A Study On The Paratexts Of Elegies Of The South Translated By Xu Yuanchong

Among the profound and time-honored Chinese culture,the Book of Poetry and the Ch’u Tz’u are considered as the source of Chinese literature and renowned for the earliest collection of Chinese romantic poetry and realistic poetry.As the indicator of the boundless imagination and unique creativity of Chinese literati,the Ch’u Tz’u ranks as a milestone in the history of Chinese poetry with magnificent rhetoric,lively rhythm,strong emotions and unique images.It is not only the cultural link between ancient and modern China,but also the civilization carrier to bridge China and the world.Therefore,it has drawn wide attention from Chinese and western translators and scholars.The present studies on the translation of the Ch’u Tz’u mainly focus on the comparative analysis of translation or translation strategies,leaving some space for overall evaluation and inter-textual probe,of which the study from the perspective of paratexts is worthy of trying.Guided by the theory of paratexts put forward by the French narrative theorist Gerard Genette,this paper will mainly study on the paratexts of the Ch’u Tz’u translated by the famous contemporary translator Xu Yuanchong,whose translation is under the title of Elegies of the South.Detailed studied are carried out on the features of its paratexts including the preface,notes and the cover by close reading,comparative study and qualitative analysis.In this way,the translator’s attitude,ideology and motivation for translation as well as intentions of publishers and sponsors are well-defined.Furthermore,the importance of paratexts for translation is clearly revealed through research on the production and acceptance mechanism of translations within the cultural context of target language.Meanwhile,a further probe is done intothe function of them interpreted as reflecting the poetic style,showing the translator’s thought,influencing the target reader and concerning over the source language culture,therefore,the paratexts of the translation of Elegies of the South are evaluated in different perspectives of history,poetry,literature and aesthetics.The findings of this paper can be summarized as follows: Firstly,in his preface,Xu Yuanchong gives an overall introduction to the cultural background of the Ch’u Tz’u,to the effect that the reader’s understanding of the source language culture is effectively enhanced,the reader’s interest is subtly aroused,the translator’ ideology is fully revealed and the historical value and cultural status of the Ch’u Tz’u are intellectually explained.Then the translation philosophy and motivation can be shown by his review and commentary on the translation history of the Ch’u Tz’u and negative review and commentary of the fact that most translations have failed to reproduce the literary value of original poetry.Secondly,his dealing with annotations fully reflects his translation thoughts and principles,of which the core is to seek thebeauty in sense,form,and sound by the translation strategy of generalization,equalization and specification in the hope to make the readers of target language understand,appreciate and enjoy the translated works.His addition of notes is aimed at restoring the structural characteristics of poetry,embodying the beauty of verse,and maximally restoring the original style of the Ch’u Tz’u,to highlight its unique value in enriching poetry,aesthetics and literature,while his omission of original notes can achieve concision in the text of translation but result in cultural losses to some degree.The studying of the paratexts of Elegies of the South,attaching the great importance of paratextual research for English translation of Chinese classics and calling for new sources for translation and dissemination of Chinese culture,is innovative to some extent,especially for the exploration on the functions of image and publishing information on the translated works.