On Translation of Chinese Classical Opera from the Perspective of Translation Aesthetics —A Case Study of Peach Blooms Painted with Blood

【ABSTRACT】： As a significant part of the Chinese culture， Chinese classical opera has been popular among the public. Peach Blooms Painted with Blood is a representative one in so many classical opera， the version by Xu Yuanchong and Mr. Xu is of great value from the perspective of aesthetics. This thesis will probe into the aesthetic elements in this version and the translation strategies employed with the Liu Miqing’s translation aesthetic theory as the theoretical framework. The exploration will focus on the beauty of the formal and non-formal system of the opera translation.

【Key words】： Chinese classical opera; opera translation; translation aesthetics; Peach Blooms Painted with Blood; formal and non-formal system.

1.Introduction

As a miracle of the traditional culture， Chinese Classical Opera is crucial in shaping the Chinese national spirits. There are four important Chinese dramatic works written in rhyme from the 13th to the 19th century， namely， Romance of Western Bower， Dream in Peony Pavilion， Love in Long-Life Hall， and Peach Blooms Painted with Blood. All these four works tell us love stories which reflect the times from Tang to Qing dynasties. Peach Blooms Painted with Blood， this story tells us the strife between love and power， and ends in the separation of the lovers. This paper will probe into the aesthetic elements in Peach Blooms Painted with Blood by Xu Yuanchong amp; M. Xu and the translation strategies employed for the conveyance of the beauty.

2 Constitution of aesthetic object

Generally speaking， the aesthetic object is composed of two systems： formal aesthetic system and non-formal system.

2.1 Formal aesthetic system

The formal aesthetic system refers to the features of the form of a language such as the characteristics of the phonology， lexicon， syntax and text. It is called the “beauty of form” in aesthetics which could be audio-visually perceived. Aesthetic theories define the formal aesthetic system as natural properties and the combinational patterns of the substantial materials that constitute the external form of a certain aesthetic object.

As far as translation is concerned， the formal aesthetic system works on three planes， that is， the exterior plane， the interior plane and conceptual plane with the first resorting to natural sensibility， the second emotional sensibility and the last symbolic sensibility （Liu Miqing， 2005：90）.

2.2 Non- Formal aesthetic system

Besides the formal aesthetic system which is mainly sensible and concrete， there still exists a more abstract system in the aesthetic makeup， which is called ”non-formal aesthetic system”. The non-formal aesthetic system is indefinite， non-quantitative and fuzzy， so it is not easy to grasp its aesthetic value by simply looking at any separated element in the translated text. Just as the spirit of a person cannot be separated from the person， the aesthetic value cannot be separated from the whole text. These aesthetic values do not hide in a single phoneme， word or sentence but in the combination of the above ones， as Liu Miqing puts it， “ the internal beauty is the essential quality manifested by the perceivable external forms”.

3. The Application of Translation Aesthetics in the Translation of Peach Blooms Painted with Blood

As one of the four most classical Chinese opera， the prevailing of Peach Blooms Painted with Blood lies in not only its tortuous plot but also its elegant melody. It’s a great challenge to maintain the Chinese traditional features in its English version， but Professor Xu Yuanchong made it， especially in the maximum display of its formal characteristics like rhyme and rhythm and non-formal characteristics like emotions. The display will be further elaborated in the following contents.

3.1 Formal beauty in Peach Blooms Painted with Blood

There is no denying that Chinese classical opera is a form of art which possesses unique aesthetic value. The most salient artistic feature to be noted is that its performance is a complex comprehensive art. In fact， opera in general （no matter what its type） is a comprehensive art form， in that it comprises literature （the script）， performance， staging， lighting， and other theatrical. And so， as expected， if we include the music， fine arts （including makeup， masks， stage design， settings， and so on）， lighting， costumes （embroidery）， and stage properties， opera is definitely a very complex comprehensive art. Actually， as a nation with a history of more than five thousand years， it’s pregnant with innumerable men of letters and their wisdom. Therefore， it pays much attention to the diction whether in daily communication or on splendid ceremonies. Classical opera， as a typical one， cannot isolate itself from this. The unique language features together with many allusions behind it make it more popular and time-honorable.

3.2 Non-formal beauty in Peach Blooms Painted with Blood

In addition to the formal beauty， non-formal beauty also contributes to enhance the aesthetic effect of literary works with internal and integral beauty， which drives from non-formal aesthetic constituents. In terms of opera， the ingredients of non-formal aesthetic mainly bear the emotion and expectation， image and symbol. In opera translation， these aspects could be achieved so as to make the translated opera thoroughly aesthetical.

3.3 Translation Strategies Employed in the realization of the Conveyance of the Beauty

3.3.1 Equalization

Equalization here refers to the equivalent output of the source language， during which there still remains the original order of the components in the sentence， namely literal translation. It should be noted that phonetic translation belongs to this category. The employment of equalization can make some place nouns or names etc much easier to catch and it’s also an effective way to preserve the original meaning of the source language， for instance：莫愁湖 Griefless Lake （P48）.

3.3.2 Particularization

For the sake of the readers from other cultures， it’s necessary to generalize some meanings， but that’s not the absolute exclusion of deepening other meaning. To some degree， the deepening of some meaning can also help to convey the aesthetic value. we call this “ Particularization ”.

This strategy can be traced to the translation of names of the female figures， such as Fragrant Lee（李香君）， Mother Lee（李貞麗）， Jade Bian（卞玉京）， White Kou（寇白門） and Safe Zheng（鄭妥娘）. The translation of these female names is different from the one of those male figures whose name is translated mainly through Pinyin System.

3.3.3 Generalization

Generalization， just as it is， refers to convert a complicated sense into an easy one. It’s often realized through omission. Chinese classical opera， as a traditional heritage， undoubtedly will encompass many allusions still unfamiliar to readers from other cultures. When it occurs， the best way is not to explain every word bit by bit while plus annotation， which may work at some occasions but not all. When on the stage， it’s a kind of red tape to articulate every meaning; the audience from other culture may be totally confused， which betrays the purpose of the translators. Omission works. In this opera， there are many parts using this method and it’s not challenging at all for the audience to grasp the whole story.

4. Conclusion

Adopted the translation aesthetics as a weapon， this paper has attempted to study the aesthetic components in the English translation of Chinese classical opera and summarized the possible translation strategies.

Under the guidance of Translation Aesthetics， the way to realize beauty in C-E Chinese classical opera is figured out from the formal and non-formal level.

To sum up， Chinese classical opera is a culture-loaded literary form and has many parts to be noticed. The aesthetics is just one of those， and this exploration still has its deficiency. But the aesthetic elements in the translation of opera really deserve studying.

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