Study Of The Translation And Introduction Of Li Qingzhao By American Sinologist Ronald Egan

Li Qingzhao is the only female writer whose works have achieved classic status among Chinese contemporary literati.Most of the existing studies on Li Qingzhao’s translation in China focus on the translation of Li Qingzhao,studying the translator’s in-text translation strategies,translation styles and etc.There is a lack of diachronic research on the translation of Li Qingzhao’s author image,at the same time studies about this famous woman literati rarely involves the introduction of her prose,poetry and reception history.Referring to Rewriting Theory,this study takes sinologist Ronald Egan’s two works as the research object and adopts descriptive research paradigm.It takes two steps for Ronald Egan to introduce and translate Li Qingzhao.The first step is to “introduce” the whole life of Li Qingzhao through a systematic monograph named The Burden of Female Talent: The Poet Li Qingzhao and Her History in China.Ronald refers to historical documents,examines the image of Li Qingzhao in various historical periods from the perspective of reception history.He sheds light on Qingzhao’s identity as a female writer,and tries to uncover the layers of social,historical and cultural construction and rewriting of Li Qingzhao’s image for centuries,to outline a more complex and three-dimensional image of Li Qingzhao for readers in the English-speaking world.The second step is to publish The Works of Li Qingzhao.As a translator,Ronald Egan deliberately selects translation materials,involving Li Qingzhao’s other genres of works,such as poems,rhapsodies(Fu),and proses,and adopts the translation strategy of deep translation to effectively compensate for necessary information.And the English translation of Li Qingzhao’s work subtly echoes his form study of Li Qingzhao.By analyzing the connection between the two steps,“introduction” and “translation”,this study finds it valuable to imitate sinologist Ronald Egan’s two-step translation procedure.With two steps,Ronald effectively reveals the rewriting of Li Qingzhao for centuries in a macro context and introduces a more complicated image of Li Qingzhao.In another way,the combination of systematic introduction and comprehensive translation sets an example,which we can draw on experience for how to translate and introduce Chinese classical literature to the world.