the Context in Translation.docx

the Context in Translation.docx

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theContextinTranslation

theContextinTranslation:

fromthePerspectiveofRelevanceTheory

Abstract:

Translationasacommunicativeactivity,hasacloserelationshipwithcontext.Andcontextalsoplayavitalandpositiveroleintranslationstudies.BasedontheRelevanceTheoryputforwardbySperberandWilson（1986）,Thisthesisaimstoexploretheeffectofcontexttotranslation,whichwillbehelpfulforitprovidesanewviewtostudyandpracticetranslation.

Keywords:

translation;context;relevancetheory;optimalrelevance;cognitivecontext;dynamiccontext

1.Introduction

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

2.RelevanceTheoryandOptimalRelevance

2.1.RelevanceTheory

RelevanceTheoryisfirstputforwardbyLinguistsSperberandWilsoninthefamouslinguisticwork'Relevance:

CommunicationandCognition',whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition.IntheRelevanceTheory,thecommunicationincludingverbalandnon-verbalcommunicativeactivitiesisregardedasacognitiveactivity,anditssuccessdependsontheconsensustowardsincognitiveenvironmentbetweenbothsidesofcommunication.Thecognitiveenvironmentalwaysincludeslexicalmeaning,encyclopedicknowledgeandlogicalinformation.Tohaveasuccessfulcommunication,thesearchfortheconsensusandrelevanceisthemostimportant.Accordingtothisconsensusandtherelevance,peoplecanunderstandtheintentionandpurposeofthespeakerortheauthoreasily.

SperberandWilsonalsosuggeststhattheunderstandingoftheutteranceisnotonlyareasoningprocess,butalsoaprocessofostensiveinference.Traditionally,therearetwomodelsofcommunication.Oneisthecodedmodelwhichisaprocessofcodestransformation.Theotheroneisinferentialcommunicationthatdependsmuchonthecontextreasoning.Therefore,tounderstandtheutterance,especiallythoseculture-orientedutterances,simplycodinganddecodingisfarlessthanenough.SoSperberandWilsoncombinedthesetwomodelsandthenadvancedtheconceptof'Ostensive-InferentialCommunication',inwhichthecommunicationisregardedasaninferentialprocess,andcontextinferenceplaysanimportantroleinit.'Strictlyspeaking,relevancetheoryappliednottoallcommunicationinthesenseofanykindofinformationtransfer,butto'ostensivecommunication'or,moreexplicitly,to'Ostensive-InferentialCommunication':

'ostensive-inferentialcommunicationconsistsinmakingmanifesttoanaudienceone'sattentiontomakemanifestabasiclayerofinformation',thisbasiclayerofinformationbeingthecommunicator'sinformativeintention.'[2]

2.2Relevanceanddegreeofrelevance

Incommunication,thesamesentencealwayshasdifferentunderstandingsunderdifferentconditionswhicharenotarousedbythewordmeaning,butbymanyothernon-verbalfactors,suchastime,place,socialbackground,statusandintentionofthespeakerortheauthor.Usually,peopledonotrealizethesefactorsorcannotimmediatelyrelatethesefactorstothecertainutterance,sopeoplecannotunderstandtherealmeaningofasentenceandthecommunicationisblocked.Sopeopleneedtoknowhowthetworelatetoeachotherandhowtoreasonandunderstandthemeaningofanutterance.SperberandWilsonintroduceanddefineintermsofthefollowingconditions:

Extentcondition1:

anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthatitscontextualeffectsinthiscontextarelarge.

Extentcondition2:

anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthateffortrequiredtoprocessitinthiscontextissmall.[3]

AccordingtoSperberandWilson,thedegreeofrelevancedependsonthecontextualeffectsandprocessingeffort.However,thecontextualeffectscannotbeachievedeasily.Evenifpeopleputinalotofprocessingeffort,theymaynotachievethesufficientcontextualeffects.Theachievementofcontextualeffectsalwaysdependsonthefollowingfactors:

thecomplexityofanutterance,theexplicationofthecontextandprocessingeffortthataremadetoreasonthecontextualeffects.Intheframeworkofrelevancenotallthecontextualimplicationsofagivenpropositioncanbeeasytoobtain.Thosederivedfromsmall,easilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelycheapinprocessingterms.Thosederivedfromlarge,lesseasilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelyexpensiveinprocessingterms.

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.Theanswerseemsirrelevantsemantically,whileithasrelevancepragmatically.Inthistime,toobtaincertaincontextualeffects,lotsofprocessingeffortsneeded,andthentheutterancewillhaveaspecialconversationmeaning:

let'snottalkaboutthehostesshereandnow.

2.3.Principleofrelevanceandoptimalrelevance

linguisticcommunicationisrelevance-oriented,and'cost'and'benefit'aretwoimportantfactorsinthisprocess.However,whetheranutterancehasadequaterelevance,manyfactorssuchastheexpressionstylesofanutterance,thehearer'scognitiveenvironment,intellectualandsensibility,shouldbetakenintoaccount.'Thedifferentdegreesofaccessibilityofcontextualassumptionsmakethemselvesfeltbytheamountofefforttheirretrievalrequiresinaparticularactofcommunication.Thissensibilitytoprocessingeffortisoneofthecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible:

itseemsthatcommunication,nodoubtlikemanyotherhumanactivities,isdeterminedbythedesireofoptimizationofresources,andoneaimofoptimizationistokeeptheeffortspenttoaminimum.'[4]Duringtheprocessoftheostensivecommunication,bothcommunicatorstrytheirbesttolookfortheoptimalrelevanceofthespeaker'sutteranceandthehearer'scognitiveenvironment,tryingtomakesuccessfulcommunication.Butwhatistheoptimalrelevance?

AndSperberandWilsondefined'thepresumptionofoptimalrelevance'asfollows:

（a）Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantenoughforittobeworththeaddressee'sefforttoprocessit.

（b）Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantonecompatiblewiththecommunicator'sabilitiesandpreferences.[5]

'Thecentralclaimofrelevancetheoryisthathumancommunicationcruciallycreatesanexpectationofoptimalrelevance,thatis,anexpectationonthepartofthehearerthathisattemptatinterpretationwillyieldadequatecontextualeffectsatminimalprocessingcost.Thisfactisbelievedtobepartofyourhumanpsychology,andisexpressedinrelevancetheoryastheprincipleofrelevance:

Everyactofostensivecommunicationcommunicatesthepresumptionofitsownoptimalrelevance.'[6]

Otherwise,notalltheostensivestimuluscanobtaintheoptimalrelevance.Ifandonlyifanutteranceachievesenoughcontextualeffectthatcanattractthehearer'sattention,andifandonlyifanutterancemakesthehearerneednogratuitousmentaleffort,theoptimalrelevancecanbeobtained.Thatis,toobtaintheoptimalrelevance,thespeakerimplicitlyandautomaticallyconveystheassumptionthatthehearercanexpecttoderiveadequatecontextualeffectswithoutspendingunnecessaryefforts.[7]Inthepursuitofoptimalrelevanceitturnsfirsttohighlyaccessibleinformation,lookingforadequatecontextualeffects;ifthisinformationdoesyieldcontextualeffectsadequatetotheoccasioninawaythespeakercouldforeseen,thenitwillassumethatithasusedtheright,thatis,speaker-intended,contextualinformation.'[8]

inall,therelevanceistheresultoftheinterplaysofthecontextualeffectsandprocessingefforts.Inotherwords,iftheprocessingeffortisminimalwhilethecontextualeffectsaremax