An E-C Translation Report Of Academic Texts Written By Deaf Scholars From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

With the academic exchange becoming increasingly frequent at home and abroad,more and more attention has been paid to academic translation.The book,Innovations in Deaf Studies,represents the innovations and breakthroughs western Deaf scholars have made in their exploration on Deaf Studies as a field.Especially,the five essays selected for the source text convey their profound reflections on the history and future of Deaf Studies.Under the guidance of Relevance Theory proposed by Sperber and Wilson in 1986,this report aims to apply Relevance Theory into translation practice.It mainly discusses the application of the optimal relevance principle proposed by Relevance Theory on academic text translation,and puts forward some feasible translation methods and techniques.While translating many terms in the source text,the translation of which have not been standardized,the translator deals with them by literal translation,free translation and literal translation in combination with annotation.As for quotations in this academic text,the translator employs the method of inferring the writer's informative intention to cope with the translation of reporting verbs,and the method of combination and adjusting word order to handle the translation of reporting clauses.In regard to the passive voice that appears frequently in English academic text,the translator chooses to change passive voice into active voice or to substitute it with various kinds of passive forms in Chinese.As the source text is characterized by logical language,the translator manages to create the optimal relevance by reproducing the logical relations in the original text,which means reducing unnecessary effort as well as obtaining enough contextual effect.By the analysis of the above translation difficulties,this report offers some translation methods to the future translation activities about academic text translation.Besides,the dual identity of the source text writers as both Deaf people and scholars brings about unique perspective.The translation of their research fruits will not only provide a reference for the development of Deaf Studies in China,but also inspire domestic scholars to conduct their research in a new and exciting way.