On the Prefaces to English Translations of Du Fu’s Poems

doi:10.12002/j.bisu.196

Abstract

Abstract:

With the development of English translation of Du Fu’s poetry, studies on English translation of Du Fu’s poems have also continued to develop. However, these studies are mostly confined to the English translation of one or several specific poems. There are only a few papers or theses that comprehensively analyze and contrast aspects like translation thoughts, principles, strategies, etc., of translators in the process of their translation. Translator’s preface fall into the category of “paratext”; they usually contain a translator’s introduction to the original work, the author as well as his or her intent of translating, etc. Translator’s preface are carriers of the translator’s translation thoughts and contain numerous theoretical resources of translation principles, strategies, techniques, etc., which, therefore, are of great research value. This thesis selects 36 translated works of Du Fu’s poems and studies their prefaces, with particular reference to translation. On the one hand, the study analyses how a preface reflects a translator’s translation thoughts, strategies, techniques; and on the other hand, through a case study, it explores in what way these elements guide a translator’s translation practice. Thereby, it is expected to generalize some translation rules in order to provide guidance for research on the translation of Du Fu’s poems.

Keywords: paratext; prefaces; Du Fu’s poems;; translation thoughts; translation strategies

摘要：

随着杜诗英译的发展,杜诗英译研究也不断发展。然而目前针对杜甫诗歌英译的研究,大部分局限于对某一首或几首诗歌英译的研究,综合对比分析不同译者在译诗过程中涉及的翻译思想、原则、策略等方面的研究数量不多。译序属于“副文本”范畴,一般包括译者对原作者、原著和译作出版意图等内容的介绍;译序是译者翻译思想的载体,包含了许多无法在译文中明言的翻译原则、策略、技巧等理论资源,具有重要的研究价值。本文选取了37种杜甫诗歌译作,综合分析译序内容,将其中涉及翻译的部分作为重点研究对象,探究译序如何体现译者的翻译思想、翻译策略、翻译技巧等,并通过个案具体分析译序内容如何指导译者的翻译实践,以期总结翻译规律,为深化杜甫诗歌英译研究作出一些贡献。

关键词: 副文本, 译序, 杜甫诗歌, 翻译思想, 翻译策略

CLC Number:

H315.9

Jun WEN, Qingping WANG. On the Prefaces to English Translations of Du Fu’s Poems[J]. Journal of Beijing International Studies University, 2019, 41(1): 20-36.

文军, 王庆萍. 杜甫诗歌英译本译序探究[J]. 北京第二外国语学院学报, 2019, 41(1): 20-36.

Figures/Tables 6

References 50

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译者	重视原诗形式	译者	重视传达诗歌内容
Seth （1992：xxiii）	The joy of poetry for me lies not so much in transcending or escaping from the so-called bonds of artifice or constraint as in using them to enhance the power of what is being said.（以形式增强内容）	Hung （1969：13）	I try,therefore,to convey only Tu Fu’s thought and spirit,and cease to worry over form.（重在传达杜甫思想精神,忽视诗歌形式）
Owen （1996：xliv）	Our aim is to call attention to groupings such as stanzas,couplets and rhyme units of song lyric,and to create a recognizable structure of differences. （增强对诗节、诗对、韵律的关注）	Seaton （2006：xxv）	...Message — content and not form,is the point of poetry.（诗歌重要的部分是内容）
Fletcher （1919：i）	I have usually followed closely the original form of the poems,frequently keeping their meter,but fear that I have lost much of their nuances and fragile delicacy.（保留原诗的形式和韵步）	许渊冲（2000：4）	这种“再创”不是内容等于形式,或一加一等于二的科学方法,而是内容大于形式,一加一大于二的艺术方法。
Hamill （1988：vi）	I have addressed Tu’s forms by translating the techniques more often than the syllabic count,retaining his couplets and his parallelism whenever possible. （强调杜甫的技巧,尽可能保留对句和排比）	Hinton （1989：x）	Although I have tried to remain faithful to the content of Tu Fu’s poems,I have made little attempt to mimic the formal or linguistic characteristics of the originals.（不模仿原诗的形式和语言特点）
McCraw（1992：xii）	To reproduce as closely as possible Du Fu’s complex polyphony of meaning,imagery and formal features.（尽可能贴切的重构杜甫诗歌的内容、意象和形式特点）	Ayscough & Lowell （1921：ix）	It is more important to reproduce the perfume of a poem than its metrical form,and no translation can possibly reproduce both.（传达原诗的意蕴比传达韵律形式更重要）

译者	重视原诗形式	译者	重视传达诗歌内容
Seth （1992：xxiii）	The joy of poetry for me lies not so much in transcending or escaping from the so-called bonds of artifice or constraint as in using them to enhance the power of what is being said.（以形式增强内容）	Hung （1969：13）	I try,therefore,to convey only Tu Fu’s thought and spirit,and cease to worry over form.（重在传达杜甫思想精神,忽视诗歌形式）
Owen （1996：xliv）	Our aim is to call attention to groupings such as stanzas,couplets and rhyme units of song lyric,and to create a recognizable structure of differences. （增强对诗节、诗对、韵律的关注）	Seaton （2006：xxv）	...Message — content and not form,is the point of poetry.（诗歌重要的部分是内容）
Fletcher （1919：i）	I have usually followed closely the original form of the poems,frequently keeping their meter,but fear that I have lost much of their nuances and fragile delicacy.（保留原诗的形式和韵步）	许渊冲（2000：4）	这种“再创”不是内容等于形式,或一加一等于二的科学方法,而是内容大于形式,一加一大于二的艺术方法。
Hamill （1988：vi）	I have addressed Tu’s forms by translating the techniques more often than the syllabic count,retaining his couplets and his parallelism whenever possible. （强调杜甫的技巧,尽可能保留对句和排比）	Hinton （1989：x）	Although I have tried to remain faithful to the content of Tu Fu’s poems,I have made little attempt to mimic the formal or linguistic characteristics of the originals.（不模仿原诗的形式和语言特点）
McCraw（1992：xii）	To reproduce as closely as possible Du Fu’s complex polyphony of meaning,imagery and formal features.（尽可能贴切的重构杜甫诗歌的内容、意象和形式特点）	Ayscough & Lowell （1921：ix）	It is more important to reproduce the perfume of a poem than its metrical form,and no translation can possibly reproduce both.（传达原诗的意蕴比传达韵律形式更重要）

译者	Asycough & Lowell	McCraw	Seth	吴钧陶	Cooper
保留押韵		保留押韵	押韵是诗的特色,尽量保留押韵	每两行一个,押一个韵,个别几首是一韵到底	尽量保持与原诗相同的押韵方式
不保留押韵	汉语诗歌的押韵和节奏不可译

译者	Asycough & Lowell	McCraw	Seth	吴钧陶	Cooper
保留押韵		保留押韵	押韵是诗的特色,尽量保留押韵	每两行一个,押一个韵,个别几首是一韵到底	尽量保持与原诗相同的押韵方式
不保留押韵	汉语诗歌的押韵和节奏不可译

类别	杜甫诗歌英译专集
数量	14
书目名称	1.Burton Watson,The Selected Poems of Du Fu 2. Florence Ayscough,Tu Fu,Guest Of Rivers and Lakes 3. Albert Richard Davis,Twayne’s World Authors Series - Tu Fu 4.Stephen Owen,The Poetry of Tu Fu 5. David Hinton,The selected poems of Tu Fu 6. Sam Hamill,Facing the Snow 7. Florence Ayscough & Amy Lowell,Tu Fu,the Autobiography of A Chinese Poet 8. Worthley Underwood & Chi Hwang Chu,TU Fu,Wanderer and Minstrel under Moons of Cathel 9. William Hung,Tu Fu,China’s Greatest Poet 10. David McCraw,Du Fu’s Lament from the South 11. David Hawkes,A Little Primer of Tu Fu 12. David Young,Tu Fu,A Life in Poetry 13. Jonathan Waley,Spring in the Ruined City - Selected Poems of Tu Fu 14.吴钧陶,《杜甫诗英译150首》
类别	杜甫与其他诗人的合集
数量	4
书目名称	1. U Seth,Three Chinese Poets 2. David Yong,Five Tang Poets 3. Jerome Potter Seaton & James Cryer,Bright Moon and Perching Bird Poems by Li Bai and Tu Fu 4. Arthur Cooper,Li Po and Tu Fu
类别	包含杜甫诗歌的诗文集
数量	19
书目名称	1. Peter Harris,Three Hundred Tang poems 2. Kenneth Rexroth,One Hundred Poems from the Chinese 3. Eliot Weinberger,New Directions Anthology of Chinese Poetry（translated by others） 4. Angus Charles Graham,Poems of Late Tang 5. Cyril Birch,Anthology of Chinese Literature 6. Jerome Potter Seaton & James Cryer,The Shambahala Anthology of Chinese Poetry 7. Florence Ayscough &Amy Lowell,Fir-Flower Tablets,Poems from the Chinese Books 8. William John Bainbrigge Fletcher,Gems of Chinese Verse 9. Stephen Owen,An anthology of Chinese Literature,Beginnings to 1911 10. Red Pine,Poems of the Masters,China’s Classic Anthology of Tang and Sung Dynasty Verse 11. 唐一鹤,《英译唐诗三百首》 12. 王玉书,《王译唐诗三百首》 13. 张廷琛、魏博思,《唐诗一百首》 14. 杨宪益、戴乃迭,《唐诗：汉英对照》 15.孙大雨,《英译唐诗选》 16.许渊冲,《唐诗三百首》 17.石民,《诗经楚辞古诗唐诗选》 18.徐忠杰,《唐诗二百首英译》 19.许渊冲、陆佩弦、吴钧陶,《唐诗三百首新译（共39位译）》