A Study Of Ezra Pound's Cathay

As one of the most influential poets of the 20^th century, Ezra Pound makes significant contributions to American poetry not only as a poet but also as a translator. 1915 saw the appearance of Pound's slim anthology entitled Cathay, translations of 19 classical Chinese poems. This anthology has been widely and warmly welcome in the Western world, receiving much praise and compliments. It helps greatly in the process of introducing Chinese poetry and Chinese culture into the Western world. However, disputes and even negative comments coexist with praise since its appearance. While the creative translation and distinct foreign flavor of Cathay win much praise, its philological errors often fall under some critics' attack. Some scholars even categorized it as work of creation instead of translation of Pound.This thesis is essentially meant to be descriptive rather than prescriptive. From macroscopic perspective, it adopts the theory of three control factors over translation by the world famous translation theorist Andre Lefevere as its theoretical basis. With this fresh perspective, it systematically analyzes the influences of the three factors, that is, patronage, poetics, and ideology on Pound's translation strategy in Cathay, and provides solid theoretical basis for the translation status of Cathay. Meanwhile, from microscopic perspective, this thesis compares Cathay with the original Chinese poems by close reading, and studies Pound's translation skills with concrete examples and the treatment of cultural elements. By doing this, it comes to justify the reason and inevitability for the warm and persistent acceptance of Cathay.The thesis consists of five chapters besides introduction and conclusion.The introduction is a browse of the theme and the basic structure of this thesis.Chapter One fist gives a brief summary of Ezra Pound's life story and his literary views, introduces Pound's translation theories and his famous work Cathay. Firstly, this part briefs his literary views about Imagism and Vorticism. As for his translation theories, this part mainly analyzes the relationship between Pound and North American Translation Workshop, his theory of luminous details, and his idogrammatical method. The content of Cathay and the comments and disputes are also discussed in this chapter.Chapter Two analyzes the translation strategy of Cathay with rewriting theory in translation study. It firstly describes the two major translation strategies, foreignization and domestication, and categorizes the latter one as the main adopted translation strategy in Cathay. Then it introduces Lefevere and his major works. After that, it focuses on his manipulation theory and the three control factors: Patronage, poetics, and ideology. With definition to each factor, it analyzes the influence to the translation of Pound's Cathay with the background of his living time and society.Chapter Three analyzes Pound's translation skills in Cathay with concrete examples. It mainly discusses his translation skills from the angles of linguistics and poetics, and his treatment of cultural elements.Chapter Four studies the reception and influence of Cathay. It includes Westerners' enthusiastic study of Chinese literature after Cathay, and its influence on literary translation and poetic translation. The conclusion sums up the whole thesis.