A Study Of Press Conference Interpreting From The Perspective Of Pragmatic Markedoess Equivalence Principle

As a significant means of outreach publicity, Press Conference Interpreting(PCI) has been studied from different aspects. On the basis of the constructedtheoretical framework, this dissertation adopts an explanatory method to study thePCI from the perspective of the Pragmatic Markedness Equivalence Principle(PMEP) through the analysis and description of the interpreting examples taken fromthe eight press conference transcriptions of Premier Wen Jiabao during the NPC andCPPCC sessions from2005to2011. It aims to provide some guidance forinterpreters during the PCI and its evaluation.In this dissertation, first of all, two significant concepts, i.e. the PragmaticMarkedness (PM) and Pragmatic Markedness Equivalence Principle (PMEP) areintroduced. Next, this paper describes and analyses how PMEP is applied to the PCIboth on the linguistic level and on the pragmatic level by quoting the examples fromthe eight press conference transcriptions of NPC and CPPCC. Afterwards, the thesisexplores the requirements for the interpreter for a better PCI performance from theperspective of PMEP.The findings achieved by this dissertation are: firstly, in light of the PMEP, onthe linguistic level, the Antonymic U/M Equivalence, Syntactic U/M Equivalence(including word class and syntactic function, markedness of subject and object andword order), Topical U/M Equivalence, and Marked Negation in interpretationshould be kept during PCI and on the pragmatic level, how to apply PMEP in SpeechAct, Relevance Principle, Metaphor or Politeness should be taken into considerationduring the interpretation. Secondly, the way to evaluate an interpretation is asfollows: if Source Text (ST) is unmarked, Target Text (TT) should also be unmarked;otherwise, it is a TT ranging from Fair TT to Worst TT; if ST is strongly marked, andthe TT should be strongly marked, too. Or it will not be the ideal TT. In one word,the markednes degrees should agree with each other in the ST and TT. Thirdly, according to PMEP, the interpreter should acquaint herself/himself with theCognitive Environments of the speaker and the Propositional Meaning of the ST,investigate the Phonological, Orthographic, Wording and Syntactic Styles and theStyle of ST in terms of the Markedness Values, and obtain a deep empathyunderstanding of ST and its M-Values for the purpose of achieving “equivalence” ofthe commutative and informative intentions of the speaker both on the linguisticlevel and on the pragmatic level.And this dissertation concludes that it may be meaningful to have a tentativestudy of PCI from the perspective of PMEP. It may serve as guidance for theinterpreter in the interpretation and be conducive to the improvement of the PCIperformance.