Image-Gestalt Actualization In Translating Of Chinese Classical Works

With rich verbal expression,profound cultural meaning and boundless artistic charm,Chinese classical works become a valuable treasure among Chinese culture.How to translate and introduce the excellent Chinese classical works abroad and let overseas readers share the prosperity of our traditional literary art is every translator's due responsibility.Literary translation is a rather complicated project.The translating of Chinese classical works includes several incompletely solved problems,such as image problems,the contour and atmosphere of the text,the exhibition of translators' subjective role and aesthetic experience.How to apply an authorized theory to analyze the problems haunting in the field of Chinese classical works translation is the main point of the present study.The thesis deals with Chinese-English translation problems in Chinese classical works from a perspective of image-G actualization.The theory of image-G actualization is proposed by Jiang Qiuxia in her book Aesthetic Progression in Literary Translation:Image-G Actualization published in 2002.Image-G is a new conception out of the old idea "image" as literary metaphor or symbol mainly concerned in poetry. When explored in the context as a holistic whole,it is taken as a relatively independent contextual entity rather than a single word or words constitution.The tentative thesis studies how the image-G and aesthetic experience of a translator as a special aesthetic subject is involved in the aesthetic progression of Chinese classical works with a gestalt aesthetic and psychological model.This image-based model manifests the aesthetic actualization of the original artistic images in literary translation.The thesis first points out aesthetic actualization of image in the translating of Chinese classical works and gives an introduction to the theory of image-G actualization.After an analysis of many problems incompletely solved in Chinese classical literary translation,the thesis attempts to investigate the transformation of image-G and other problems of Chinese classical literary translation in the light of the theory of image-G actualization.The transformation of image-G has three active influences on the translation of Chinese classical works.They include: gestalt qualities,words choices and aesthetic effects of harmony.The thesis will give a detailed interpretation of aesthetic experience, which serves as an extremely important aspect of image-G actualization theory.Aesthetic experience in image-G actualization means that the translator should have aesthetic perspective,keep an appropriate aesthetic distance and develop his aesthetic subjective creativity in the aesthetic activity.As a special aesthetic subject,the translator is first of all a reader, and then a translator in the translating process.Only if the translator understands the accurate linguistic information and activates the similar aesthetic experience with the author can he successfully develop translators' subjectivity and make an excellent translation.The present study carries out a case study on Lin Yutang's famous translation Six Chapters of a Floating Life in order to analyze the translator's aesthetic experience and image-G transformation.When Lin Yutang adopts Six Chapters of a Floating Life as his translating material, he cherishes strong personal aesthetic appreciation towards Shen Fu's literary work.The reason is that Lin has very similar value orientation and aesthetic experience with Shen Fu.In reading and interpreting the literary work of art,LinYutang cognitively perceives a relatively stable linguistic structure and builds artistic gestalt images.When he translates this fresh and natural Chinese classical work,he transfers the artistic image-G and achieves aesthetic experience successfully.Lin's efforts deserves the sympathetic response of his translation among the Chinese and western readers.