A Study on Image Translation in Wang Wei’s Landscape Poems Based on Three-dimensional Transformation in Eco-translatology

Abstract

Ancient Chinese poetry has long been a hot topic in academic world. Recognized worldwide as a versatile literator in Tang Dynasty in China, Wang Wei composed a large quantity of excellent landscape poems containing rich images that can enrich the cultural connotation and create more artistic effect. Undoubtedly, the English translation of Wang Wei’s landscape poems plays a pivotal role in letting Chinese culture goes global. In view of the large discrepancy of cultural traits between China and western countries, translators who are not familiar with the two cultures will be prone to run into setbacks and difficulties during the whole translating process. Accordingly, if translators misinterpret the images in poetry translation, readers may feel confused and thus fail to appreciate the authentic beauty. Therefore, the image translation in Wang Wei’s landscape poetry is also of great significance. However, up to now, the academic world hasn’t attached great importance to the theoretical value of images in translating ancient Chinese poetry and translating strategies targeting at ancient Chinese poems are still mainly hovering on the controversy between foreignization and domestication, neglecting other significant perspectives. Guided by the translation principle-the three-dimensional transformation in the theory of Eco-translatology, this study is expected to explore the feasibility of this translation method in the study of Wang Wei’s poetry translation and to evaluate the quality of different versions of image translation from the linguistic, cultural, and communicative dimensions, aiming to offer both a guideline and a criterion for Wang Wei’s poetry translation, to broaden the research ideas of literary translation as well as to help promote the lasting charm of the oriental culture to the world.