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SHANG Xinyun, BI Yifei
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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2025.11.006
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
This study applies Skopos Theory to conduct a comparative analysis of two seminal English translations of Li Qingzhao’s poetry: Xu Yuanchong’s academic version and Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung’s creative version. Focusing on the translation of the name of tune and the reconstruction of metrical patterns, this study examines how the translator’s differing purposes—cultural preservation versus poetic regeneration—dictate their strategic choices. The findings reveal that Xu consistently employs foreignization strategies, striving to preserve the original’s cultural imagery and prosodic features in alignment with his Skopos of disseminating Chinese poetic aesthetics. In contrast, Rexroth and Chung preferentially adopt domestication strategies, adapting the text to enhance its readability and emotional resonance for the target-language audience. The study concludes that Skopos Theory provides a powerful explanatory framework for such strategic divergences, validating both translational approaches as legitimate when evaluated against their intended purposes. This underscores the necessity of a pluralistic standard in translation criticism, moving beyond the traditional fidelity-based dichotomy.
Skopos Theory, academic translation, creative translation, the name of tune, metrical patterns
SHANG Xinyun & BI Yifei, Cultural Preservation or Poetic Regeneration? A Skopos-Theoretic Analysis of Li Qingzhao’s English Translations. US-China Foreign Language, November 2025, Vol. 23, No. 11, 415-422 doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2025.11.006
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