Abstract:Yuefu refers to the music bureau firstly established in the Han Dynasty. It develops a unique poetic genre which is Yuefu poems, amongst which Yuefu Ballads are those collected folk oral traditions. They represent the highest achievement of the Yuefu poems throughout the Han Dynasty and Southern and Northern Dynasty. The Yuefu ballads not only appeal to both refined and popular tastes, but also profoundly influence the creation of many poets including Li Bai and Du Fu.
However, along with the process of modernization and industrialization, nowadays fewer people know this precious oral heritage and their transmission will be surely blocked if no measures are taken in time. Translating the Yuefu ballads into English is an effective way to draw more attention from different people at home and abroad. Therefore, these precious folklore heritages which are at the edge of extinction can be rescued and the excellent Chinese folk culture can be carried out.
English ballads are also folk literature with a long history. Of all the types of poetry, perhaps English ballad is the one making the most direct appeal to all classes of readers and listeners from the Middle Age to our days.
Both the Yuefu ballads and the English Ballads are collected folk oral traditions, reflecting wisdom of the masses, revealing the rank and file’s living condition, presenting different cultures. Hence a contrastive study of these two kinds of ballads makes the translation more proper and the conveyance more precise.
The significance of this thesis lies in a systematic introduction to the Yuefu ballads and English ballads and a contrastive analysis between them. More importantly, domestication and foreingnization will be discussed here to guide the translation of Yuefu ballads.
This thesis starts with a systematic introduction to the Yuefu ballads. Then a brief introduction to the English ballads is made. After that comes the contractive study of these two ballads in different perspectives. When the overall understanding of the properties and characteristics of the ballads are shed light on, the discussions of domestication and foreingnization will be activated. The combination of domestication and foreingnization offers a solution to both the transference of the original and local flavor and the purpose of promoting Chinese culture. The ending part is conclusion.
Key words: Yuefu ballads, English ballads, domestication, foreingnization
中文摘要:“乐府”是我国古代掌管音乐歌舞的官署名称，最早出现于秦代。乐府诗是收集和配乐演唱的歌辞。后来乐府诗发展成了一种专门的诗体，即乐府体亦称乐府。代表汉代诗歌最高成就的是“乐府”中的民歌部分。乐府诗中采自民间歌辞称为“乐府民歌”。乐府民歌是来自下层人民的集体性、社会性创作，通过人们口口相传流传开来，它代表了劳苦大众的心声，汇集了人民群众的集体智慧。
然而随着工业化社会的发展，这一民间文化的传承与发展并不乐观。将我国乐府民歌与英语民谣进行对比，并探讨乐府民歌的英译方法，可以更加系统地了解乐府民歌与英语民谣，加深我们对二者的认识，得出两种不同时间与地域的民间文化形式的异同，有助于了解二者的语言、文化与历史人文差异，并从中借鉴有益经验，指导乐府民歌的英译工作。
本文第一部份将对乐府民歌的起源和发展等进行系统的介绍。继而对英语民谣的起源、收集、分类等进行整体讲述。第三部份是乐府民歌与英语民谣的对比研究。从二者的语言特点、修辞手法等方面进行对比，得出二者的异同。最后主要从归化与异化的角度对乐府民歌的翻译进行探讨。
关键词：乐府民歌， 英语民谣， 归化， 异化
