The Hierarchical Nature Of Context And Its Influences On Translation

Context, as an important concept in linguistics, exerts great influence on the production and interpretation of utterances. In the entire process of translation, both the correct comprehension of the source text and the appropriate expression in the target language depend on the specific context, negligence of which may lead to misunderstanding and mistranslating. The significance of context in translation has already been universally agreed upon in the field of translation studies at home and abroad.Because of context's richness in connotation and diversity in features, many linguists hold different viewpoints on the definition, elements, functions and features of context. Moreover, to my knowledge, most scholars develop their definitions and classifications of context from an equal plane, with little attention to the hierarchical nature of contextual factors. How to make the best of different theories of context in translation criticism and translation practice makes up the focus of the present thesis. On the basis of a general study of the research of many scholars, the paper attempts to provide the following findings: context includes all direct as well as indirect factors that influence the production and interpretation of utterances; it can be classified into linguistic context, situational context and cultural context; context performs two basic functions—restrictive function and interpretive function. Restrictive function refers to the restricting or determining effects of the specific context on the speaker's or writer's choice of appropriate ways of expression. Interpretive function refers to the interpreting or explaining effects of the specific context on the listener's or reader's understanding of certain linguistic phenomenon.As one of China's most prolific modern writers, Lao She enjoys great prestige both at home and abroad. His language is notable for its conciseness and liveliness, which comes from his skillful employment of the local dialect of Beijing. Luotuo Xiangzi, a novel full of lively colloquialism and colorful idioms, is one of his masterpieces which depicts the ups and downs of a rickshaw puller. As for such a famous novel, the translator should reproduce in the text a persuasive context so that the reader or audience can appreciate the ideological content and artistic appeal of the original. The present thesis attempts to make an evaluation on the two English versions of Luotuo Xiangzi from the perspective of context theory, with the focus on how the two translators have depended on the linguistic context to define the lexical meaning, remove vagueness, identify complimentary and derogatory words and eliminate ambiguities, how they have made use of the situational context to express passion, manifest the character's social status and temperament, reflect the character's inner feeling and choose proper style of language, and how they have taken into full consideration the cultural context to increase the readability of the translated text, reveal the characters'beliefs and values and demonstrate the different thought modes between East and West.Finally, the conclusion is drawn that translation is restricted and influenced by context; different contexts exert different functions in interpreting and expressing language; the more senior the context is, the more obscure it is and the more influence it has on translation.The study theoretically tries to widen the discussion of context studies and deepen the understanding of the correlation between context theory and translation study and practically tries to enhance translators'attention to contextual factors, especially obscure contextual factors in translating, thus avoiding misunderstanding and mistranslation.