On The Context-dependence Of Chinese Metonymies And The Methods Of Their Translation Into English

For a long time, with the subordination to the theory of metaphor, metonymy isalways in the shadow of research field. However, recently, with the rapid developmentof cognitive studies, scholars have been concentrating a large share of their attentionon metonymy, with the belief that metonymy is not only a rhetorical device but also acommon feature of language, even a basic mode of human thought.Among the recent studies on metonymy, the relationship between metonymy andcontext is mostly addressed, for without the latter, the former can not be created. Thestudies abroad mainly focus on the definition and typology of metonymy. At home,scholars concentrate on bringing in the theory of metonymy and applying it into thestudy of Chinese classics. Translation practice shows that most translation difficultiesare due to the use of metaphor or metonymy. Consequently, researches on Chinesemetonymy, the relationship between metonymy and context as well as the strategies oftranslating metonymy will not only help deepen the understanding of Chinesemetonymy in terms of characteristics, typology, usage and distribution, but alsoexamine the translation strategies of Chinese metonymy, and most importantly therelationship between metonymy translation and context, i.e. the context-dependenceof metonymy.Though researches on Luotuo Xiangzi, one of the most famous novels by Lao She,are quite fruitful, few of them touch upon metonymy, relationship between metonymyand context, and strategies of translating metonymy, especially the possible translationtendency in specific contexts. Consequently, the thesis attempts to address the aboveneglected aspects, which is of great theoretical significance and practical value. Thethesis first presents a general literature review of the current research on metonymy,context, metonymy translation and Luotuo Xiangzi. Within the theoretical frameworkof metonymy proposed by Radden&K vecses, the thesis conducts an empiricalresearch through the statistics and observation of concrete examples in the novel, forthe exploration of the relationship between metonymy and context, the translation methods of metonymy, the possible translation tendency in specific contexts, and mostimportantly the possible relationship between metonymy translation and context, i.e.the context-dependence of metonymy translation.The conclusion is reached at the end of the thesis, holding that firstly, the theoriesof metonymy developed on the basis of western languages can not be perfectlyapplied to the research on metonymy in Chinese; secondly, metonymy exhibits highdependence on context where linguistic context plays the most important role in thecreation of metonymy, while situational and cultural contexts play a relatively lessimportant but indispensable role. And thirdly, through careful observation, the thesisfinds out eight translation methods of metonymy: equivalent vehicle, part of thevehicle, vehicle+target, part of the vehicle+target, vehicle+target+addition, target,metonymic target and omission, the use of which depends largely on context. Seenfrom the statistics, domestication including TA and MT is most frequently employed,while foreignization including the first five accounts for the second largest proportion.Besides, there exists some tendencies of translating metonymy in specific contexts,and that tendency is in conformity with the general translation methods. However, theexact tendency embodied in the translation of metonymy in specific contexts is inneed of more data to be clearer and more evident.