Construal Operations In Translation

This is a systematic study of translation from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.In chapter 1, the author distinguishes different approaches to translation study distinguished based on different views of meaning understanding, and then he clarifies the constructivist position of cognitive studies of translation within the discipline of Translation Studies. Combining the two cognitive theories of translation, viz. Gutt's Relevance theory of translation (Gutt,1991,1996) and Jang's schema-based approach to translation (which mainly applies Cook's modified schema theory in his study) (Jang, 2000), the author establishes the Schematic Relevance Model of translation which covers three cognitive principles organized in a sequence of priority: Optimal Relevance >Interpretive Resemblance>(Cognitive Change Principle). The Schematic Relevance Model as a theoretical model or frame of reference needs to be filled with more detailed content, and it needs to be improved with modifications and clarifications given the weaknesses derived from the two theories that it inherits. The author points out that the specific issues with the model constitute the rationale of the present cognitive linguistic study: the narrowly defined cognitive linguistic study of translation fits in with the Schematic Relevance Model, and also contributes a lot to enriching and improving it.In chapter 2, the author discusses one of the theoretical foundations of cognitive linguistics-constructivism, and he also illustrates the notion of construal and construal operations and their implications for translation study. The author clarifies the ways the narrowly defined cognitive linguistic approach to translation study can fit in with or contribute to the Schematic Relevance Model: world schemata the reader is equipped with are not only propositional schemata, but also include image-based models; cognitive environment as proposed in Relevance theory can be related to the cognitive, cultural and contextual substrate, and mutually manifest cognitive environment can be related to the uniformity of the substrate as defined by Fauconnier;based on the cognitive environment composed of different levels and different types of schemata, inference in translation is not only guided by the three cognitive principles of the Schematic Relevance Model, but also involves various specific cognitive processes. The author explains the different aspects of translation study in terms of image transformations or construal shifts.In chapter 3, the author examines the possible implications of the different construal operations, including base/profile organization, schematization, metonymy, perspectival shifts, figure/ ground organization, image-schematic and metaphorical construal, etc, for the cognitive study of translation, especially concerning how different ways of construal, like image schematic construal, metaphorical construal and metonymic construal, function in the inferential process of translation, as a complementary to the functions of three cognitive principles. Different dimensions of construal or mental imagery can serve as intermediary concepts of the comparative analysis (as defined by DTS) in the study of translational shifts and variations. The author shows that translation-induced image transformations or construal shifts can occur along different dimensions or in various configurations of different dimensions. Different translators can enforce different construals on the same scene. An ST only provides a mental model, which can be construed in different ways by different translators. Construal operations help us to describe and explain how the translator establishes linguistic cues or frames.In chapter 4, the author defines language schemata as the psychological representation of the structured inventory of conventional linguistic units in the language user's mind, and revealed the essential character of language schemata-conventionality as defined in Cognitive Grammar. The notion of conventionality as a gradient matter allows a free space for th...