On The Translation Of Cultural Images Based On The Relevance Theory

Since 1986 s, when Dan Sperber &Deirdre Wilson first put forward relevance theory, it has generated a profound impact on the cognitive pragmatics. Based on this theory, Ernst-August Gutt introduced Relevance-Theoretical Approach to translation in 1991 s. So in this thesis, the writer takes Relevance-Theoretical Approach to translation as theoretical guidance, cultural images of Red Sorghum as the object of study.Relevance theory is powerful in accounting for translation. The key concept of this theory is optimal relevance which refers to processing efforts and contextual effects. It can be illustrated as “the smaller processing efforts, the greater relevance; the greater contextual effects, the greater relevance”. From the perspective of relevance theory, verbal communication can be considered as an ostensive-inferential process involving informative intention and communicative intention. Based on relevance theory, translation needs to ensure the uttermost compatibility between the version and the original.Red sorghum, a Chinese local novel, is written by Mo Yan and translated into English by Howard Goldblatt. This novel contains a lot of cultural images, so it is hard for translator to provide a natural and fluent version for the target readers.Based on relevance theory, this thesis attempts to analyze the cultural images and explore the loss of cultural images in Red Sorghum.