A Study On Influence Of Context On Translation

For centuries, translation has been viewed to take place between languages. Accordingly, more emphasis has been put on linguistic fidelity, resulting in the loss of some"flavor"contained in the source text. In the later period of Nida's study of translation theory, he thought that"functional equivalence"as the purpose of translation was based on context but not on language system itself. The translator needs to coordinate and balance his own strategy of translation in accordance with the specific context. Seeing this, the thesis, on the basis of the theory of context, illustrates and analyzes the close relationship between context and translation activity and offers elaborate explication of contextual factors that are involved in successful translation.The thesis, based on the principles above, is structured in a traditional way. The cause and significance of this thesis are fully sketched out in the introduction of the thesis. Chapter One deals with the principles of the theory of context. After synthesizing the opinions of many researchers, the author divides context into three types: linguistic context, situational context and cultural context.Chapter Two mainly dwells on functions of context. Context performs two basic functions: interpretative function and restrictive function.Chapter Three mainly discusses the influence of linguistic context on translation. The author divides the linguistic context into two parts: word context and sentence context. It emphasizes on how linguistic context interrelates with translation on the basis of contextual cohesion theory.Chapter Four deals with the significance of context to translation from the communicative dimension of context. Any text emerges in a certain situation of context. People use different variations of language in different communicative situations. Variation in language use can be approached from use-related varieties which are called registers. This chapter studies registers and the significance of context to translation.Chapter Five discusses the relationship between cultural context and translation in detail. Because translating is an interlingual and intercultural activity in nature, the translator should take cultural context into account. The thesis explains the different expressions of cultural forms in translation.The last part serves as a conclusion of this dissertation, reaffirms the significance of context to translation studies and practice. It emphasizes that the translator should cultivate and strengthen consciousness of context in translating and improve the ability of context analysis continuously.