On The English Translation Of The Style Of Li Qingzhao's Ci Poems

Song Ci, also mentioned as Song lyrics or Ci poems is a special form of literature and occupies a most important position in the history of Chinese classical literature. Compared with Tang poems, it enjoys a more flexible form and can express more refined, more delicate, more subtle feelings. Li Qingzhao, a great female representative of Song lyrics, has been inviting a lot of research both at home and abroad.Besides the common characteristics of Ci poems, Li's works also have a very distinct style particular to herself which attracts a lot of attention. However, the study of style has been controversial and complicated for its vagueness and inconsistency. It is even harder to convey it in English. Liu Miqing's theory of stylistic translation provides a comparatively scientific approach to translate the style. In this thesis, the author conducts a preliminary study on the English translation of the style of Li Qingzhao's lyrics while applying Liu's theory.Because the knowledge of Li Qingzhao and Ci poems is as beneficial as necessary, the thesis first makes a brief and comprehensive introduction of them which includes Li's life, Ci poems'position, development and characteristics. Besides, the first part also includes Li's understanding of Ci poems and the characteristics of Li's Ci poems, the knowledge of which can help to convey her style in English.The second chapter gives a comprehensive and detailed introduction of Liu Miqing's theory of stylistic translation which covers three parts, identifying style, translatability of style and the methods to translate style. In this chapter, the content of style which includes formal markers and non-formal markers is highlighted since it is the base to develop the thesis.The third chapter expounds the translation of formal markers. Beginning with the description of various forms used to translate Li's lyrics, this chapter focuses on phonological markers, register markers, syntactic markers, lexical markers and markers of figures of speech. Based on the study of the sixty Ci poems written by Li Qingzhao, this part selects some typical examples to demonstrate the style conveyance. For example, under the lexical markers, repeated words, several adjectives, objects in a bower and accessories for women preferred by Li are cited to discuss. For every example, several versions of translation are provided and compared to demonstrate how to be faithful to the original style by applying different methods. Xu Yuanchong has translated all the sixty Ci poems written by Li Qingzhao and his translation is cited in every example.The fourth chapter dwells on the conveyance of non-formal markers in style transference. Since non-formal markers are indirect and subtle, the treatment of emotions embodied in lyrics and aesthetic factors is discussed. Under the aesthetic consideration, the treatment of imagery and conveyance of exotic beauty are discussed. Wai-lim Yip's creation in reserving the aesthetic effects in the Chinese language is also presented in this chapter.Translating lyrics is generally held to be the most demanding, difficult form of literary translation due to the works'subtlety and delicacy. To convey the original style is very demanding. To convey the style of a certain person is far too difficult. To translate Li Qingzhao, a translator has to know her life, think her way and feel her way. During translation, he should imitate her writing skills. Even if some creation is made, a successful translation can still tell the readers clearly that they are reading Li Qingzhao.