汉语古诗词英译过程中意象的不可译性研究

1、OUTLINEAbstractKey WordsI. Introduction. The Untranslability of Classic Chinese Poetry Images2.1. Conceptions of Image2.2. The Untranslability of Image. The Reasons for the Untranslability of Classic Chinese Poetic Images3.1. Different Languages3.2. Cultural Default3.3. Different Thinking Methods3.3

2、.1 Round Thinking and Linear Thinking3.3.2 Holistic Thinking and Analytic Thinking3.3.3. Intuitive Empirical Thinking and Positivism Thinking. Three Strategies for Handling the Untranslability of Classic Chinese Poetry Images4.1. Literal Translation with Notation4.2. Paraphrase4.3. Ellipsis Translat

3、ionV. ConclusionBibliography中文标题、摘要、关键词On the Untranslability of Translating Classic ChinesePoetic Images into EnglishAuthor:Wang Shuyan Number:06680207 Tutor:He XueyunAbstract: Image is the soul of classic Chinese poetry, but due to the differences between Chinese culture and western culture, Chine

4、se and westerns are different in religious believing, history and the way of thinking, which make it difficult to get an absolute equivalent translation between Chinese and English. And it is especially hard to convey the possible connotation of the original image in the target language. In this pap

5、er, the untranslability of classic Chinese poetic images into English are introduced and analyzed, and its possible reasons: different languages, cultural default and different thinking methods, are explored. Furthermore, in order to avoid ruining the original images to the largest extent, based on

6、a number of famous translators, three practical translating strategies are put forwarded, literal translation with notation, paraphrase and ellipsis translation.Key Words: Chinese poetry; image; untranslability; strategies. IntroductionPoetry is the essence of a national language. It often embodies

7、rich cultural connotations. Image is the soul of classic Chinese poetry, so the translation of image is very important when we translate classic Chinese poetry into English. Ye Hong ever said in his article, “Image equivalence should be the criteria of poetry translation.” (叶洪,1999:51 With a long hi

8、story, classic Chinese poems, the bright pearl of Chinese literature, are also an important part of global culture. Thus, it plays a decisive role in China-Western cultural exchange to translate classic Chinese poetry into English. However, owing to the differences between Western and Chinese cultur

9、e, sometimes, there is no absolute equivalent translation between Chinese and English. When we translate Chinese poetry into English, it is hard to reproduce exactly the original image, which undoubtedly became a thorny trouble for translators. Westerners are accustomed to logical and abstract thoug

10、hts while Chinese get used to imaginal thinking together with different ways. Histories, religions, philosophic thoughts and language cultures make poetry translation become a difficult task. English versions of many excellent classic Chinese poems which are gently beautiful, vigorous and deep usual

11、ly failed to present the original taste and flavor of thepoetry, because it is very difficult for us to find equivalents in western culture for these images abounding with a strong Chinese culture. The Untranslability of Classic Chinese Poetry Images2.1 Conceptions of ImageIf poetry has a soul, it i

12、s its image, its because of which that the poetry becomes very charming. But in most cases, we can not reproduce the original image in version for different cultures. Therefore, what on earth is the image of classic Chinese poetry? In On the Image Equivalence in the Translation of Classic Chinese Po

13、etry, Ye Hong said, “The most important task of translators is to reproduce the original image rather than to transmit the meaning. Poetry equals to image which is so vital that can not be discarded in poetry translation. Paraphrase is the worst way to poetry translation, for which has break the rul

14、e of faithfulness and ignore the brightness of the original.” He also thought that translators should give readers a chance to taste the poem by themselves but not to replace readersattitude with his.” Ezra Pound deemed image to be the thought and emotion coming to your mind suddenly, which could al

15、so be interpreted as a picture made of thought and emotion to some stuff. “I mage model captures the essence of picture in prose or in poetry.”(袁哲, 2004: 27 Image, drawing a picture consists of a poets thought and emotion, is the combination of emotion and scenery, through which the poet expresses h

16、is mind clearly. In classic Chinese poetry, there are so many images that they are very common.2.2 The Untranslability of ImageAs China-Western cultural exchange gets intensified gradually, more and more Chinese scholars as well as foreign researchers put their efforts in the work of translating cla

17、ssic Chinese poetry into English. And among their works, there is no lack of excellent translation theories. However, we still have a little pity that the translation of Chinese poetry still cannot be reproduced the original image, and there are still a lot of problems to be resolved in the poetry t

18、ranslation theory system. A well-known statement is made by Robert Frost that “Poetry is what gets lost in translation”. (闫军利,2003:07 And the author think image is the thing that gets lost in translation, and which may be the main reason why Robert Frost said that. In Chinese, everything can be an i

19、mage, for example, some concrete things like pine tree, bamboo, plum blossom, orchid, chrysanthemum,dragon, crow, unicorn and so on. Apart from these things, numbers, some place names, colors and seasons all can be images in classic Chinese poetry. Though they have the same denotation both in China

20、and in Western, sometimes their connotation may be completely different, for example “dragon”may mean dignity and powerfulness in China but it is associated with evil in Western, which will lead to the lost of original image. We can take a famous Chinese poetry 天净沙秋思as an example,“枯藤老树昏鸦,小桥流水人家,古道西风

21、瘦马。夕阳西下,断肠人在天涯。”There are only nine noun phrases without any grammatical elements, not even a conjunction in the first three clauses for connection, but they still constitute a vivid picture of a depressive fall evening and express the authors strong feeling of sadness and homelessness. Besides, the

22、 image of the poetry is deep and fresh. When it was translated into English, how about the image? This is Ding Zuxins version :Withered vines hanging on old branches/Returning crow croaking at dusk/A few houses hidden past a narrow bridge/And below the bridge a quiet creek running/Down a worn path,

23、in the west wind/A lean horse comes plodding/The sun dips down in the west/And the lovesick traveler is still at the end of the world. (李清,2007:214In order to make clear the intrinsic relations between those images, the version added a good number of words, such as “hanging on”, “returning”, “hidden

24、 past”, “and”, “in”, “still”, ect., which had totally destroyed the beauty of the original: natural, ambiguity, deep, and simple words. Even though the meaning was successfully expressed in the version, the original image was still lost. Here is a saying about classic Chinese poetry that we use the

25、least and easiest words to express the deepest thoughts. We also have other versions that had no added words, such as Wayne Schlepps:Tune to Sand and SkyAutumn ThoughtsMa ZhiyuanDry vine, old tree, crows at dusk,Low bridge, stream running, cottages,Ancient road, west wind, lean nag,The sun westering

26、,And one with breaking heart at the skys edge.We can see that this version, like the original, which is also a mosaic of nine nouns, has not even one conjunction and thus avoids ruining the beauty of form. Maybe we can say this version is better than other ones. But unfortunately, it is not. Its imp

27、eccability gets damaged by two things. First, it is not in accord with the rules of English grammar. Second, it is a completely literal translation that can not be understood by foreign readers. Nida thought that a good version can make the target language readers have the same reaction with the sou

28、rce language readers. But how can we regard a version as a good one if it even can not be comprehended, let alone reserving the original image? According to the two above versions, we know that the untranslability of poetic images is inexorable sometimes. And it is not translators skills but the cul

29、tural difference that results in the untranslability.In order to further the understanding of untranslability of classic Chinese poetic images in translation, the author would like to give another example. Here are several verses of “雨霖铃”-Bells Ringing In The Rain. Images, the basic element of poems

30、, are the essence of this poem, so we should try to keep the intactness of the images in the process of translation. The poet utilizes the visualized language to describe the images in the original works so as to stimulate the readers imagination and association which is characterized by the fact th

31、at readers can experience the feelings of the poet when appreciating these images.There are several images in the original one as follows: cicadas, showers, heavy cloud, southern sky, willow trees, waning moon. “These objects to be described are never selected at random, but are the manifestation of

32、 the poets shrewd power of observation and unique artistic view” (陈月红,2002:32 Though these images are only objects, they become symbols of departure and distress after the poet infuses his emotion to them. Playing up a parting atmosphere through the description of objects, the poet presents a chill

33、and dreary picture for the readers as if they could hear the singing of the cicadas and see the parting scene. Then how could we reproduce the images in the translation so that the target language readers have the same reaction with the source language readers? We know,foreigners rarely feel cold an

34、d dreary when hearing the singing of cicadas, while the original use of“寒”and “凄” completely expresses the poets pain from the bottom of heart, his innermost feeling of depression and chilliness when he parts with his beloved. But it is hard to reproduce exactly the original image in English version

35、s for many reasons. We will take two verses as examples here:“寒蝉凄切, 对长亭晚”, together with the two versions that are presented by Rewi Alley (1 and Xu Yuanchong (2:(1 Now comes the note of the cicada,mournfully;(2 Cicadas chill/ Drearily shrillFirst let us look at Rewi Alleys translation of “凄切”: mour

36、nfully only means sadness, therefore, English readers will not be able to taste the poets sadness owing to slight damage of the original image. When it comes to Xu Yuanchongs version, “drearily shrill”, which may be better than Rewi Alleys, further exaggerates this atmosphere. So, “chill” and “drear

37、ily” manage to describe the state of the protagonists mind successfully and transmit artistic conception of“寒蝉凄切”. Furthermore, it still reappear the original image.Look at another verse, and the original verses and translations are as follows:念去去千里烟波,暮霭沉沉楚天阔.(1 and I know that soon I shall be far f

38、rom here, over the hills;at night a mist will come down from heavens, and soonI will be in Hupeh, where skies are high, and ground low;(2 Youll go your way far, far away, on miles and miles of misty waveswhere sail the ships, and evening clouds hang low in boundless southern skiesComparing the two v

39、ersions above, the two images “暮霭”and “楚天”of the original should be translated, but Rewi Alley does not transmit the image, since “cloud”, and “skies are high” can not describe the boundlessness of the skies. Therefore his translation greatly weakened the effects of the transition of image of origin

40、al poem greatly. In the original poem the first stanza begins with an image and ends with another, both revealing the grief of parting. (蔺丽,2005:370 Therefore in translation there should be transference of the vivid image to let the reader feel the poets emotion. As we know, in a Chinese poetry, the

41、re are always many vivid images, which bring the beauty to people. In order to achieve similar effects, the translator should describe the images properly andaccurately.The Reasons for the Untranslability of Classic Chinese Poetic Images For many years, lots of Chinese scholars as well as foreign re

42、searchers have put their effort to do the arduous work to translate classic Chinese poetry into English. And among their works, there is no lack of excellent translation. As a matter of fact, it is just through the wonderful translation of some excellent translator that a lot of famous classic Chine

43、se poems have won their world reputation. However, if taking reading poems as artistic appreciation, we usually have a little pity that the translation of Chinese poetry still cannot express artistic conception even if we read as the Chinese readers. Lots of classical Chinese poems have lost their o

44、riginal romantic charm, complete information, three-dimensional effect, and the state that can lead the readers into an indefinite imagination. It is not surprised to see that many scholars consider the translation of classic Chinese poetry to be an unsuccessful field so far. We can see that even if

45、 some translations display the content of poetry, they fail to transmit, interpret the mood, the image, and the situation of poetry. Because of the huge divergence between the East and the West, it is impossible to express completely the primary image and artistic conception of Chinese poetry to eve

46、ry reader.The reason is that the different language families and cultural default as well as different thinking methods are imbedded in words and expressions.3.1 Different LanguagesChinese belongs to Sino-Tibetan, while English belongs to Indo-European. Naturally, these two kinds of languages shall

47、have different characteristics.Chinese is a typical parataxis language, which refers to that it does not depend on the connection or other grammatical forms but the words or clauses to express the logic relation within a sentence. English deserves to be a representative of hypotaxis language in whic

48、h the meaning and the logic relation of a sentence are illustrated by the connection or other grammatical items between words or clauses, such as conjunctions. For example: There is a sentence written in English. Lets compare the two Chinese translations.The water of the lake was so clear that every

49、 fish could be seen distinctly.A. 湖水如此清澈,以致于游鱼历历可数。B. 湖水清澈,游鱼历历可数。Comparing A and B, which are both translations of sentence 1, we get that they have the same meaning. However, in the structure, there is obviously a big difference. A is a totally literal translation, which does not measure up to Chi

50、nese custom in that the unnecessary use of conjunctions “如此”, “以致”makes “A” a little verbose. Parataxis language might be more concise than hypotaxis language. So B is a much more suitable translation.And these characteristics become a cause of the untranslability of some literal works from Chinese

51、into English, especially when it comes to the translation of poetry.Some researchers said, “Compared with western languages, Chinese has a defect since it is not precise enough sometimes. However, it (especially classic Chinese also possesses a strongpoint that is very laconic.”(任德孝,2005 In Chinese,

52、 a few concise words can indicate rich and deep semantic meaning and multi-level content, besides, the least words may include the greatest amount of information. Thereby, the performance of Chinese becomes extraordinarily strong, which is embodied in the classic Chinese poetry richly. Pay attention

53、 to classic Chinese poetry, and we will find that they are the parataxis incarnates using the least words and the simplest structure to tell the most complicated and richest image and sentiment.“Poetical special function consists in that it suggests all by part and evokes whole image and sentiment o

54、n the condition. And this special function even is regarded as the standard of a good poetry.” (朱光潜,2005:149 Zhu Guangqian said in his Poetry.French poet Keluo Dai notes, “In order to integrate s everal ideas, Chinese poets do not need to think about the grammar links of the logic, and he just need

55、to tie up the words.”This type of sentence not only forms a strong visual beauty, but also gives readers much space to imagine, in which readers would see a vivid painting. The most persuasive and representative example should be Ma Zhiyuans “天净沙秋思”, which we have analyzed in detail in the second pa

56、rt. In the first three clauses, to give readers a vivid and clear image, the poet only tied up nine simple nouns without any other grammar elements for connection. However, it is very difficult to describe the painful mood and the deep sorrow faithfully to the foreigners. Owing to the language and t

57、he cultural background difference, foreign readers may not have similar feelings, nor can they sense this sublimity like the Chinese readers who could carry on the very natural association to these above images, form a seriesof pictures in their minds.3.2 Cultural DefaultFrom other perspectives, Chi

58、nese and English have different cultural background, which leads to the big difference in grammar and usage, such as, Chinese cultural default in using language sometimes, especially in classic poetry. Thus, this shall be another important reason for the untranslability of classic Chinese poetic ima

59、ge.Cultural default refers to the omission of some common things in the process of communication between two people who share the different cultural background and knowledge. From the perspective of communication, the default is aimed at improving the efficiency of communication, since both sides can understand the communicative element of the omission. However, it will be semantic vacuum for foreign r