On the afternoon of June 7, 2023, “The Importance of Copying Rhymes ——Also Talking About Metres in Poetry Translation” of “Zhongnan Culture Translation Forum” Lecture Series was held in Classroom 2401, on the west campus of Xi’an Fanyi University. The forum was lectured by Professor Zeng Siyi from Tianjin Normal University, and hosted by Li Xianhua, associate dean of the School of English Language & Culture. Teachers and students from the School of English Language & Culture and the School of Translation Studies attended the lecture.
Professor Zeng Siyi believes that rhythmic poetry can be divided into rigorous school, liberal school and middle school. Poetry is rich in rhyme. For example, in Russian, there are four rhyme patterns in a quatrain, and at least ten common rhyme patterns in a hexastich. The function of rhyme lies in: making poetry centralized and unified; interconnecting intonation, rhythm and sound; forming rhythm. Rhymes can combine form and content to better express emotions and thoughts; through changes in rhymes, emotions are highlighted; rhymes and content are arranged in an ironic way, expressing the theme of poetry; rhymes and innovative techniques are used in combination for regulating poetry.
Through this lecture, the teachers and students from the School of English Language & Culture and the School of Translation Studies learned the importance of copying rhymes in poetry translation, and gained a deeper understanding in teaching, research and translation practice, which will help to improve teaching and scientific research , thus contributing to the construction of characteristic majors and national first-class majors.
About the Lecturer:
Professor Zeng Siyi was born in Shaoyang City, Hu’nan Province. Professor Zeng holds a Ph.D. in Literature, who worked as a professor and doctoral advisor in Tianjin Normal University. He is a visiting scholar of St. Petersburg State University and a visiting researcher of Foreign Poetry Center of Capital Normal University. He also holds the posts of standing director of China Russian Literature Research Association, Standing director of China Foreign Literature Teaching Research Association, and vice president of Tianjin Foreign Literature Association. He mainly researches academic research, literary translation and literary creation. Professor Zeng has published more than 180 papers in public journals at home and abroad, 12 academic works, 11 translations of works, and 4 collections of works created by him. He presided over and completed a number of national and provincial social science projects, and won the first prizes of Social Science Outstanding Achievements in Hu’nan Province and Tianjin. He also co-edited, with Mr. Qian Zhongwen, nine books, containing seven volumes of collection of Dostoevsky’s works for the library of translations of world-renowned works (SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2015), and co-edited Russian Lyrical Poetry (The Commercial Press, 2017) with Mr. Gu Yunpu.
(Translated by Zhao Tong and proofread by Wang Yajie)
