A Relevance-theoretic Approach To Strategies Of Handling Cultural Default In Translation

Cultural default is defined as the absence of some cultural background knowledge shared by the author and his/her intended reader with the purpose of coherent interpretation. It is a spontaneous act in communication. The related schema can be unconsciously activated by the shared background knowledge; meanwhile, the cognitive slot can be filled in. So the communicative value of cultural default lies in saving communicative time, thus increasing efficiency. But at the same time, for TT (target text) readers who are unfamiliar with the Chinese cultural background information, the tacit understanding which derived from shared cultural background knowledge does not exist. Instead of increasing communication efficiency, cultural default phenomenon hampers TT readers from smoothly comprehending the author's intended meaning, and causes a loss to some deserved reading pleasure.Relevance theory has an interpretative force in accounting for translation. There are two factors that constrain translation with regard to the principle of relevance: what it is intended to convey and how it is expressed. This thesis points out that the translator should convey the intended meaning of the ST (source text), and choose appropriate translation strategies so as to achieve successful communication. Though many translators have put forward various compensation strategies for cultural default, further studies are still necessary in the light of some representative literary works.Lang Tuteng is a novel full of traditional Mongolian and Chinese cultural elements against the background of the Cultural Revolution. Its English version Wolf Totem has been published for more than two years, yet little systematic study of the translation of its cultural elements has been done. Based on the compensation strategies proposed by Wang Dongfeng, this thesis attempts to explore the interpretative force of relevance theory over the compensation of cultural default in Wolf Totem, translated by Howard Goldblatt. Thirty-one cultural default examples are selected from Wolf Totem, and through detailed analysis, this thesis points out the merits and demerits of five strategies of handling cultural default. Within the guidance of relevance-theoretic, this thesis points out that compared with the author, TT readers have different cognitive environment, so the cultural schema that is required to comprehend cultural default can not be activated. Thus cause the TT readers can not enjoy the same artistic treat with ST readers. So when handling the cultural default phenomenon, whether it is compensable, transplantable or omissible, it is the translator's job to choose the most appropriate strategy according to the context, thus making optimal relevance to TT readers; then adjust to ostensively express the author's intended meaning, so as to ensure the author's artistic intention of employing cultural defaults is maximally realized. At the same time, translator should possess cultural consciousness; ensure that the target text is a recreation from the aspects of structure, artistic value and linguistic beauty of the source text. This is the principle of handling cultural default.