On Translation Of Plant Images In Song Wanyueci Poems

Wanyueci Poems are favored by generations of literati for their delicate andimplicit style. Numerous plant images in Wanyueci Poems such as “fallen blossoms”,“willows” and “grass” are rich in connotation. Ci poets use these plant images tocreate artistic conception and convey themes. Image as spirit of poetry is of greatimportance to appreciation of Wanyueci Poems.Among a large number of Chinese classic literature introduced to the worldnowadays, Ci-Poems occupy a large proportion. Essentially translation is a type ofconceptual exchange between cultures rather than code switch between languages.Poetic images in source language are likely to be misunderstood and neglected bytarget readers in different cultures. In order to avoid this problem, it is necessary fortranslators to make a thorough analysis of deep meanings of plant images and applyappropriate translation methods. In their Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff andMark Johnson put forward theory of conceptual metaphor, which provides a newprospect for understanding and translation of plant images of Wanyueci Poems. Theymaintain that conceptual metaphor is not only a kind of rhetorical method but also acognitive way of human being. And they hold that conceptual metaphor is realizedthrough mapping between source domain and target domain based on lifeexperiences. Thus poetry images as combination of object world and inner mind are also metaphorical.This thesis is aimed at studying metaphorical meaning of plant imagesguided by the theory of conceptual metaphors. On the basis of results, the author willsummarize translation methods suitable to different mapping situations by analyzingEnglish versions of Wanyueci Poems.The thesis is mainly divided into six parts based on the theory of conceptualmetaphor proposed by Lakeoff and Johnson. The first part of thesis is a generalintroduction to theme, structure and theoretical basis of the thesis. The second part(chapter one) is a literature review of studies on conceptual metaphors andmetaphorical translation, study on metaphorical plant images and existing Englishversions. The third part (chapter two) is a detailed introduction to conceptualmetaphors. The fourth part chapter three) is detailed introduction to Song WanyueciPoems, images and plants images in Song Wanyueci Poems. The fifth part (chapterfour) is to summarize translation methods that are appropriate to plant images indifferent mapping situations by analyzing translation versions. The sixth part is aconclusion of the thesis.There are many papers relating to metaphorical meanings in poetry, butmetaphorical meanings of plant images of Song Wanyueci Poems and theirtranslation methods are not fully studied. It may be beneficial to translation of SongCi-Poems and other Chinese classical poetry.