Translation Strategies For Cultural Default From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

My Heart Is Like the Bodhi is an autobiography by Cao Dewang,a well-known entrepreneur.The purpose of the translation program is to tell the story about how Mr.Cao started his own business to American readers,with a strong need of cross-cultural communication.Under the guidance of relevance theory,by describing the translation process of My Heart Is Like the Bodhi,this research explores what strategies are available in handling cultural defaults and how should translators choose and use proper strategies to express the communicative intention of the original text to achieve the best relevance.Based on the classification by previous researchers,it sums up six types of strategies to deal with cultural defaults in English to Chinese translation,namely literal translation,free translation,literal-free translation,annotation,dilution and replacement.Moreover,it concludes that in practice,translators usually need to adopt a variety of translation strategies in expressing the communicative intention of the original and achieving best relevance to ensure the smoothness of communication.In the choice of translation strategies,translators should,based on the differences between two cultures,decide whether the information contained in the original text will prevent the target readers from understanding the communicative intention of the original.If the possibility is high,translators should give priority to expressing the communicative intention by using the strategies of free translation,dilution or replacement.If the possibility is not very high,translators should keep the information and provide some relevant background knowledge for the readers so that they can interpret the communicative intention behind it using the knowledge they have just acquired.If the possibility is relatively low,translators can convey the information directly to achieve the goal of communication.This research also reveals that translators should,equipped with some knowledge of the cultural background of both languages and a certain degree of intercultural communication skills,tell the nuances between images from different cultures.Only in this way can translators bridge the gap between the authors and the readers of the translated versions.