Theapplication Of Speechact Theory In The Translation Of Different Text Types

The trend to apply pragmatic theories in the translation studies since the1970smanifested the overwhelming achievements in the interplay of linguistics and translationtheories. The introduction of pragmatic theories enriches the translation studies. Austin’sSpeech Act Theory (hereinafter referred to as SAT), one of the core pragmatic theories, hasbeen testified by most scholars on its explanatory and guiding significance in the translationstudies. Based on the studies of scholars at home and abroad and combing with Newmark’sText typology, the author of this thesis tries to further study the SAT in an attempt tounderstand its function in the translation of different text types.Under the guidance of SAT, translation studies exert tremendous efforts to seekequivalence, which is composed of locutionary equivalence, illocutionary equivalence andperlocutionary equivalence. Locutionary equivalence concentrates on the conveyance of thesource text (hereinafter referred to as ST) information in the target text (hereinafter referredto as TT); Illocutionary equivalence emphasizes the reservation of ST intention in the TT,while perlocutionary equivalence goes great length to provide a TT capable of offering itsreaders the chance of experiencing analogous effect to that which the ST offered its ownreaders. An ideal translation should be the unity of the three equivalences. However, in thecourse of translation practice, the existence of linguistic, cultural and ideological differencesbetween Chinese and English makes the absolute realization of the aforesaid threeequivalences difficult to attain. In light of this, translators are advised to focus on achievingcertain equivalence firstly and then go for the others.By adopting the SAT in the study of text analysis, scholars come to realize that a text ismade up of a sequence of speech acts. The text act, also known as the predominantcommunicative purpose, is reckoned as the most important factor in judging whether theequivalence in translation has been achieved. Besides, text acts vary in accordance withdifferent text types. The text act of informative text is to provide the readers as muchinformation as possible. The text act of expressive text is to deliver the author’s intention to the readers with the aid of illocutionary force devices such as context and rhetorical features.And the text act of vocative text is to call upon the readers’ feelings to think and to takeactions. Since translation equivalence can be judged by the attainment of the text act,locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutioanry equivalence can be employed to guide thetranslation of informative, expressive and vocative text respectively. This is where thecreation of this thesis lies. Professional domestication on the lexical level, separation orintegration on the syntactic level as well as adjustment on the discourse level will facilitatethe translators in producing accurate messages; the mediation of context and rhetoricalfeatures help the translators capture and convey the illocutionary force; the use oftarget-oriented words on the lexical level, addition or omission on the syntactic level as wellas adaption on the discourse level can ensure the TT readers obtain the analogous feelings asthe ST readers. These translation techniques from three angles further testify the significancesof applying SAT in the translation of different text types and make the translation studiesmore practical and scientific.