Translation Strategy Of Academic Text Based On Relevance-Adjustability Theoretical Approach

Translation of academic text facilitates academic research and exchanges between nations.However,quality problems persist in the translation of academic text in China.Hence,aiming to improve the quality of translation of academic text,the present author attempts to explore active translation strategies of academic text based on his E-C translation practice of an academic work,Translation:A Very Short Introduction.Translation:A Very Short Introduction is written by Matthew Reynolds,a professor of English and Comparative Criticism at the University of Oxford,for the series Very Short Introductions.In this book,Reynolds depicts a general outline of the evolving translation studies by citing historical facts,illustrating real translation examples and introducing the latest progress driven by the ferocious internet development from intriguing angles.As academic as it is inspirational,this book,if translated into Chinese,might hopefully inject more momentum into the translation studies in China.In this report,the present author discusses translation strategies chosen at the lexical,syntactic and textual levels in translating Translation:A Very Short Introduction,based on the principle of target audience's cognitive consonance,which derives from the Relevance-Adjustability Theoretical Approach(RATA)proposed by Li Zhanxi.Strategies based on this theoretical approach supplement those summarized from a single perspective of either Relevance Theory or Adaptation Theory because they aim to both guarantee accurate delivery of the original author's intention and achieve target audience's cognitive consonance.Thus,the problems encountered by the present author during his translation—how to interpret the ST to contribute to the accurate translation and how to make translation less demanding for the target audience to understand—are solved.By analyzing examples taken from the Chinese translation of Translation:A Very Short Introduction,the present author summarizes the following 'strategies.At the lexical level,substitution,direct translation with explanation,combination of direct and indirect translation,direct translation with footnote and direct translation may be adopted to manifest the ST author's intention and achieve target audience's cognitive consonance;at the syntactic level,direct translation,recasting and combination of direct and indirect translation may support the TT adjustment to the aesthetic expectation and acceptability level of the target audience and meanwhile the ST style is preserved to the largest extent possible;at the textual level,strategies of discourse markers supplement and omission may make the TT more clearly defined and improve the cohesion and texture of the TT.