Ezra Pound's Reshaping Of The Water Image In His English Translation Of Shi Jing·Guo Feng

Shi Jing is the beginning of ancient Chinese poetry and also the first anthology of poetry in China.Shi Jing,as the cradle of Chinese literature and the essence of Chinese culture,has a lofty position in and far-reaching influence on literature of later generations.The translation as well as the study of Shi Jing is a major way to disseminate the splendid Chinese culture and enable Chinese culture to participate in the worldwide cultural exchanges.Poetry is the essence of language while image is the soul of poetry and an important concept in Chinese poetics.Classical Chinese poetry is full of images,and the reshaping of them is the key to poetry translation.Shi Jing is abundant in images and the water image appears in a large number.Image refers to the poetic image that combines the objective things and the poet's subjective feelings.The so-called water image refers to the image with water as the carrier.Research on the water image shows that the water image has occupied an important position in Chinese classics since the pre-Qin period.Its important role in Chinese classics has never been changed in all dynasties.The connotations of the water image in poetry are very rich.The water image can symbolize the passage of time,the barrier of love and so on.At the same time,the translation of the water image has also attracted the attention of scholars.Strategies of its translation include retention of the image,substitution of the image etc.The water image is an important image in Shi Jing· Guo Feng.Among the 160 poems in Guo Feng,forty-two poems contain the water image,accounting for about one fourth of this section.Therefore,the water image in Guo Feng should be attached enough importance and appropriately handled by translators in the process of translation.The main theoretical foundation of this thesis is the Imagism theory.Imagism is one of the major literature schools in the history of Western literature,which has opened a new era for British and American Modernist poetry.Ezra Pound,a famous American Imagism poet and poetry critic,is the pioneer in the Imagism movement and attaches great importance to image.As the major representative of the Imagists,Pound puts forward the three tenets for Imagism poetry creation: “direct treatment”,“economy of words”,and “the sequence of musical phrase”.Poetry creation and poetry translation usually can influence and enhance each other.Under the influence of his principles of poetry creation,Pound proposes that “energy in language”,“detailed translation” as well as the triple concepts of poetry—melopoeia,phanopoeia,and logopoeia,should be valued in poetry translation.“Energy in language” can be realized by “detailed translation” and the triple concepts of poetry.Pound's poetry creation and poetry translation theories together make up his Imagism theory.Against this background and based on the Imagism theory,this thesis takes the water image in Pound's English translation of Shi Jing· Guo Feng as the research subject with Xu Yuanchong's translation for comparative analysis,and aims to make a comprehensive research and analysis on its English translation and provide useful references for image translation in Shi Jing and classical Chinese poems.This study attempts to explore the following questions: 1)What are the connections between the water image and other kinds of images in Shi Jing· Guo Feng? 2)Are there any similarities or differences between Pound's translation strategies and procedures of the water image in Shi Jing· Guo Feng and Xu Yuanchong's of the same? Is Pound's translation a reflection of his Imagism theory? Does Xu Yuanchong's translation reflect his translation thoughts? 3)What inspirations can the Imagism theory provide for the translation of other images in Shi Jing?Through literature study,comparative analysis,text analysis and other research methods,this thesis takes the English translation of Shi Jing by Pound and Xu Yuanchong as the research texts and discusses the strategies and methods of image translation from the perspective of the Imagism theory.This research presents the current research situation at home and abroad through literature study,finds the research subject through text analysis,and analyzes Pound's and Xu Yuanchong's translation of the water image through comparative analysis.It finds that the water image in twenty-seven poems in Guo Feng is related to the theme of marriage and love,which usually witness the pain and joy of love.Images in Guo Feng can be classified into four kinds.The water image and other kinds of images are the indispensable and important components of poetry in Guo Feng,which can complement and integrate with each other,enhance and reinforce each other.Pound and Xu Yuanchong try their best to adhere to the image translation strategy of retention of the water image in their translations but adopt different translation strategies and translation procedures.The translation strategies used by Pound and Xu Yuanchong include literal translation and transliteration.Pound uses transliteration in a large number,which rarely appears in Xu Yuanchong's translation.According to van Doorslaer's taxonomy of the translation procedures,the translation procedures of the water image employed by Pound include direct transfer,omission,addition,denominalization and coinage.Pound deals with the water image directly with simplicity,pays attention to detailed translation,retains the detailed water image and release energy in language.Xu Yuanchong uses the translation procedures of direct transfer,omission,addition,and dilution.From the perspective of Xu Yuanchong's translation theory,it reflects the translation methods of equalization,generalization,and deepenization.Xu Yuanchong pays attention to beauty in sense,beauty in sound and beauty in form.Pound's translation embodies his Imagism theory and Xu Yuanchong's translation embodies the Three Transformations and Three Beauties theory that he pursues in poetry translation.Pound's Imagism thoughts are embodied not only in his poetry creation practice,but also in his translation practice of classical Chinese poetry.Image is the core of Pound's Imagism thoughts and the reshaping of the image is the key to poetry translation.As is described,research production has been gained in this study,which can be of valuable references for image translation in Shi Jing and other Chinese poems in the future.The Imagism theory can have some inspirations for image translation in poetry.Image is an important consideration in the translation of Chinese poetry.This study finds that translation of poetry should not only grasp the meaning and expressive effect of individual images,but also consider the overall effect of the poem.Strategies for image translation include retention of the image,substitution of the image,omission of the image and recreation of the image.Due to the limited human and material resources,as well as the author's limited theoretical knowledge and research ability,the types of images analyzed in the research are limited.This research is still insufficient and leaves room for further study.Further research can make efforts in the following aspects: having a wider research scope,such as choosing more types of images.