On The Importance Of Context In Translation

With the development of studies in the fields of pragmatics and translation in recent years, it has been widely accepted that context plays a crucial role in the comprehension of both speech and written texts. Many scholars and translators have noticed the important role of context in translation and conducted various studies on the definition, elements and functions of context. However, much of their discussion is only confined to context theory and seldom touches upon the reason why context plays such an important role in translation.This dissertation attempts to propose that translation is communication in nature and the content of a communication message (or the meaning to be translated) is the intended meaning by the author of the source text. This proposal, with the support of communication theory and pragmatics, is to prove why context can play a significant role in translation. Like many papers on context, this dissertation has also conducted a study on the definition, classification and functions of context on the basis of earlier context studies. It puts forward a loose definition of context and a new way to classify various types of context. The functions that context performs in translation are illustrated by citing some translation examples. This dissertation is intended to stress the importance of context in translation. The author hopes that it will stimulate translators' consciousness and sensitivity to context and give prominence to context solution as an effective way to solve the problems of misunderstanding and mistranslating.