Reception Aesthetics and the Challenges of Poetry Translation: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This study uses a systematic literature review approach, primarily through the theoretical framework of reception aesthetics, to critically evaluate various translation strategies in poetry. The study’s main purpose is to examine the application of existing translation strategies, analyze the role of these strategies in aesthetic and cultural transfer, and identify how these strategies guide the target language readers’ participation in the translated text. To this end, this study reviewed 28 relevant articles and identified three research gaps: methodological gaps, knowledge gaps, and experience gaps. Results from this review illustrated that the framework of reception aesthetics, especially the key concepts such as “horizon of expectation,” “fusion of horizons,” and “appealing structure,” are not applied consistently in the existing literature, and most studies are limited, often examining only one or two concepts, lacking a holistic perspective. In addition, most studies fail to effectively include the participation of target readers, resulting in a lack of feedback and evaluation from target language readers; thus, it is not easy to apply the theory to the actual cultural transfer and aesthetic effects. The research also emphasized that studies combining theory and practice need to be further developed. These studies provide a theoretical frame of reference for future relevant research, highlighting what needs to be done to enhance and expand understanding of the artistic aspects of poetry translation and thus suggests ways in which theory and practice might better work together. At the same time, the study also provides new ideas and concrete implementation approaches for comprehensively improving the combination of theory and practice in poetry translation in the future.