An English-Chinese Translation Report On Multimodal Pragmatics And Translation:A New Model For Source Text Analysis(Excerpt)

The source text of the translation task is selected from Sara Dicerto’(2018)monograph Multimodal Pragmatics and Translation a New Model of Source Text Analysis published by Palgrave Macmillan.The translator chooses the second and third chapters as the translation task as they are mainly about the semiotic multimodality and the multimodal meaning of pragmatics.In the second chapter,Sara Dicerto discusses Halliday and Webster’s notion of semiotics,Kress and Leeuwen’s Relevance Theory as well as Balry and Thibault’s notions of“cluster” and “phase”.Based on the analysis of these notions,the author proposes the model of source text analysis.The third chapter reviews the literature of pragmatics and the study about pragmatics and multimodality.The translation report intends to analyze the problems and difficulties encountered in the translation process from the perspective of cognitive environment under the guidance of the Relevance Theory.Translation could be regarded as a cross-language communication which refers to the relations between the source text with its writer and the translator,as well as the translator and the target language readers.In fact,translator is a bridge between the target language reader and the source text.It means that the translation task requires translator to have a correct interpretation and understanding of the source text.In order to achieve a correct understanding,the translator has to establish a similar cognitive environment as the writer and his or her source text.To produce a successful translated text,the translator also needs to assume and consider the target text readers’ cognitive context in the preparation and process of translation.On the recognition of the concept of cognitive context or environment in Relevance Theory,the translator has made her best to adjust the translated text in accordance with the habitual use of target language both at lexical and syntactic levels.The translation report is composed of five parts.The first part is the description of this translation task which includes introduction to the source text,the reason and significance of choosing this translation task.The second part presents the translation process including preparation for translation,translating and revising,problems and difficulties encountered intranslating.The third part introduces the relevance theory which the translator considers as the theoretical framework for the guidance in accomplishing the translation task.The introduction to the theory contains the key notions of the relevance theory such as optimal relevance,cognitive environment,and the application of the theory in translation study.The fourth part analyzes the difficulties and problems met in translation with the guidance of relevance theory.The last part summarizes the experience and gains from the translation task,and limitations and inadequacies of the translated text and the translation report.