to create and translate. Translators are the creators at the same time. Because of their different culture background, educational background, their translation experience and some other factors, different translators can create different versions of poetry. Therefore, in this process we can experience how the translators construct and create the translation based on their embodied experience and professional quality. It is not uncommon that the same poetry may have different versions of translation. And the appreciation of translation is to analyze how the translators translate it and why they would try to translate in such a way. At the same time, translation appreciation is not just a process to appreciate it, it is also a process to learn. Translation can be seen as a bridge that relates the reader and the writer in different language background. Without translation, it is impossible to transmit the beauty and amaze of literary works to more people, not less achieving a grandeur and multi-cultural literature feast. The translators are like the builder of the bridge, and their subjective factors including attitude, spirit as well as objective factors involving building method, the natural factors and so on are a unified system that would influence how the builders construct the bridge. It is believed that there are no best versions of translation, but better one. Therefore, the unlimited nature of translation makes it possible for us to make a comparison between kinds of versions, because there is no best translation but better one.

邱婷婷：On Xu Yuanzhong’s poetry translation from the theory of “Three Beauties” -- Taking Three Hundred Tang Poems as an example

Trans_Type_EN_3

Abstract

Chinese classical poetry has a long history and is full of romance. Its language is concise, its content is rich and diverse, its form is harmonious and unified, and its rhythm is beautiful, which makes it interesting to read. The Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous period of Chinese culture, and its poets created a large number of masterpieces with different styles and rich emotions. Three Hundred Tang Poems translated into English by Xu Yuanzhong expressed the content and emotion of the poem vividly. This paper will analyze the “beauty” in Xu’s poetry translation from the three perspectives of “beauty of meaning”, “beauty of sound” and “beauty of form”.

Keywords

“three beauties”theory；beauty in meaning；beauty in sound；beauty in form

从“三美论”浅析许渊冲的诗歌翻译—以《唐诗三百首》为例

摘要

中国古典诗歌历史悠久且颇具浪漫气息，其语言凝练，内容丰富多样，形式和谐统一，韵律优美，阅读中耐人寻味。唐朝是中国文化最为繁荣昌盛的时期，唐代诗人创作了大量风格迥异，情感丰富的名篇佳作。许渊冲英译的《唐诗三百首》，将诗中的内容、情感传神地表达了出来。本文将从许渊冲提出的“三美论”，即“意美”、“音美”、“形美”这三个角度来赏析其诗歌翻译中的“美”。

关键词

意美；音美；形美

Introduction

Xu Yuanzhong (April 18, 1921 -- June 17, 2021), was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. He graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages of Southwest Associated University in his early years. He has been engaged in literary translation for more than 60 years, covering Chinese, English, French and other languages, focusing on the translation of ancient Chinese poetry into English, forming the method and theory of rhyming style translation of poetry, known as “the only person to translate poetry into English and French”. As an outstanding translator in contemporary China, he plays an important role in promoting Chinese cultural works and letting them be known by so many foreigners. In 2010, Xu won the “Lifetime Achievement Award of Chinese Translation Culture”. On August 2, 2014, Xu Yuanzhong was awarded the “Northern Lights” Outstanding Literary Translation Award, one of the highest awards in the international translation field, and was the first Asian translator to receive this award (Zhou Rongrong, 2020:129). Mr. Xu Yuanzhong plays an important role in Chinese translation circle, not only for his numerous translation masterpieces but also for his translation theory, which has a great influence in latter translators.

The theory of “Three Beauties” was first put forward by Xu Yuanzhong in his letter to the aesthetician Zhu Guangqian in 1979, and has been continuously applied in subsequent translation practices. The translation theory of “three Beauties” determines that Xu Yuanzhong be consistent with the principle of “pursuing beauty” over “expressing faithfully” in his translation practice, attaches importance to the “beauty”of poetry and gives full play to his creativity. Xu once said that “The main purpose of poetry translation is not to make reputation of the poet letting him being remembered by the people of future generations, but to enable people to share the poet’s graceful feelings”; “I think translating poems should be ingenious and creative, he added (http://www.etogether.net/htm/literature/20180917/6170_2.html).

Three Hundred Tang Poems is a very popular anthology of Tang poetry. The Period of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was the golden age of Chinese poetry, with a large number of famous poets and more than 50,000 poems. Three Hundred Tang Poems (in both Chinese and English) completed by Xu Yuanzhong is a book published by China International Translation Press in 2007. And the theory of “Three Beauties” was well used in the translation of Three Hundred Tang Poems. Therefore, the study of Xu Yuanzhong’s translation of Three Hundred Tang Poems, form the perspective of his translation theory “Three Beauties” has high practical valve. This paper studies and appreciates the translation of Three Hundred Tang Poems under the “Three Beauties” principles, and it is mainly divided into four parts: some explanation of the “Three Beauties” theory, appreciation from the scope of the beauty of meaning, appreciation from the scope of the beauty of sound, appreciation from the scope of the beauty of form. Back to Course homepage

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Aesthetic Appreciation of Literary Translations

Contents

1朱素珍：Appreciation of poetry translation in the cross-culture background

Abstract

Key words

Introduction

Comparative analysis of different version of translation of poetry

邱婷婷：On Xu Yuanzhong’s poetry translation from the theory of “Three Beauties” -- Taking Three Hundred Tang Poems as an example

Abstract

Keywords

从“三美论”浅析许渊冲的诗歌翻译—以《唐诗三百首》为例

摘要

关键词

Introduction

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