Analysis Of Humor Translation In Fortress Besieged From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

This paper explores the issue humor translation of Fortress Besieged in the light of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson's Relevance Theory.Verbal humor is the essence of human language. In an utterance correct interpretation of humor can make people laugh, meanwhile the information and communicative intention are also transmitted. The study on humor can be traced back to Plato, Aristotle and Cicero. Up to now, a great deal of research has been done from the viewpoint of psychology and sociology. It is since the publication of Relevance: Cognition and Communication that much systematic and pragmatic research has been done on verbal humor translation.Sperber and Wilson wrote their influential book Relevance: Communication and Cognition. It is a pragmatic theory which can be applied to the interpretation of all not a theory specially designed for communication and its principle of relevance can be applied to the interpretation of all the types of discourse. In other words, RT is not a theory specially designed for the analysis of humor, but its theoretical hypotheses are very suitable to deal with the interpretation of humorous discourse.Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory (1986/1995) is based on a definition of relevance and two general principles: Cognitive Principle and Communicative Principle. This thesis, based on the fruitful studies of humor, attempts to investigate humor translation of Fortress Besieged from the perspective of Relevance Theory.