An Analysis of Cultural Images and Contexts.txt

屦塣临跭跭跭塣綨1923malinowski塢书齫 abstractabstractchinese classical poetry,the very essence of chinese literature,is cherished asour unique heritage with its mysterious glamour.translation is a complicated processof intercultural communication and quite different translations are often producedbecause translators have different ideas about translating and different interpretationsof one and the same poem.no longer confined to language equivalence,poetrytranslation assumes the important responsibility of conveying the culturalconnotation.images abound in chinese poems and play an important role in poeticcreation.the charm of poetry is attributed to the adoption of rich images.culturalimages,cultural signs resulted from the related cultural environments,are contextdependent.this thesis is the authors attempt at studying from the aspects of imagery andcontext in chinese classical poetry translation.it begins with an overall review of thehistory and development of chinese classical poetry,followed by a detailedintroduction to cultural images.simply speaking,image refers to thepicturesformed in the mind created by poetic language.images appearing in poetry differ dueto the different cultural backgrounds.concrete principles and strategies are presentedand it is also pointed out that the unique artistic nature of poetry translationdetermines that aesthetics is an important approach in assessing its values for boththeoretical probe and translation practice.after introduction to imagery,the analysis of the context is followed.translatorswork on the interpretation and the transfer of various texts.texts are therefore thedirect object in translating.but as textlinguistics shows that any text is produced in aspecific context and thus context has become an essential factor in the understandingof texts.some scholars both at home and abroad have noticed the importance ofcontext centuries ago.but it was not until malinowski put forward his conception ofcontext of situation in 1923 did linguists begin to show increasing interest in thestudy of context and they now are attaching more and more importance to it.adopting the nidas translation principle as criterion,this thesis summarizes thestudies of context at home and abroad and its definitions,features,classifications andfunctions.through the translation practice,the author holds that context plays a vitalrole in the equivalents of the content and form of translation.in this thesis,however,the author suggests that the findings of linguists on context studies should apply tothe translation of chinese classical poetry into english,making a thorough and an analysis of cultural images and contexts in english translation of chinese classical poetrydetailed analysis of the related contextual features to arrive at a more reasonableinterpretation of the source text and a more proper choice of translating strategies.in conclusion,imagery is the theme of the poetry.with the increase of culturalexchanges of the whole world,the deepening of the cross-cultural communication,imagery in varied cultural background is easily understood and appreciated byforeign readers increasingly.on the basis of general research of scholars,the authortakes its rationality and deepens the understanding of the contextual theory,puts thecontext study into the translation practice to make the translator pay more attention tocontextual factors in translating in order to ensure perfect reappearance of meaningand style of the original.keywords:english translation of chinese classical poetry cultural imagescontexts contentscontentsintroduction.11.research background and overview of the thesis12.organization of the thesis3chapter i a review on chinese classical poetry51.1 the history and the development of chinese classical poetry.51.2 a comparative study of chinese and english poetry81.2.1 themes.81.2.2 grammar81.3 characteristics of poetry.91.3.1 vividness91.3.2 musicality. rhythm rhyme. parallelism.171.3.3 imagethe soul of poetry.181.4 contexts and the understanding of chinese classical poetry191.5 major poetry translation schools and their representatives21chapter ii cultural imagery of chinese classical poetry.252.1 introduction to imagery252.1.1 definition of imagery.252.1.2 the disputes over the termimagein western critical tradition252.1.3 the survey of the concept of image in chinese literary theories262.2 imagery and culture272.3 categories of imagery.292.3.1 visual images.302.3.2 auditory images.302.3.3 olfactory images312.3.4 tactile images312.3.5 gustatory images.32 an analysis of cultural images and contexts in english translation of chinese classical poetrychapter iii context studies333.1 introduction to context333.1.1 definition of context333.1.2 classifications of context343.2 an overview of context studies363.2.1 text and context.363.2.2 the history and the findings of context studies37chapter iv english translation of chinese classical poetry414.1 achievements in english translation of chinese classical poetry.414.2 translation principles and aesthetic principles.424.2.1 typical translation principles(criteria)and multi-principle(criterion)theory.424.2.2 aesthetic principles in the translation of chinese classical poetry444.2.3 the aesthetic analysis of a chinese classical poem4 source text analysis.4 translated text analysis.474.3 the strategies in translating imagery chinese classical poetry.504.3.1 metrical translation.504.3.2 literal translation514.3.3 phonemic translation.524.3.4 free translation534.4 application of analysis of contextual features to translating chineseclassical poetry544.4.1 different interpretations and translations contextually acceptable.554.4.2 an illustration of analysis of contextual features57chapter v conclusion63acknowledgements.65bibliography67publications.71 introduction 1introduction1.research background and overview of the thesispoetry is the expression of thoughts,which awakes higher and nobler emotions ortheir opposites.it is the song of mans heart and soul,the picture of mans sense andimagination.good poetry,therefore,should reflect mans good thoughts and feelings orentertain readers with good senses and tastes.being the most condensed andconcentrated form of literature,poetry conveys most in the fewest number of words.chinese poetry has a long history of several thousand years.it is well known thatin china and also in the world,one of the earliest anthologies of verse is the book ofpoetry compiled 2500 years ago,which consists of 305 poems dating from 1713bc to505bc.with such a long history,chinese poetry has undergone various changes andgradually formulated its unique characteristics in rhyme scheme,choice of words,grammatical structure and rhetorical artistry,etc.in the age of globalization,more and more foreigners are getting interested inchinese classical poetry and more and more translators feel it their responsibility tointroduce them to foreign countries.difficult as the translation of chinese classicalpoetry is,so many versions have mushroomed.at the same time,painstaking studieshave been made on various aspects of the english translation of chinese classical poetry.translation of chinese classical poetry not only helps to increase the westernersinterest in china but also brings something new to english literature.more and moretranslators are contributing a lot in this field as there is an increasing demand forknowing chinese poetry and culture better by foreign readers and by the study ofcomparative literature.translation is the transfer of the meaning of a text which may be a word or a bookfrom one language to another for a new readership.it consists of studying lexicon,grammatical structure,communication situation,and cultural context of the sourcelanguage,analyzing it in order to determine its meaning,and then reconstructing thissame meaning by using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate intarget language and its cultural context.for translation,its first and basic purpose is toshow the original meaning of the source language to the reader of the target language.since different culture has its own long history,translators cannot separate the language 2an analysis of cultural images and contexts in english translation of chinese classical poetrycontent from its culture when translating.language is deeply rooted in culture and hence influenced and shaped by culture.language is the carrier of images.to understand an image in a certain culture,one mustunderstand the cultural background and sometimes the natural environment it isassociated with.images embedded with culture associations are permeated in allusions,idioms,metaphors,proverbs and image-rendering words and phrases,especially inpoetry,the gem of a language.some images are culture-specific,i.e.they are not sharedby the culture of the source language and by that of the target language.translatorsshould be cautious in transferring them.it might be better not to replace them withimages that belong to the target language culture only.chinese classical poetry maturedin culture boasts the pervasive presence of such culture-bounded images.since poetry isa mirror of life and culture,images used in poems in different languages can only beunderstood and translated on the basis of understanding their related culture.as thetranslators primary task in translating a chinese poem is to bring out the most dominantimages underlying the text,the methods he employs may be varied and many.all theeffectual strategies that help to represent the holistic meaning of the poem can beemployed.therefore,the strategies catalogued in this thesis may differ from orsometimes even contradict one another,but they are complementary to one another inpart.context is the important element that influences a translators understanding oftexts.in effect,some scholars both at home and abroad have noticed the importance ofcontext studies centuries ago.but it was not until the beginning of the 20th century andespecially when malinowski put forward his conception of context of situation andcontext of culture that linguists began to show increasing interest in the study of contextand they now are attaching more and more importance to it.as translating deals withlanguages and cultures,context naturally draws the attention of translators.but in thefield of translation studies,more attention has been paid to the understanding of asource text,say,the meaning of a word,a phrase or a sentence,with the help ofcontextual analysis.not much stress has been laid on the decision-making of thetranslating strategies in the light of contextual analysis,not to say applying analysis ofcontextual features to translation criticism.the translators intention and purpose shouldalso be taken into account in translation.for example,a translation for conveying theintellectual value of the source text mainly should be somewhat different from the onethat is mainly for the reproduction of the aesthetic value of the original.only by basingon such contextual analysis can the translator make the right decision on his strategies introduction 3of translating.in this thesis,however,the author suggests that the findings of linguistson context studies should apply to the translation of chinese classical poetry intoenglish and make a thorough and detailed analysis of the related contextual features toarrive at a more reasonable interpretation of the source text and a more proper choice oftranslating strategies.translators attempting to translate chinese classical poetry into english shouldknow the theories laid down already and then put into practice and refine them whiletranslating to make theory and practice evolve continuously.2.organization of the thesisthis thesis is composed of five chapters.chapter one consists of five parts.it begins with the literature review of the historyand the development of chinese classical poetry and comparative study of chinese andenglish poetry,followed by the characteristics of poetry.and then contexts and theunderstanding of chinese classical poetry are explored.in the last section of this chapter,there is a review of major poetry translation schools and their representatives.chapter two and chapter three introduce cultural imagery and context respectivelyin aspects of definitions and categories.as the most dominant part of this thesis,chapter four probes into achievements inenglish translation of chinese classical poetry,followed by translation principles andaesthetic principles.since the translators primary task in translating a chinese poem isto bring out the most dominant imagery underlying the text,the methods he employsmay be varied and many.all the effectual strategies that help to represent the holisticmeaning of the poem can be employed.therefore,the strategies catalogued as follows:metrical translation,literal translation,phonemic translation and free translation.as isshown by context studies and translation studies,contextual analysis plays a decisiverole both in arriving at a better understanding of the source text and in finding the rightways of manipulating.consequently,this chapter is ended with application of analysisof contextual features to translating chinese classical poetry.chapter five is the last chapter.it is a concluding part which summarizes what isinvestigated in the previous chapters,and attempts to describe what is likely to be donein the future in the research field of poetry translation. 4an analysis of cultural images and contexts in english translation of chinese classical poetry chapter i a review on chinese classical poetry 5chapter i a review on chinese classical poetry1.1 the history and the development of chinese classical poetrychina is one of the earliest countries where poetry originated and also one of themost prosperous ones where poetry developed.chinese poetry plays an important rolein the history of poetry in the world.poetry is the earliest form of literature.the earliestpoems are songs which depicted the scene of peoples laboring.the book of songs or the book of poetry()is the earliest anthology ofchinese classical poetry,consisting of 305 poems dating from between the 11th and the6th century bc.it is divided according to the type of music into three main sections:160 lyrical songs,105 odes and 40 sacrificial hymns.odes are subdivided into festalodes and epical odes.in the warring states,the first poet and the founder of chinese romantic poetry,quyuan composed the verse of the south.if the book of poetry is the earliest anthologyof realistic poems composed by common people in north china,the verse of the southmay be said to be the earliest collection of romantic poems written by a southern poet,qu yuan,who lived at the time when romanticism or shamanism in the south came intocontact with realism in the north and who became the greatest lyrical poet in ancientchina as a result of the contact.qu yuans best-known work is his autobiographical long poem,sorrow inestrangement which depicts his grief of being estranged from the undiscerning king.hebuilt up in chinese classical poetry the tradition of using the beauty to symbolize thesovereign and fragrant plants to represent loyal ministers.his love for the ideal was sopassionate that he could not bear the stern reality and finally he drowned himself intomiluo river on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month,which has become a holiday forchinese people to commemorate his death.qu yuans poetic imagination is unrivaled inchinese literature.from his poems,his love for his country is easily found.a poet whohad such deep love for his country and his people,for freedom and justice,will foreverbe remembered.during the hans four hundred years of relative peace and stability,literature andlearning flourished as a result of the founding of a state university and the establishmentof the civil service examination system.in the field of poetry,lyrical works were 6an analysis of cultural images and contexts in english translation of chinese classical poetrycomposed in the form that derived from the nine hymns of the verse of the south byqu yuan,using a six-or seven-character line broken in the middle by the breathingparticlexi().besides the works assigned to a known author,there are anonymousfolk songs which take their name from a government office called the music bureau,setup around 120 bc.by emperor wu or liu che to collect folk songs from various partsof the empire.these folk songs reflect the lives and hardships of the common people.some use lines of irregular length and others are predominantly in five-character lines,which may be said to be forerunners of tang po