On Translating Fictional Dialogues From The Perspective Of The Theory Of Conversational Implicature

In light of Grice s Conversational Implicature Theory, this thesis takes the study of theconveyance of the implied meanings in translation of fictional dialogues as its research focus.The studies on fictional dialogue translation are mainly conducted through the perspectives ofliterature stylistics, the approaches of sociolinguistics, as well as the attempts in areas ofdiscourse analysis and aesthetics, etc. For a translator, the precise handling of the impliedmeanings is a tough task to be confronted. Owing to the fact that implicatures are so abundantin fictional dialogues, the study of it could shed light on the translation of literary works.The thesis has six chapters in total. In Chapter One, the research background, researchpurpose as well as the research significance of the thesis are illustrated respectively. Whatfollows next is the literature review in Chapter Two. It mainly reviews the previous studies onthe theory of conversational implicature and fictional dialogue studies both home and abroad.The theoretical framework of the thesis is built up in Chapter Three, in which the author leadsin by introducing two basic concepts in Pragmatics,namely, the context and the meaning; andGrice s Conversational Implicature Theory is elaborated in detail. And then in Chapter Four,the features of fictional dialogues are analyzed and illustrated in detail. In addition, the authorelaborates on the cultural elements involved in fictional dialogues, based on the elaboration ofwhich the author moves onto the analysis of fictional dialogue and the applicability of Grice sConversational Implicature Theory to the translation of fictional dialogues. What is arrangedin Chapter Five is the main body of the thesis. Through a case study of fictional dialoguetranslation in Moment in Peking, analyzing both the well-fulfilled cases and the mistranslatedones, the author proposes the basic strategies and approaches in precisely conveyingimplicatures of fictional dialogues. Chapter Six draws up the conclusion for the thesis.Through the analysis of fictional dialogue translation in Moment in Peking (including theanalysis of those mistranslated examples), the author has finally drawn up such conclusions:1.Owing to its strong explanatory power interpreting the implied meanings in fictionaldialogues,Grice s Conversational Implicature Theory enables the translator to probe deeperinto the implied meanings hidden in fictional conversations between characters. With theknowledge of the mechanism of how the CP maxims are flouted in generating conversationalimplicatures, the translator shall analyze the concrete cases how implicatures arise in violationagainst the Cooperative Principle (CP) so as to grasp the implied meanings of fictionaldialogues more precisely.2. Taking Grice s Conversational Implicature Theory as thetheoretical foundation, in translating the conversational implicatures from the source text tothe target text, the translator shall consistently pay attention to the maxims and submaxims ofthe CP and observe the influence exerted upon the conveyance of conversational implicautures by contextual and rhetorical elements. Having fully taken this into account, thetranslator could thus achieve an effective conveyance of conversational implicatures from thesource text to the target text.