Context Adaptation Strategies In Interpreting: Relevance Theory Perspective

The comprehension of an utterance is closely connected with the context envisaged by the speaker. If the hearer has almost the same context as the speaker, then it would be very easy to get the meaning of the utterance. However, if they are different, then it can cause problem, leaving the hearer confused or not able to infer the implied meaning.During interpreting, context also plays an important role. However, in the input stage, there is a great challenge poses by context, especially when he is interpreting from B language~1, i.e. interpreters' foreign language. The correct understanding of the source language can only be achieved when the interpreter adapts to the context of the speaker. In the output stage, there are differences between the context of the speaker and that of the hearers. Take the culture factor for example. The culture of the speaker and that of the hearer or audiences are quite different. If this phenomenon did not receive the well-deserved attention from the interpreter, problem may arise. The hearer will understand the interpreting from his own context instead of the context envisaged by the speaker. Therefore, there is a great risk of misinterpreting the intention of the speaker.This thesis takes context adaptation as its research question. It holds that in interpreting, the interpreter will adapt to the context of the speaker in the input stage and to that of the hearers in the output stage respectively. It aims to provide descriptive studies on this process. The thesis holds that the two adaptation processes are all guided by the principle of relevance: to achieve optimal relevance with minimum effort.The thesis will first analyze an example in interpreting which fails because of the context differences between the speaker and the hearer. Then it will point out the importance of context and the problem that may arise because of the differences of context between the speaker and the hearer. In the first chapter, a general introduction of interpreting and interpreting studies will be given. Besides, it will point out interpreting is a complicated communication process. In Chapter 2, some basic concepts of relevance theory, principle of relevance and its application to translation will be elaborated. In this chapter, a major concept which is generally ignored, direct translation, would be covered. In Chapter 3, the notion of context in interpreting from the perspective of relevance theory will be introduced after a brief review of the other views on context. Besides, its classification will be given. Chapter 4 will discuss context adaptation strategies in both the input and output stage. In the input stage, the interpreter will activate all his contextual assumptions and select those that give him adequate contextual effect with minimum effort. In the output stage, various strategies will be adopted, but all those strategies are guided by the principle of relevance. That is the strategies the interpreter follows would make the hearer achieve optimal relevance with minimum effort. In the final chapter, the thesis will give some suggestions for the training of interpreters based on this thesis.What needs to be pointed out is that interpreting is quite different from translation. During interpreting, there are some contextual elements unique to it. For example, the pragmatic stress put on some particular words is sometimes the determinant factor to the understanding of the speech. This phenomenon will be discussed in detail in Chapter 4.