English Translation Of The Novella Lust, Caution Based Upon The Cooperative Principle

Literary translation as a kind of spiritual culture shared by all the people greatly promotes the cross-cultural communication among people around the world. This paper tries to adopt the Cooperative Principle for the discussion of literary translation. It attempts to define literary translation from the perspective of the Cooperative Principle as follows: translation is, in most cases, an ordinal, indirect, one-way circle of conversing between the original writer, the translator and the target readers in the manner of passing on the message with the translated version bridging a cross-cultural communication between the original writer and the target readers. Based on the assumption, this thesis is to relate the Cooperative Principle to literary translation and probe into how a translator conveys correctly the original meaning of the original work by studying the English version of Lust, Caution as a case.The paper consists of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion. In introduction, the thesis states the significance of literary translation and the Cooperative Principle and makes the scope and the purpose of the present study clear. This paper aims at exploring how the CP is employed to serve literary translation with the purpose that we can dig up some fresh value of the CP fitting in with literary translation further. It also aims at analyzing and appreciating the English version of Lust, Caution from the perspective of the CP with the hope that the CP becomes more feasible and powerful in applying to literary translation. Chapter One gives a brief account of the theoretic basis and its significance of Crice's Cooperative Principle. Doubtless, translation is not only a linguistic action but also a special conversation in which a translator should observe and follow the Cooperative Principle and its maxims in the process of translating. Chapter Two researches mainly into the general theoretical relationship between the Cooperative Principle and literary text, and between the Cooperative Principle and literary translation as well. It puts forward three propositions: 1) The source text is the Cooperative Principle's medium and form; 2) The translator is the Cooperative Principle's observer and follower; 3) The translated version is the Cooperative Principle's result and product. The source text, the translator and the translated version are the three talismans that make the Cooperative Principle work effectively in translating, a trilogy that plays an important role in literary translation. Chapter Three focuses on how to employ the Cooperative Principle to convey effectively the meaning of the original in literary translation, and takes the English rendition of Lust, Caution as a case to appreciate and analyze from the viewpoint of the Cooperative Principle. The Maxim of Quality suggests that a translator should loyally express the original literal meaning, convey the author's creation intention, reflect the original cultural background and reproduce the original literary style. The Maxim of Quantity suggests that a translator should avoid the unnecessary information in translation, guaranteeing the informativeness of the original. The Maxim of Relation suggests that a translator should take into consideration not only the original context but also the translated version and its readers in the process of conveying the original meaning. The Maxim of Manner suggests that a translator should make the translated version logical, grammatical, brief and explicit in the process of expressing the meaning in the original. In conclusion, the thesis re-emphasizes the purpose of the paper and makes a brief summary of the main views and findings we have been demonstrated all along in this paper.