| Relevance theory proposed by Dan Sperber & Deirdre Wilson (1986, 1995), though mainly concerned with communication, has provided a new cognitive perspective for the study of translation. According to relevance theory, human beings' communication is an ostensive-inferential process, in which both the addresser and the addressee are governed by the search for optimal relevance, that is, an utterance must yield adequate contextual effect and requires no unnecessary processing effort on the part of the addressee. The role played by optimal relevance is well embodied in the communicative principle of relevance, i.e., every act of ostensive communication communicates a presumption of its own optimal relevance. This principle is regarded as part of our human psychological mechanism, which reveals the nature of human communication. We don't need to learn to comply with it; neither can we violate it. Such features of relevance theory provide us with a brand-new theoretical foundation for the study of translation. Within the framework of relevance theory, translation can be regarded as a process of dynamic cross-cultural communication, which involves the original writer, the translator and the target reader. So in translating a text, what a translator (both as an addressee and an addresser) aims at is also optimal relevance. Therefore, we argue that the success of translation depends to a large extent on transfer of optimal relevance from the source text to the target text. The paper consists of three Chapters.In Introduction, we give a brief account of the development of relevance theory and its application to translation studies home and abroad. Enlightened by relevance theory and the pioneers' research, the author seeks to study translation from the perspective of relevance transfer.Chapter One is a general introduction to relevance theory. Some central concepts such as relevance, optimal relevance, cognitive environment, contextual effect and processing effort, informative intention and... |
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