On Textuality-Oriented Approach To Translation Studies

Since the study of translation is inseparable from the study of linguistics, it is indispensable to introduce the achievements in linguistic study into the study of translation. Text linguistics, as a branch of linguistics, studies the text as a whole, while translation, which should also be conducted among texts, is closely related to text linguistics study. The primary goal of this thesis, therefore, is to apply textuality to the study of translation. Textuality, which is considered as the basic quality for a series of occurrences to be regarded as a valid text, is constituted of seven elements, which are cohesion, coherence, intention, acceptability, informativity, situationality, and intertextuality. If any of them is violated, it will be called non-text. This paper mainly focuses on two aspects: the evaluation of translation and the guidance for translation process based on textuality.This paper makes a detailed explanation of the seven standards of textuality, because it is necessary to clarify them before it is applied to translation study. With a sound theoretical foundation, it is more convenient to discuss the two applications of textuality in translation study. In order to justify the feasibility of textuality in translation evaluation and guidance, a case study is given to illustrate its performance in translation study. Case study object is chosen from Selected Modern Chinese Essays translated by Zhang Peiji (张培基).The combination of theory and practice enables the present paper to be more persuasive.The present paper is not a brand new creation in that it is based on the previous studies on textuality and translation study. It has been found in the previous studies that translation should also refer to the seven standards of textuality. While, only a few researches have been devoted to translation study from the perspective of evaluation and guidance based on textuality, especially the translation study between Chinese and English, which therefore, necessitates the present paper.In a word, the present paper is expected to draw the attention of translation researchers to the seven standards of textuality. Meanwhile, this paper is hoped to serve as a guidance for translation evaluation and translation practice.