Analysis of Translatability in Classical Chinese Poetry from the Perspective of Translation Strategies Taking Xu Yuanchong's Translations of the Lyrics "Everlasting Longing" as Examples
Abstract
Classical Chinese poetry is an important literary genre in Chinese literature, of which the Tang poems and Song lyrics are two of the highest artistic achievements in ancient Chinese poetry. The study of classical poetry translation has become a hot topic in Chinese literary translation. This paper aims to study the translatability of Chinese classical poetry from the perspective of the translation strategies of Xu Yuanchong by selecting lyrics titled “everlasting longing” in the Chinese-English Translation of 300 Chinese Tang and Song Lyrics authored by Xu Yuanchong, an outstanding translator. In the translation of Xu Yuanchong’s poems, he emphasized the beauty of meaning, form and sound. Through a theoretical overview of important translation strategies and case study of the translation strategies adopted by Xu Yuanchong, the following conclusions are drawn: Xu Yuanchong’s translation strategy of “creative translation” has greatly improved the translatability of classical Chinese poetry. Due to the particularity of the poetry style and literary form, the semantic meaning loss can be caused to a certain extent, so the translation strategy oriented by functional equivalence and aesthetic pursuit can provide the reference for the translation of Chinese classical poems and lyrics.
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