The Transference Of Meaning In Literary Works In Socio-semiotic Perspective

Translation is usually defined in dictionaries as "expressing the sense of a word, sentence or book in another language". Nida holds the view that "translating means translating meaning". The nature of translation is the corresponding transference of meaning from one language to another. Meaning is the kernel problem that must be dealt with in translation. The shortcoming of traditional translation theory is that meaning and form are separately studied . In fact meaning and form are closely linked with each other because meaning is conveyed by form. Semiotic theory offers a most comprehensive summation of the sign's meaning, which is the network of the relationship between vehicle, referent and interpreter. Meaning thus falls into three categories: referential, linguistic and pragmatic meaning. Literary language is characterized by its rich associative meaning. So we can apply semiotic theory to literary translation, unearthing all kinds of meaning in the original, and transmitting them faithfully as many as possible in the version.In the thesis the author first introduces semiotics and its schools, and proposes a socio-semiotic approach to translation. Then definitions of meaning from different points of view and its classification are discussed. The difference between literary translation and non-literary translation in meaning perspective lies in the fact that the transference of linguistic meaning and pragmatic meaning is emphasized in the former, while the transference of referential meaning is emphasized in the latter.Referential meaning is built on the relation of the sign with its referent. There are full correspondence, partial correspondence and non-correspondence in referential meaning between Chinese and English words and expressions. We can use literal translation, paraphrase or...