A Study Of Chinese Han Folk Song Lyrics C-E Translation From The Perspective Of The Relevance Theory

Chinese folk song constitutes an essential part of Chinese culture. China is a nation with wide area and various nationalities. Different areas and different nationalities own their different native cultures, so there are different musical colors in different areas, and Chinese folk songs present flowering scene. Chinese folk songs could date back to Shi Jing (The Book of Songs) which was created in the early period of Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period. Over more than one thousand years, the Chinese folk songs have kept carrying forward, and have been passed down from generation to generation. But for the Westerners, the Chinese folk songs are pretty strange. Compared with Western folk songs introduced into China, the Chinese folk songs known to the people in other countries are pretty few, which is not compatible with the global status of China. So translating and transmitting the Chinese folk songs means a lot to carrying forward the Chinese culture. But with the limitation of language, culture, geographical environment, social economy and other kinds of factors, there are certain difficulties in translating Chinese folk songs. Through studying the previous relevant researches and studying a certain amount of Chinese folk song lyrics’English-version translations the author of the thesis hopes to find out some solutions to some difficulties in Chinese folk song translation so as to transmit Chinese folk songs and carry forward the Chinese culture.The Relevance Theory is proposed by Sperber and Wilson, on which their student Gutt proposed the Relevance Theory of translation. The Relevance Theory holds that the communication is an ostensive-inferential course. Translation is also a sort of communicative activity, in which the speakers’ sufficient ostension and the readers’ appropriate inference are necessary. And this rule can be applied into translation of Chinese folk songs.This thesis aims at trying to find a new way in which the Chinese folk songs are probably spread better. The Relevance Theory has great guiding meaning for the activity of translation which is an essential communicative activity. The author of this thesis attempts to analyze and explore the lyrics of Chinese folk songs with the guidance of the Relevance Theory. In this study, more attentions will be paid to the readers’response and acceptance. Attempts are also made to make the ostensive stimulus of the speakers cater for the expectations of the readers better so as to spread Chinese folk songs better.In the first place, this thesis makes a certain description of the previous relevant researches, and then describes the definition, features, classifications and functions of the Chinese folk songs. Then the author introduces the Relevant Theory, including the definition, principles and the applications of the Relevance Theory in the practice of translation, which contains some basic notions like contextual effects, maximal relevance and optimal relevance. According to the application of the Relevance Theory in the translation which is said the Relevance Theory of Translation, the author analyzes and contrast the translation of Chinese folk songs’lyrics. Most of the Chinese Folk songs are selected from the books Zhong Guo Min Ge Xuan Ji"(Collections of Chinese Folk Songs) and Zhong Guo Min Ge (Chinese Folk Songs). The author refers to some translated versions in some relevant theses, and some of the lyrics are translated by the author herself. Through analyzing and contrasting, the author finds that translating lyrics of Chinese folk songs with the help of the Relevance Theory can achieve the aim of culture exchange between different countries. The Relevance Theory not only lays emphasis on the utterance of the speakers but also pays much attention to the acceptance and understanding of the readers. Thus, when it comes to translating some dialect words, culture-loaded words, padding syllables and assonance words appearing in the Chinese folk songs, with the guidance of the Relevance Theory, it is better to translate these words into corresponding English words instead of translating them directly according to its literal meaning. In addition, as for the translation of the padding syllables, the position of the padding syllables in original Chinese folk songs also should be taken into consideration. Therefore, the readers’ potential misunderstanding could be avoided and the translated lyrics could be more natural and sincere to the readers.