A Comparative Study On The Two English Versions Of Changshengdian From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Reception Aesthetics stems from Germany in1960s. Jauss and Iser, the leading pioneer of Constanz School, were the first to introduce the concept of Reception Aesthetics. Based on phenomenology and hermeneutics, Reception Aesthetics get rid of the traditional author-centered or text-centered literary aesthetics. Instead, it reconstructs the relationship between the literature and history while connects writers, works and readers by using the concept of "horizon of expectations". Readers are no more than receivers but the initiative creators. Their aesthetic taste, life experiences, and literary appreciation build up the expectation which fills the indeterminacy and uncertainty of the literary works. At the same time, it determines their understanding and recreation. Meanwhile, the literary works benefits from the readers’addition and supplement. This is where the vitality of literary works exists. Readers and literary works coexist and complement each other. As to drama translation, the translators act as both readers of original text and the writer of the translated versions. They should balance the preservation of original text culture and acceptance of target audience so that the versions will help the target readers form the unique aesthetic experience.Based on the background of Rebellion of An and Shi, Changshengdian depicts a beautiful love story between Emperor Li Longji and Lady Yang. It is viewed as the pinnacle of Chinese Chuanqi Drama of Ming and Qing Dynasty. Hong Sheng, the author, gains a reputation together with another contemporary writer Kong. The Yangs couple and Mr. Xu Yuanchong translate the work into English respectively. The thesis attempts to make a comparative study on the two versions from the perspective of Reception Aesthetics. And the writer also tries to explore the significance of Reception Aesthetics’ application in drama translation.After retrospecting the leading scholars’theory in the circle of drama translation, the thesis makes comparison and contrast on the different versions of Changshengdian from the language and cultural aspects based on the Reception Aesthetics. Numerous examples of different manipulation of language form, style, rhetorical devices and culture-loaded words are illustrated. As a typical ancient Chinese literature genre, Chuanqi Drama of Ming and Qing Dynasty presents its distinctive features at linguistic, literary and cultural levels, which also adds difficulties to translation work. Two translators tend to adopt different translation principles, meanwhile the target readers form personal horizon of expectations and aesthetic experience due to their experiences, background, reading purpose as well as requirements. Resorting to Reception Aesthetics, the author intends to discuss how to maximize the aesthetic experience of translation works while achieving faithfulness and smoothness.