Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation to a number of people for their invaluable assistance in preparation and development of this thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to Professor my supervisor, for his constant encouragement and guidance. He has walked me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. Without his consistent and illuminating instruction, this thesis could not have reached its present form. 44088
Second, I am also greatly indebted to the professors and teachers at the School of Foreign Language, who have instructed and helped me a lot in the past four years.
Last my thanks would go to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my friends and my fellow classmates who gave me their help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis.
The Untranslatability of Poetry and Compensations in Poetry Translation--a Case Study of Two English Versions of Guanju
Abstract Poetry translation has always been the hard point of translation, and debates on the translatability and untranslatability of its translation have never stopped. Traditional Chinese poems, as China’s priceless gem, deeply rooted in China’s history, have their unique literary characteristics, which undoubtedly add difficulty to its translation. This paper studies the translation of ancient Chinese poem Guanju by the famous translator Xu Yuanchong and the modern American poet Ezra Pound by analyzing their translation theories and styles, and through the analysis and evaluation on the two versions, it aims at studying the untranslatability on poetry translation and finding ways to compensate for it.
Keywords: poetry translation, Guanju, untranslatability, compensation, imagery, rhyme
分析古诗英译中的不可译性及其补偿性——以《关雎》两译本为例
摘 要诗歌翻译向来是翻译中的难点,关于诗歌是否可译的争论也从未停歇。古诗作为中华民族的瑰宝,`751*文+论]文|网\www.751com.cn有着深厚的文化底蕴及文学特色,其英译更是难上加难。本文通过分析《关雎》的两个译本,研究许渊冲和庞德的翻译理论及风格,论文网进一步研究古诗翻译的不可译问题及补偿方式,对后来译者们研究及进行古诗英译有一定借鉴意义。
毕业论文关键词:古诗英译,关雎,不可译性,补偿,意象,韵律
Contents
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Xu Yuanchong’s translation of Guanju 1
1.2. Ezra Pound’s Version of Guanju 2
2. Literature Review 4
3. The Untranslatability of Poetry 5
3.1 The Untranslatability of Imagery 5
3.2 The Untranslatability of Rhyme 7
3.3 The Untranslatability of Charm 7
4. Compensation Ways for the Untranslatability of Poetry 9
4.1 The Compensation on the Translation of Imagery 9
4.2 The Compensation on the Translation of Rhyme 10
4.3 The Compensation on the Translation of Charm 10
5. Conclusion 12
References 13
1. Introduction
Shijing, as the first poetry collection of China, is the glorious beginning of Chinese literature, has a quite high position not only in the history of Chinese culture but also in the history of world culture. Guanju is the first poem of Shijing, and is also a key object of literature research. Since Legee first translated it into English, Guanju now has 22 different translation versions. This paper mainly studies Xu Yuanchong’s and Pound’s translations of Guanju, through which the untranslatability of poetry translation and compensation methods will be discussed as well.