TITLE:
A Study on the Chinese Translation of Lyrics from the Perspective of Translation Aesthetics—Taking Bob Dylan’s Lyrics as an Example
AUTHORS:
Ke Chen, Qiao Peng
KEYWORDS:
Lyrics Translation, Translation Aesthetics, Three Beauties Theory, Bob Dylan Lyrics, English Songs
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.11 No.11,
November
5,
2024
ABSTRACT: The purpose of lyrics translation is to seek a rendition that closely approximates the original’s vocal performance. The difficulty of translation lies in coordinating with the music, which involves aspects such as the emphasis, urgency, rise and fall of the translated lyrics, all of which are constrained by the musical composition. Given the literary and poetic qualities of Bob Dylan’s lyrics, the translator, from the perspective of translation aesthetics, utilizes Xu Yuanchong’s renowned “Three Beauties Theory” in appreciating poetry to analyze examples of Bob Dylan’s lyrics translations from these aesthetic dimensions. This analysis and summary aim to provide a brief exploration and generalization on how to translate lyrics from English to Chinese. English songs have been widely spread in China in recent years. Learning other countries’ music arts, in order to better express this work properly, it is necessary to use one’s native language as the medium of expression. Translated songs can make people have a deeper understanding and be easy to accept. This is the meaning of the lyrics translation.