Relevance-theoretic Analysis Of Poem Translation In The Gay Genius:The Life And Times Of Su Tungpo

Relevance theory is an important theory in Pragmatics. It centers on communication and cognition and thus has great explanatory power on translation. In relevance theory, the translator's obligation is to strive to make the author's intention and the reader's expectations meet. This obligation is achieved by the translator in the translation process through maximizing the contextual effect and minimizing the processing effort of the reader.This thesis applies the relevance theory to poem translation researches through studies on translation of Su Tungpo's poems included in Lin Yutang's The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo. It mainly investigates on how the translator endeavors to seek the optimal relevance through restructuring the cognitive context, maximizing the contextual effect and minimizing the reader's processing effort,which also offers a new light for researchers to appreciate and make comments on poem translation. Measures of restructuring cognitive context in this thesis include clarification of linguistic context, representation of situational context, and interpretation of cultural context. Measures of maximizing contextual effect include strengthening of contextual assumptions, elimination of contextual misinterpretations, and derivation of contextual implications. Measures of minimizing the readers' processing effort include conciseness in logical, encyclopedic and lexical expressions and use of direct and indirect translation strategies.