Nature of Poetry Translation

【Abstract】Poetry is the most intimate and volatile form of literary discourse with the essence of natural overflow of human emotions.More and more scholars and translators begin to focus their attention on the study of it and its translation.Under the guidance of emotion as the nature of poetry， this paper tries to study the means of the translators empathization in poetry translation.The author regards emotion as the major factor among aesthetic elements and the most important factor the translator should pay attention to in the process of translation.Poetry translation is essentially an empathization of the aesthetic emotion in the source text， which involves the translators experience and reproduction of the emotion.The translators empathization centers on four mental stages： Xujing， imagination， judgment and experience.

【Key words】Poetry translation； aesthetic emotion； empathization

【摘要】作為文學題材中存在時間久遠和形式不穩定的文學形式之一，詩歌的本質在于它是人類情感的自然流露。越來越多的學者和譯者開始將目光聚集在唐詩的研究和翻譯上。在情感作為詩歌本質這一觀點的指引下，本文試圖研究唐詩翻譯過程中審美情感移植的方式。并提出詩歌翻譯的本質是對原文中的審美情感的移植。它也包括譯者對原文審美情感的體驗和再造。譯者對審美情感的移植過程主要集中在以下四步驟：虛靜，想象，判斷和體驗。

【關鍵詞】詩歌翻譯 審美情感 移植

Translating poetry is the most complicated among literary translations.A good poetry translation is so difficult， sometimes even regarded as impossible by some experts； the late John Ciardi referred to poetry translation as “the art of failure” （qtd.in Landers 97）.But there are still many people both at home and abroad committing themselves to the theory and practice of poetry translation.Traditional theory attached too much emphasis to faithfulness and poetic beauty of the original poetry，such as the debate over rhymed vs.rhymless verses， the loyalty to the original form， style and content.Most of them study the poetry translation from the theories of linguistic school and literary art school， and their translations are usually original-oriented.Therefore， it will inevitably lead to one-sidedness and limitations of poetry translation.Furthermore， they neglect the most important， that is， the aesthetic elements in the poetry translation， particularly the rendering of aesthetic emotion.

1.Nature of Poetry translation： Empathization

1500 years ago， a famous Chinese literary theorist Liu Xie （劉勰） clearly showed his opinions about poetry， the emotion is the longitude of literary， diction is the latitude； after deciding the emotion of a work， the author can combine the logic and diction to express it.This is the foundation for producing a literary work.He considered emotion as the spirit of articles， while emotion and reason cooperate with each other to constitute the base for literary works.Zhang Chengzhu stated “the fundamental task of the translator is to translate the emotion or reproduce the emotion.Deviated from this point， the translation can not be considered as a successful literary translation” （張成柱 28）.Aesthetic emotion is important to all people in the realm of literature.Literature is aimed at touching people with emotion； meanwhile， the emotion in the works is the outpouring of the authors emotion.Considering the distinctiveness， poetry is the most graceful art in literature.As the essence of poetry， emotion should be the most important factor deserving the translators attention and concern.To skillfully render a poem into another language， the key is to reproduce the same emotional experience and give the same aesthetic effect to his readers.In another words， the nature of poetry translation should be the empathization of aesthetic emotion.

An author needs empathy in his creation.In 1873， Robert Vischer formally put forward the term “Einfühlung” and defined it as “feeling into”.In accordance with the viewpoints of Gestalt psychology， some physical properties of external objects have the same structure but different qualities from the mode of mans emotional activity.Therefore， “the creative subject usually constructs his own emotion corresponded to certain properties， features， styles and forms of natural scene in personification pattern” （ 陸貴山169） .The aesthetic image becomes objectified of the subjects self image during the creating process； this is just the projection of the authors emotion.In translation， the translators employment of imagination to experience the characters and the authors emotion should be also aimed at empathization.But this kind of empathization is an introjection originated from literary works， which is full of the authors emotion， to the translators mind.It asks for the great creativity and strong subjective initiative from the author while demanding the translator to totally focus on the emotion of the source text and merges himself into the scenes of the book.He firstly imagines himself to be placed in the same situation of the author， experiences the authors feelings or enters his mentality to imitate his aesthetic mental set， and then accordingly translates and reproduces the emotion in his translation.

Empathization is also aesthetic representation.It is a vicarious arousal in translators mind， when someone witnessing a strong display of emotion begins to feel a similar emotion themselves.In the process of translation， it means the translator should internalize what he has gained from SL.Therefore， to achieve perfect aesthetic reproduction， it requires the drawing of aesthetic information from the translators store of memory and finding the most suitable form in the target language.On the foundation of a full awareness of translation aesthetic object （the SL text） and essential attributes of translation aesthetic subject （the translator）， it will explore the aesthetic structure of object and subjects translation initiatives， identify the relation between aesthetic subject and aesthetic object and provide measures and methods for the aesthetic reproduction in the process of translation so that it may direct and guide the translation practice.

To introduce Chinese poetry to the whole world， and let classical Chinese poetry be a window to understand Chinese literature and culture， a translator should go deep into the study of classical Chinese poetry， be aware of the difference in forms and styles between Chinese poetry and western poetry， have an awareness of the distinction of the aesthetic tradition in the two cultures.Poetry translation is a creative process of aesthetic representation.Consequently， the translator， as a reader and writer on a higher level， is bound to have a broad knowledge， excellent writing skills as well as rich and sensitive emotion.If a translator is moved by SL firstly， he may touch his readers by his re-creation， too.As for the essence of poetry， aesthetic emotion in the poem should be carefully and ingeniously dealt with.To some degree， to judge a success or failure of one poem largely relies on whether the translator has the capacity to tactfully reproduce the emotion and present the same emotional experience for the target readers to appreciate and experience.

2.Processes of Empathization

Generally speaking， the three phases for aesthetic empathizationinclude： （1） Beginning or preparation phase.The whole psychological mechanism enters a special state of aesthetical attention together with the emotional expectancy.Attention and expectancy constitute this special aesthetic attitude.（2） Climax phase： it is divided into two links； the first is aesthetic cognitive and the perceptual enjoyment stemmed from this cognitive activity.The second is the aesthetic awareness （comprised by emotion， imagination， understanding） and the spiritual joy aroused by this awareness （3） Effect extension phase， which includes aesthetic judgment， higher aesthetic need derived from this judgment， aesthetic interest and richer emotional life.As far as translation is concerned， if translation is treated as a mimesis of the source text， the translator goes into the step of emotional experience， which is the inner mimesis in translation after judging the type of emotion according to its aesthetic image system.Writing in General Introduction to Chinese Grammar & Characters （《馬氏文通》）， Ma Jianzhong stated that “Once you have a book in hand， you will try to read it over and over again till you make sure of the author's central idea， then you might try to imitate and bring out its spirit so as to follow its language style.After that， you might have a full comprehension and a thorough understanding of that book”（qtd.in蘇艷 my translation 90）.Only with transcending the obstacles of time and space， making full use of imagination and getting the translator himself into the same emotional state of the original writer can the translator have the same emotion and inspiration to do the rendering.The translators experience is a re-experience to the feeling and emotion of author and characters in the works.This dynamic psychological process cannot be directly perceived through senses.The above-mentioned three phases can be divided into four specific steps in the poetry translation process， that is， Xujing （虛靜） is the precondition， imagination can help the translator better experience the emotion and image in source language text， judgment functions as the evaluation criterion and analytical standard， and its ultimate purpose is to experience the aesthetic emotion presented in the SL poem.

Conclusion

The emotional activity of the translator is an important precondition for him to express the emotion in SL.If the translators reading process of SL is regarded as an emotional communication between the translator and the author； similarly， the translator will expect his target readers to be able to participate in the emotional communication with his rendering， too.One of the emotions psychological functions is manifested as the psychological potential energy in translation process， or in creation mind， and another is the passion expressed and permeated in SL.No matter which function it is， both are the driving force for the translators recreation.And people can find this strong driving force not only in the psychological mechanism of image perception， but also in each link of image， imagination and intellectual activities， none can escape the active and ardent intervene of emotion.The psychological function of emotion is positive rather than passive； therefore， this positivity determines that the translator can externalize his own emotion at any time.

References：

[1]Landers， Clifford E.Literary Translation.UK： Multilingual Matters LTD， 2001.

[2]Tounsend， D.Aesthetics： Classical Reading from Western Tradition， 2nd ed.Beijing： PekingUniversity Press， 2002.

[3]姜秋霞.文學翻譯過程中的審美過程：格式塔意象再造[M].北京：商務印書館，2002.

[4]陸貴山.審美主客體[M].北京：中國人民大學出版社，1989.

[5]蘇艷.目既往返，心亦吐納——文學翻譯中的審美情感移植[J].山東外語教學，2005（3）：85-93.

[6]張成柱.文學翻譯中的情感移植[J].中國翻譯，1994（21）：28-29.

【基金項目】本文系四川外國語言文學研究中心課題 “英語語言教學與文化素質教育結合實證研究”（課題編號：SCWYGJ13-12）階段性成果。

作者簡介：

陳宏霞，女，1970年生，英語碩士研究生、英語副教授。中國職業技術教育學會教學工作委員會文秘公共關系專業教學研究會會員。研究方向：應用語言學、職業教育。