Abstract The Chinese classical poetry is the gem of Chinese literature. As a microcosm of Chinese classical culture, Chinese poetry is combined with connotations of politics, history and culture, while image is a significant medium to convey the connotations. In addition, the vivid and elegant image contributes to the beauty of poetry. Therefore, how to convey and translate the image is of great significance in the translation of poetry.
After an introduction to the etymology and definition of image, this paper discusses image in Tao Yuanming’s On Returning to A Country Life by visual image, auditory image, kinesthetic image, literal image and rhetorical image. Later the paper probes into the comparison of the image in the three different versions by Charles Budd, Arthur Waley and Amy Lowell. Through comparative analysis of the three versions, this paper illustrates the conveyance and translation of image in Chinese poetry.53097
Keywords: Chinese classical poetry; image; translation; On Returning to A Country Life
摘要古典诗歌是中国文学的瑰宝。作为中国古典文化的缩影，汉诗集政治、历史、文化内涵于一体，而意象是传达这些涵义的重要媒介。意象的生动和优雅同时也造就了诗歌之美。因此，如何传达和翻译意象在诗歌翻译中具有重要意义。
本文首先介绍了意象的语源及其定义，分别从视觉意象、听觉意象、动觉意象、字面意象和修辞意象对陶渊明的《归园田居》作出具体分析。然后比较Charles Budd, Arthur Waley 以及 Amy Lowell笔下三个不同译本对《归园田居》中意象的翻译。通过三种不同译本的比较，探讨了汉诗中意象的传达与翻译。
关键词：中国古诗；意象；翻译；《归园田居》
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 2
2.1 The Etymology of Image 2
2.2 The Definition of Image 3
2.3 Image in On Returning to A Country Life 4
3. Image in Three Versions of On Returning to A Country Life 5
3.1 Introduction to the Three Versions 5
3.2 Visual Image 7
3.3 Auditory Image 8
3.4 Kinesthetic Image 9
3.5 Literal Image 9
3.6 Rhetorical Image 10
4. Translation Methods for Image in Chinese Poetry 10
5. Conclusion 11
Works Cited 13
1. Introduction
With the prevalence of Mandarin fever, Confucius Institute is experiencing an explosive growth around the world. Foreigners are increasingly interested in Chinese culture. As a microcosm of Chinese classical culture, Chinese poetry is combined with connotations of politics, history and culture. Besides, there are more and more abundant researches on translation of classical Chinese poetry.
Chinese poetry has a long history, ranging from The Book of Songs, Gems Of Yuefu Ballads, Poetry of the Tang Dynasty, Iambic Verse of the Song Dynasty to Drama of the Yuan Dynasty. In poetry, poets not only express their appreciation of nature and beauty, but also express their hatred of unfair social system, sorrow and happiness. Their poems attack the cruel reality to express their sympathy to the ordinary people. Those poems not merely reveal the inherent law of things but also voice their emotions and dreams. However, their emotions are not always voiced in direct ways. Instead, a great number of images are created to convey their feelings. As to the translation of these images, there are mainly imagists’ approach and aesthetic approach in the translation of image in Chinese poetry. The imagists’ approach does not focus much on the prosody or the meaning of the original poems. However, they regard image as the most significant element of poetry and devote considerable effort to recreating image in English versions. For example, Ezra Pound is a representative. On the other hand, the aesthetic approach aims at preserving the beauty of poetry. Xu Yuanchong is one of the representatives. From Xu Yuanchong’s point of view, poetry translation is an art rather than science. He thinks that re-creation can compensate what is lost in translation. In addition, Xu Yuanchong argues it unnecessary to retain the original image. He believes that image can be re-created as long as the beauty is preserved (Xu Yuanchong, 2010: 40). Arthur Waley, Amy Lowell and Charles Budd are the three translators of Tao Yuanming’s On Returning to A Country Life (《归园田居》). They all endeavor to re-create the original images in their translations. This is also what this paper is concerned with. 从陶渊明《归园田居》英译看中诗意象的传达与翻译:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_57158.html