Studies On C-to-E Translation Of Idioms From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

As the crystallization of wisdom and the linguistic treasures of people,idioms not only reflect the national culture but also reflect such characteristics as implication,humor,seriousness and elegance of certain language.Because of the differences in history,religion,social system and living customs among nations,both the English and Chinese idioms carry different ethnic cultural characteristics and cultural connotations,it's necessary for translators to make the accurate translation of English and Chinese idioms.Due to the unique Chinese characteristic,that is,the complex structure,the C-to-E translation of Chinese idioms is somewhat difficult for the translator.This thesis is under the guidance of the Relevance Theory.The Relevance Theory mainly studies human communication and cognition,and its application provides a new perspective for the study of translation theory.Under the guidance of the theoretical framework,the translator's main task is to help the target reader to establish optimal relevance between the target texts and their contexts.The Relevance Theory provides a new perspective for the C-to-E translation of Chinese idioms in the process of the translation study on Chinese idioms.As a famous Chinese writer,Mr.Lao She is known as the language master.His language style is close to life and rich in local color.His work Camel XiangZi is one of the representative works of “Beijing flavor novel”.There are a lot of idioms with unique Chinese cultural features in his work.Therefore,under the guidance of the Relevance Theory,this thesis analyzes the C-to-E translation methods of some perfect idiom translations by the translator Shi Xiaojing,namely,literal translation,literal translation plus note,free translation,replacement translation and omission.And the author points out the difficulties and shortcomings of the C-to-E translation of Chinese idioms in Camel XiangZi by the research method of the quality,that is,because of the limitations of the translator's cognitive context coupled with idioms bearing profound cultural connotation,thus idiom translation is hard for the translator to translate.In addition,the author finds some improper translation in Camel Xiangzi,and gives corresponding solutions under the guidance of Relevance Theory.It will enhance the spreading of Chinese works in western countries.This thesis includes five parts.Chapter one is the introduction,including the research background,purpose and significance of the study and structure of the thesis.Chapter two presents the literature review,introducing the previous studies on idioms and the previous studies on the Relevance Theory both at home and abroad.Chapter three is the introduction of the Relevance Theory,including the key points of the theory,the definition and characteristics of idioms and the question of the cultural relevance and transmission in idiom translation.Ernst-August Gutt points out that translation is a kind of communication model of dual explication and reasoning and it is the process of inter-lingual interpretation and the finding of the optimal relevance under the guidance of this theory.Chapter four analyzes the C-to-E translation methods adopted by Shi Xiaojing.Moreover,the author finds some perfect and imperfect translations in Camel Xiangzi translated by Shi under the guidance of the Relevance Theory.The imperfect translations cannot reach the optimal relevance of Chinese idioms.Thus,the author,firstly,appreciates the perfect translations made by Shi Xiaojing;secondly,makes some comments on and analyzes of the improper translations in Shi Xiaojing's translated version;thirdly,provides corresponding solutions to the improper translations.Chapter five is conclusion.It summarizes the results of English translation of Chinese idioms and shortcomings of this thesis.