图形背景理论视角下宋词的英译解读——以苏轼诗词的两个英译本为例

An Analysis of the Translation of Song Lyrics from the Perspective of Figure-Ground Theory—Exemplified with Two English Versions of the Poems of Su Shi

图形背景理论可追溯于心理学领域,后被认知语言学家引入到语言学中,广泛应用于阐释文本意境,并凸显其中的主要信息和次要信息。本文将图形背景理论应用于宋词的研究,以苏轼诗词的两个英译本(许渊冲译本和华兹生译本)为例,探讨英译过程中图形背景关系对于诗词意境解读和传达的重要作用。研究发现,利用图形背景理论有助于译者在英译过程中恰当处理主次信息,更好地传达原文的意境美,且为宋词的研究拓展新的视角。

Figure-Ground Theory originated in the field of psychology and then was introduced into linguistics by cognitive linguists. It is widely used to interpret the artistic conception of text and highlight primary and secondary information. This article applies the figure-ground theory to the translation of Song Lyrics, taking the two English versions, Xu Yuanchong’s translation and Watson’s translation, of poems written by Sushi as examples, and discusses the important role of figure-ground relation in the interpretation and transference of artistic conception of poems in the process of the English translation. This study found that the application of figure-ground theory can help the translator to grasp the main information to convey the beauty of the original context, aiming at providing a new perspective for the study of the Song Lyrics.