A Relevance Theory Prospective to the Twelfth Chapter of Cousin Henry

Zheng Wu

doi:10.5539/ells.v10n3p105

Abstract

Anthony Trollope, the British realist writer in the 19th century, writes Cousin Henry and this book is published in October 1879 without Chinese version yet. This work develops around the &ldquo;will&rdquo; dispute, presenting the conflict between the widespread social climate and the loft morals. With the guidance of the Relevance Theory, this report consists of the analysis and summary after the translation practice of the twelfth chapter of Cousin Henry, namely, Mr. Oven. This report adopts case-by-case analysis, based on the three principles of relevance theory, that is, ostensive-inferential communication, context and cognitive environment, optimal relevance. In the translation practice, it uses many translation methods, including addition method, domestication method, free translation method, segmenting method, adjusting-word-order method. These translation techniques are analyzed specifically when they are applied at the lexical and syntactic levels. By doing above-mentioned practices intend to enable the reader to get the optimal relevance and better the reading experience when he or she is reading the translation.

Highlights

The material of this translation practice task is an English text, provided by the instructor, with the aim for translation practice of English to Chinese, through continuous revisions
Anthony Trollope, the British realist writer in the 19th century, writes Cousin Henry and this book is published in October 1879 without Chinese version yet
With the guidance of the Relevance Theory, this report consists of the analysis and summary after the translation practice of the twelfth chapter of Cousin Henry, namely, Mr Oven

Summary

Introduction

The material of this translation practice task is an English text, provided by the instructor, with the aim for translation practice of English to Chinese, through continuous revisions. The famous modern British writer Charles Percy Snow praised Trollope’s work as “a peak of realism.” His novels are like mirrors reflecting the social reality of his time, exposing and ridiculing the dark inside of the middle and upper classes of the Victorian era, while preaching the intent of moral dissemination. His craft in this novel abandons the previous and traditional expectation towards characters, while he describes the subverting expectations and dwells deeper on the psychology of characters At last, it contains a large number of dialogues between characters, constructing a hypothetical context from the perspective of relevance theory, optimizing the readers’ reading experience and enhancing readability. This practice can improve personal translation ability and enrich the knowledge about this novel, the author and the literature

Theoretical Background

Analysis of the Source Text

During Translation

Post-Translation Activities

Case Study

Conclusion