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[Abstract]

SperberandWilsonfirstputforwardtheRelevanceTheory,whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition.TheirstudentErnst-AugustGuttappliedittotranslationstudiesandgotanencouragingresult.Hepointedoutthattranslationisnotonlyacommunicativeactivity,butalsoacognitiveactivity.Contextplaysaveryimportantroleinourunderstandingoftheutteranceandtext.Asuccessfultranslationrequiresthetranslatortoreasonaccordingtothedynamiccontext,whichdependssomuchontherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironment.Infact,theprocessoftranslationisaprocessofcontextreasoningandselecting,whichisalwaysdynamicanddevelopingasthecircumstanceschange.Duringtheprocessoftranslation,themaintaskoftranslatoristofindouttherelevance,especiallytheoptimalrelevancebetweenthelanguageandcontext.Accordingtotheprincipleoftheoptimalrelevance,thetranslatorcouldunderstandtheoriginaltextcorrectly,andthentranslateitintotargetlanguageappropriatelybycomposingandreasoningthemostsuitablecontext.Discussingoncontextintheperspectiveofrelevancetheoryprovidesanewviewtostudyandpracticetranslation.

[KeyWords]Translation;communication;relevancetheory;optimalrelevance;cognitivecontext;dynamiccontext

【摘要】關(guān)聯(lián)理論是由SperberandWilson最早提出的，它從認(rèn)知的角度解釋了許多的語(yǔ)言活動(dòng)。隨后，Wilson的學(xué)生Gutt最早把這一理論運(yùn)用于翻譯研究中，并取得突破性的進(jìn)展。他還指出，翻譯不僅僅是一項(xiàng)交際活動(dòng)，更是一項(xiàng)認(rèn)知活動(dòng)。在我們理解一段話語(yǔ)或文字的時(shí)候，語(yǔ)境往往起著非常重要的作用。成功的翻譯往往要求翻譯者能夠根據(jù)動(dòng)態(tài)語(yǔ)境進(jìn)行推理，而動(dòng)態(tài)語(yǔ)境又依賴(lài)于語(yǔ)言與環(huán)境的關(guān)聯(lián)。實(shí)際上，翻譯的過(guò)程就是一個(gè)語(yǔ)境推理和選擇的動(dòng)態(tài)的，不斷發(fā)展的過(guò)程。因此，在翻譯的過(guò)程中，譯者的主要任務(wù)就是找出語(yǔ)言與語(yǔ)境之間的關(guān)聯(lián)，特別是最佳關(guān)聯(lián)。根據(jù)最佳關(guān)聯(lián)理論，翻譯者就能通過(guò)構(gòu)建最適合的語(yǔ)境，準(zhǔn)確地理解源語(yǔ)文章，并且比較貼切地把它翻譯成目的語(yǔ)。因此，從語(yǔ)用關(guān)聯(lián)的角度探討語(yǔ)境問(wèn)題為我們的翻譯研究和翻譯實(shí)踐提供了一個(gè)全新的視角。

【關(guān)鍵詞】翻譯；交際活動(dòng)；關(guān)聯(lián)理論；最佳關(guān)聯(lián)；認(rèn)知語(yǔ)境；動(dòng)態(tài)語(yǔ)境

1.Introduction

Translationisnotonlyalinguisticactivitythattransformsthemeaningfromonelanguagetoanotherwithwordsasitsmedium,butalsoacomplicatedthinkingactivitythatcontainsmanylinguisticandnon-linguisticcomponents.Somanyproblemsontranslationmaynotbesolvedbytheonlylinguisticapproach.Afterthebirthofpragmatics,manytranslationscholarsapplieditintotheresearchoftranslationstudiesandgotsomeencouragingresults.Becausepragmaticsstudiesfocusontherelationsbetweenlanguageandcontext,thepragmaticapproachoftranslationemphasizesontherelationsbetweentextandcontext.Inthisway,pragmaticsprovidesusanewandbeneficialviewtostudytranslation.

TheBritishlinguistsMalinowskioriginallyputforwardtheword“context”in1920s.Fromthenon,manylinguistselaboratedcontextfrommanydifferentperspectivesandtheyhadaconsensusthatcontextisveryimportanttounderstandtheutteranceandtext.Thoughmanylinguistsandtranslationscholarshadknowntheimportanceofcontextandhadputmucheffortintocontextstudies,thetraditionalcontextstudiesregardcontextasastatic,isolatedandfixedsituation.

Accordingtomanylinguistsandtranslators,translationisaveryspecialkindofcommunicationthatdoesnotalwayshappenamongpeoplefacetoface,anditdependsmuchonthecontext.Understandingthesemanticmeaningofatextisnotsufficient,municationisacontinuousanddynamicprocessofchangesanddevelopment,andsoiscontext.Translatorsdonotengageinthemeretranslationofwords;donottranslateaccordingtothosestaticandfixedcontextualelements,theirinterpretiveactsdealwithreasoningandexplorationofsituationsthatareconstitutedbyanintenseinteractionoflinguistic,psychological,anthropological,andculturalphenomena.[1]Inthisway,adynamiccontextthatdependssomuchontherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironmentisestablishedintheprocessoftranslating.Soduringtheprocessoftranslation,themaintaskoftranslatoristofindouttherelevance,especiallytheoptimalrelevancebetweenthelanguageandcontext.

2.RelevanceTheoryandOptimalRelevance

2.1.RelevanceTheory

LinguistsSperberandWilsonfirstputforwardtheRelevanceTheoryinthefamouslinguisticwork“Relevance:CommunicationandCognition”,whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition.IntheRelevanceTheory,thecommunicationincludingverbalandnon-verbalcommunicativeactivitiesisregardedasacognitiveactivity,anditssuccessdependsontheconsensustowardsincognitiveenvironmentbetweenbothsidesofcommunication.Thecognitiveenvironmentalwaysincludeslexicalmeaning,encyclopedicknowledgeandlogicalinformation.Tohaveasuccessfulcommunication,thesearchfortheconsensusandrelevanceisthemostimportant.Accordingtothisconsensusandtherelevance,peoplecanunderstandtheintentionandpurposeofthespeakerortheauthoreasily.

SperberandWilsonalsosuggestedthattheunderstandingoftheutteranceisnotonlyareasoningprocess,butalsoaprocessofostensiveinference.Traditionally,therearetwomodelsofcommunication.Oneisthecodedmodelthatregardslanguageasacodesystem.Andinthecodedmodel,thecommunicationisaprocessofcodestransformation.Theotheroneisinferentialcommunicationthatdependsmuchonthecontextreasoning.Therefore,tounderstandtheutterance,especiallythoseculture-orientedutterances,simplycodinganddecodingisfarlessthanenough.Bothofthemodelsonlypartiallyexplainthecommunication,butcannotrevealthenatureofcommunication,whichismorecomplicatedthanjustcodinganddecoding.SperberandWilsoncombinedthesetwomodels,andthenadvancedtheconceptof“Ostensive-InferentialCommunication”,inwhichthecommunicationisregardedasaninferentialprocess,andcontextinferenceplaysanimportantroleinit.“Strictlyspeaking,relevancetheoryappliednottoallcommunicationinthesenseofanykindofinformationtransfer,butto‘ostensivecommunication’or,moreexplicitly,to‘Ostensive-InferentialCommunication’:‘ostensive-inferentialcommunicationconsistsinmakingmanifesttoanaudienceone’sattentiontomakemanifestabasiclayerofinformation’,thisbasiclayerofinformationbeingthecommunicator’sinformativeintention.”[2]

2.2.Relevanceanddegreeofrelevance

Incommunication,thesamesentencealwayshasdifferentunderstandingsunderdifferentconditions.Thesedifferentunderstandingsarenotarousedbythewordmeaning,butbymanyothernon-verbalfactors,suchastime,place,socialbackground,statusandintentionofthespeakerortheauthor.Usually,peoplecannotunderstandthesefactors,sopeoplecannotunderstandtherealmeaningofasentenceandmanymisunderstandingsoccur.Sometimes,peoplecannotimmediatelyrelatethesefactorstothecertainutteranceandthecommunicationisblocked.Sopeopleneedtoknowhowthetworelatetoeachotherandhowtoreasonandunderstandthemeaningofanutterance.Thuspeopleintroducethenotionofrelevance,whichSperberandWilsondefineintermsofthefollowingconditions:

Extentcondition1:anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthatitscontextualeffectsinthiscontextarelarge.

Extentcondition2:anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthateffortrequiredtoprocessitinthiscontextissmall.[3]

Thusweseefirstlythatrelevanceisdependentontheinterplayoftwofactors:contextualeffectsandprocessingeffort,whicharecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible.Secondly,sinceboththesefactorsarecontext-dependent,thenotionof“relevance”itselfiscontext-dependent,too.Thirdly,relevanceiscomparativenotion----utterancescanvaryaccordingtothedegreeofrelevancetheyachieveinsomecontext.[4]

AccordingtoSperberandWilson,thedegreeofrelevancedependsonthecontextualeffectsandprocessingeffort.However,thecontextualeffectscannotbeachievedeasily.Evenifpeopleputinalotofprocessingeffort,theymaynotachievethesufficientcontextualeffects.Theachievementofcontextualeffectsalwaysdependsonthefollowingfactors:thecomplexityofanutterance,theexplicationofthecontextandprocessingeffortthataremadetoreasonthecontextualeffects.Intheframeworkofrelevancenotallthecontextualimplicationsofagivenpropositioncanbeeasytoobtain.Thosederivedfromsmall,easilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelycheapinprocessingterms.Thosederivedfromlarge,lesseasilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelyexpensiveinprocessingterms,becauseoftheadditionaleffortrequiredtoputintoreasoningandselectingthemostsuitablecontexttothecertaincontext.Sotheuniversalaimincontextprocessingistoobtainthemaximumofcontextualimplicationinreturnforanyprocessingeffortexpended.

Butrelevanceisacomparativeconcept,foritcontrastswiththecontextanddependsonthecontext;andalsoitisdecidedbythecommunicators’cognitivecapacityandenvironment,sothedegreeofrelevancecanbeclassifiedasmaximallyrelevant,veryrelevant,weaklyrelevantandirrelevant.Lookatthefollowingexamples:

(1)A:Howlongdidtheconferencelast?

B:Twohours.

Inthisdialogue,thecontextualeffectismaximal,theprocessingeffortsareminimal,therelevanceisthestrongest,sowecansaythatthedialoguehasaveryclearcontext,andneedlittleprocessingefforts.Andtheutteranceandcontextaremaximallyrelevant.

(2)A:Iamoutofpetrol.

B:Thereisagaragearoundthecorner.

Inthedialogueabove,sentenceAactuallymeans,“WherecanIbuypetrol?”AndsentenceBmeansthat“Youcanbuypetrolinthegarage”.Inthiscase,sentenceAandBseemsirrelevant,but“wecanbuypetrolinthegarage”isacommonsensethateverybodyknowsit.Westillcanunderstandtheutterance,butitneedshearersmoreprocessingeffortsthanthefirstexample.Soitisstillaveryrelevantutterance.

(3)A:Thehostessisanawfulbore.Doyouthinkso?

B:Therosesarelovely,aren’tthey?

Inthiscase,BgivesacompletelyirrelevantanswertoA,andgivesnoinformationaboutquestion.Theanswerseemsirrelevantsemantically,whileithasrelevancepragmatically.Inthistime,toobtaincertaincontextualeffects,lotsofprocessingeffortsneeded,andthentheutterancewillhaveaspecialconversationmeaning:let’snottalkaboutthehostesshereandnow.

2.3.Principleofrelevanceandoptimalrelevance

Thelinguisticcommunicationisrelevance-oriented,and“cost”and“benefit”aretwoimportantfactorsinthisprocess.Allofthe“cost”and“benefit”ofbothcommunicatorsarealltakenintoaccount.However,whetheranutterancehasadequaterelevance,manyfactorssuchastheexpressionstylesofanutterance,thehearer’scognitiveenvironment,intellectualandsensibility,shouldbetakenintoaccount.“Thedifferentdegreesofaccessibilityofcontextualassumptionsmakethemselvesfeltbytheamountofefforttheirretrievalrequiresinaparticularactofcommunication.Thissensibilitytoprocessingeffortisoneofthecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible:itseemsthatcommunication,nodoubtlikemanyotherhumanactivities,isdeterminedbythedesireofoptimizationofresources,andoneaimofoptimizationistokeeptheeffortspenttoaminimum.”[5]Duringtheprocessoftheostensivecommunication,bothcommunicatorstrytheirbesttolookfortheoptimalrelevanceofthespeaker’sutteranceandthehearer’scognitiveenvironment,tryingtomakesuccessfulcommunication.Butwhatistheoptimalrelevance?AndSperberandWilsondefined“thepresumptionofoptimalrelevance”asfollows:

(a)Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantenoughforittobeworththeaddressee’sefforttoprocessit.

(b)Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantonecompatiblewiththecommunicator’sabilitiesandpreferences.[6]

“Thecentralclaimofrelevancetheoryisthathumancommunicationcruciallycreatesanexpectationofoptimalrelevance,thatis,anexpectationonthepartofthehearerthathisattemptatinterpretationwillyieldadequatecontextualeffectsatminimalprocessingcost.Thisfactisbelievedtobepartofyourhumanpsychology,andisexpressedinrelevancetheoryastheprincipleofrelevance:

Everyactofostensivecommunicationcommunicatesthepresumptionofitsownoptimalrelevance.”[7]

Otherwise,notalltheostensivestimuluscanobtaintheoptimalrelevance.Ifandonlyifanutteranceachievesenoughcontextualeffectthatcanattractthehearer’sattention,andifandonlyifanutterancemakesthehearerneednogratuitousmentaleffort,theoptimalrelevancecanbeobtained.Thatis,toobtaintheoptimalrelevance,thespeakerimplicitlyandautomaticallyconveystheassumptionthatthehearercanexpecttoderiveadequatecontextualeffectswithoutspendingunnecessaryefforts.[8]

Inthesearchforadequatecontextualeffects,thehearerwillalsoassumethatitisnotbeingputtoanygratuitousexpenditureofprocessingeffort.Anditofferstheanswertothequestion:howdoesahearermanagetoselecttherightsetofcontextualassumptionsfromallheknows?“Inthepursuitofoptimalrelevanceitturnsfirsttohighlyaccessibleinformation,lookingforadequatecontextualeffects;ifthisinformationdoesyieldcontextualeffectsadequatetotheoccasioninawaythespeakercouldforeseen,thenitwillassumethatithasusedtheright,thatis,speaker-intended,contextualinformation.”[9]

Peoplecannotgivetherelevanceacleardefinition.Whenpeopledefinitetherelevance,theynotonlyshouldthinkaboutcontextualeffects,butalsoshouldthinkabouttheprocessingeffortthatthehearershaveputinto.Thatis,therelevanceistheresultoftheinterplaysofthecontextualeffectsandprocessingefforts.Inotherwords,iftheprocessingeffortisminimalwhilethecontextualeffectsaremaximal,theutterancehastheoptimalrelevanceandvisevisa.Therelevancetheoryisbasedontheeconomicalprinciple.Duringtheprocessofthecommunication,peoplealwayshopethattheycanobtainasmuchcontextualeffectaspossiblewithaslittleprocessingeffortaspossible.

3.Discussiononcontextintheperspectiveoftherelevancetheory

3.1.Importanceanddefinitionsofcontext

Translationisthereplacementofcontextualmeaningsinonelanguagebytheequivalentmeaningsinanotherlanguage.Unlikeotherkindsofcommunicativeactivities,translationbasesonthetexts,whichisquitedifferentfromconversations.Intranslation,theword“text”isusedtorefertoanarticle,orthemainbodyofabook,whichreferstotheoriginaltextorthetranslatedtext.Andatextisnotisolated,foritalwaysstaysinarelevantlanguageenvironmentthatwenameit“context”.Contextisveryimportanttotranslation.Generallyspeaking,textexistswithincontextandcontextalwaysaccompaniestext.Itisthecontextthatmakesthetextcometolife.

Nowthatcontextplayssoimportantaroleintranslation,beforefurtherthediscussion,themostimportantthingistomakeclearaquestion:whatiscontext?InEnglish,“context”originatedfromtheLatinword“contextus”,whichmeans,“ajoiningtogether”.AccordingtotheWebster’sNewWorldDictionaryoftheAmericanLanguage,contextmeans“thepartsofasentence,paragraph,discourseetc,immediatelynexttoorsurroundingaspecifiedwordorpassageanddeterminingitsexactmeaning.”Italsorefersto“thewholesituation,background,orenvironmentrelevanttoaparticularevent,personality,creationetc.”[10]Thesearethedictionarymeaningsofcontext,andonthebasisofthem,manylinguistsandtranslationscholarsdevelopedtheirowndefinitionofcontext.

Somesimplyusetheword“context”;someprefertheterm“situationalcontext”,“contextofsituation”,andsomeothersproposesuchtermsas“contextofculture”,“contextofutterance”.Besides,quiteafewpersonschoosetheword“environment”andproposesometermslikethefollowing:languageenvironment,pragmaticenvironment,socialenvironment,naturalenvironmentetc.Upuntilnow,themeaningofcontextisextendedtoalargescale,butnocleardefinitionshavebeengivento.[11]

Althoughpeoplehavenotyetcometoagreementonusingtheterm“context”,allthepeopleknowtheimportanceofcontextinunderstandingthetext,especiallyintranslation.Manytranslatorsrealizethatoneshouldneverunderstandasinglewordwithoutconsideringitscontext.Hereisasimpleillustrationmaymakethepointclear.

(4)“Outinthewestwheremenaremen”.Thesetwo“men”willdefinitelypuzzlemanypeopleifthebackgroundorthesituationofthisphraseusedisnotclear.Andifpeopledonotknowthatthis“west”refertothewesternpartoftheUnitedStates,theywillnotbeabletoknowthatthesecond“men”refertoChineseword“男子漢”aswellas“cowboys”whoareasortofmenworkingonhorseback,employedtolookaftercattleintheWesternpartoftheUnitedStates.

Inaword,contextisasystematicconstructconsistingoflinguisticandnon-linguisticfactorsdeterminingtheunderstandingandinterpretationoftext.Furthermore,bothlinguisticandnon-linguisticcontextarecomposedofvariouskindsofcontextualfactors,suchaslanguagesystems,geographicalfactors,socialbackgroundsandculturedifferencesetc.

3.2.Classificationsofcontext

Traditionally,peopleclassifycontextindifferentperspectives.Somejustsimplyclassifyitaslinguisticcontextornon-linguisticcontext.Linguisticcontextisalwaysrelevanttothephonology,lexicology,grammar,semantics,pragmatics,rhetoric,logic,discoursesetc.Andnon-linguisticcontextalwaysconsistsofsocialenvironment(includingculture,customs,socialbackground,etc)andnaturalenvironment(includingtime,place,audience,etc).

LinguistsDurantiandGoodwinsuggestthatcontextconsistsoftext,situation,behaviorenvironment,andimmediatebackgroundknowledge.Textreferstophrasecontext,sentencecontextanddiscoursecontextthatarecloselyrelatedtolinguisticfactors.Situationrefersto“spaceandframeworkoflanguagecommunication”,whichisalsocalledsituationalcontext.Utterancefeaturesrefertothecodeofcommunicators.[12]Inbi-linguisticandmulti-linguisticsociety,peopleintentionallytransferlanguagecodestoachievetheirpurposeofcommunication.Gumperzgivesutterancefeaturesanothername,whichisconceptualizationcues,includingstress,intonation,rhythm,smile,habitualexpressionsandsoon.Behaviorenvironmentreferstothegesturesandbodylanguagesthatcommunicatorsusetoexpresstheirmeaningsandfeelings.Immediatebackgroundknowledgereferstoencyclopedicknowledge,accidentsandtheusageofbackgroundknowledge.[13]

Onthebasisofpreciousclassification,ChenZhi’angandWenxumadeagoodconclusion.Theyclassifiedcontextasfollows:①broad-sensedcontextandnarrow-sensedcontext②situationcontextandtext③objectivecontextandsubjectivecontext④implicitcontextandexplicitcontext⑤actualcontextandinventedcontext⑥verbalcontextandnon-verbalcontext.[14]

Inabroadsense,contextreferstothewholenatural,socialandculturalbackgroundthatrelevanttocommunication,anditisthe“bigcontext”;inanarrowsense,contextisthe“smallcontext”whichreferstolinguisticcontext,includingwords,sentences,paragraphs,discoursesandgrammars.Situationcontextmeansrealsituationthatlinguisticactivitieshappenin,includingcommunicators,time,place,topic,medium,theformalityofcommunicationandsoon.Subjectivecontextreferstocommunicators’subjectivefactors,suchaspersonality,interest,feelingandmood;objectivecontextreferstotheobjectiveexistenceintheobjectiveworld,whichismadeoftheplaceandtimeofcommunication,andvariouscomplicatedsocialandculturalenvironment.Explicitcontextisthelinguisticandnon-linguisticenvironmentthatobviouslyshowsinthecommunication,includingtime,place,audiencestyleetc;implicitcontextisthehiddenmeaningandencyclopedicknowledgethatisrelatedtobuthiddenfromtherealsituation.Actualcontextistherealenvironmentofcommunication,whileinventedcontextisthefabricatedenvironmentthatalwaysappearsinfictionsandpoems.Verbalcontextisthecontextthatexpressesinlanguage,andnon-verbalcontextalwaysreferstogesturesandbodylanguages.

Fromtheaboveclassifications,onecaneasilyfindthatdifferentclassificationshavemanysimilaritiesandoverlaps.Bothoftheseclassificationsarereasonableinsomeaspects,butimperfectinsomeotheraspects,sowecannotsaywhichoneisbetterthananother.Butalloftheseinterpretationsofcontextarestaticandfixed,andallofthecontextualcomponentsareregardedasstatic,fixedandisolated.Asthedeepeningofthecontextstudy,asthecombinationofthecontextstudyandcommunicationstudy,traditionalandstaticcontextstudycannotmeettheneedsofdevelopingcommunicationanymore.Peopleneedtodiscusscontextinanewperspective.

3.3.Discussiononcontextintheperspectiveofpragmaticsandrelevance

3.3.1.Staticcontextanddynamiccontext

Aswhatisdiscussedabove,thetraditionalviewsofcontextarestaticandfixed.Butthestaticstudyoncontextcannotmeettheneedofdynamiccommunicationprocess.AccordingtoThomas,meaningisnotfixedonlydecidedbywords,andthespeakeralonealsodoesnotarouseit;meaningisdynamicanditdependsonthenegotiationofcommunicators.Andsheconsideredthepragmaticsas“thestudyofinteractivemeaning”.Inherview,contextisdynamicandchangingallthetimeaccordingtoallthefactorsrelevanttocommunication.[15]Mostofthecontextualfactorsaredeveloping,andallthedevelopingfactorswouldprobablybecometheelementsofcontext.

Asweallknow,therearemanycomponentsformingthecontext,andthesecontextualcomponentsare“thepoolofsharedknowledge”,whichareveryimportanttounderstandtheutteranceortext.Butnotallthecontextualcomponentscanbeseenascontext,onlythosecloselyrelatetothecurrentcommunicationcanformthecontext.ProfessorLiuHuanhuipointedoutthatalltheprobablecontextualcomponents,objectiveorsubjective,wouldnotformthecontextiftheylosetherelevancetothelinguisticcommunication.”.[16]

Commonly,peopleregardthelinguisticcommunicationasarprocessofcircular,whichalltheparticipatorsplaytherolesofspeakerandheareralternatively.ButFrankDancesuggestedthattheprocessofcommunicationisaprocessoftwistingascendance,andthelinguisticcommunicationisacontinuouslydevelopingprocess.[17]Everysuccessininformationandmeaningtransformationmeansthatthecommunicationwouldbeuptoanewheight.Otherwise,ifaparticipatordoesnotunderstandormisunderstandoftheotherparticipator’sintentionalmeaning,thecommunicationwouldbeblockedordrawnback.Inanotherword,thelinguisticcommunicationisdynamic,thepreciousinformationistheforewordofthelatterinformation,andthenthelatterinformationbecomestheforewordofthenextlatterinformation.Inthisway,thecontextischangingasthecommunicationisdeveloping.Hence,contextisadynamicconceptaswellascommunication.

Intheperspectiveofpragmatics,“staticcontextisbynomeansunimportant,butweattachémoreimportancetodynamiccontext,becausecommunicationisbasedoninteractivemeaninggenerationandinterpretationontheonehand,andondynamicnegotiationandinterpretationofcontextontheother,andallcommunicationstartsfromacertainrelevantgivencontext,andfollowingtheostensive-inferencemodel,dynamicallyandeffectivelyarrivesattheinvisibleimplicitpremiseandimplicitconclusion.”[18]Actually,theprocessofunderstandinganutteranceoratextisaprocessofcontextpropositionandselection.Thehearershouldselectsomerelevantcontextualcomponentstoformacommunicationenvironmentwithinlimitedtime,sothatonecanunderstandtheutteranceortextmorequicklyandeffectively.

Undertheframeworkofdynamiccontext,contextisnotstaticallyseenasthepoolofsharedknowledgerelatingtoanutterance,butseenasacontinuouslydevelopingprocess,whichreflectsthedynamicrelationsbetweencommunicatorsandenvironment.Ononehand,thecommunicatorsshouldberestrictedbycontext,thatis,anutteranceismeaningfulonlyifitcanadjusttoacertaincontext.Ontheotherhand,thecommunicatorscanintentionallymanipulatethecontextualcomponentstoformacontextthatisbeneficialtotheirlinguisticcommunication.Inotherwords,thecommunicatorsarenotonlycontrolledbycontext,theyalsocontroltext.

3.3.2.Cognitivecontext

Intheperspectiveofrelevancetheory,contextisapsychologicalconcept:“Acontextisapsychologicalconstruct,asubsetofthehearer’sassumptionsabouttheworld.”[19]Soinrelevancetheory,contextdoesnotrefertosomepartofexternalenvironmentofthecommunicators,beitprecedingorfollowinganutterance,situationalcircumstances,culturalfactors,naturalandsocialenvironment,etc;itratherreferstopartoftheir“assumptionsabouttheworld”orcognitiveenvironment,asitiscalled.Sothecognitivecontextdiscussescontextintheperspectiveofrelevancetheoryandundertheframeworkofcognition.Thenotionof‘cognitivecontext’takesintoaccountthevariousexternalfactorsbutplacestheemphasisontheinformationtheyprovidedanditsmentalavailabilityfortheinterpretationprocess.[20]AccordingtoSperberandWilson,“thecognitivecontextofapersoncomprisesapotentiallyhugeamountofveryvariedinformation.Itincludesinformationthatcanbeperceivedinthephysicalenvironment,informationthatcanberetrievedfrommemory----initselfavaststoreofinformation,includinginformationderivingfromprecedingutterancesplusanyculturaloranyotherknowledgestoredthere----andfurthermoreinformationthatcanbeinferredfromthosetwosources.”[21]Sinceanyofthisinformationcouldserveasthepotentialcontext,themostimportantquestionforasuccessfulcommunicationis:howthehearersortranslatorsmanagetoselecttheactual,speaker-intendedassumptionsfromamongalltheassumptionstheycoulduseformtheirenvironment?Lookatthefollowingexamples:

(5).A:Doyoulikerugby?

B:IamaNewZealander.

Inthisexample,Aasksasimplequestionthatjustneedthehearergiveananswerof“yes”or“no”.ButBgivesaconfusingandirrelevantanswersothatAcannotunderstandimmediately.SoAneedssomeeffortstoguessorreasontheactualmeaningofB.Afteraseriesofassumptionsandretrievesinthememory,Amaygetinformation:RugbyisaverypopulargameinNewZealand;almosteveryNewZealanderlikesthisgame.Upuntilthen,AprobablyknowstheactualmeaningofB:“OfcourseIlikerugby.”

(6)A:Wouldyoulikesomecoffee?

B:Coffeewouldkeepmeawake.

Inthiscase,AwantstoofferBacoffee,soAasksthequestionhopingtogetadefiniteanswer.However,BdoesnotgiveAanobviousanswer,butgivesanirrelevantanswertoA’squestion.Ofcourse,Awouldfeelpuzzled:“whatisthemeaningofB?Doeshewantcoffeeornot?”Atthistime,AshouldguessandreasontheactualmeaningofBaccordingtosomecontextualcomponents,suchastime,place,situation,characterandmoodofB,therelationsofAandB,etc.IfBisverytiredandwantingtosleepwellatnight,thentheintendedmeaningofBis:“No,thanks!”IfBhasalotofworktodoandneedtostayupallnight,thentheintendedmeaningofBis:“Yes,please!”

Astheaboveexamplesshow,asamesentencehasmanydifferentunderstandingsandmeanings.Thecrucialproblemis:howtochoosetherightorsuitablemeaningofasentenceinthecertainsituation.AndSperberandWilsonholdtheopinionthatanyutteranceshavedifferentmeaningindifferentsituation;thespeakershouldexpressthecrucialemphasisbythewayofostensiveinference,guidingthehearertoreasontheactualcontextinthecorrectdirection.

Humanbeingshaveanaturalinterestinimprovingtheirunderstandingoftheworldaroundthem,thisunderstandingconsistingoftheassumptionsabouttheworld,whichtheyhavestored,inmemory.[22]Thatis,humanbeingsliketointernalizetheexternalenvironment,andtheirownexperiencetoformacognitivecontextthatishelpfulfortheirunderstandingoftheutteranceortext.Sothecognitivecontextisnotestablishedbeforetheunderstandingofanutterance,butestablishedduringtheprocessofunderstandingbycontinuousselection.

Theprocessofprocessingandselectingtheoptimalcontextisaprocessoflookingfortheoptimalrelevanceofutteranceandcontext.Moreover,cognitivecontextistheconsequenceofassumptionsselecting.However,theselectionofcontextwoulddefinitelyenlargethecontext.Inrelevancetheory,cognitivecontextisnotstaticandfixed;itisadevelopingdynamicconcept.Inordertogivearelevantinterpretationtoanutterance,peoplehavetoaddsomemorerelevantassumptionstocontext.

Thecontextisdynamicandcognitive;itiscomposedofaseriesofassumptions,whichpeopleputintomindforunderstandingtheutterancecorrectly.Thecontextiscloselyrelatedtothehumanthinkingactivities;thekeymotilefactorthataffectstheunderstandingofanutteranceispeople’scognitivecompetencetowardstheworld.“Therealizationsofthedynamicpropertiesofcontextenableustotakeanewlookatthenotionofcommunicativecompetence,whichmeansmorethanthepossessionofknowledgeandabilitytoproduceappropriatecommunicativebehaviors.Tobecommunicativelycompetent,oneshouldalsobecapableofactivelymanipulatingaspectsofcontexttoadvancehisorhercommunicativegoalsandeffectivelyinterpretmeaningbycreatinganappropriatecontextfortheinterpretationprocedure.”[23]Tosumup,intheperspectiveofrelevancetheory,thecontextincommunicationisdynamic,andthekeyofutteranceunderstandingistolookforrelevanceinthecognitivecontext.

4.Contextandtranslation

Translationcanbeseenasalinguisticcommunicationactivitythataimsattransferringmeaningformonelanguagetoanotherlanguage,anditdependssomuchonthecontext.Fortheunderstandingofcontextwouldrestrictthesuccessoftranslation.Inrelevancetheory,translationisaprocessofreasoningandperceiving,anditbasesoncognition.“Translationcannotbetermedpurely‘linguisticoperation’,butrathermustbethoughtofasapsycholinguistic,sociolinguisticandpragmalinguisticprocess,whichlendsitselftoanexhaustivescientificdepictiononlywiththegreatestdifficult.”[24]Sointheprocessoftranslation,notonlylinguisticfactors,butalsomanyotherfactorsneedtobetakenintoaccount.Andmostofthesefactors,linguisticornon-linguistic,areimportantcomponentsofthecontext.Whetheratranslationissuccessfulornotalwaysliesonfullunderstandingofthecontext.Nocontext,notranslation.

4.1.Theimportantrolethatcontextplaysfortheunderstandingoftheoriginaltext

Infact,translationisasubstitutetopeoplewhocannotreadorunderstandtheoriginallanguage.Hencethemaintaskoftranslatorsistochangetextsfromthesourcelanguagetothetargetlanguagewithoutchangingtheoriginalmeaningevidently.Inthisregard,atranslatoristheconnectionbetweentheauthorandthereaderoftargetlanguage.Inthisconnection,thefundamentalrequirementtoatranslatoristounderstandtheoriginaltextcorrectlysothatthetranslatorcanfollowtheprinciple---faithfulnesstotheoriginaltextduringtranslation.[25]Tounderstandtheoriginaltext,onehastofirstunderstandeveryword,theneverysentence,everyparagraphandeverytext.However,understandingofwords,sentence,paragraphsandtextsisnotenough.Moreover,onecannotunderstandthemcorrectlywithoutconsideringthecontext.Theexactmeaningexpressedbythewordsorsentencesintheoriginalisconstantlyrestrictedbythecontext.

4.1.1.Thelinguisticcontextrestrictsourunderstandingoftheoriginaltext.

InEnglishvocabulary,therearealargenumberofwordshavingmorethanonemeaning,thatis,thesamewordmayhavedifferentmeaningsusedindifferentsentences.Whenawordwithmanymeaningsisusedininadequatecontext,translatorshavetoreasonandchoosethecorrectmeaninginChineseaccordingtothewordsthatoccurtogetherwiththewordinthesentence.Lookatthefollowingexamples;“air”hasdifferentmeaningsineachsentence.

(7).Hehadtogetsomeair,gethisbreath,andgetoutofthecrowd.

他得呼吸點(diǎn)空氣，透透氣，闖出重圍。

(8).Thenameofthechild,theairofthemother,thetoneofthevoice,andallawakenedatrainofrecollectionsinhismind.

孩子的名字，母親的神情，以及她說(shuō)話的腔調(diào)，這一切都在他腦子里引起了一大串回憶。

(9).Butastheoldmanwatched,asmalltunaroseintheair,turnedanddroppedheadfirstintonewwater.

然而老人盯著，只見(jiàn)一條小金槍魚(yú)躍到空中，一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)身，頭朝下,扎進(jìn)了水里了。

Thefirst“air”means“空氣”inChinese,thesecondonemeans“神情”andthelastonecanbetranslateinto“空中”.Itisthecontextthathelpsthetranslatorsnarrowdownthemeaningsandfindouttheexactmeaningoftheword.

Seeingtheword“green”,manypeoplewillimmediatelymatchittotheChineseword“綠色”.However,itsChinesemeaningsaremuchmorethanthat,andonlycontextwilldetermineexactlywhichChinesephrasecanmatchit.Thefollowingphraseswouldshowthispoint.

(10)agreenChristmas溫暖無(wú)雪的圣誕節(jié)

agirlgreenfromschool剛出校門(mén)的姑娘

agreenoldage精力旺盛，老當(dāng)益壯

greenwithenvy十分嫉妒

ingreentree處于佳境

keepthememorygreen永記不忘

Theexampleshowsthat,tounderstandandtranslateawordcorrectlyisnoteasywork.JustasFirth,afamousBritishlinguist,remarks:“Eachwordwhenusedinanewcontextisanew.”Sothecontextisveryimportantfortranslatortochoosethecorrectmeaningsforthewordsusedindifferentsituation.Inotherwords,itisthecontextthatdeterminestheexactmeaningsofaword.

Furthermore,therearemanylanguagesintheworld,andeachlanguageisfundamentallyasystemofconventionalsymbolsbywhichpeoplecommunicatewitheachother.Thereexistdifferencesinthethinkingpatterns,culturesandlanguagesindifferentcountries.Toatranslator,thesedifferencesaresoimportantthatitwoulddeterminethecontextandtheexactmeaningofaword.Forexample,inChinese,differentrankshavedifferentname,suchas“大伯，叔叔，舅舅，姑父，姨父”forwhichthenativespeakersofEnglishjusthaveonename“uncle”.

(11)“UncleTomwasalightweightfleetboxingchampion….”Ifpeoplejustlookatthissentencealonewithoutconsideringthecontext,peoplewouldnottranslateitintoChinesecorrectly.Butifonelooksthroughthewholearticle,andfindsanothersentence“Mymother’syoungestbrother…”Andofcourse,onecouldimmediatelyrealizethatUncleTom,mother’syoungestbrothershouldbe“舅舅”inChinese.

Asisshownbytheaboveexample,contextisrelatednotonlytothetranslationofasingleword,butalsotothetranslationofaphrase,asentence,aparagraph,aswellasatext.Todeterminetheexactmeaningofanytexts,onemustinevitablylookthroughthewholetext,andthenchoosethemostsuitablemeaningofawordaccordingtothewholecontext.

4.1.2.Thenon-linguisticcontextrestrictstheunderstandingoftheoriginaltext

Commonly,whenpeopletalkaboutcontext,peopleusuallythinkoflinguisticcontext,hardlyrealizetheimportanceofnon-linguisticcontext,whichoftenhasgreaterinfluenceonthetranslationthenwerealize.Sometimes,wecanseethatcluestotheexactmeaningofonepartoftextmaybefoundinanotherpartoftext.Butinmanycircumstances,thecluetotheexactmeaningofatextistobefound,notintheimmediatelinguisticcontext,butinitsnon-linguisticcontext.[26]Aswhatismentionedabove,non-linguisticcontextconsistsofsomanyfactors,rangingfromthephysicalbackgroundtothepsychologicalbackground.Intranslation,allofthesenon-linguisticfactorsarecrucialforourunderstandingofthetexts,especiallythoseculture-orientedtexts.

(12)“Quickly,Mark!”Micksaidandswungthecarintotheleftlane.AtranslatortranslateditintoChineselikethis:“快點(diǎn)兒，馬克！”邁克一邊說(shuō)，一邊把車(chē)子拐進(jìn)了左邊的巷子。Thisversionmaypuzzlemanypeople,andsomewouldask:“Whydidheswingthecarintoasmallalleyratherthananexpresswayinsuchastateofemergence?”Infact,carsarealwaysdrivenontheright,and“theleftlane”means,“fasttrafficlaneonastreet”inAmerica.Obviously,thetranslatordidnotknowthisruleinAmerica,sohemisunderstoodtherealmeaningof“theleftlane”.AndtheChinesecorrespondenceof“theleftlane”shouldbe“快車(chē)道”.Thus,itisnecessaryandimportantforatranslatortospendmoretimeinmakingclearsomesocialcustomsandrulesintranslation.

Then,taketheword“grass”foranotherexample.

Toonepersonitmaymean“somethinginfrontofthehousethatisgreen,hastobewateredandmustbemowedoften”.Sotherealmeaningofsentence,(13)“Donotwalkonthegrass!”is“勿踏草坪”inChinese.

Toanotherperson“grass”maymean“somethingthatisrolledinpaperandsmoked”,thatis,“tobacco”.Lookatthissentence:(14)“Tomsatonthegrassandlightedhisgrass.”Inthissituation,thetwo“grass”havedifferentmeanings.Thefirstonerefersto“草坪”inChinesewhilethesecondonemeans“香煙”.

Soitiseasytofindthatthereisno“real”meaningwithoutknowingthecontext.Everypersondecidesthemeaningofawordfromhisownpersonalbackground.Thefollowingisanotherexample:

(15).TheUnitedStateshasnowsetupalonelinessindustry

Lookatthissentenceatthefirstsight,manyquestionsmayoccur.Whatisthemeaningof“l(fā)onelinessindustry”?Doesitmean“孤獨(dú)產(chǎn)業(yè)”inChinese？Allofthesequestionsmaypuzzlemanytranslatorsiftheydonotknowthesocialbackgroundofthe“l(fā)onelinessindustry”.DepartingfromthesocialsituationoftheUnitedStates,itisverydifficulttounderstandandtranslatethissentencecorrectly.Infact,the“l(fā)onelinessindustry”referstoapartofAmericansocialwelfareproject.IntheUnitedStates,alargenumberofoldcitizenslivelonely,withlittlecarefromtheirrelatives,whichhasbeenaserioussocialproblem.SothegovernmentoftheUnitedStatessetsupasocialwelfareprojectnamed“l(fā)onelinessindustry”.Knowingthissocialbackground,wecaneasilyunderstandtheexactmeaningofthesentenceandtranslateitas“美國(guó)政府建立了一種為社會(huì)孤寡老人服務(wù)的社會(huì)項(xiàng)目”.

4.2.Reasonandselectthecontextaccordingtothelanguageandtheenvironment

Theunderstandingoftheoriginaltextundertheimpactofcontextualfactorsisonlythefirststepintranslation.Inthisstep,translatorsmaymakemanyassumptionsaccordingtodifferentcontextualfactors.Andthenextstepistheselectionofthemostsuitablecontextandthebesttranslationaccordingtotheprincipleofrelevancebetweencontextandtext.Andinthisstep,thetranslatorshavetomanagetomaketheexpectationoftargetlanguagereaderaccordwiththeintentionoftheauthor.Duringtheprocessoftranslation,thetranslatorsneedtoanalyzeandreasonthecontextdynamically,andmakethetranslationasclosetotheintendedmeaningoftheauthoraspossible.

Fromwhathasjustbeensaid,anyaspectofinterpretationortranslationdependsoncontext:

“Contextdeterminesthedisambiguationoflinguisticallyambiguousexpressions:wrongcontextualassumptionscanleadtothechoiceofthewrongsemanticrepresentationofsuchexpressions.

Contextisusuallyneededtodeterminetheprepositionalformofanutterance:againmismatchesofcontextcanleadtothederivationofawrongpropositionalform.

Contextisneededtoderivetheimplicaturesofanutterance.Useofthewrongcontextcanleadtothederivationofimplicaturesnotintended—oritcancauseintendedimplicaturestobemissed.

Contextisneededtodeterminewhetherapropositionalformisintendedasanexplicature,orwhetheritservesonlytoconveyimplicatures.Sincethisdependsonthecontextualassumptionsavailable,theuseofinappropriatecontextcanleadtomisunderstandings.”[27]

Considerthefollowingexample:

(16).Sheopeneditcarelessly.“Oh,Uncle,whydoyoucarrysomuchcashwhenyouhaveaDinner’sCard?”Shesaidsarcastically.

Sometranslateditlikethis:她粗心地打開(kāi)錢(qián)包。“啊，叔叔，你既然有一張用餐卡，為什么還要帶這么多現(xiàn)金??？”她譏諷道。

Seeingthephrase“Dinner’sCard”,manypeoplewouldconnectitwiththemeaning“acardusedfordining”.Ifpeopledonotknowthebackgroundknowledgeof“Dinner’scard”,theywillmakeawrongassumptionthatleadstothewrongtranslation.AfterlookingitupintheAmericanencyclopedia,onecaneasilyfindoutthat“Dinner’scard”isakindofcreditcard,whichcanbeusedforpurchasinginthestorewithoutpayingincash.Sotherealtranslationofthesentenceshouldbe:她滿(mǎn)不在乎地打開(kāi)錢(qián)包?！鞍パ剑笫?，你有迪納爾信用卡，為什么還要帶這么多的現(xiàn)金呢？”

Hereisanotherexample:

(17).Mygrandmotherpassedawaylastsummer.

ThissentencecanbetranslatedintoChineseintwoways:“我祖母是在去年夏天去世的”or“我祖母是今年夏天去世的”.Inthiscase,itneedtranslatortoreasonaccordingtotheexacttimethatthissentencesaid.Ifthesentenceissaidinthetimebeforethesummer,then“l(fā)astsummer”means“去年夏天”inChinese;butifthesentenceissaidinthetimeafterthesummer,then“l(fā)astsummer”maymeans“今年夏天”or“去年夏天”.Inthiscase,totranslatethesentencecorrectly,thecontextualfactorsliketimeshouldbetakenintoaccountduringtheprocessoftranslation.

Sometimes,thelanguageexpressionscaninfluencetheinterpretationsofpeoplebyguidingthesearchforrelevance,thatis,byimposingconstraintsontherelevanceoftheutteranceinwhichtheyoccur.Thiscanbedone,forinstance,bytheuseofwordsormorphemesthatindicatehowthepropositionexpressedistoachieverelevance,say,astheconclusionorapremiseofanargument.[28]

Considerexamples(18)and(19):

(18).SoCharleshaslosthiscarkeys.

(19).Afterall,Charleshaslosthiscarkeys.

Thesetwoutteranceshavethesamepropositionalforms,referringtothesameindividualcalled“Charles”,thesamecar,thesamesetofcarkeys;butonewouldstillfeelthatthesetwoutterancesdiffersignificantlyintheiroverallinterpretation.Thedifferenceis,ofcourse,duetothepresenceoftheconnectives“so”and“afterall”.Andtheseconnectivesconstrainthewaythattheutteranceisrelevant:thusthe“so”inutterance(18)indicatesthatthisutteranceisrelevantastheconclusiontoacontextuallyassumedargument,butthe“afterall”in(19)indicatesthatthisutteranceisrelevantasapremiseinacontextuallyassumedargument.Inotherwords,twoutteranceswithidenticalpropositionalformsmaydifferintheirinterpretationspreciselybecausetheformistoberelatedtothecontext,andhenceonwhatcontextualeffectsitistohave.JustasSperberandWilsonremark:

“Iftwothoughtsorutterancehavethesamepropositionalform,andhencesharealltheiranalyticimplications,theyalso,ofcourse,sharealltheircontextualimplicationsineverycontext.”[29]

Inaword,translationrepresentsacontinuousmakingofchoicesrangingfromreasoningthesuitablecontextaccordingtothelanguageandenvironmenttoselectingthecorrectcontextaccordingtotherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironment.Inthewholeprocessofreasoningandselecting,thecontextisalwaysadynamic.

4.3.Tofindouttheappropriateexpressionaccordingtothesuitablesituationandcontextinthetargetlanguage

Translation,asacaseofinter-lingualactivity,therefore,achievesrelevancebyinformingthetargetaudienceofwhattheoriginalauthorsaidorwroteinthesourcelanguage.Sotoasuccessfultranslator,understandingtheoriginaltextisthefirststep.Andafterdoingthat,themaintaskoftranslatorsistoexpresstheoriginalmeaningintargetlanguagewithoutchangingtheauthor’sintention.Thefollowingpartswoulddiscusshowcontexthelpstranslatorstotransfertheoriginaltexttothetargettext,rangingfromwordsandphrases,thesentencestructure,tothestyleofthewholetext.

4.3.1.Disposingproperwordsandphrasesinpropersituation.

Themeaningofasingleisimportantintranslation,foritisthebasisofthemeaningofthewholetext.Butsuccessfultranslatorsnevertranslateisolatedwords,forwordsareallmoreorlessboundbytheirsyntactic,situational,cultural,andsocialcontexts.

Lookatthefollowingexamples:

(20).Likechargesrepel,unlikechargesattract.

相同電荷相斥，不同電荷相吸。

(21).HelikesEnglishmorethanChinese.

他喜歡英語(yǔ)甚于喜歡語(yǔ)文。

(22).Likeknowslike.

英雄識(shí)英雄。

Theword“l(fā)ike”hasdifferentmeaningswhenusedindifferentcontexts.Thefirstoneshouldbetranslatedinto“相同”,thesecond“l(fā)ike”means“喜歡”,andthelastonereferstotheChinese“英雄”.Withoutthecontext,thesinglewordwouldbecomemeaninglessanditisonlyasymbol.Andthecontextalwayswouldgiveawordmanydifferentmeaningsindifferentsituations.

Butsometimes,acontextualdifferencemayreversethemeaningofsomewords.Forexample,“多”and“少”areapairofantonymsinthatonemayberegardedasmeaningof“much,alotof”andtheotheras“alittle”.Thetwosentences“我有很多錢(qián)”and“我只有很少的錢(qián)”maybetranslatedrespectivelyinto“Ihavemuchmoney”and“Ihavealittlemoney”.However,whenthetwowordsarecombinedwith“這么”andputintoaspecialcontext,theresultmaybequiteinteresting.Forexample,thesentences“我只有這么多錢(qián)”and“我只有這么少錢(qián)”areallcanbetranslatedintoEnglishlikethis:“Ihaveonlysuchalittlemoney”

4.3.2.Indicatingthewholestyleoftext

Astyleisamannerofexpressingone’sthoughtsandfeelingsinwords.Generally,therearethreefactorsaffectingthewriter’sstyles.First,hisownpersonality,thinkingpattern,andhisfeelingsthatdetermineshismodeofexpression;second,theoccasiononwhichheiswriting,theparticularpurposewhichdirectshispenatthemomentofwriting;third,theageinwhichhelives.[30]AsSavorysaid,“Styleistheessentialcharacteristicofeverypieceofwriting,theoutcomeofthewriter’spersonalityandhisemotionsatthemoment,andnosingleparagraphcanbeputtighterwithoutrevealinginsomedegreethenatureofitsauthor.”[31]

Itisthecomplexityofcontextthatdeterminesthevarietiesofstyleandaddsdifficultiestotranslation.Ontheonehand,theoriginaltextinvolvesakindofcontext;ontheotherhand,thetargettextalsoinvolvesanotherkindofcontext.[32]Inordertomakeclearthecomplexrelationshipbetweenthem,atranslatorshouldfindouttherelevanceoflanguageandcontext,andmakesurethatthetargetandtheoriginalareinthestateofdynamicequivalence.Thatis,duringtheprocessoftranslation,thetranslatorsshouldtrytheirbesttohelpthetargettextreadersunderstandtheoriginalmeaningbyreasoningthecontextwithlittleeffort.

InGettysburgAddress,Lincolnsaidaveryfamoussentence,(23)“…agovernmentofpeople,bypeopleandforpeople”.Inmostsituations,peopletranslateitintoChinese“民有，民治，民享政府”,andthisversionisacceptedbymostpeople.Butforacertaingroupofpeople,suchaschildrenanduneducatedpersons,theymaybepuzzledbythisversion.Hencesomesuggestanothertranslation:“為人民所有，為人民所治，為人民服務(wù)的政府”.Thisversionmaynotasbriefasthefirstone,butitisclearerinmeaningandeasiertounderstand.Sosometimes,theaudienceandthesituationdecidethestyleoftranslation.Onthebaseofrelevancetheory,translatorsshouldmanagetoconnecttheaudiencewiththecontext,makingtheaudienceunderstandtheoriginalmeaningwithouttakingmucheffort.Thatis,trytocomposethemostsuitablecontextaccordingtotheprincipleofoptimalrelevance.Theaudienceischangeable,sothecontextshouldbedynamicanddevelopwiththechangesofsuitable.

Emersononcesaid:“Aman’sstyleishismind’svoice”.Thestyleisalsoacrucialcontextualfactorintranslation.Ifpeoplewanttomakeagoodtranslation,theyhadbettertranslatethestyleappropriatelyandsuitably,whichmustdependontheanalysisofcontext.

5.Conclusion

Inaword,discussingoncontextintranslationinperspectiveoftherelevancetheoryopensupanewviewfortranslationstudiesandpractice.Inrelevancetheory,translationisaprocessofcognitionandassumption.Andtherelevance-approachedtranslationregardstranslationasaninteractiveprocessbetweentheauthor,thetranslatorandthereaderoftargettext,anddiscussestranslationdynamically.Bysearchingforthecognitiveanddynamiccontext,thetranslatorcaneasilyfindouttheoptimalrelevancebetweenlanguageandcontext,andthentransfertheintentionoftheauthortothereaderscorrectly.Thoughthestudyinthisareahasgotmanyencouragingresults,itisnotaperfecttheoryoftranslationatthepresent.Fordiscussiontranslationintheperspectiveofrelevanceemphasizethepsychologicalandcognitivefactorsofthecontext,otherwise,mostofthesefactorsaredynamicandalternativeallthetime.Itprovidestranslatorsanewwayoftranslation,butaddmoredifficultiestotranslators.Soitneedsmoretranslatorsandscholarstoputmuchefforttoimproveitandperfectit.

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