A Comparative Study of Pound’s and Xu Yuanchong’s Translation Theories inTranslating Chinese Classical Poetry－－A Case Study of Two English Versions of Song You Ren 庞德和许渊冲的中国古典诗歌翻译理论对比研究－－以《送友人》的两个英译本为例开题报告

 2023-06-29 13:05:18

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

1. Introduction1.1 Background of the research With the development of globalization and the improvement of Chinas international status, China has become more and more closely connected with the world. More and more foreign friends are interested in Chinese traditional culture, which brings greater possibility for the wide spread of Chinese culture. As a symbol of Chinese traditional culture, Chinese classical poetry has always been the focus of scholars at home and abroad. The quality of Chinese classical poetry translation directly affects the wide spread of Chinese traditional culture in the international community. Scholars have an increasingly in-depth exploration of English translation of Chinese classical poetryfrom the argument of translatability or untranslatability (He, 2020; Tang, 2019; J. Wang Mao, 2005).Xu Yuanchong, as a great translator, plays an important role in the field of English translation of Chinese classical poetry. He devotes his whole life to translation and has published many translated works at home and abroad, such as Book of songs, Selected poems of Li Bai and Songs of Chu, which have made great contribution to the promotion of Chinese culture and the development of translation literature. He is the first translator in Asia to win the Aurora Borealis Prize (Xu, 2017). Xu Yuanchong proposed that the translation of classical poetry should abide by the theory of three beauties, that is, to convey the beauty of meaning, form and sound of the original poem (Xu, 2006). His original translation principle of three beauties has been widely used in translation practice since its establishment.Pound is a representative figure of American imagist poetry in the 20th century. He is a poet as well as a translator. He has a strong interest in Chinese classical poetry and has translated a lot of Chinese classical poetry. His representative work Cathay received a warm response once published. The publication of Cathay marks the first real success of Chinese classical poetry in the United States and establishes Pounds status as a translator. Pounds criteria for poetry translation are beauty and ideal effect, which is a kind of recreation faithful to the original text (Zhu, 2005). However, there has always been a controversy in Pounds translation of Chinese poetry into English. Due to the differences in the way of thinking and cultural traditions between China and the West, some scholars believe that Pounds translation of Chinese classical poetry has many mistakes (Zhu, 2005).Song You Ren is one of the famous works of Li Bai, a romantic poet in China. It is a sincere farewell poem. There are many English versions of Song You Ren. Among them, Xu Yuanchongs and Pounds versions represent good translations by Chinese translator and western translator respectively. Therefore, comparative study of the two versions is of great value. Based on their respective theories, Xu and Pound both translated Song You Ren. Because of the different theoretical views and the translation methods they used, the two versions are different in three aspects, which are meaning, sound and form. Therefore, this paper will be a comparative study of Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs translation theories on Chinese classical poetry translation in conveying the ST (source text) meaning, sound and form by an example of Song You Ren.1.2 Need of the studyThe thesis has both practical and academic meanings. On the one hand, translation practice needs the support of translation theory. Both Xu Yuanchong and Pound are well-known translators at home and abroad. Their translation theories are the result of their long-term practice and the crystallization of wisdom. Meanwhile, their theories are also controversial. By comparing and analyzing their theories, taking the essence and removing the dross, it can be helpful to apply the theories to the practice of translating Chinese classical poetry better. On the other hand, translation has no best only better. As a thousand Hamlets in a thousand peoples eyes, different translators have different versions of translating Chinese classical poetry. It is difficult to judge which version can convey the charm and implication of the original poem to the greatest extent. Translating Chinese classical poetry is a process of pursuing perfection. In order to better and more accurately spread the culture of ancient Chinese poetry, scholars need to constantly criticize and inherit the theories of predecessors to seek better translation strategies. 1.3 Purpose of the studyThis study intends to compare Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs translation theories in translating the meaning, sound and form of the Chinese classical poetry, based on their respective versions of Song You Ren, aiming to find out the advantages and disadvantages of different translation theories, and to learn from each others strengths and weaknesses, so as to call on scholars to critically inherit the theories of different translators and make the translation of Chinese classical poetry perfect.In addition, this study is dedicated to calls on scholars to appreciate the translation of ancient poetry from various perspectives, and not stick to the comparative analysis of poetic images. For Chinese classical poetry, meaning, sound and form are indispensable. In the application of theory to poetry translation, it is not advisable to focus only on images and ignore sound and form.2. Literature ReviewIn this chapter, previous studies on Xus and Pounds translation theories and the English versions of Song You Ren will be reviewed. 2.1 Previous studies on Xus and Pounds translation theories2.1.1 Xus three beauties theoryAt the end of the last century, professor Xu Yuanchong unifies his own experience in literary translation, and on the basis of inheriting Yan Fus and Fu Leis previous discussions, he puts forward the literary translation theory of Chinese schoolArt of the beautified, improves quality competes(Xu, 2003: 466). According to his own description in Literature and Translation, Xu mentions that the beauties of meaning, sound and form (three beauties principle) are the ontology of literature translation, especially of poetry translation; advantage, balance of power and disadvantage (three potential theory) are epistemology of the relationship between two languages; simplifying, being equivalent, deepening (three transformation theory) are the methodology of literary translation; knowledge, interest, pleasure are the teleology of literary translation(Xu, 2016). The three beauties was first put forward by Lu Xun in his article From Characters to Articles. Xu Yuanchong applies Lu Xuns three beauties to translation and develops them as the theory of poetry translation. Xu (2016) thinks that the translated poetry should be as touching as the original poem, which is the beauty of sense; it should have the same pleasant rhythm as the original poem, which is the beauty of sound; and it should try to keep the structure of the original poem, such as length, antithesis and so on, which is the beauty of form. In essence, Xus three beauties theory optimizes Yanfus theory of faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance and inherits and develops Lu Xuns three beauties. Xus three beauties theory provides a clear theoretical guidance for the translation of Chinese classical poetry from three aspects: meaning, sound and form.Xus beauty in sense is to preserve the surface meaning of original poetry and convey its deep emotion. Xu use the methods of three transformation in poetry translation to keep the characteristics of the original poem and reproduce the artistic conception of the original poem. Xu thinks that beauty in sense is a deep structure and similar in meaning is a surface structure. When the surface layer and the deep layer of the original text are consistent, or the similar in meaning of the original can convey the beauty in sense of the original, the method of being equivalent can be adopted. If there is a distance between the surface layer and the deep layer of the original text, or if the similar in meaning of the original cannot convey the beauty in sense of the original, then the deepening or simplifying translation method can be adopted. Deepening is to enter the deep content of the original through the surface form, and the content of the translation is more profound than the original. On the contrary, simplifying is to turn the profound and complicated text into a simple and easy-to- understand translation (Y. X. Zhang, 2008). Xus beauty in sound is to maintain the charm of the original poem, so that the translation sounds have rhythm, rhyme, smooth and pleasant to hear. Xus beauty in form is to try to make the translated poems similar to the original pomes in terms of sentence length and anthesis. In other words, if the number of lines of the translation is the same as that of the original poem, and the length of each line is approximately the same, then the translation basically embodies the beauty in form of the original poem (Xu, 2016).In general, Xu believes that beauty in sense is the most important one among the three beauties, beauty in sound is secondary and the third one is beauty in form. On the premise of conveying the beauty in sense of the original text, translators should convey the beauty in sound as much as possible. Whats more, on the premise of conveying the beauty in sense and the beauty in sound of the original, they should try to convey the beauty in form as well. Translators should strive to put best words in best order. If the three beauties cannot be combined, then first of all, the similarity of sound and the similarity in form can be abandoned. But in any case, the beauty in sense of the original must be conveyed as much as possible. The best translation is the one that can satisfy the beauty in sense (Xu, 2006: 81).2.1.2 Pounds interpretative translation theoryThe purpose of Pounds translation is the idiomatic expression in English translation and the fidelity in meaning and atmosphere to the ST. Fidelity here is not loyalty in the traditional sense. It includes not only the faithfulness in the meaning of the ST, but also the faithfulness in the atmosphere of the ST. He refers to atmosphere, which is both contextual and textual connections. Meaning is produced in a certain atmosphere. Pound attaches great importance to grasping the real (Liao, 2006: 31).Pound believes that the relationship between the author and the translator is unequal, and he sticks to the original is for translation. The author of the ST is a dead voice (Zhu, 2005). To inherit the useful things of the ST, it should not be sanctified, but it can be innovated by translation. Therefore, Pound called his work with Fenollosa recreation. In his opinion, translation is not a simple reproduction of old works, but a creative process of transforming old works (Sanford Schwartz, 1985). Michael Alexander (1979: 18) said that Pounds poetry is a translation and his translation is an original poem. In his translation of Chinese classical poetry, Pound abandons the traditional translation based on fidelity and adopts a translation method he called interpretative translation, that is the translator is actually creating a new poem, which belongs to the category of creative writing (Pound，1968: 200). Pound advocates the creative translation of poetry in English, aiming at achieving the equivalent effect of the translation and guiding readers to acquire the intrinsic characteristics of the original poem. Pound argues that what a poem will not lose in translation is precisely these intrinsic characteristics, which are the indestructible part of the poem. Pounds creative approach to poetry translation is a method between Donalds paraphrase and imitation (Mary Paterson Cheadle, 1997). Under the guidance of this method, Pound translated Cathay based on Chinese classical poetry, which brought the Chinese classical poetry to the West, and set off a Chinese fever in the last century.Interpretative translation or creative translation is Ezra Pounds main idea of translation. The main translation methods can be divided into two categories: literal translation and expository translation. In addition, Pounds other translation thoughts are mainly embodied in four aspects: 1) energy in language; 2) detailed translation theory; 3) translatability; 4) translation criteria. The concept of energy in language is the core of Pounds translation theory. He believes that poetry is a highly energetic thing (1968: 49). A successful translation is to find equations for human emotions so as to achieve the ideal effect. The ideal effect is the beauty close to the thing itself, and beauty is the emotional intensity in the ST. In order to achieve the ideal effect and reproduce the beauty of things themselves, Pound puts forward the detailed translation theory. He advocates accurate reproduction of details, words, fragments and the whole image description. Combined with the above-mentioned energy in language, Kenner (1971) thinks that Pounds theory is a way to reproduce the energy and details of the ST and give people insight.Pounds theory of detail translation can be divided into two periods. One is the early imagist phase, which is separated from the traditional logical form. In this period, Pounds translation still contains some abstract concepts and expressions; The second is the late vortist phase. The theory in this phase is completely based on words in action and specific details (Edwin Gentzler, 1993:19). It emphasizes the form and energy of language in the process of stating things. According to Pounds energy in language, language itself has the ability to adapt to various environments and survive by variation.Pound (1960) points out in the ABC of Reading that the ways in which language obtains energy are melopoeia, phanopoeia and logopoeia, including the words direct meaning and the meaning in specific contexts. Pounds thinks that the nature of melopoeia is difficult to be translated, and it can only be translated half a line at most at one time. The visual nature can be translated, but the ideological nature is hardly translated. In fact, Pound carries out the process of determine and translate. Judge whether the poetry is translatable or not firstly, and then to do a creative translation. Through these two periods, it is not hard to see that Pounds translation methods can be summed up as creative image juxtaposition and accurate presentation of details.2.1.3 The application of the two theoriesAccording to the data from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), there are about 224 domestic studies on Xu Yuanchongs translation principles of three beauties, of which two-thirds are applied to the translation of Chinese classical poetry. It shows that Xu Yuanchongs three beauties theory is of great practical and research value in the field of English translation of Chinese classical poetry. However, the research on Pounds translation theory is much less than that of Xu Yuanchongs, it is only about 150. Most of them focus on the study of his two representatives works, Cathay and Cantos, and is about the appreciation of Pounds imagist poetry. Few people have made a systematic study of Pounds poetry translation theory, let alone the comparative studies on Pounds and Xus. In accordance with the limited collection of the data, the previous studies on the translation of Chinese classical poetry by Xu Yuanchong and Pound can be roughly divided into four categories. The first is to compare the differences between the two in image or artistic conception translation. For example, Li Tiantian (2020) analyzed the translation of names, places and allusions in the cultural images of Chinese poetry by Pound and Xu Yuanchong from the perspective of relevance theory. This paper makes a comparative study of Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs different strategies in image translation. The second is to compare their translation thoughts or translations with the theories of the third party. The third-party theories involved include: Nidas functional equivalence theory (S. M. Wang, 2014), Yan Fus faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance (H. Zhang, 2014), Andre Lefevers rewriting theory (R. F. Zhang, 2013) etc. The third is to compare their different versions from the perspective of aesthetics. The fourth is a simple comparison of the two peoples different translations of the same poem, and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of their translations. In terms of research content, scholars have spent a lot of energy on the comparison of Xu Yuanchongs and Pounds translation of ancient poetry meaning, and have not discussed the differences between them in the form and sound of poetry translation. Therefore, there is a lack of research on the comparison of form and sound in the translation of Chinese classical poetry. In addition, it is not difficult to see that most scholars are on the side of Xu Yuanchong (supporting Xu Yuanchongs theory) when comparing them. They think that Xu Yuanchongs translation is better than Pounds translation for the same poem.At abroad, the study on Pound can be totally divided into four aspects: 1) On Pounds biographical and philological studies; 2) The literary perspective of Pounds study; 3) Political and economic perspectives of Pounds research; 4) The philosophical perspective of Pounds research. They take Ezra Pounds Cathay and Cantos as the main research objects, and gradually reveal Pounds poetic thoughts, achievements and poetic theories (Zhu, 2005). In the aspect of English translation of Chinese classical poetry, many scholars thought that Pound himself (early stage) did not understand Chinese, and there were too many creative elements in his translation works, which could not be regarded as translation in a strict sense. Therefore, most of his translation works and translation thoughts were not seriously studied. This is also the reason why among the most influential translators and critics, Pound is the least understood one (Edwin Gentzler, 1993: 19). However, in recent ten years, some domestic scholars have begun to study Pounds theory systematically. The famous one is Zhu Chaoweis Construction and Reflection, which comprehensively introduces Pounds translation theory, and Liao Qiyi (2006) also mentions Pounds translation theory in his work. In contrast to Xu Yuanchongs theory of poetry translation, especially his principle of three beauties, has aroused heated discussion internationally. The main topics are translation aesthetics (Liu, 2020), the significance of intercultural communication (Jun, 2020), and the comparative appreciation of poetry translation from the perspective of three beauties theory (Li J. Wu, 2017). Generally speaking, the main research direction and content of Xu Yuanchong and Pound at home and abroad are roughly the same. 2.2 Previous studies on the English versions of Song You RenThe data from CNKI showed that only 16 articles related to the study of the translation of Song You Ren, and less than half of them have made a complete comparative study of Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs versions. There are 17 versions of the translation of Song You Ren. The versions of Pounds and Xus are the most representative and their versions are most popular among scholars. Pounds version taking leave of a friend translated in 1915 is the earliest translation of Song You Ren, Xus version farewell to a friend rendered in 1987 is 72 years later than Pounds. Even so, scholars still like to compare their translations together. In recent ten years, scholars have made comparative analysis of Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs versions on the basis of different theories.Zhao Haijuan (2010) tries to use Ingardens four-level theory to compare Pounds and Xus translation. Through a comparative analysis of the phonetic level, semantic level, schema level and objective level, this paper points out Pounds shortcomings in translating rhythm and individual images of Song You Ren, and affirms Xu Yuanchongs translation. Shen Guorong (2011) tries to use Hallidays theory of functional grammar to make a functional discourse analysis and comparison of the two English versions of the Tang poem Song You Ren. Instead of comparing Pounds translation with Xu Yuanchongs, he compares Pounds translation with Herbert A. Giless. It is worth mentioning that, different from other scholars criticism on Pounds translation, Shens research conclusion is that Pounds translation under Hallidays functional grammar theory is closer to the original text, and better than Giles translation. Lu Xiaoxiao (2014) commented on the translation of Xu Yuanchong and Pound from the perspective of foreignization. She draws the conclusion that Xu Yuanchongs version better shows the beauty of rhythm in the original poem, while from the image level, they have their own advantages and disadvantages. Zhao Yong and Liu Lanting (2015) conducted a survey and statistics from the perspective of reader response and translation quality evaluation. The survey involved eight translations of Song You Ren, including those by Xu Yuanchong and Pound. The statistical results show that the response of Xu Yuanchongs translation to the target language readers is closest to that of the original text while Pounds translation scored the lowest, indicating that he was most divorced from the original. In addition to the above studies, some scholars have made a comparative study on the translation of Song You Ren from the perspective of relevance theory (Y. Wu, 2015) and cognitive construal (theory of Cognitive Linguistics) (Jiao, 2017). Whats more, when analyzing the 17 English versions of sending friends, Jiao Haihong also made a brief review of previous studies, she mentions that the focus on the translation of Song You Ren like other translation works that it has changed for four times. From author-centered to text-centered, from reader-centered and then to considering the author, text and reader（Jiao, 2017: 10）.Although many scholars have made a contrastive analysis of the translation of Song You Ren by different translation theories, some have also made a comparative analysis of Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs versions. Most of them put the original translation into the theoretical framework of others, but they do not really systematically explain the differences between the two versions in terms of their respective theoretical perspectives from the three aspects of Chinese Classical Poetry: meaning, sound and form. Therefore, it is necessary to choose Li Bais Song You Ren as the basis for comparing their theories.ReferencesAlexander, M. (1979). The poetic achievement of Ezra Pound. London and Boston: Faber Faber.Cheadle, M. P. (1997). Ezra Pounds Confucian translation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Ezra Pound. (1960). ABC of Reading. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation.Ezra Pound. (1968). Literary essays of Ezra Pound. Edited with an introduction by T. S. Eliot. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation.Gong, G. M. (2016). New theory of aesthetic translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaotong University Press.Gentzler, E. (1993). Contemporary translation theories. London and New York: Routledge.Jun, Y. M. (2020). Comparative analysis of Xu Yuanchongs and W. J. B. Fletchers translation of cultureLoaded words in Chang Hen Ge. Proceedings of 2020 international symposium on education, culture and social sciences (pp. 85-93). Wuhan: Wuhan Zhicheng Times Cultural Development Co., Ltd.Kenner, H. (1971). The Pound Era. Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.Li, S. L., Wu, J. (2017). A study on Zhang Peijis selected modern Chinese essays from the perspective of Xu Yuanchongs three-beauty principle. Paper presented at the 3rd International Conference on Education and Social Development.Liao, Q. Y. (2006). A Research of Contemporary Western Translation Theories. Nanjing: Yilin Press.Liu, H. Q. (2020). Aesthetic evaluation of poetry translation based on the perspective of Xu Yuanchongs poetry translation theories with intuitionistic fuzzy information. International journal of knowledge-based and intelligent engineering systems, 23(4), 303-309.Schwartz, S. (1985). The matrix of modernism: Pound, Eliot, and early twentieth century thought. Princeton: Princeton University Press.何鹏（2020），探究诗歌翻译的可行性和不可译性，《知识文库》，19：149-151。

焦海红（2017），从认知识解视角分析李白诗歌《送友人》17个英译本，硕士学位论文。

Retrieved 2020-11-10 from https://kns.cnki.net/KCMS/detail.aspx?dbname=CMFD201801filrname=1017246301.nh陆晓晓（2014），汉诗英译本韵律美和意象美的结合从异化角度评析《送友人》的两个英译本，《剑南文学》，10：53-54。

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2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

This thesis will conduct a textual research on the two English versions of Song You Ren, and on this basis will make a comparative study of Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs translation theories in translating Chinese classical poetry. The purpose is to explore whether Xu Yuanchong and Pound, supported by their respective poetry translation theories, are reasonable and accurate in conveying the meaning, sound and form of Chinese classical poetry, and which translation theory is more conducive to promoting the widespread dissemination of Chinese classical poetry in the West.This article will firstly summarize Pounds and Xu Yuanchongs translation theory of Chinese classical poetry. It will mainly compare Xu Yuanchongs three beauties theory with Pounds interpretative translation theory, and analyzes the three dimensions of conveying the original poem in terms of meaning, sound, and form based on the respective English versions of Song You Ren. In summary, the paper will make an in-depth analysis of the similarities and differences between the two in translation thinking and translation methods.

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