On The English Translation Of Lei Yu From The Perspective Of Context Theory

There are two sayings in English "No context, no text" and "You know a word by the company it keeps", which can give us some hints about the importance of context. Context exists in any form of human communication. Language cannot be produced without context. Comprehending the context plays an important role in interpreting the text. Many scholars all over the world have studied context from various aspects. Thus different views on context arose. On the basis of the researches by the scholars, this thesis makes a summary of the definition, classification and functions of context and makes an attempt to evaluate the English translation of Lei Yu, with the focus on how the translators take all the elements of context into consideration and reproduce the charm of the original text. Chapter One conducts a brief introduction about context theory and Lei Yu. Chapter Two gives the details about the study of context both in China and abroad and the study of the English translation of Lei Yu. Chapter Three provides the background information about Lei Yu and its author and also the translators of the English translation. Chapter Four mainly focuses on the theoretical basis, which includes definition of context, classification of context and functions of context. Integrating various views on context, the author of this thesis summarizes the definition, classification of context as the theoretical basis of the analysis of the English translation of Lei Yu. Chapter Five concentrates on the case study of the English translation of Lei Yu from the perspective of context theory. The first part discusses how the translators determine the meaning of polysemy and reproduce the figures of speech depending on the right comprehension of the specific linguistic context. The second part probes into the reproduction of idiolect, degrees of formality and the degrees of formality with full consideration of the situational context. The third part deals with the treatment of personal names, addressing forms, the measurements and the culture-loaded words with the help of the knowledge of particular culture. Chapter Six is a conclusion. According to the study of Thunderstorm from the aspects of linguistic context, situational context and social-cultural context, the author finds that Wang's version not only conveys the beautiful story of the original text, but also reproduces the style and tone of the original text.