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A Study of Chinese-English Allusion Translation from the Perspective of Relevance Theory

Author: YangDeHong
Tutor: JiangXin
School: Dalian University of Technology
Course: Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Keywords: relevance theory culture allusion translation translation strategy
CLC: H315.9
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2009
Downloads: 479
Quote: 1
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Abstract

Allusions, as embedded in specific cultures, have rich cultural connotations, and each allusion has its historical and cultural backgrounds or sources. It is quite clear that the purpose of using allusions either in literary or nonliterary texts is to convey the connotative meaning on the surface level of discourse. Relevance theory, initially proposed by Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in 1986 to illustrate the cognition in human communication, claims that the communication is an ostensive-inferential process. This theory provides a new perspective to study the allusion translation. In the frame work of the relevance theory, allusion translation is a special and complex dual ostensive-inferential process, in which the translator plays a key role of evaluating the writer and target readers’ cognitive environment and ability ,meanwhile tries to get the optimal relevance by offering proper contextual effects to the target readers. The thesis just takes the allusions in Hong Lou Meng as examples, analyzing the guidance of relevance theory and demonstrating the strategies the translator adopted. Based on a thorough analysis, this thesis draws the conclusion that faithfulness、cultural conveyance and reader’s acceptance should be the basic consideration of allusion translation.This thesis is organized as follows:The introduction briefly explain the possibility of studying allusion translation under the light of relevance theory.The first chapter discusses the development of allusion translation and the framework of the relevance theory.The second chapter introduces the definition of culture and the interaction between language, translation and culture, indicating that the important influence of culture upon allusion study.The third chapter is devoted to classifying the allusions in Hong Lou Meng.The fourth chapter, the main body of the whole thesis, focuses on relevance theoretic approach on the allusion translation. This chapter applies three perspectives of the relevance theory as intention, relevance and context into case analysis.To sum up, allusion translation in essence is to fulfill the cultural communication.

A Study of Chinese-English Allusion Translation from the Perspective of Relevance Theory

Abstract

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