A Comparative Study of Two Chinese Versions of Gitanjali from the Perspective of Susan Bassnett’s Cultural Translation Theory

Abstract

Translators often take more time and energy to translate poetry because it is hard to the balance the rendering of mean-ing and preserving of form. And it is diffi cult to translate poetry into another language without the loss in meaning and poetic expressions. Based on Susan Bassnett’s cultural translation theory, this paper highlights the importance of cultural exchange in translation and emphasizes that meaning and form are equally important in poetry translation. This paper explores the semantic, formal and aesthetic equivalence in poetry translation through a comparative study of two Chinese versions of Gitanjali, and it also analyzes whether the translated version is easy for the target language readers to understand and appreciate, so as to achieve the purpose of cultural exchange.