An Adaptation-theoretic Perspective On Non-linguistic Context And Translation

Adapting to specific contexts is the common feature of using language in the process of transference of information. Many linguists have made the deep researches on context. For a long time, the systematic translation theories put too much emphasis on "faithfulness" and "elegance" to the source language in China. Therefore, the debates on literal translation vs. free translation and content vs. spirit narrow down the researching scope of translation. With the development of socio-linguistics, pragmatics and semantics, context has been studied from each angle. Studies on context provide a new perspective for the translation researches. However, the present studies on context are restricted on each specific area. These classifications are for the general language studies and no one is made for translation studies only. Meanwhile, there is no systematic theory guiding the concrete adapting process. Because of these limitations, this thesis, on the basis of Verschueren's theory of adaptation, by means of systematic analysis and case study, analyzes the close relationship between situational context and translation.The thesis is divided into six chapters:Chapter One illustrates the cause, scope and methodology of the study generally.Chapter Two deals with theory of adaptation of Verschueren. The beginning part is the brief illustration of the theory of adaptation. Some important notions are given: making choice; variability, negotiability and adaptability; four clear tasks to pragmatic descriptions and explanations. Verschueren's theory of adaptation is from the perspective of pragmatics, so applicability of theory of adaptation into translation is discussed in this chapter. First, the process of translation is similar with the process of language use which is studied from pragmatic perspective. Second, making a translation is also a process of making choices. Third, the hierarchical level of context studied by "theory of adaptation" provides a concrete angle for translation.Chapter Three is a review of the development of the context theory. Many scholars, both at home and abroad, give the different definitions and make the different classifications about context. Malinowski, Firth, Halliday, Chen Wangdao, Wang Dechun etc. make the contribution to the development of context. In order to facilitate the translation studies, this thesis classifies context into linguistic context and non-linguistic context. Non-linguistic context is divided into situational context and cultural context further. In this chapter, the relationship between context and translation, and contextual translation based on adaptation theory are also discussed.Chapter Four and Chapter Five are the main part of this thesis. An adaptation-theoretic perspective on non-linguistic context and translation is discussed in details. Chapter Four dwells on adaptation to situational context and its effects on choosing translation strategies. Situational context is reflected on field of discourse, tenor of discourse and mode of discourse. By means of case study, it points out that making adaptation appears both in the process of comprehension and reproduction. The translators must adapt to the source language to get the accurate understanding, and at the same time, they should adapt to the target language to make the translation intelligible to the target readers. By analyzing the different aspects of the situational context, this chapter concludes the concrete adaptation process of the situational context.Chapter Five discusses adaptation to cultural context and its effects on choosing translation strategies. In order to make the accurate choices and get the closest translation, translators must adapt to the different cultural contexts, including different customs, different natural geography, different religions and different historical backgrounds. Cultural factors are translatable, but translatability of cultural factors is restricted to some extent. Different cultural contexts require different translation strategies. Literal translation, free translation, literal translation with annotation and making analogy adapt to the different cultural contexts.Chapter Six serves as a conclusion of the whole thesis. Major findings are given, limitations of this thesis are put out, and suggestions for further studies are made.