A Study On The Translation Shifts In The English Version Of Li Sao From The Construal Perspective

Li Sao,the masterpiece of Qu Yuan,a Chinese patriotic poet,is the first and foremost literary work of Chu Ci.Li Sao occupies a very important position in Chinese literature.Up till now there have already been many English versions of Li Sao.The unique form of and profound cultural elements in Li Sao are a big challenge to the translators and to achieve particular translation effects,the translators usually make translation shifts.Previous studies usually explore translation shifts at linguistic level,paying little attention to the impact of translators’ cognition on translation shifts.Construal theory within the framework of Cognitive Grammar has enormous explanatory power for translation shifts,and can also help unveil the important role of translators’ cognition in the process of translation.The present research takes Sun Dayu’s English version of Li Sao as the research object.In the research,major types of translation shifts are identified through a comparison between Sun’s translation and the original.Then four dimensions of construal(specificity,focusing,prominence and perspective)are introduced to account for and analyze these translation shifts.The research has found that there are 9 major types of translation shifts in Sun’s version: specification,generalization,amplification,metaphor domain change,syntactic change,metonymy domain change,cohesive device addition,personal deixis change and voice change.These translation shifts result from the translator’s different ways of construal,and they can realize different translation effects:(1)The dimension of specificity can interpret specification and generalization.Specification,characterized by a high level of specificity,can present the target readers with a clearer view of the text.Generalization,characterized by a low level of specificity,can remove for the target readers the obstacles incurred by culture-loaded expressions.(2)The dimension of focusing can account for amplification and metaphor domain change.Amplification provides supplementary information which usually stays in the background to support those foregrounded or helps activate other relevant cognitive domains through the connection with them.Metaphor domain change,the replacement of the source domain with the target domain in particular,cuts short the cognitive path from the source domain to the target domain,leaving the target domain salient as foregrounded and therefore the target readers can grasp the gist more quickly and accurately.(3)The dimension of prominence helps elucidate syntactic change,metonymy domain change and cohesive device addition.The three types of translation shifts are related to the distribution of prominence when the translator intends to confer more prominence on some parts of the text.4)The dimension of perspective helps interpret personal deixis change and voice change.The two categories of translation shifts are related to the change of vantage points.Since vantage points are linked to subjective/objective construal,through these shifts,the translator can decide what to be focused onstage as explicit and what to be removed offstage as implicit in the translation.The study,employing construal theory as the theoretical framework to explore translation shifts in Sun Dayu’s English version of Li Sao,provides a new perspective for research on English versions of Li Sao.Also,the interpretation and analyses of translation shifts in Sun’s version can provide some suggestions for the translation of other Chinese classics.