时间：2022-05-27 04:38:15
Abstract：Through the history of American poetry，Imagism is a profound modern literary movement in the 1920s and could be omitted in no aspect. Though being a transient phase of no longer than a decade，Imagism opened a new era for American poetry，where traditional English poetics with its iambic pentameter is discarded，where flowery language and extra-poetic padding is refused，and where ornate style of writing is avoided. But the Imagist manifesto was not the creation of American Imagist alone，it was the fruit of the application of the assimilated classical Chinese poetic principles. Cathay，by Ezra Pound （1885-1972），is considered as the most influential work gushing oriental thoughts and techniques into the tottering post-Victorian literature. From the view of misreading and translation theory，it is concluded that in the composing of Cathay，Ezra Pound is a genius translator who vitalizes the stale American poetry rather than an irresponsible composer who lifts inspiration and techniques from oriental literature.
The profound impact of Cathay is wide acknowledged，but there are some disputes over it. One everlasting controversy is that since Cathay consists of the English renderings of 19 classic Chinese poems，it should be classified into a translation work rather than a creative derivative writing out of inspiration from the splendid Chinese culture. The controversy further develops into a debate of what role Pound played by composing Cathay，a genius translator or a creative interpolator？
Key words： Ezra Pound；Cathay；misreading；poetry translation
Some of Pound’s inaccuracy criticized by critics is due to misreading，and some are due to his dependence on the Japanese rough translation and notes.
I From the view of misreading
In Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary，misread is defined as “read or interpret （text，a situation，etc.） wrongly”. Scholars’ attitude towards misreading had changed gradually through history. To be brief，in the 18th century，readers should read the historical text as they were placed in the same material and spiritual situation of the authors. Only in this way，can they understand the original intentions of the author and avoid misreading. In the late 19th century，modernism developed rapidly and gained a wide acceptance. The author’s original intention and the text’s meaning were weighed less. People became attracted to the ambiguity of meanings. Thomas Stearns Eliot believed that different readers from all walks of life would get different meanings from the same text. Derrida，the representative of deconstructionism，held that texts had no fixed meaning. Foucault said that “All understandings are misunderstandings，and all readings are misreading.” In the view of the subject of misreading，it can be classified into two categories.
1.1 Unintentional misreading
Unintentional misreading is inevitable for Ezra Pound at his time owing to the cultural background.
First，western poetry has a tradition of narrative since its birth. Narrative poetry has a long history as early as epics emerged. Homer and Aeneid in pre-history time，The Song of Roland and Igor Expedition Record in medieval，Divine Comedy and The Waste Land even in the 18th century. While classical Chinese poetry is esteemed by its metaphorical language，succinct style，and thoughtful theme. Feeling and emotions are tactfully loaded in display of images instead of being revealed by narrative of events.
Second，American or western ideology is science-based，which heavily relies on facts. Dating back to ancient Greek，philosophers are infatuated with speculation and positivism. Non-metaphysical facts and observable phenomena have been instilled in their blood generation after generation，while Chinese culture has a tradition to trust intuition and pursue the transient flash of awakening.
When such two different cultures meet，misreading is inevitable.
1.2 Intentional misreading
Intentional misreading is a literary analysis with specific cultural necessity. As an aftermath of both World War First and industrialization，the West was a world in which pervasive and impenetrable gloom haunted，and chaos and disorder were rampant everywhere. The idealism that used to support first settlers of the new Garden of Eden，evaporated in the face of disastrous effects of World War First，along with heroism and patriotism. Enthusiasm turned into disillusionment. Restlessness，discontentment，and despair needed an outlet. The Imagists，especially Ezra Pound，ransacked both history and contemporary works for ideals and principles impregnated with power and energy. Classical Chinese poetry attracted Pound by its conciseness in language，pithiness in style，and profoundness in theme. Pound saw in Chinese history and the doctrine of Confucius a source of strength and wisdom with which to counterpoint Western gloom and confusion.
With the collection of crude translation works and some Japanese footnotes of an Oriental scholar Ernest Fenollosa，Pound developed an intellectual bond to the ancient Chinese poets，beyond the boundary of time，space and culture. He read beyond Fenollosa's translation，and showed an extraordinary comprehension，as if he had communed with those great Chinese minds in person. Separation，sorrows，loneliness，longing and nostalgia in the classical Chinese poetry were consistent with the social emotions of the America in the 1920s. In the need of expressing the muted angst and confusion of the age，Pound gave up some original images in the Chinese poetry and transferred them into icons familiar to his fellow readers，so as to convey a more realistic feeling of the contemporary America. Due to Pound’s brilliant intentional misreading，the traditional Chinese images were replaced by American equivalents，and these familiar icons ring the heart of the American readers. This intentional misreading functioned well and received great sensation as well as criticism.
1.3 Summary
Pound’s unintentional misreading was a defect to Cathay，but his insightful and proper intentional misreading gave the renderings their contemporary American meanings and made it easier for his American readers to get the core spirit and overall meaning of the Chinese poems. It can be conclude that the loyalty to original spirit and meaning of the Chinese poems is more significant.
II From the view of translation theory
Cathay has enjoyed enormous popularity in the English reading public since its publication in 1915. But it is also criticized fiercely from the view of translation. For example，《登金陵凤凰台》 was translated into The City of Choan，《长干行》 into The River-Merchant’s Wife： A Letter. He mistook 《江上吟》 and 《侍从宜春苑奉诏赋龙池柳色初青听新莺百啭歌》 as one poem and took the title of the latter as the first line of his translation. He was not sure who was the author of 《渭城曲》. Tao Yuanming's 《停云四章》 consisting of four poems was adapted into a three-quarter poem.
From the view of translation theory，there are many inaccuracies and errors in Cathay. The reasons are many and here two major ones are illustrated.
2.1 Pound’s own translation principles
Ezra Pound has his own principles in translation. Seeing from the style，Pound strongly holds that poetry can only be translated by or into poetry. Poetry should never be translated into a cluster of diluted explanatory words，which dissolve the structural beauty of the originals. Seeing from the theme and emotion，Pound progressively gives up some literal meaning in exchange of the deeper meaning，and the emotion echoes in his English readers.
In fact，these principles are strictly based on translation theory and are on a higher standard. Peter Newmark，a famous English translation theorist puts forward the principles of semantic translation and communicative translation. The semantic translation principle aims to reach a close semantic structure and contextual meaning to the source language text. The communicative translation principle aims to win the reaction of the target language readers as close to that of the source language readers as possible. The former one weighs more on being informative，while the latter one more on the target language readers’ effect. According to Peter’s translation theories，it could be inferred that by his choice of words and style，Pound preserves the nature phenomena which proves equators for human emotion，and gives up literal meanings of some cultural-loaded images in the Chinese originals，by turning them into equivalent American icons.
These principles are also approved by some linguistics and literary critics. Eugene A. Nida once stated that the translation of poetry should gain functional equivalence to the original poetry，and that the optimal translation is almost another poem derived from the specific same theme. Faithfulness has the priority over all the other standards of translation. The faithfulness to the original theme and emotions has the priority over that to the literal meaning. The strong hold of deeper meaning at the expense of literal meaning does little harm to his translated work，since the equivalence of theme and emotion is the trigger of consensus and emotion echoes in the readers' heart.
2.2 Pound’s dependence on the Japanese notes
The other reason is the pitiful fact that Pound could not read Chinese and that the handful collection of notes that Pound depends on is a poetic deciphering twice removed from its source. The Chinese has already filtered through the interpretation of Fenollosa's Japanese notes. These makes easy to understand why there are too many inaccuracies and errors in Pound's work.
Pound's insistence on using the Japanese names for the poets is both scrupulous and perverse，but not done in ignorance. Pound once exemplifies T.S Eliot's point that there is "no Chinese poetry-in-itself，waiting some ideal translator who shall be only translator." This is why he takes in Fenollosa's translation and starts his own work rather than reject it for its inaccuracies and ambiguity. His unchallengeable courage and devoted prudence should be highly recognized.
2.3 Summary
Ezra Pound’s dependence on the Japanese notes shows his great interest in classic Chinese poetry，at the same time，it causes his limitation of understanding the original Chinese texts and degrades the perfection of his translation. However，Pound holds effective and appropriate translation principles that convey the outmost informative meaning and the core spirit of classic Chinese poems and adhere to the translation theories of most of his contemporary peers.
III Conclusion
Ezra Pound reaches the peak of poetry by his genius master of creative deciphering and composing. Cathay，a translation work，successfully mediates the themes and emotions that are precisely what their Chinese originals express，and stimulates wide response in English readers.
In conclusion，Ezra Pound has helped，through theory and practice，to chart out the course of American modern poetry by his Cathay，a source，not yet exhausted and inexhaustible，to consult to in the development of later generations. Ezra Pound，the translator，is a prudent and strict genius.
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作者简介：
胡潇霖，女，（1988～），吉林长春人，吉林大学外国语学院2011级英语语言文学专业硕士研究生，研究方向：文学