On Translation Of Thackeray’s Satire From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

As a well-known English realist writer, Thackeray explores satire as a weapon to expose the darkness of society as well as the shortcomings of humanity. Satire is the greatest feature of his works and poses a primary challenge to translators as to how to retain it in the translation. The author aims to solve this problem in translation practice under the guidance of the Relevance Theory.This commentary starts with a brief introduction of the original text as well as the features of Thackeray’s satire. It then introduces the Relevance Theory and analyzes its application in translation, along with detailed explanation of how it guides the translation of satirical texts. Finally, examples are used to illustrate how the author applies this theory in translation practice, and what she has learnt during the process.Based on the analysis of the listed examples, the author concludes that the priority in translation is to determine how the new information and current contextual assumption link in the original text, in which case careful reading is required. The findings of the first step will further help in the choice of proper translation strategies so as to mirror the optimal relevance of the original text into the Chinese translation.