A Comparative Study of Two English Versions of Zanghua Yin— From the Perspective of Rhetoric Translation
Abstract Hong Lou Meng is the one of the Four Great Classical Novels, a magnum opus in the history of Chinese classical literature and a masterpiece of Chinese traditional culture. A lot of poems are interspersed in this book. They are used to render the atmosphere of the scenes, or to foil the image of characters, or to link the preceding and the following content, which delivery the Chinese culture on the highest level. In chapter 27 of the book, the poem Zanghua Yin recited by Lin Daiyu is a classical masterpiece. It is one of the poems which have been praised by most people praise and have great artistic value in Hong Lou Meng. It is not only the portrayal of the life of Lin Daiyu, but also her feeling of unfairness and shouting for the dark society.
Since the first version of Zanghua Yin was published in 1892, there have been eight versions in record until now. However, all the English versions have certain differences from the original text in the aspects of writing style, wording and phrasing or sentence rhythm. Therefore, many experts and scholars at home and abroad begin to study the translation versions and do the improving work of translation. These studies are mainly about a certain translation or many aspects between a number of different versions, involving a variety of translation elements and translation skills.
This paper makes a comparative study about the original version of Zanghua Yin and the two representative English versions from the focus on the translation of rhetorical devices. It does the comparative analysis from three aspects of the semantic rhetoric, structural rhetoric and phonological rhetoric by using qualitative research method, literature research method and quantitative research method to discuss the some certain translatability and untranslatability in the translation of poems and some compensation strategies.
Keywords: Zanghua Yin; English versions; rhetorical devices; translation
摘要 《红楼梦》是四大名著之一，也是是中国古典文学的代表和中国传统文化的集大成者。文中穿插大量诗词歌赋，或以渲染情景氛围，或以烘托人物形象，或以承上启下，这更是将中国的文化精粹发挥到淋漓尽致。其中全书第27回中，林黛玉所吟诵的《葬花吟》，更是一经典力作，是书中一直以来最为人称赞，也是极具艺术价值的诗篇之一。它是林黛玉全部身世的写照，也是她为自己人生的不平与呐喊。
自1892年，《葬花吟》的第一个英译本问世以来，各个版本的译文陆续出现，它们无论是从写作风格，遣词造句还是句式韵律，都与原文存在一定差异。国内外众多专家学者对其翻译版本的研究以及翻译工作的完善也逐渐展开。这些研究主要是对其中单一译本或者多个译本进行不同角度的研究和探讨，涉及了多种翻译要素以及翻译的技巧。
本文以《葬花吟》原文与两个具有代表性的英文译本进行对比研究，着眼于诗歌的修辞风格，应用定性研究法，文献研究法以及定量研究法，从诗歌的语义修辞，结构修辞以及音韵修辞三方面进行对比分析，探讨诗歌翻译中存在的可译性和不可译性以及一定的补偿策略。
关键词： 《葬花吟》； 英译本； 修辞手法；翻译
Content
1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 3
2.1 Rhetorical style and Translation 3
2.1.1 Definition of Rhetorical Style 3
2.1.2 Relationship between Rhetoric and Translation 修辞翻译角度看《葬花吟》英译比较研究:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_56237.html