Application Of The Relevance Theory In Translation Practice Of Tainan Literature

During my graduate study in translation-related courses,I have translated some chapters of Tainan literature by Professor OHIGASI KAZUSHIGE in KWANSEI GAKUIN University of Japan.With the Chinese translation of Tainan Literature as a case study,this report concludes some effective experience and necessary translation process based on relevance theory by discussing the application of relevance theory in this translation practice.From 1920s to 1940s,when Taiwan was still the colony of Japan,Tainan conducted a series of modern culture events.Tainan literature is a masterpiece in comparative literature,which targeted at works of six Japanese writers.These works were written in Japanese in the colonization era,and they were set in Tainan.The most distinguished feature of Tainan literature,whicih is also the highlight of my translation practice,lies in its writing style,language feature,historical and cultural background.To solve these problems,relevance theory is applied,especially to the framework of Gutt,E.-A,which has been a great enlightenment.Guided by relevance theory,this report analyzes the mistranslation,incomplete translation,their reasons and correspondent solutions in Tainan literature through specific cases from the perspective of vocabulary,proper nouns and sentence.In the analysis of translation,I found translator’s cognitive process of context and understanding of writer’s intention,communicative function and contextual effect important.In this case,relevance theory is significant in guiding the translation of Tainan literature.This reported contains the following three sections.The first chapter deals with the basic framework of relevance theory and its rules,and elaborates on the relevance of this theory with the translation practice through specific translation examples in Tainan literature.The first section focuses on cconcerns about the introduction of relevance theory,its application in translation and the main content of Gutt,E.-A’s relevance theory.The second section introduces the guiding role relevance theory played in Tainan literature through listing and analyzing translation cases.By comparing original translation and the one modified under the guidance of the relevance theory,the second chapter analyzes the mistranslation,incomplete translation and their reasons through specific cases from the perspective of vocabulary,term and sentence.A variety of translation faults can be detected for these reasons:insufficient awareness of the cultural and historical background;a misunderstanding of the context meaning due to the similarity between the Chinese and Japanese languages;and thus,the misinterpretation of author’s intention.Besides,some translation is not authentic in Chinese for translator is limited by the semantics and syntax of Japanese.Through the analysis of mistranslation under the guidance of relevance theory,I come to understand the importance of understanding what is beyond words,and taking into consideration of readers’ acceptance.Only the two aspects are considered can the translator faithfully and smoothly convey the author’s meaning.The third chapter deals with how to avoid mistranslation in Tainan literature and comes up with some strategies from cognitive focus,communicative function and contextual effect under the guidance of relevance theory.The translator should take the focus of information into consideration,and put emphasis on communicative function and contextual effect.Relevance theory points out that translation is like the communication between the author and readers,and translator serves as a bridge,who links the author with readers.A translator should fully understand the author’s intention,which requires translator’s language competence and background knowledge so that the translator can understand focus of information well.On the basis of understanding the author and translator’s right interpretation,translator can convey the original information and meaning to readers.In this process,special attention should be paid to communicative function,contextual effect,the right choice of wording according to the audience,and the right choice of sentence patterns.Therefore,three conclusions can be drawn from the above analysis.First,relevance theory is feasible for the translation of literature works with relatively complicated cultural and historical background by providing a translator with the maximize freedom.Second,according to relevance theory,translation can be regarded as a dialogue between the author and the translator as well as one between the translator and the reader,and the dialogue is based on a full understanding of the information focus of the original text and the intention of the author.During the process of the dialogue,the information cannot be properly conveyed if the basic information is not fully understood and this is why mistranslation happens.Third,in the process of translating,translators should first fully understand the original content and the authors’intention based on cultural elements,social background and encyclopedic knowledge,and then confirm the efficiency of information transfer under the principles of communication function and communication behavior,and finally,by taking into account the contextual effect and the use habit of target language to make sure the readers can achieve maximize relevance with the minimize effort.The above conclusion can not only eliminate cognitive misunderstandings to some extent in the process of translating and avoid mistranslation to the largest content,but also be regarded as a re-evaluation and summarization of the finished translation practice.This is exactly why the report is written.