Cultural Imagery Transmission in Wang Fanglu's Vernacular English Bilingual Translation of The Book of Songs: Ya and Song from a Cultural Translation Perspective

Abstract

Drawing upon cultural translation studies theory, this paper examines Wang Fanglu's vernacular English translation of The Book of Songs: Elegies and Odes. It explores strategies for conveying core cultural imagery—including ritual objects, natural imagery, and ceremonial terminology—across linguistic boundaries, thereby revealing the dual mediation mechanism constructed by the translation between “cultural fidelity” and “reader reception.” However, the translation process confronts three tensions: the fluctuation between sacredness and accessibility, the conflict between poetic condensation and explanatory expansion, and the paradox between cultural specificity and cross-cultural circulation. While vernacular interpretation strategies effectively bridge comprehension, they incur losses in cultural connotation transmission. Consequently, this article proposes that future Book of Songs translations should explore adding an independent cultural annotation layer, establishing a three-dimensional complementary translation system integrating vernacular, English, and cultural interpretation to better achieve the classic's regeneration and dissemination across cultural contexts.