On The Translation And Reception Of G.G.Byron's Poems In China

As a celebrated poet of rare talent, Gorge Gorden Byron has been known for his lyrical poems along with his romantic life experience. In China, thanks to the efforts of numerous translators, Byron as one of the most famous western poets has occupied a unique status in the Chinese literary history, which could be well demonstrated from the large scales of translation, the due attentions that have been paid to as well as his social influence. Since 1903 when two abridged translations in Byron's masterpiece Don Juan were presented to Chinese readers for the first time, translation of and introduction to Byron's poems in the past one hundred years have never ceased. However, translators under different social ideologies and poetics have endowed different features to their translations. As well, transformation of social and cultural context has also brought about changes in the scales of translation and reception. And the images of Byron himself contained in the translations have also changed with the shifts of historical background so as to cater to the demands of the times.This thesis intends to make a clear line of the process of translation and reception of Byron's poems in the past century from the macroscopic and microscopic perspectives. Also the author makes the textual and non-textual analysis to expatiate the features and influences of the translations and the images of Byron represented in different stages. Taking Anglo-American New Criticism and the famous scholar on translation studies Andre Lefevere's survey on literary system and the factors that manipulate the rewriting of translation as the theoretical foundation, the author studies three representative Chinese versions of Isles of Greece accomplished in the same period and explores the reason why thetranslation activities of Byron's poems could last for more than one hundred years. Finally the author draws the conclusion that literary translation is very much influenced by the ideologies and poetics of the target culture and society, as well as those of the translators.Besides Introduction and Conclusion, this thesis consists of five chapters.Introduction briefly explains the present academic studies on this subject, the methods adopted in this dissertation and its basic structure;Chapter One is a brief introduction to Byron's masterpieces and his life experience. Comments on the artistic features of Byron's works and his status in the literature have been presented;Chapter Two is a general survey of the history of the translation of Byron's poems from 1903 up to the present with the features of the translations concluded;Chapter Three is a comparative study of three Chinese versions of Isles of Greece accomplished in the initial stage. The shared as well as the different features of these versions are demonstrated through comparison and contrast;Chapter Four discusses the reception of Byron and his poems in China by means of exploring translations and criticisms in different periods;Chapter Five concentrates on the re-evaluation of the history of translation and reception of Byron's poems based on the theories of Andre Lefevere. In this way, the reason why the translation process could last for more than one hundred years would be well ascertained. It demonstrates that ideology and poetics of the target culture and society exert great influence not only on translation activity but also on the translation products;Conclusion sums up the whole thesis and emphasizes that the influences of ideologies and poetics of target culture and society could never be underestimated in the future translation studies.