On The Equivalent Translation Of The Shop Of The Lin Family From The Perspective Of Context Theory

Context refers to the environment in which meanings are exchanged, including all the indirect as well as the direct factors that influence the production and interpretation of utterances. As a significant concept in linguistics, the context theory has exerted a ceaseless and relentless influence on the production and understanding of utterance. In the entire process of translation, the specific context determines proper comprehension of the source text and the appropriate reproduction of the target language. Any slight negligence of the context will inevitably lead to misunderstanding and even mistranslation. The significance of the context in translation research has been universally agreed upon in the field of translation studies at home and abroad.As a representative work of Mao Dun, The Shop of the Lin Family seizes a unique position in the Chinese classic literature. The story reflects the turbulent years when China suffered the Japanese invasion in 1931 through the depiction of the fate of a shop and the average people who frequented the shop. The writer successfully created a complete, specific and historical context within the limited space and time. The speech of every character is in agreement with the particular social-historical context as well as his or her individual context, such as social status. To translate such a time-specific literary work, only through reproducing a convincing context can the translator bring the readers the original flavor and artistic conception.From the perspective of the theory of context and based on the case study, the present thesis makes an attempt to anatomize the Shop of the Lin Family, and draws a conclusion concerning the significance of context theory to translation. At the same time, it will try to evaluate the degree of equivalence of the translation drawing on the Equivalence Theory for the sake of objectivity. The thesis is divided into five parts. The first part is devoted to the introduction of the definition, making a brief on the aim, target, significance and structure of the thesis. The second part elaborates on the theories concerned, including context theory and equivalence theory. The third part introduces the work, the author as well as the translator. According to Bronislaw Malinowski, who is both an anthropologist and linguist, the context falls into three...