Intuitive reception of the Chinese translation of Emily Dickinson’s literary heritage

Abstract

ABSTRACT Exploring the common complexities and challenges of translating poetry from English into Chinese is one of the most pressing topics within contemporary Chinese and Western translation studies. This study aims to present the translation history of works by Emily Dickinson, examine the related research in China, and to analyse the translation potential of transferring three characteristics of the original work: hermeticism, intertextuality and prosody. The study is based on a comparative-literary analysis of Emily Dickinson’s translations of four verses, namely 1725, 31, 258, 269 and the translations of the contemporary Chinese translator Jiang Feng. The study found that Jiang Feng’s Chinese translation exhibits eight main features: 1) syntactic modification; 2) addition; 3) replacement of specific words with those that are broader in semantic sense; 4) compliance with punctuation similarity rules; 5) omission; 6) presence of translator’s notes; 7) transmission of the key idea, but partial neglect of form and rhyme; 8) replacement of words with cultural indicators that are inherent to the Chinese language. This study provides sinologist translators with further potential for research.