Relevance-Theoretical Observations On Stage-Oriented Translation Of Allusions In Shakespearean Plays

Although nearly four hundred years has elapsed since Shakespeare physically departed from this world, he is still alive and kicking on the reading desks of scholars and the stages of different nations as well. That Shakespeare has blossomed into a robust industry in the Chinese soil can be much attributed to active translation practice and studies, yet curiously, translatological inquiries into allusions in Shakespearean plays, especially for stage-oriented translation, are few and far between. Hence, to view the translation of allusions in Shakespearean plays for the stage from the perspective of relevance theory forms the subject matter of this thesis wherein the author endeavours to propose the translating principle and strategies in line with relevance theory.Relevance theory proposed by Sperber and Wilson is a new-born theory in pragmatics that explores human communication from the cognitive perspective. It characterizes verbal communication as a combined process of ostension on the part of the communicator and inference on the part of the audience, and "every act of ostensive communication communicates a presumption of its own optimal relevance", which is the principle of relevance observed by the two parties in communication. Relevance theory was first applied to translation studies by Gutt and has since demonstrated great interpretive power. Translation is a twofold ostensive-inferential communication process across linguistic and cultural barriers, and is prone to what Gutt terms secondary communication situations, owing to the disparity in cognitive environments between the source text reader and the target text reader.As allusions are a linguistic and cultural element that relies heavily on shared background knowledge between the communicator and the audience, allusion translation is all the more prone to secondary communication situations. Shakespeare makes crafty use of allusions of diverse origins, and stage-oriented translation of allusions in Shakespearean plays must be conducted under the temporal constraint of the theatre. Hence, the trouble doubles.Under the guidance of relevance theory, this author intends to propose that stage-oriented translation of allusions in Shakespearean plays should take immediate restoration of relevance as its principle. On the occasions when the deficiency of cognitive environment on the part of the target audience can be adequately remedied by linguistic context, or thanks to booming cross-cultural communication, assumptions required for understanding the allusions have taken root in the target audience's cognitive environment, transliteration and literal translation may suffice to restore immediate relevance. When transliteration and literal translation fall short, two primary categories of strategies may come to the translator's rescue: retaining original allusions and compensating for cognitive context, and abandoning original allusions and manifesting contextual implications. The former includes direct compensation, namely amplification, and indirect compensation, namely depiction, and the latter includes direct manifestation, namely free translation, and indirect manifestation, namely cultural substitution.Chapters Two, Three and Four comprise the body of this thesis. Chapter Two is devoted to a review of relevance theory and some relevance-theoretical observations on translation; Chapter Three briefly introduces the definition and functions of allusion as a literary device and then offers an origin-based classification of allusions in Shakespearean plays; Chapter Four, the core of the whole thesis, explains in detail the governing principle and applicable strategies, each illustrated by examples, for translating allusions in Shakespearean plays for the stage.