A Relevance-Theoretic Account Of Social Address Forms In Translation

Based on previous studies, this thesis presents a comprehensive discussion on thetranslation of social address forms in Chinese classic Shui Hu Zhuan within theframework of relevance theory. In terms of the results of review, little research hasbeen conducted into the translational aspect of social address forms in classic literature.This thesis uses Shui Hu Zhuan and its two English versions as a case of analysis, inwhich388pairs of parallel items are picked out according to the definition of socialaddress forms and the power and solidarity principle. Then, they are classified into sixcategories as a basis for making judgments about the choice of strategies by the twotranslators. Besides,46sentences in which different social address forms occur areselected, followed by the corresponding translations from the English versions. Ananalysis of the two translations shows that both translators have individual tendenciesin using translation strategies, but they share some common ground. In terms ofoptimal relevance, translators should understand the speaker’s intention and then adoptan appropriate strategy to provide interpretations which can yield adequate contextualeffects at minimal processing effort so as to help target readers find the points ofoptimal relevance between the source text and that of the target text. In the ultimateanalysis, optimal relevance is the determinant of a successful translation. This study isexpected to provide some insights into the investigation and evaluation of differenttranslations.