Relevance In Translator's Comprehension Process

Relevance Theory by Sperber and Wilson has been inspiring in variousdomains including translation studies. The prominent figure who applies RelevanceTheory to translation studies is E-A. Gutt, who explores the interpretativedimension in language use and put forward the Relevance-Theoretic Approach totranslation studies. Li Zhanxi also makes use of Relevance Theory, in combinationwith Adaptation Theory, to establish his Relevance-Adjustability TheoreticApproach for studies into translation process.The present thesis probes into the first stage of translation process, i.e. thecomprehension process of translator, by exploring the essential notions in RelevanceTheory applied to the investigation into translator's cognitive activities, namelyrelevance, optimal relevance, intentions, as well as their correlations, in order toclarify the relevance in comprehension process from the perspective offered byRelevance Theory and its applications in translation studies.Text, as stimulus in verbal communication, is also examined in terms of itsfeatures, such as intentionality, intertextuality, etc. in the belief that relevance ofstimulus should not be neglected, especially in translation studies, despite thecognitive nature of the research framework established on basis of RelevanceTheory.Part of the present study is carried out in contrast to the counterpart within Li'sapproach, as some of Li's understandings and interpretations concerning the conceptof relevance are not shared in this thesis, and are not considered trivial for the sakeof consistency in the application of a fundamental theory.