Abstract: Poetry, as a literary form of human emotional expression and thought, is the embodiment of national languages and rich cultural contents. To some extent, it can be defined as the highest and most artistic expression of particular cultural content. Therefore, poetry translation is not only an activity of language translation, but also of cultural communication. Different nations have their own distinctive cultures, which contribute to the cultural difficulties while translating.
“Lin Daiyu’s Elegy on Flowers” is a famous poem carried in Dream of the Red Chamber, which is beautiful in wording and sophisticated in writing skills. This poetry translation involves literary allusion, angle of person, tone, etc. These defy translation. This paper is a comparative study of two English translations of the poem. The discussion is also made on the basis of respective cultural difference and strategies of translation, in addition to the difficulties mentioned above.
Key Words: poetry translation；cultural difference；translation strategies；Lin Daiyu’s Elegy on Flowers
CONTENTS
Introduction: 1
1. The cultural differences in poetry translation 2
1.1 The definition of culture and its diferences 2
1.2 The clarification of culture and its differences 4
2. Translation strategies in poetry translation 8
2.1 The definition of translation and its functions… 8
2.2 The nature of literary translation 9
2.3 Clarifications of translation strategies 10
3. Conclusion 13
Reference: 17
