从译者主体性看《红楼梦》诗词的翻译-毕业论文.doc

Preface

Hong Lou Meng (HLM for short in this thesis) is a great classical Chinese novel written in the mid-eighteenth century during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. Intertwined with the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu, this novel depicts multifarious contradictions in four big aristocratic families represented by the family of Jia, and displays many characteristics of Chinese feudal culture, including clothing, food, architecture, social system, conventions, philosophy, education and art, etc. The novel involves over two hundred beautiful and well-designed traditional verses which not only constitute an inseparable part of the whole work, but also reflect traditional Chinese culture.
Up till now, HLM has been translated into over a dozen foreign languages including 9 English versions, among which Yang Xianyi & Gladys Yang’s A Dream of Red Mansions and David Hawkes & John Minford’s The Story of the Stone are complete versions and the two most outstanding ones. Compared with studies on the translation of the narration in this novel and the cultural information in various aspects in daily life, studies on the translation of its poetry are to be further deepened.
In this thesis, the author would view the English translation of the poetry in this novel from the reproduction of the writer’s intentions and the conveyance of “Three Beauties”. By studying the translation of these poems, we may see the necessity and possibility of the translation of the poetry in this novel.
The principle of the “Three Beauties” which is a guide to the translation and criticism of poetry refers to “beauty in sense, beauty in sound and beauty in form”. It has been put forward again by Professor Xu Yuanchong based on his predecessors’ research and his own practice. It means that the translator of poetry should endeavor to make his/her version faithful to the original. But he/she should not stop just here: from this point the translator must continue his/her effort to bring out the original beauties in sense, in sound and in form, that is, to transfer rhymed verses into rhymed ones. In this thesis, the analysis and assessment of the “Three Beauties” involve examination of the use of imagery, rhyme and rhythm and the arrangement of lines.
Translation is considered as a process actualized by the translator who has his/her own subjectivity. But his/her subjectivity is closely related to the society in which he/she lives. Certain ideology and dominant poetics will definitely exert influences on an individual translator. Hence, different translators may adopt different translation strategies according to their own purposes.
Besides, it is well known that although translation deals with languages, it actually tackles different cultures, particularly in literary translation. To bridge two cultures, some translators take the “domestication” as a way; the others take the “foreignization”. One function of translation, especially of literary translation, is to promote intercultural communication which should be based on mutual respect. Communication needs bilateral efforts: the translator and the reader. Neither of the two ways alone can achieve successful communication. Therefore whether the translator should be too considerate for the reader is under discussion. In this thesis the author is also trying to have a discussion on it.

毕业设计（论文）原创性声明和使用授权说明

原创性声明
本人郑重承诺：所呈交的毕业设计（论文），是我个人在指导教师的指导下进行的研究工作及取得的成果。尽我所知，除文中特别加以标注和致谢的地方外，不包含其他人或组织已经发表或公布过的研究成果，也不包含我为获得 及其它教育机构的学位或学历而使用过的材料。对本研究提供过帮助和做出过贡献的个人或集体，均已在文中作了明确的说明并表示了谢意。
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指导教师评阅书

指导教师评价：
一、撰写（设计）过程
1、学生在论文（设计）过程中的治学态度、工作精神
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、学生掌握专业知识、技能的扎实程度
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
3、学生综合运用所学知识和专业技能分析和解决问题的能力
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
4、研究方法的科学性；技术线路的可行性；设计方案的合理性
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
5、完成毕业论文（设计）期间的出勤情况
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
二、论文（设计）质量
1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规范？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订及附件）？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
三、论文（设计）水平
1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
建议成绩：□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
（在所选等级前的□内画“√”）
指导教师： （签名） 单位： （盖章）
年 月 日

评阅教师评阅书

评阅教师评价：
一、论文（设计）质量
1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规范？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订及附件）？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
二、论文（设计）水平
1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格

建议成绩：□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
（在所选等级前的□内画“√”）
评阅教师： （签名） 单位： （盖章）
年 月 日

教研室（或答辩小组）及教学系意见
教研室（或答辩小组）评价：
一、答辩过程
1、毕业论文（设计）的基本要点和见解的叙述情况
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、对答辩问题的反应、理解、表达情况
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
3、学生答辩过程中的精神状态
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
二、论文（设计）质量
1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规范？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订及附件）？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
三、论文（设计）水平
1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平
□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
评定成绩：□ 优 □ 良 □ 中 □ 及格 □ 不及格
（在所选等级前的□内画“√”）
教研室主任（或答辩小组组长）： （签名）
年 月 日
教学系意见：
系主任： （签名）
年 月 日

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 The Current Study on the Translation of the Poetry in HLM
Hong Lou Meng is regarded as an “encyclopedia” of Chinese feudal society not only for the richness of its content but for its successful integration of almost all the literary techniques. One of the most prominent accomplishments of HLM is a large number of verses which splendidly add to its artistic value, totally over 230 with various artistic forms, including shi(poem), ci(poetry written to certain tunes, patterns and rhymes), qu(a type of verse for singing), fu (rhyme prose), lei (funeral eulogy), pian(parallel prose), and lian (couplets).
As far as the poetry in it is concerned, few Chinese readers can understand in true sense what they mean, so that the poetry is “omitted” or neglected in translating and reading. But in actual fact, poetry is an indispensable part of the novel. Not seeing into or understanding it while reading must be a great loss in getting the soul of the whole work. In recent years, relevant researches in the poetry’s translation have flourished. Professor Wang Hongyin from Nankai University published《<红楼梦>诗词曲赋英译比较研究》in 2001, which signified a good beginning of systematic research on HLM translation. Some postgraduates have also participated in the studies of poetry translation in HLM. Yang Li, once a postgraduate from Northwestern University, adopted Peter Newmark’s “semantic translation” and “communicative translation” as her guidance in her dissertation “A comparative Study on Cross-culture Translation of Some Poems, Ci, Songs, Fu and Allusions in Two English Versions of Hong Lou Meng”(Yang, 2004) Liu Yumei from Sichuan University adopted Xu Yuanchong’s “Three Beauties” in her dissertation “On Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang’s Translation of Poems in Hong Lou Meng (Revised)”(Liu,2004). Besides, various articles were written to research into the translation of poetry in HLM. Such as: “the Translation of Some Code Words in the Poems of Hong Lou Meng”(1994), “The Seven English Versions of Haoliaoge” (1996) ,“An analysis of Several Poems in the English Version of Hong Lou Meng by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang”(1998), “The Translation of the Cultural Contents of Poems in Hongloumeng” (2004), “The Comparative Study of the Haoliaoge Zhu” (2004), “On Foreignization and Domestication from the Poem Translation of Hong Lou Meng” (2004) etc.
These books and articles are very helpful for the researchers and translators to deepen their studies in the poetry translation in HLM and improve their translation technique.

1.2 A Brief Introduction to Two English Versions of HLM
As a cultural book of Chinese people, Hong Lou Meng has aroused increasing interest among the foreigners. So far there have been only two complete versions of it. One is A Dream of Red Mansions translated by Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang, the other is The Story of the Stone by David Hawkes and his son-in-law John Minford. When the two versions appeared one after the other during 1970s, the translation field was shaken. They are successful and spoken highly of by the translation scholars and the press both at home and abroad. The publication of the two complete versions is a milestone on the way of Chinese cultural exportation and leads Redology to a new horizon. Professor Zhou Jueliang made his comment on the two versions as follows:
Despite different styles presented in these two versions, both of them achieved the goals set by their translators. The version by David Hawkes is famous for its elegance, while Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang’s is remarkable for accuracy…If reading them together, those who are unable to read the original will acquire the real and complete picture about this novel as they do read(Zhou1994:350).
The two versions are complementary to each other. These two versions vary greatly in their styles. For Yang, who has been under the great influence of Hong Lou Meng in his native culture, it’s not easy for him to shake off this influence. Gladys Yang expressed her pity “we enjoyed little freedom in our translation” (Henderson et al.1980:PP36). But Hawkes obviously enjoyed more freedom in his translation, because in his culture, only the Bible and works of Homer and Shakespeare and a few others can be included into “classical works” and Hong Lou Meng, as a Chinese novel, is certainly excluded out of its mainstream literature. Though since the 18th century, many western people have already discovered the charm of ancient Chinese classical works, these works are still refused outside the mainstream. Therefore, Hawkes shares much more freedom in his translation. (魏芳,2004:107―121)

1.2.1 The Story of the Stone by David Hawkes
It was until the 1970s that the complete English version of HLM appeared. The Story of the Stone by the British Sinologist David Hawkes marks the start of the book’s complete translation period in the west. The whole version consists of five volumes and Hawkes’ son-in-law John Minford finished the later two volumes under the guidance of Hawkes. Penguin Books Ltd. of England published its first 26 chapters in 1973 and it was not until 1986 that its publication was finally completed.
Hawkes makes a profound research into the original book and masters the comparatively updated information about the book’s background. He admits that “I have relied heavily on the published researches of Chinese scholars like Yu Pingbo（俞平伯）, Zhou Ruchang（周汝昌）,Wu Shichang（吴世昌） and Zhao Gang（赵刚）—particularly the last, whose theories on a number of controversial issues seem to me the most convincing.”(Introduction,17).He points out in his Introduction that “the psychological insight and sophisticated humor with which it is written can often delude a reader into judging it as if it were a modern novel…his numerous rewriting and the various mythopoeic ‘devices’ with which his novel is littered all testify to his struggle to find some sort of framework on which to arrange his inchoate material”. From this statement we can see Mr. Hawks’ keen insight of the artistic essence of the original book. He also tells that “My one abiding principle has been to translate everything—even puns. For although this is, in the sense I have already indicated, an ‘unfinished’ novel, it was written (and rewritten) by a great artist with his very life blood. I have therefore assumed that whatever I find in it is there for a purpose and must be dealt with somehow or other. I cannot pretend always to have done so successfully, but if I can convey to the reader even a fraction of the pleasure this Chinese novel has given me, I shall not have lived in vain.”(Introduction, 46). The educational Supplement to Times Newspaper regards Hawkes’ version as “one of the best translated works of English” and the magazine Making Friends holds that it is the milestone in rendering the Chinese literature works into English.

1.2.2 The Yangs’ A Dream of Red Mansions
In 1978 and 1979, the Foreign Language Press of China (Beijing) published the translation A Dream of Red Mansions—the complete English version in three volumes by the famous Chinese scholar Yang Xianyi (1915- ) and his wife Gladys Yang (1919-1999). This translation has been regarded as the most faithful one so far and is popular in China as well as accepted in English-speaking countries.
Yang and his wife have devoted almost all their lives to the translating of the Chinese classics and have made great contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world. They take introducing the cultural heritage of China to the outside world as their responsibility and try their best to be faithful to the original works. Apparently, they do not have a comprehensive translation theory as some others do, but they do have their own principles. In 1980, when they were interviewed about some problems in literary translation by the chief editor of an Australian magazine Hemisphere, Mr. Yang said that, “translating the Chinese classic is not an easy job—one has to find an approximate translation, but at the same time, it must be accurate, keeping the meaning as close as possible to the original.” They also mentioned David Hawkes and his The Story of the Stone. Mrs. Yang spoke highly of Hawkes, “We take too few liberties, a translator we admire very much, David Hawkes, is much more creative than us. We tend to be rather pedantic and the readers lose their interest, we are too literal”, while Mr. Yang’s opinion is that “one can’t explain too much in the process of translation. He should try the best of his ability