Abstract

Poetry is quite personal in the sense that it is mainly written for the expression of the poets’ personal emotions, feelings, attitudes, point of views, etc. Therefore, it is endowed with strong subjectivity. Poets resort to different linguistic devices to realize their subjectivity in their poetry, which is termed as subjectification. Consequently, poets’ subjectivity constitutes an essential part of the meaning of their poetry. Thus, in the translation of poetry, it is vital for the translator to reconstruct the poets’ subjectivity. This paper attempts to conduct a contrast of thirteen English versions of Ru Meng Ling by Li Qingzhao from the perspective of subjectivity and subjectification. It will first make an analysis of Li Qingzhao’s subjectivity and subjectification in her Ru Meng Ling from the three dimensions, perspective, affect and epistemic modality. Then, a contrast is provided among the thirteen English versions. It is found that it is difficult to achieve a complete equivalence of subjectification due to the translators’ subjectivity in their translation. However, a good translator attempts to eschew his/her own subjectivity and reconstruct the poet’s subjectivity as much as possible.

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