A Study Of The Translation Of Fuzzy Rhetoric In Fei Du From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Fei Du is one of the representative works of the distinguished contemporary Chinese writer Jia Pingwa.A large number of expressions with fuzzy rhetoric are used in this novel to improve its literariness and aesthetic effect.Due to linguistic and cultural differences,the translation,of fuzzy rhetoric poses a great challenge to the translator.The American sinologist Howard Goldblatt translated the novel and the English version was published in 2016.The translator's rendering of fuzzy rhetoric expressions in this novel deserves our research.According to Han Qingling's classification model,fuzzy rhetoric can be categorized into stable fuzzy rhetoric and temporary fuzzy rhetoric.Stable fuzzy rhetoric can be further classified into six sub-types based on the parts of speech of the fuzzy words contained.Temporary fuzzy rhetoric can be classified into four types,namely,virtualizing fuzzy rhetoric,blending fuzzy rhetoric,contradicting fuzzy rhetoric and defaulting fuzzy rhetoric.This study selects and sorts out different types of fuzzy rhetoric in the source text,and based on the framework of relevance theory,makes an in-depth analysis of the application of direct translation and indirect translation with some typical examples.Finally,the factors influencing the translator's choices of translation approaches are explored from the perspective of relevance theory and the referential value of relevance theory for the translation practice of fuzzy rhetoric is summarized.Relevance theory accounts for translation from the cognitive perspective,regarding translation as a dual ostensive-inferential process.The communication of the effect of fuzzy rhetoric as a type of communication also heavily relies on the human mind's cognitive processing.Therefore,studying the translation of fuzzy rhetoric within the framework of relevance theory allows people to further understand the mechanism of fuzzy rhetoric,and the evaluation of translation effect with the guidance of relevance theory could be more convincing.The following conclusions are reached in this thesis:First,different types of fuzzy rhetoric are used in Fei Du with varied frequencies.Stable fuzzy rhetoric is used more frequently than temporary fuzzy rhetoric,and among the four types of temporary fuzzy rhetoric,blending and virtualizing fuzzy rhetoric are applied with higher frequencies than contradicting and defaulting fuzzy rhetoric.Second,direct translation and indirect translation are both applied to the translation of each type of fuzzy rhetoric,but the translator shows obvious preferences for different approaches in his translation of different types of fuzzy rhetoric.When translating blending and defaulting fuzzy rhetoric,which belong to temporary fuzzy rhetoric,direct translation is mainly applied.When translating stable fuzzy rhetoric as well as the other two types of temporary fuzzy rhetoric,namely virtualizing and contradicting fuzzy rhetoric,indirect translation is used more frequently.Third,under the guidance of relevance theory,it is found that to keep a higher level of authenticity,the translator gives priority to direct translation so that target readers can arrive at the same interpretation as original readers do.But when the original interpretation cannot be completely communicated to target readers because of linguistic or cultural differences,the translator resorts to indirect translation to ensure that the most relevant aspects of the original interpretation are communicated.In the translation of fuzzy rhetoric in various styles of texts,this study is of some reference value for the translator's accurate interpretation of the source text and correct evaluation of target readers' cognitive environment and expectations,and further the appropriate choice of translation approaches.