A Study Of Paratexts In Sun Dayu’s English Translation Of The Chu Ci From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

The Chu ci(《楚辞》)that is the first collection of romantic poems in the history of Chinese literature,together with The Book of Songs(《诗经》)which is the earliest anthology of realistic poems,is considered as the origin of ancient Chinese poetry.Created in the area of Chu during the Warring States period,the Chinese classic is characterized by the rich culture of Chu,magnificent rhetoric and profound images.As a representative poet of the“New Moon School”and distinguished translator of modern China,Mr Sun Dayu actively involved himself in the study and translation of both Chinese and English literary works,whose splendid attainments in the two languages and solid knowledge of historical backgrounds command our great admiration.His English Translation of Selected Poems of ChüYuan(《屈原诗选英译》)is overflowing with an academic atmosphere and accompanied by elaborate introductions and endnotes that are backed up with reliable evidence,performing the function of guided reading.And thus his English version can be rated as one of the classic translations of the Chu ci.However,in the existing studies,no scholar has investigated its peritexts displaying the characteristic of thick translation so far.Therefore,this thesis takes the main peritexts in Sun’s English version as its research object,combining different research methods such as literature research,case study,text analysis,descriptive method and functional analysis.The present study is aimed at exploring the specific manifestations of thick translation in the peritexts,and probing into their content,functions and the implications for the English translation of Chinese classics,based on the thick translation theory put forward by the Ghanaian American scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah.The findings are that the peritexts in which thick translation is contained include introductory forewords,recommendatory preface and postscript,auxiliary illustrations,academic introduction,as well as extended notes and comments.The last two kinds of peritexts are frequently seen in the translation,and thus they have been classified into several types for discussion.Actually,the thick translation is not an unintentional act of the translator,but an effective translation strategy applied to achieve specific purposes.After a detailed analysis,it can be concluded that the thick translation shown in the paratextual elements has at least the following six functions: introducing Qu Yuan to the English world;highlighting the status of Qu Yuan’s works;leading readers to approach the translator;intriguing readers’ interest in the translated work;facilitating readers’ understanding of the original;accelerating the dissemination of Chinese culture.Although frequent or excessive use of thick translation may bring about reading pause and even exert a negative influence on the speed or effect of reading,its unique functions of interpretation and cross-cultural communication are far beyond the reach of other translation strategies.It is no exaggeration to say that thick translation is an essential and necessary approach to intercultural exchange,playing a significant role in the English translation of Chinese classics.Especially for cultural translation,translators need to take advantage of thick translation appropriately in order to compensate the loss of meanings during the transformation between two languages.Meanwhile,the“thickness” of thick translation has to be controlled within a proper range which means supplementing required additional information but reducing the burden on target readers as much as possible.Furthermore,“thick” strategies can be extended to the post-editing phase instead of being limited to the phase of translating.It can be argued that “thick”post-edition which means optimizing the layout,format and illustrations of a translation helps to further enhance the dissemination validity of Chinese cultural classics in target languages.