Aesthetic Equivalence In The Translation Of Images In Chinese Classical Poems From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Image, "a fundamental element of poem" (余光中,1975), is its soul and spirit. The equivalent of "image" in Chinese is "yixiang"(意象),which is an integration of "yi" (concept in the mind,意)and "xiang" (images,象),taking objective things and events as its appearance and sentiments and thoughts as its inner content. Owing to its special effect on readers'sense organ and appreciation of the beauty, image has its own unique charm in expressing poets'sentiments and constructing artistic conceptions of poems. Chinese classical poetry, which contains abundance of vivid and distinct images, enjoys unfailing artistic charm and aesthetic value, loved and translated by many translators at home and abroad. Meanwhile, images in Chinese classical poems possess features of fuzziness, metaphoricality and national characters, which make them difficult for translators to reproduce the exact meanings of original images and keep their distinctive features while presenting the TL readers with the unique cultural connotation and artistic charm of the Chinese classical poetry. Therefore, in translating images in Chinese classical poems, translators should strive after aesthetic equivalence between aesthetic effect of the source text and the target text. In other words, the aesthetic quality of the source text should be reproduced maximally in the target text in order that the TL readers can enjoy almost the same aesthetic experience as the SL readers do.For translating Chinese classical poems, the realization of aesthetic equivalence and reproduction of original images will be the key point to measure. In the 60's of the 20th century, the theories of the "gap" structure and horizon of expectation were put forward respectively by Wolfgang Iser and Hans-Robert Jauss, chief representatives of Reception Aesthetics, which provided a brand-new theoretical perspective for translation practice and translation criticism of literary work. Moreover, the "gap" structure of Reception Aesthetics is closely related to the fuzziness of poetic image. Therefore, when dealing with fuzzy images in original poems, translators need to keep the "gaps" faithfully and properly in order to convey the true flavor of images. Meanwhile, translators should leave the TL readers almost the same space in reading, thinking and comprehending as that of the SL readers, actively participating in digging into the meanings of the "gaps" and seeking the significance of poems. Accordingly, the "blank space"①of images in Chinese classical poems will arouse the same aesthetic experience of the SL and TL readers. Meanwhile, the horizon of expectation also plays an important role in translating and appreciating images in Chinese classical poems. The differences in readers'reading memory and knowledge structure lead to differences in their horizon of expectation, so different readers may comprehend the same poem differently, especially when abundant fuzzy images come into their sight. Therefore, when translators are trying to preserve the original images to convey poems'true nature, they should also build a bridge that can connect the existing knowledge structure of TL readers with the target text by flexibly using various translation strategies. It stimulates TL readers'reading activities as well as satisfies their fluent comprehension and aesthetic entertainment to the greatest extent.This paper focuses on how Reception Aesthetics helps in the realization of aesthetic equivalence of translating images in Chinese classical poems, taking Reception Aesthetics as its theoretical basis and the better fulfillment of aesthetic reception in translating Chinese classic poetic images through the theories of "gap" structure and horizon of expectation as its entry point. By means of analyzing comparatively the typical translated versions of Chinese classical poems, the author summarizes some strategies of achieving aesthetic equivalence. On the one hand, the translator should keep the unique features and flavors of images in Chinese classical poems by retaining the original images and borrowing the closest natural equivalent images, so that the "blank space" can evoke TL readers'aesthetic resonance for images in Chinese classical poems. On the other hand, translators should take TL readers'horizon of expectation into account, adjusting translated versions appropriately by adapting the original image through annotating, paraphrasing and modifying, and by sacrificing the original image, so as to lay the foundation for TL readers to undergo the same aesthetic experience as SL readers do.