A Comparative Study On The Translation Of Contextual Implicit Information From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Bian Cheng is a representative work of Shen Congwen’s novels,which depicts the local customs of Western Hunan,with unique local characteristics,and contains much implicit information.Based on the framework of relevance theory,this thesis takes ostensive inference and cognitive context as the main considerations,adopts a corpusbased analysis approach,quantitative,qualitative,and comparative research methods,and takes the implicit information in three English versions of Bian Cheng as the research object,then deeply explores the ostensive degree of the English translation of this phenomenon and the translation strategies and methods.Through the corpus search of the English versions of Bian Cheng,it is found that the ostensive degree of Kinkley’s translation is higher than that of Ching Ti&Robert Payne’s translation.In the process of dealing with implicit information in the three versions,the ostensive degree is as follows:Ching Ti&Robert Payne’s Version<Gladys Yang’s Version<Kinkley’s Version.The ostensive degree of implicit information in Ching Ti&Robert Payne’s Version is low,which is related to the fact that the translation of Bian Cheng is their own choice,and they do not deliberately reproduce Chinese cultural characteristics.However,as the translator of China Literature Publishing House,Gladys Yang needs to be faithful to the source text as much as possible.In addition,her translation also bears the responsibility of disseminating Chinese culture,so that readers can easily understand China.Therefore,it is necessary to express the implied meaning in proper ways.When Kinkley’s translation comes out,China’s international status is promoted.To further promote Chinese culture,amplification is also adopted to construct assumptions for western readers,then the implied content is expressed and explained more explicitly,so that target readers could have enough relevance,which contributes to the effective dissemination of Chinese culture.As for the translation strategies of implicit information,this thesis,in the light of relevance theory,adopts the strategies of direct translation and indirect translation proposed by Gutt to explore the differences between the three versions.It is found that Kinkley focuses on the strategy of direct translation,while Gladys Yang mainly adopts indirect translation.In terms of cultural implicit information,Ching Ti&Robert Payne’s translation focuses on indirect translation for the easy understanding of the target readers and focuses on direct translation for the implicit content in the situational context.Specifically,when translating implicit information into English,translators mainly adopt free translation,literal translation with annotation,amplification,omission,and so on.The differences in translators’ approaches to dealing with them are related to their historical background,translators’ motivations,and readers’expectations.From the perspective of relevance theory,this thesis interprets the translation phenomenon of contextual implicit information,and explores the manifestation of ostensive degree in different versions,as well as the differences in their English translation methods and the factors behind them,so as to have certain significance for translation practice.