A Study On The Translation Of Metonymy In Huangdi Neijing·Suwen Under The Relevance Translation Theory

Huangdi Neijing · Suwen is part of Huangdi Neijing,the earliest classic of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM).At present,there are altogether fourteen English translated versions of Suwen.Written in a fine language,Suwen extensively uses metonymies to explain the profound theories of TCM,which becomes a big challenge for translation.After reviewing the studies on the metonymic translation in Suwen,the author finds that there are some mistranslations and omissions of metonymy in the existing translated versions.However,only several studies have been done on the metonymic translation in Suwen and there is lack of a forceful theoretical support.Thus,the thesis takes the relevance translation theory as the theoretical framework to analyze the translation process of the metonymies in Suwen with a critique of the metonymic translation in Li Zhaoguo's and Maoshing Ni's versions,and then attempts to propose the corresponding translation strategies for the metonymies and explore the reasons for the mistranslation of metonymy in the two versions.Therefore,the thesis aims to provide a theoretical guidance and practical advice for the metonymic translation in Suwen,thus hoping to advance the development of the translation of Suwen and promote the international communication of the classic.According to the relevance translation theory,optimal relevance is the basic translation principle.That is,the translator should try to make the target readers get adequate contextual effects without unnecessary processing effort.Consequently,translation is a dual-inferential process.In regard to the translation of metonymy,first,the translator should search for the contextual assumption relevant to the source of the metonymy to infer the target of the metonymy so that the adequate contextual effects could be achieved.Next,the translator should proceed to infer whether the relevant assumption exists in the target readers' cognitive environment so as to choose the translation strategy.Thus,twelve metonymies in Huangdi Neijing · Suwen are selected for a case analysis under the guidance of the relevance translation theory,and the major findings are as follows-First,there exist mistranslations or omissions of the metonymies in both of the two versions,which may be mainly on account of the inaccurate presumptions about the cognitive environments of the original author or the target readers.Secondly,the relevance translation theory could account for the generation and understanding of metonymy and provide an effective theoretical guidance for the translation of metonymies in Suwen.Optimal relevance is the basic translation principle.Lastly,based on the characteristics of the metonymies in Suwen,four translation strategies are proposed:direct translation,indirect translation,direct translation with an explanatory note,and indirect translation with an explanatory note.The choice of the strategy is determined by the translator's presumption about the target readers'cognitive environment and the principle of optimal relevance.