Non-linguistic Context And Literary Translation: From The Perspective Of Cognitive Linguistics

Whether at home or abroad, people have put forward the context theory before a long timeand have long noticed the significant role context plays. Context in these people's minds,however, is usually limited to linguistic level, or what we usually call in Chinese "上下文".And the role played by context is usually limited to the guidance role of context on thecomprehension of the original work. At best some translation theorists touch on how toreproduce linguistic context in the target language.In this thesis, this author divides context into two kinks: linguistic context and non-linguisticcontext. For the convenience of his illustration, this author then distinguishes betweensituational context, cultural context and artistic mood context. Then he discusses thesignificant role of the three kinds of non-linguistic context in literary works respectively.Furthermore, he points out the necessity and significance of reproducing non-linguisticcontext in the target language.Cognitive linguistics, established by Lakoff and Johnson, can give guidance on how toreproduce non-linguistic context in the target language. Cognitive linguistics lays greatemphasis on the commonness of languages. This view holds that since human beings have thesame physiological structure and perceptive organs, they will have the same or very similarperceptive and cognitive capabilities and form similar conceptual structures when facing thesame material world. Altogether, these factors constitute the cognitive basis for human beingsto communicate with and understand each other, as well as to translate from one language toanother.The concept of cognitive environment, put forwards by Sperber and Wilson, is a milestone inthe development of cognitive linguistics. This theory holds that for an individual, hiscognitive environment is static. But that doesn't mean that the cognitive environment of anindividual cannot be changed. Instead, it can be reconstructed, supplemented and transformedby external factors.Based on cognitive linguistics and cognitive environment theories, a cognitive mode oftranslation is tentatively submitted. In the process of translating, the translator should keep inmind all the factors involved in the translating process. According to cognitive mode oftranslation, translation has the characteristics of embodiment, interactivity and creativity.Under the guidance of cognitive linguistics and cognitive environment, and using thecognitive mode of translation as a framework, the translator can reproduce non-linguisticcontext properly in the target language. Cognitive linguistics provides the possibility ofreproducing non-linguistic context;cognitive environment points out the goal for a translatorin producing non-linguistic context;the cognitive mode of translation puts out a frameworkfor reproducing non-linguistic context in the target language. In light of these theories, somestrategies for reproducing non-linguistic context have been offered, mainly the strategies ofcompensating and reconstructing. A case study is made at the end of this thesis, to emphasizethat the translator should reproduce non-linguistic context in a comprehensive way.