Contrastive Study on Mencius Versions from Relevance Theory【毕业论文】.doc

1、毕业论文 文客久久 本科 毕业论文 (设计 ) 题 目： The Embodiment of Contradiction: An Analysis on Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities 学 院： 学生姓名： 专 业： 英语 班 级： 指导教师： 起 止 日期： Contents Abstract . 1 Introduction . 3 1. On Relevance Theory (R.T.) . 3 1.1 Background . 3 1.2 Definition of Relevance Theory . 4 1.3 Terminology

2、 of Relevance Theory . 4 2. Relevance Theory and Translation . 5 2.1 Cognitive Context and Translation . 6 2.2 Optimal Relevance and Translation . 7 2.3 Achieve Optimal Relevance in Translation . 8 2.4 Comparison of Class As Performance with Class Bs . 9 2.4.1 Cognitive Context of the Source Writer

3、. 9 2.4.2 Cognitive Context of the Target Language Readers. 10 3. Contrastive Study on Two Versions . 10 3.1 Translators Cultural Background . 10 3.2 Translation Method . 11 3.3 Textual Factors . 14 3.3.1 Diction . 14 3.3.2 Syntax . 14 Conclusion . 16 References . 17 毕业论文 1 摘要 孟子是儒家文化的经典代表，对中国历代社会产生

4、了深远影响。近代以来随着该书逐渐被译成英文，其在英语世界也产生了深远影响。重视对儒家经典译本的研究，对我们推动发扬中华文化事业有着不容忽 视的价值。 本文主要以格特提出的关联论为理论基础，结合两名名主要译者的译作，分析不同译者在对语义的选择，对传统习俗的敏感度，对孟子思想的理解等方面各自的特点，旨让读者感受他们眼中儒家思想的魅力，并对其译本做出客观评述，得出各译本的优缺点。 关联理论是从认知角度对人和人之间语言理解过程所做的解释。该理论是 Sperber 和 Wilson 于 1986 年在他们出版的著作关联 :交际与认知一书中提出的，并在 1995 年作了修订。关联理论的目的，是想从认知的角

5、度对交际过程加以切实的解释，包括具备关联性的期待究竟是怎 么回事，这些期待对于用实证性的方法解释理解过程可能会发挥什么样的作用。 【关键词】： 关联理论；孟子；认知环境 毕业论文 2 Abstract As the classic representative of Confucian culture in China, “Mencius” has made a profound influence on the Chinese society from ancient to modern times. Since this book gradually had been translated

6、 into English, it has also produced profound influence in the English-speaking country. Attaching importance to the study of Confucian classics translating version plays an extremely important role in promoting Chinese culture. On the basis of Relevance Theory, by analysing two primary translating v

7、ersions, this paper tries to compare different translators characteristics on semantic choices, sensitivity of the Chinese traditional custom and understanding of Mencius thought. It is aimed at helping readers appreciating the charm of “Mencius” thought in different versions and summarizing merits

8、and demerits by analysing translating texts. Relevance Theory is defined as “cognitive account of pragmatic understanding”. It was proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in the book Relevance: Communication and Cognitionpublished in 1986, and revised in 1995. The aim is to explain in cognitively

9、 realistic terms what these expectations of relevance amount to, and how they might contribute to an empirically plausible account of comprehension. 【 Key words】 : Relevance Theory; Mencius; cognitive environment 毕业论文 3 Contrastive Study on Mencius Versions from Relevance Theory Introduction Mencius

10、 as one of the classical books of Confucianism plays an important role in the extensive and profound Chinese culture (Jiang, 1997:92). Many translators have tried to translate this book into English, among whom some are churchmen who came to China in the early time to spread religion in China some a

11、re modern interpreters. Until now there have been many versions of Mencius in English, which have made great contribution to the development of Chinese culture in the west. Therefore, to better develop Chinese culture and promote translation research, it is essential for us to attach great attention

12、 to the contrastive study on Mencius versions. Although many scholars have analysed and compared different Mencius versions, most of them focus largely on the surface comparison of the translated texts, they seldom adopt any translating theories as the research basis. This paper will continue the co

13、ntrastive study of Mencius versions on the basis of Relevance Theory. According to the Relevance Theory by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in 1986, one essential feature of most human communication, both verbal and non-verbal, is the expression and recognition of intentions. That is to say, communica

14、tion is a process of mutual manifestation, from the cognition to inference. There are two main terms in the Relevance Theory, contextual effects and ability of processing information. 1. On Relevance Theory (R.T.) Relevance Theory is defined as “cognitive account of pragmatic understanding”. It was

15、proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in the book Relevance: Communication and Cognition published in 1986, and revised in 1995. 1.1 Background R.T. was proposed with an attempt to work out in detail one of Grices central claims: that an essential feature of most human communication, both verba

16、l and non-verbal, is the expression and recognition of intentions (Gutt, 1991:32). In developing this claim, Grice laid the foundations for an inferential model of communication, an alternative to the classical code model. The relevance-theoretic account is based on another of Grices central claims:

17、 that utterances automatically create expectations which guide the hearer towards the speakers meaning(Gutt, 1991:45). Grice described these expectations in terms of a Co-operative Priciple and maxims of Quality (truthfulness), Quantity (informativeness), Relation (relevance) and Manner (clarity) wh

18、ich speakers are 毕业论文 4 expected to observe: the interpretation a rational hearer should choose is the one that best satisfies those expectations. The two important topics in modern pragmatics are utterance produce and utterance interpretation. Grices conversational Theory is regarded as the theoret

19、ical foundation of modern pragmatics. Sperber and Wilsons Relevance is considered to be the base of cognitive Pragmatics .The two have influenced the linguistic field on a large scale and drawn wide spread attention. 1.2 Definition of Relevance Theory Relevance Theory holds that communication is a p

20、rocess of mutual manifestation from the cognition to inference. When we achieve a best cognition pattern-relevance, we are able to communicate fluently. It focuses on the degree of relevance and two governing principles cognitive principle and communicative principle, and proposes the conception of

21、optimal relevance (Bo, 2005:36). Relevance is defined in terms of cognitive effects and processing effort. Cognitive effects are achieved when newly-presented information interacts with a context of existing assumptions by combining with an existing assumption to yield a contextual implication, and

22、the greater the cognitive effects, the greater the relevance will be (Sperber in verbal communication, the speaker must attract the hearers attention ( Lu, 2011:14). To succeed, the communicator necessarily chooses the most relevant utterance from a range at his disposal that fits best to the contex

23、t, the one that will call for the least processing effort. This is summarized as the 毕业论文 6 principle of relevance. 2.1 Cognitive Context and Translation Guided by the Relevance Theory, we can use different translating strategies according to three main aspects: the cognitive environment of the orig

24、inal author resembles the target language readers; the source language writers cognitive environment and target language readers are different; the original writer and target language reader can understand each other despite their different cognitive environment. A. Similar Cognitive Environment Whe

25、n the original authors cognitive environment and the target language readers resemble each other, we can employ literal translation. Under this situation readers of target language can simply understand the version, because they both share the mutual background. For example: Walls have ears 隔墙有耳 Lik

26、e a duck to water 如鱼得水 An eye for an eye 以眼还眼 B. Different Cognitive Environment When the cognitive environment of the original writer and the translators dont overlap, the translator will be faced with some tough problems. Because under this situation cultural barriers obstruct translators to proce

27、ss information correctly. Relevance Theory holds that we should pay more attention to the extended meaning than the literal meaning. For example: 龙蛇混杂 version1: Snakes mix up with dragons. version2: The worst and the best are mixed up. Version1 does not reach the purpose of translation. Because drag

28、ons in the western and Chinese culture are two totally different symbols. In the Chinese culture, dragons symbolize strength and power, while snakes are called dragonet. However, in the west snakes are regarded as devil and dragons are monsters of fire, therefore they two are not equivalent. So lite

29、ral translation does not work. Version2 can be understood by the westerners easily. Translation is not a bilateral activity ,but a triple one. It not only involves the writer of source language and translator but also readers of target language. For example: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Versio

30、n1: 到罗马，就像罗马人一样生活。 Version2: 入乡随俗。 Version3: 上什么山唱什么歌。 Most Chinese people are not familiar with Romans living style, so Version1 can 毕业论文 7 not be understood directly. Because of the different education level readers accept, not all people can comprehend version2. Version3 can be understood by most

31、 common people, it not only reaches the original texts contextual assumptions but also keeps its vivid image, it reaches the optimal relevance between the original text and the translated one. Therefore, under this situation the translator should infer the target language readers cognitive environme

32、nt and adopt free translation or supplementary translation strategies. C. Common Understanding Despite Different Cognitive Environment When the original writer and target language reader can understand each other despite their different cognitive environment we can adopt conversion translation strat

33、egies. For example: David Hawkes translates “怡红公子 ” into green boy. Because, in Chinese culture the word red can remind readers of flower, spring, youth, happiness, prosperity and so on, but in English it is the word green that is associated with the above things. Therefore, at the cost of the origi

34、nal text form Hawkes make a flexible chioce. To sum up, Relevance Theory tells us that before translating we had better have a good knowledge of the cognitive contexts of the source language and target language. According to Relevance Theory, the translator should not be confused by the form and sur

35、face meaning, and should try to imagine the contextual effects in which these sentences are uttered, it is aimed at ensuring that translation text can achieve the same effect as the source language. Then wed better choose proverbs with the similar meaning in the target language to make translation t

36、ext easily understood, because most of the proverbs are familiar to the readers of target language. If there is no equivalent expression, translators should translate in a more flexible way. The main principle we should follow is the optimal relevance. 2.2 Optimal Relevance and Translation D.Sperber

37、 a translator should judge the readers amount of the effort required to understand the translated text. The process of implicature translating is the very process to pursue the optimal relevance. A translator should first of all find out the implicatures in pursuit of the optimal relevance based on

38、the explicatures of the source text and his own cognitive context. Then if he estimates that such implicatures may be yielded in the target text audiences cognitive context, the translator should endeavour to leave the implicit utterance to be implicit in the target language for the sake of actual e

39、ffect of translation. Implicature translating is one of the difficulties for by literary translators. Relevance Theory gives a full interpretation of the nature of implicature. Therefore, it provides a good guide to better understand and convey implicature in translation. The process of implicature translating is to pursue the optimal relevance. Adjustment must be made according to the similarity and difference between the cognitive context of the source text readers and that of the target text reader, so that the target text reader