Documentary And Literary Unity In Translation Of A Brief History Of Chinese Aesthetic Culture Into English

With the flourishing of cultural exchanges between China and other countries, an increasing number of foreigners have nourished strong interests in the Chinese traditional culture. Some academic works on Chinese aesthetic culture have been translated into English, which will undoubtedly be conducive to a better understanding of Chinese historical and cultural tradition on the part of the English readers. Therefore, it is of great benefit to strengthening China’s soft power. The book, A Brief History of Chinese Aesthetic Culture, presents a multi-faceted, multi-tiered introduction about the art of Chinese aesthetic culture in the past feudal dynasties of China. It strives for a deep exploration into the most valuable resources of aesthetic culture in ancient China with regard to its evolvement, and its C-E translation will be worthwhile. As there is no English version of this book available at the present time, the C-E translation of this book belongs to the category of original translation.Taking the C-E translation of the second chapter of the book as the research object, this thesis mainly discusses how to realize the unification of the documentary aspect and the literary aspects of the original text in the translated version. The translation with regard to the documentary aspect chiefly concerns the reproduction of the original cultural values, belief system, theoretical and thought framework and ways of discourse of the original texts; the literariness aimed at in translating is mainly concerned about the pursuit of literary effect of the translation. Both aspects should be fused in unity in the translating process so that the translation can be acceptable to the western academic circles and conform to the western academic presentation. Thus, the translated version can serve as a bridge of fruitful communication between the Chinese and English academic spheres. This study mainly adopts the research method typically applied in humanities, and is a project of applied research.In translating the second chapter of A Brief History of Chinese Aesthetic Culture, as the book is basically one of academic prose writing, some general principles and strategies should be adopted, which are usually applied in English translation of academic works in humanities and social sciences, with emphasis on faithfulness to the original cultural facts on the basis of relevant literature research and on the literature value of the translation. At the same time, through analysis of the text under translation and grasp of its stylistic features, different translation strategies should be applied according to different types of textual materials, more literature-oriented or more literary-oriented. In the English translation of the parts in the Chinese text, which are more literature-oriented, correspondence principle should be fully considered, emphasizing communicative rhetoric. By contrast, for the translation of text materials which are literary-oriented, aesthetic rhetoric and literary expression should be paid more attention to based on accurate expression of the basic information. Concerning the overall effect of the textual translation, within the translator’s abilities, she makes conscious efforts with regard to translation on three levels:in logic thinking and thought, the translated text, with its cultural, theoretical and thought content, should be objective, complete and well-knit, not only theoretically self-sufficient, self-contained, and coherent, but also conforming to the overall theoretical spirit of the Chinese text and conceptual system; On the language level, the translated text should not only be accurate and smooth, but also concise and appropriate in style, achieving considerable readability; On the level of the overall profile, the translated version should be well-organized and unified, giving salience to the aesthetic features of the translation of the literary parts quoted in the text, which should be lively and vivid with literary merits. For the translation of the parts quoted from Chinese literary works, besides their literary features to be reproduced in translating, considerable attention should be paid to the consistency between the translation method and the original intention of quotation.