Pragmatic Choices And Equivalence Translation

This dissertation is an interdisciplinary research on pragmatics and translation studies. It is intended to investigate how pragmatic choices can be made for the purpose of equivalence translation. Our assumption is that translation, being a communicative act between different languages and cultures, is a continuous process in which pragmatic choices are made in accordance with the dynamic context in order to achieve equivalent effects on the TL reader corresponding to those that could be achieved on the SL reader. By pragmatic choices, we mean the strategies that the translator employs before he starts, and when he is, translating a text; by equivalence translation, we mean achieving the intended communicative purpose of the SL text, or conveying the communicative intention of the SL communicator to the TL addressee, by seeking equivalent effects in the TL corresponding to those in the SL.The reason why we take up pragmatic choices and equivalence translation as our research topic lies in the fact that the intimate relation between pragmatics and translation studies, and even further, their marriage, are bringing about overwhelming enthusiasm in interdisciplinary studies in these two fields. However, not many scholars have touched upon the topic of pragmatic choices in the process of translation. And, although theories and ideas on translation equivalence abound, few scholars, as far as our knowledge is concerned, have discussed equivalence translation, a term that we have derived from translation equivalence. Therefore, we find it a worthwhile endeavour to examine the possible ways of realizing equivalence in translation by making pragmatic choices.This attempt is by no means groundless in the theoretical sense. We will base our study on Sperber & Wilson's Relevance Theory and Verschueren's Adaptation Theory, on the side of pragmatics; we will also secure theoretical support from the notion of translation equivalence put forward by Nida, Catford, and so on, on the side of translation studies. To integrate theories from these two fields into a harmonious interdisciplinary study, we will base our research on Gutt's concept that translation itself is primarily a pragmatic notion and it belongs to secondary communication situations, because the translator is quoting the SL communicator out of context. The theoretical study of Sperber & Wilson's Relevance Theory and Verschueren's Adaptation Theory, and the classification of equivalence translation, will lead us to the establishment of two principles for making pragmatic choices aimed at equivalence translation, namely the Source Language Relevance Orientation Principle and the Target Language Adaptation Orientation Principle. These two principles, as we will prove in our study, are guiding principles that are at work in the process of translation.To make our study convincing in theory and workable in practice, we need to put these two principles to test. This will be done by specifying the levels at which pragmatic choices are made and categorizing them into two superordinate ones, the macro-level and the micro-level, and by verifying the validity of these two principles that can be followed by the translator when making pragmatic choices at different levels. We will come to see that pragmatic choices at the macro-level are related to ideology, customer, TL readership, and translator's subjectivity, etc.The micro-level will be further divided into several sub-levels. They are the lexical level, the semantic level, the syntactic level, the textual level, the intertextual level, the stylistic level, the functional level, and the cultural level. Our findings are that pragmatic choices at these different levels are made in accordance with either the SL Relevance Orientation Principle or the TL Adaptation Orientation Principle, or both, in relation to the context, the purpose of translation, and so on. However, throughout our study, we suggest a balanced application, and caution against an extreme implementation, of these two principles.This study will, we have reason to believe, prove to be helpful to the fostering of an interdisciplinary perspective on pragmatics and translation studies, and it will also prove to be constructive not only to the practice of translation, but also to the teaching of translation, and to the training of good translators.