A Contrastive Study of Poetry Translation in The Story of The Stone and A Dream of Red Mansions
Abstract: Hong Lou Meng, one of the four great classical works in China, represents the peak of the development of Chinese classical novels. The myriad poems in it not only play an indispensable part in the plot development and character shaping, but also contribute to its ideological and artistic values. This thesis is a contrastive study of the poetry translations in two English versions of the Hong Lou Meng – The Story of the Stone and A Dream of Red Mansions. It seeks to account for the different approaches adopted by Hawkes and the Yangs in handling the poems by exploring the subjectivity, poetics and other cultural factors which the translators subject to.
Keywords: Hong Lou Meng, poetry translation, translation strategies
石头故事和红楼梦中诗歌翻译的对比研究
摘 要 《红楼梦》是中国古典小说发展的最高峰,其思想内容博大精深,艺术成就精湛无比。红楼梦中的诗词曲赋是小说故事情节和人物描写的有机组成部分，也是构成《红楼梦》艺术价值的重要组成部分。本论文考察霍克思及杨宪益夫妇的两个《红楼梦》译本中的诗词翻译，结合译者的主体意识、文化取向、诗学观念等因素分析译者的翻译策略，并对一些代表性译诗从选词、意象及翻译技巧等方面进行探讨、对比和赏析，以加深对译者的翻译风格及翻译技巧的理解。
关 键 词 红楼梦；诗词翻译；翻译策略
Contents
Introduction 2
1 A Brief Introduction to HLM and Its Influence 3
1.1 A Brief introduction to HLM 3
1.2 A General Introduction to the Influence of HLM 4
2 Features of Poetry and An Introduction to Poems in HLM 5
2.1 Features of Poetry 5
2.2 Poems in HLM 6
2.2.1 Various Poetic Forms and Rhetorical Devices 6
2.2.2 An Indispensable Part in the Plot 7
2. 3 The Challenge of Translating the Poems in HLM 8
3 A Comparative Study of the Two Versions of HLM in Poetry Translation 10
3.1 Two Translation Versions of HLM 10
3.2 A Comparative Study of Poem Translations in the Two Versions 10
3.2.1 From the Aspect of Proficiency of Language 11
3.2.2 From the Aspect of Translators’ Different Cultural Background 12
3.2.3 From the Aspect of Different Skills Adopted by the Translators 15
3.2.4 From the Aspect of Different Cultural Orientation 17
3.2.5 From the Aspect of Different Translation Purposes 18
4 Different Translation Strategies 21
Conclusion 22
Bibliography 23
