A Study Of English Translation Of The Chinese Idioms In The Scholars Based On The Relevance Theory

As the core of language and the crystallization of wisdom,idioms are mostly concise and clear in form,fixed in structure,humorous and lively in language,and profound in meaning,bearing much message unique to the Chinese language.The Relevance Theory proposes that translation is also a communicative behavior in line with the ostensive-inferential model and optimal relevance is the criterion for evaluating the success or failure of translation,thus explaining the special cross-cultural communicational activity of translation reasonably.However,most of the previous studies on idiom translation focused on the cultural perspective,while few people probe into idiom translation from the perspective of the Relevance Theory.The idioms studied in this thesis are extracted from the “Ru Lin Wai Shi”(otherwise known as The Scholars),a classic specimen of satirical novels in China,while the English version is translated by Hsien-Yi Yang and Gladys Yang.Their English version is considered to be the most successful English version to date and also the only full English version available so far.This thesis adopts the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.Firstly,the Chinese idioms and corresponding English version in The Scholars are collected,sorted out and classified.Then based on the Relevance Theory,the author analyzes the processes and results of idiom translation from the perspective of ostensive-inferential communicational mode and optimal relevance and conducts a discussion of translation methods of idioms employed by the couple translators from the angle of the Relevance Theory.The research on the English translation of The Scholars is mainly based on the following three questions:(1)What are the features of Chinese idioms presented in The Scholars?(2)How does the Relevance Theory account for idiom translation in The Scholars?(3)What are the translation methods of idioms the Yangs have adopted in The Scholars? How are these methods relevant to the Relevance Theory?Through specific case studies,the conclusions are drawn as follows:(1)The feature of Chinese idioms is mainly analyzed from four aspects: structure,semantics,rhetoric,and culture.Structurally,they are relatively fixed and cannot be easily replaced;semantically,it is necessary to obtain the meaning of an idiom from a holistic viewpoint rather than by summing the meaning of the individuals in a specific expression.Besides,phrases usually have two meanings: literal meaning and hidden meaning.In rhetoric,there are five rhetoric devices which are often used in The Scholars: simile,metaphor,metonymy,hyperbole and pun.Culturally,idioms are often involved in material culture,ecological culture,religious culture and social culture.(2)Relevancy Translation Theory holds that translation is also a kind of ostensive-inferential communicational process and optimal relevance is the criterion for evaluating the success or failure of translation.The author conducts an in-depth analysis of the translation process through the ostensive-inferential communicational model and then analyzes the translated version to check whether they conform to optimal relevance,thus proving that the Relevance Theory has a great power in explaining idiom translation by analyzing both the process and the results.(3)Gutt proposed two translation methods on the basis of the Relevance Theory.One is a direct translation,and the other is an indirect translation.Disparities between them are that the former attempts to sustain the resemblances in form and content to a large extent,while the latter is to preserve the similarities in cognitive effects.The specific translation methods implemented by the Yangs mainly consist of literal translation,literal combined with free translation,literal translation with annotation,free translation,substitution,omission.Through the analysis of translation methods,it is proved that the Relevance Theory can effectively guide the translation practice of idioms.In choosing translation methods for idioms,the cognitive environment of the target reader should be fully taken into account so that,with the minimal cognitive effort,he can obtain the author's communicative intention,thus achieving successful communication and optimal relevance.Finally,the author hopes that this thesis can provide a new research perspective to the English translation of idioms,facilitating the sacred task of introducing Chinese literary classics to the rest of the world.