Creating Genuine Genres In Translation-A Comparative Analysis Of The Giles And Minford Versions Of Liaozhai Zhiyi Under The Framework Of Relevance Theory

Folklore and fairytales have long been a source of enchantment and education worldwide,and these genres have also evolved to become a channel for social commentary.This is also true of the best-known collection of Chinese folktales-Pu Songling's Liaozhai Zhiyi('Liaozhai').Liaozhai was first introduced into the English-speaking world in 1843.Due to its blending of the folktale and commentary genres,it has been variously presented as a light-hearted Chinese Arabian Nights,as political literature criticising feudalism,and also as a serious work of literature that delves into human nature.Where along this spectrum Liaozhai sits for the target text reader will depend on how well the dual genres are recreated in the translation.Genre is a social construct as well as a property of text,and contains inherent information-assumptions and expectations-that allows source language readers to form certain expectations of relevance.In the case of the folktale genre,these expectations relate to narrative development,and prepare the reader to accept the supernatural as part of the story's reality.In the case of commentary,the'expectation of relevance' is the recognition that parts of the narrative are not simply plot development but intended to convey a value judgement.However,when transplanted outside its native context,the inherent(cultural)information conveyed by genre can be lost,creating a 'contextual gap' for target language readers.This essay undertakes a comparison of the Giles and Minford translations of Liaozhai as an entry point to explore approaches for successful genre re-creation,thereby bridging the'contextual gap'.Relevance theory is particularly useful for the analysis of genre in translation,as it provides a framework for approaching translation not only as an act of imparting meaning in context,but also as an act of creating context.This essay concludes that,to re-create the effects of genre in a translated text,a greater degree of cohesion is demanded,and the application of stronger and more frequent stimuli,for example through the cumulative use of multiple translation strategies,may be required to recreate the innate coherence of the original.Furthermore,greater awareness at the discourse level is required,meaning that translations strategies cannot be considered in only isolation and at the level of the translation issue needing to be resolved,but also in light of the effects they generate above the sentence level when linked with other stimuli in the text.