On Relevance-theoretic Account Of Translation From The Cultural Perspective

Taking the relevance theory proposed by Sperber & Wilson as the theory base, at the end of the 20th century, Ernst-August Gutt presented a new framework of translation, that is, the relevance-theoretic account of translation, to explain all phenomena of translation as an act of communication rather than a text genre. This framework provides a totally new cognitive perspective to the field of translation intending to solve some paradoxes existing in the traditional studies.However, because this relevance-theoretic account of translation is generally based on the European linguistic and cultural background, this framework may be thought less powerful than it is claimed, and it could not explain some complexities emerging in translating between languages with great social-cultural distinctions underneath in a better way, such as CE/EC translation.Therefore, this thesis tries to analyze whether the relevance-theoretic account of translation is a completely applicable framework to explain all the phenomena of translation in theoretical and practical studies. Meanwhile it tries to probe into the limitations of the relevance-theoretic account of translation from the cultural perspective to figure out whether it is necessary to put forward a complementary cultural consideration in explaining and guiding cross-cultural translation.Based on the relevance-theoretic account of translation, the author attempts to place translating and translations in the scope of the cultural consideration, especially the CE/EC translation. Such a cross-cultural consideration in translation may bring us much closer to the understanding of the essence of translation as an interlingual interpretive act of communication on an intercultural background, and guide our translation practice as well.