A Relevance-Theoretic Approach To Cultural Default And Its Reconstruction In Translation

Translation in this thesis is not considered as a static process, but rather as a dynamic one. In the relevance-theoretic framework, Translation is an act of communication carried out between two cultures through the medium of language, which involves the cognition of three parts: the original writer, the translator, and the target reader. Cultural default is defined as the absence of relevant cultural background knowledge shared by the author and his intended reader. It is the natural result of the cognitive process of communication. Since it is a culture-specific phenomenon and the cognitive environment of the original writer and that of the target reader are different, cultural default often results in misreading or incoherent understanding in cross-cultural communication. This highlights the translator's responsibility as a mediator between cultures. Relevance theory, with cognition and communication as its core, sheds light on this phenomenon as it is manifested in translation.This thesis attempts to expound the phenomenon of cultural default from the perspective of relevance theory, and, more importantly, to explore some strategies to reconstruct cultural default in translation in accordance with the optimal relevance. Since writing and translation are both regarded as communication, sentence meaning and utterance meaning are not differentiated here.The thesis consists of six parts. In the introduction, a brief survey is given of the latest developments in translation studies, namely, the influence of cognitive theory and relevance theory as well as the cultural turn in this field. Since cultural default is by nature a cognitive and psychological matter in communication and relevance theory is a cognition-focused theory of communication, the author points out that relevance theory should have interpretative power for cultural default and its reconstruction in translation.Chapter One begins with a brief discussion of the merits and demeritsof the two communication models: the code model and Grice's inferential model and then introduces some essential concepts of relevance theory relative to our study. An improved inferential model is also suggested.Chapter Two provides an overall view of cultural default. Cultural default is a common phenomenon in communication, for which both the schema theory and the relevance theory give a convincing explanation. Different from ellipsis, the slot left by cultural default can not be filled by information from preceding utterances, but rather the cultural assumption schemas stored in the long-term memory. Because of the difference in cognitive environment between the original writer and the target reader, cultural default will lead to misreading or incoherent understanding on the target reader's part.Chapter Three presents the three communicative approaches to translation studies which have occurred in translation history. The focus is on the relevance-theoretic approach to translation. Relevance theory provides a unified theoretic framework for translation studies.Chapter Four puts forward a model to show the process by which the translator reconstructs, in accordance with the principle of relevance, cultural default in translation. Possible contextual effects the translation produces are discussed and possible strategies the translator uses are introduced. By illustration, the author points out that each of the strategies introduced is effective when and only when it accords with the optimal relevance. Moreover, the strategy the translator uses varies with the translating purpose, the text typology and the specific context.In conclusion, since translation is a kind of cross-cultural communication, a careful study of cultural default is essential to successful translation. The author reiterates that relevance theory, due to its great explanatory power, can provide some illuminating insights into cultural default and its reconstruction in translation.