A Study On The Poetry Of Du Fu Translated And Edited By Stephen Owen From The Perspective Of Reception Theory

As an important part of classical Chinese poetry,Du Fu’s poetry has been widely spread and translated in the English world since the 19^th century and has gradually become a translated literature canon,attracting an increasing number of Western Sinologists and scholars to carry out special studies on Du Fu.As a representative in American Sinology,Stephen Owen has made great contributions to the translation and study of Du Fu’s poetry.Published in 2016,The Poetry of Du Fu,a complete collection of Du Fu’s poetry translated by Owen,is a milestone in the translation and introduction of classical Chinese poetry.With reception theory as the theoretical framework,this thesis adopts the methodology of descriptive translation studies and a case study method and takes The Poetry of Du Fu translated and edited by Stephen Owen as the research object.Through reviewing the canonization of Du Fu’s poetry in the English world,the thesis examines the reception of Du Fu’s poetry at different times and its impact on Stephen Owen’s personal horizon of expectations,and then delves into the translator’s translation motives and translation thoughts based on Stephen Owen’s views on the study and translation of classical Chinese poetry and the interview he took before.Moreover,the thesis also conducts an in-depth textual analysis on the translator’s treatment of the blanks and indeterminacy in Du Fu’s poetry from the aspects of semantics,syntax and images and probes into how the translator realizes his translation motives and meets the horizon of expectations of the target reader through a close reading of the paratext.It is found that the canonization of Du Fu’s poetry in the English world lays the foundation for Stephen Owen’s study and translation of Du Fu’s poetry.In order to realize the translation purpose of bringing classical Chinese poetry into the world literature,Owen tries to preserve the peculiarity and multiplicity of Du Fu’s poetry so that the foreign reader can appreciate its unique charm.Confronted with semantic blanks,syntactic blanks and blanks caused by images,Owen does not fill them randomly,but chooses to transfer the meaning and reproduce the syntactic features of the original pomes by adopting methods like literal translation,annotation and disjoined translation so as to help the reader to have better aesthetic experience.In addition,by availing himself of the paratext,Owen establishes a relationship among the translator,the reader and the poetry,which not only enables the general reader to understand the deep meaning behind the poetry,but makes it convenient for scholars to consult the allusions of Du Fu’s poetry and relative references.