Research On Idiom Interpretation Strategies From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Relevance Theory was proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in 1986,which can provide a new perspective for interpretation studies.The Chinese idiom is concise and has rich connotations,often used by President Xi Jinping in various speeches to convey profound Chinese concepts and culture to the world.Therefore,what strategies the interpreter adopts to appropriately interpret the meaning of the idiom and make the target audience easily understand is a critical issue in the study of idioms.It is also essential to the Chinese culture go abroad.The author finds that studies on idiom interpretation are mostly based on Interpretive Theory,Skopos Theory,Translation Variation Theory,etc.,but research on idiom interpretation strategies from the perspective of Relevance Theory is still insufficient.This study explores the interpretation strategies of the idioms used in President Xi Jinping’s speeches from the perspective of Relevance Theory by case analysis.Interpreters can use the method of free translation and the skills of addition and shift to explain,supplement and make necessary structural or voice transformations to enhance the contextual effect of the interpretation.Furthermore,in order to reduce the processing efforts of the audience,interpreters can use the methods of literal translation and omission to retain or omit communicative information,so as to reduce the audience’s effort to understand the meaning of the idiom and the speaker’s intention.The author expects that this study will help the application of Relevance Theory in idiom interpretation strategies,provide direction for the practice of idiom interpretation,and make the world know more about Chinese thoughts and cultural connotation.