A Study Of English Translation Of Bai Ethnic Classics From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Yunnan is the province with the largest number of ethnic groups in China.In the long history,the ethnic people have created splendid and rich culture with their intelligence and wisdom.The ethnic minority classics in Yunnan are crucial parts of the cultural and artistic treasure of the ethnic minorities in China,which form the treasure of Chinese culture with their long history,myths and legends,rich and colorful ethnic culture,unique customs and ecological culture,broad and profound religious culture,philosophical thinking and aesthetic thinking.There are tens of thousands of ethnic group classics in Yunnan Province.However,the ethnic classics translated into foreign languages and published are only a drop in the ocean at present.The translation of the ethnic classics in Yunnan is a significant project with high value,which is an important approach to protect,inherit and carry forward the ethnic culture in Yunnan to the world.The ethnic classics translation can let people from all over the world recognize,understand and study the literature and culture of Yunnan,which plays an important role in enhancing the cultural influence of Yunnan.From the perspective of relevance theory,taking the English translation of Bai ethnic classics in Dali as the research object,this study explores the operational mechanism of the translator’s mind in the two-round communication of translation.It deeply studies how the translator makes contextual assumptions in the ostensive-inferential process,finds the optimal relevance,interprets the source language accurately and applies translation strategies,methods and techniques to produce the target language.It is found in the research that relevance theory can provide a powerful explanation for the two-round communication in the process of translation.The first round is the communication between the author and the translator,which is the inferential process of communication.If the translator wants to understand the source text accurately,he should master the relevant knowledge,including the historical background,cultural background,humanistic environment and even the natural geographical environment of the source text,which is the basis of inference.After that,according to the author’s informative intentions,the translator infers the implied information,namely,the communicative intentions.At this time,the translator has accurately understood the source text.Then comes the second round of communication.It is the communication between the translator and the target language reader,which is an ostensive process of communication.The translator conveys the implied information in the source text to the target language reader in his translation,so that the target language reader can reduce the cognitive efforts and understand the author’s intentions more clearly.This is successful communication and perfect translation.From the analysis and research on the English translation of Bai ethnic classics,it can be seen that the strong explanatory power of relevance theory has contributed a lot to the interpretation of ethnic groups classics.Applying the translation strategies,methods and techniques,the best translation can be produced.This study provides valuable insights into the translation of ethnic classics and the development of ethnic culture.