The Interaction between Imagery and Allusions in translating Chinese PoetryBased on Tu Fu’s Poems

Shih-ying Liaw
Prof. Wang
Linguistics and Translation
June 18 2012

Shih ying Liaw1

Shih-ying Liaw
Prof. Wang
Linguistics and Translation
June 18 2012
The Interaction between Imagery and Allusions in translating Chinese PoetryBased on Tu Fu’s Poems
Though Chinese poetry has been translating for almost a hundred years, there are still many questions about the translation strategies and situations worth discussing. In this paper, the interaction between imagery and allusions when translating are discussed and the practical situation used when translating are presented.
To discuss the interaction between imagery and allusions, the first thing is to identify and define each term. First is imagery. Imagery is thought to be the most important factor to the poetry. I use Ezra Pound’s word as definition because he is not only a pioneering translator in Chinese poetry and also a great poet. He says that “an image' is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.” Further explanation is given by Professor Liu in “The Art of Chinese Poetry” by putting imagery into two categories. The first is “simple imagery,” which is defined as “a verbal expression that evokes a mental picture, which not merely picture in words but also arouses emotional associations and enriches the poetic context”. The

Shih ying Liaw2

second category is “compound imagery”, which involves “a juxtaposition or a1 comparison of two objects” and can be further put into four categories as juxtaposition, comparison, substitution and transference.1
The other term needed to be explained thoroughly is allusion. According to dictionary, an allusion is a direct or indirect reference to a person, place, event, or character, usually well known in