A Comparative Study on the Two Translated Versions of Chang Hen Ge under the Twelve Deforming Tendencies in Antoine Berman's Theory

Chang Hen Ge, written by the poet Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty, is one of the poet's most signifcant narrative poems, and also a treasure of Chinese poetic art. By selecting the two English versions respectively by Xu Yuanchong, and Yang Xianyi & Gladys Yang, and on the basis of Antoine Berman's translation theory, this paper conducts an analysis of the two translations to verify whether the 12 deforming tendencies in translation, as proposed by Berman, are prominent, so as to remind translators that these tendencies should be carefully avoided and the "foreignness" in the culture of source language should be well respected, and to further propose suggestions on how to preserve the exoticism in translating Chinese poetry into English.