On Yang Xianyi’s Translation Of A Dream Of Red Mansions From The Perspective Of Pragmatic Presupposition

Pragmatic presupposition is the important information contained in utterance andthe mutual knowledge between the speaker and the listener. It is generallyacknowledged that pragmatic presupposition is the information attached to utterance.Pragmatic presupposition exists not only in conversations but also in books such asthe great classical Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions. According to statistics,half of the book is conversations. These conversations contain a large amount ofimplied information, namely pragmatic presupposition. A Dream of Red Mansions isthe epitome of China. It contains many elements of Chinese culture. It is safe to saythat the process of introducing A Dream of Red Mansions to the world is the processof introducing China to the world. Thus there are many translators take efforts totranslate it, among them the couple Yang Xianyi and Gladys’ translation, which willbe stated as Yang’s translation in the following, is the most famous one. Since itsappearance, scholars never stop studying and making comment on it. Researches inthe last century were mainly the analysis of the text. Entering the21stcentury, everyschool has begun their researches of the translation. This thesis aims to analyzeYang’s translation from the perspective of characteristics of pragmatic presupposition.This thesis is composed of three parts: introduction, the main body andconclusion. The arrangement is as following:Part one is introduction, introducing the general research situation ofpresupposition. Research background, the research situation at home and abroad, thecurrent research situation as well as research methods are included in this part, aimingto give readers a general idea of this thesis.Part two is the main body, consisting of three chapters:Chapter I mainly introduces the theory. Presupposition goes through three stagesin the course of development: logical presupposition, semantic presupposition andpragmatic presupposition. This thesis describes the theory in accordance with thisorder, starting from presupposition to semantic presupposition and then to pragmaticpresupposition, which is the main theory. This thesis gives a detailed introduction ofthe definition, the classification as well as the function of pragmatic presupposition here. Through such introduction, people can easily understand the importance ofpragmatic presupposition. It is ubiquitous and worth detailed research.Chapter II begins with introducing Yang’s translation of A Dream of RedMansions. First, this chapter discusses types of pragmatic presupposition in this work:literal presupposition, historical presupposition, and cultural presupposition, which isbased on the classification of pragmatic presupposition in Chapter I. Closely behindeach types of pragmatic presupposition, are examples from Yang’s version to provethe validity of the classification. After that, this paper discusses the functions of thesepragmatic presuppositions in this work: helping with the shaping of characters,helping the speakers to hide communication purposes and helping with the triggeringof humor. At last, this chapter introduces the representation of characteristics ofpragmatic presupposition in Yang’s translation, namely appropriateness, mutualknowledge, unipolarity and defeasibility.Chapter III is the main part of this thesis. It mainly introduces translationmethods adopted by Yang Xianyi and Gladys under the guidance of the characteristicsof pragmatic presupposition. It begins with the generally used methods for translatingpragmatic presupposition and the principles translators should abide by: notes,contextualization, omission and literal translation; thorough understanding of theoriginal work under the guidance of pragmatic presupposition and equivalentreproduction. Then this chapter tells Yang Xianyi and Gladys’ strategies of translation:literal translation, literal translation with notes, literal translation withcontextualization, literal translation with transformation, literal translation withomission. At last, this chapter focuses on the characteristics of Yang’s translation of ADream of Red Mansions: they do not follow the general ways of translation, and donot stick to one method; they are flexible in making sentence and being appropriate intranslation and omission.Conclusion mainly concludes the former analyses and reaches the conclusionthat while translating pragmatic presupposition, translators should not be confined toone method. They must learn to become flexible and take the whole text intoconsideration. What is the most important is that they have to transfer as muchpragmatic presupposition as possible. Last, this thesis tells practical significance of the study, the innovation part and shortcomings and gives suggestions for laterresearches.Pragmatic presupposition is a rather complicated linguistic phenomenon and oneof the important topics in the field of semantics and pragmatics. It is also a commonphenomenon in daily communication. Though not apparently existing for people, it isof undeniable importance as a pragmatic strategy. This thesis holds that the analysis ofpragmatic presupposition in literary works can offer theoretic basis for judgingpragmatic presuppositions in daily communication. What is more, this study can helpthe success of communication and enhance the mutual understanding ofcommunicators.