The Application Of Relevance Translation Theory In The Translation Of Sinclair Lewis’s Things

Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in American literature. He was quite skillful in describing the features of American social life for his meticulous observation and humorous composing skills. Among his22famous works, only7long novels have Chinese versions. Therefore, in order to spread his brilliant achievements and unique writing skills in China, it is essential for Chinese translators to continue the translating work of his novels. In this paper, the translation material, Things (1919), is one of Sinclair Lewis’s excellent short novels and selected from the collection of Sinclair Lewis’s short novels named Go East, Young Man on Class in America (2005) that is edited by Sally E. Parry.This paper consists of three parts:the original English text of Things, the Chinese version and the case study. During the translation, the author seriously explores the concrete application of different translation methods under the guidance of Relevance Translation Theory from the word level, the sentence level and the discourse level, and then concludes the importance of the optimal relevance between the original text and the target text. On the word level, the author adopts Annotation and Amplification in translation of various kinds of cultural words and some brief expressions in Things to increase the empathy of Chinese readers. On the sentence level, the author applies Reduction and Division in translation of some compound sentences with multi-modifiers in describing paragraphs and a few complex long sentences with the similar meanings in dialogues to decrease the understanding barriers of Chinese readers. On the discourse level, the author chooses Literal Translation and Free Translation in translation of the humorous and irony features of Things to keep the equivalence of the writing styles between the original text and the version.Through this paper, the author hopes to provide more effective references for novel translators, language learners as well as translation theory researchers, and help target-language audiences enjoy more excellent foreign literary works and better versions.