On Sympathy Of Translator

Kenneth Rexroth,an established American poet and translator,is renowned for his contributions to the cultural and literary communication between East and West.His successful translation of Li Ch’ing-chao’s poems has ushered in the heyday of Li’s journey in America and aroused interest in his translation view of sympathy.Rexroth put forward that translation is an act of sympathy,which requires the translator to have an imaginative projection into the author’s situation,translate under identical emotional circumstances with the originals and transmit the author’s experience back with maximum viability.However,the value of sympathy is largely ignored in the study of poetry translation.This thesis intends to delve into sympathy theory and find out the translator’s psychological motivations behind translation.The study first manages to construct a framework of sympathy and clarify the two aspects of it: congeniality between the translator and the author and the translator’s identification with the author’s experience,and then explores sympathy between Rexroth and Li from the two aspects.The study finds that Rexroth translates Li’s poems because they are congenial in world views,writing themes(related with life experience)and writing styles.What’s more,Rexroth appreciates feminist poetry,and Li’s poems fall into this type.Rexroth’s translation of images,personal pronouns and thoughts demonstrate his identification with the Li’s experience.Rexroth’s translation strategies and methods are better understood from the perspective of sympathy.This study concludes two key points that are implicit in sympathy theory.First,identification requires translators to treat the original text as direct experience.Images,rhetorical devices and even thoughts of the original can be altered or removed to suit the translator’s experience.Second,the translator does not identify with the author.Instead,it is the author’s experience that the translator identifies with.