Interpreting The Nature Of Translation Based On Relevance Theory

Translation is a kind of cross-cultural communication. RT, being a cognitive pragmatic theory guiding communication, has most powerful explanatory power as regards translation. Under the framework of RT, translation can be defined as a dynamic process and act of ostensive- inferential verbal (intralingual or interlingual) interpretation of language (Meng Jiangang, 2000:25). First, translator has to search for relevance of information (i.e. making contextual assumptions) through context during the course of receiving the source language information in order to comprehend the source language author's communicative intentions correctly. The process of searching for relevance is one of cognition and inference. And then, combining the communicative intentions and the target reader's expectation, translator has to decide what to interpret and how to interpret based on the principle of relevance. Under the framework of RT, the explanation to translation is dynamic and dialectical. It can seize the nature of translation and has positive significance in guiding translation practice.This thesis is a tentative study of the nature of translation based on the RT from the perspective of the definition proposed by Gutt. It presents clearly that translation is a dynamic inferential process involving the human brain mechanism, in which relevance plays a vital role. Relevance is the principle on which translator based to interpret the source language text and to choose codes during translating. Under the framework of RT, translation is the dynamic and interpretive use of source language. Thus, translation principle should be relative and multiple, and translation strategy should be flexible, which depend mainly on the source language author's communicative intentions and the target reader's expectations. The whole thesis consists of five chapters:Chapter One introduces some crucial notions of RT, including ostensive-inferential nature of communication, informative intention and communicative intention, context, relevance and principle of relevance.Chapter Two discusses the feasibility of applying RT to studying the nature of translation from two aspects: first, it points out that RT provides translation an unified theoretic framework, that is, depending on context to search for relevance through inference; secondly, it points out the nature of translation under the framework of RT by comparing it with traditional notions of translation.Chapter Three focuses on studying the nature of translation with RT from two anglesin detail. The first angle is a relevance-theoretic approach to translating. Translation is regard as dual ostensive-inferential processes involving human brain mechanism under the framework of RT. Translator firstly engages in inferential process and then in ostensive process. The second angle is a relevance-theoretic approach to translation. RT regards translation as the interlingual interpretation of language. The resemblance between the source language text and the translated text is a matter of degree. Indirect translation covers most of the interpretive use of language, and direct translation picks out the limiting case (Gutt, 2000:172).Chapter Four deeply expounds relevance-theoretic solutions derived from studying the nature of translation to the long-disputed issues in translation practice from five aspects: on translatability and untranslatability; on equivalence; on foreignizaiton and domenstication; on translator's subjectivity; on perfect, pointing out that under the framework of RT, translation principle is relative and multiple and translation strategy is flexible, which depend mainly on the source language author's communicative intentions and the target readers expectations.Chapter Five concludes the whole thesis and points out the major findings and limitations of the thesis.