Abstract
This study intends to explore the distribution of appraisal resources in the English versions of Li Bai’s poem Changgan Xing. It aims to make a comparative analysis and find out the similarities and differences of the translated poems based on J. R. Martin’s Appraisal Theory. Two classical English versions of the Chinese poem, which were translated by Ezra Pound and Xu Yuanchong, have been chosen. The distribution of attitudinal resources in the two English versions has been analyzed under the attitude system from three aspects: affect, judgment and appreciation. The distribution of polarity and explicitness in the poems has been explored as well. The study has adopted quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct a comparative analysis of the attitudinal resources in the translated poems. Further, the reasons for the differences of attitudinal resources in the translated versions have been explored. Through revealing the similarities and differences of the attitudinal resources, this study shows the applicability of the Appraisal Theory in the comparative studies of Chinese-English poems.
Highlights
Li Bai is one of the greatest romantic poets of Tang Dynasty in China
Through revealing the similarities and differences of the attitudinal resources, this study shows the applicability of the Appraisal Theory in the comparative studies of Chinese-English poems
There is a wealth of attitudinal resources in the Chinese poem and the two English versions; their distribution is shown in the following tables
Summary
Li Bai is one of the greatest romantic poets of Tang Dynasty in China. He wrote more than 1000 poems throughout his life, which occupy an important position in the development of Chinese classical poetry. The study of the English versions of Li Bai’s poems has a great influence on the promotion of Chinese classical culture His folk poetry Changgan Xing is a masterpiece in the history of poetry. The second English version is selected from Xu Yuanchong’s Selected Poems of Li Bai, which includes more than one hundred poems of Li Bai and was first published in 1987 It is highly praised by western translators and attracts many scholars’ attention. According to Martin and White (2008: 33), appraisal is one of three major discourse semantic resources construing interpersonal meaning (alongside involvement and negotiation). It mainly studies how the speaker or author expresses his subjective attitude in language.
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