A Study On Translation Of Culture-loaded Words In Liao Zhai Zhi Yi From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Chinese classic works have been regarded as representatives of Chinese traditional culture and has provided an opportunity for the world to appreciate the widely-welcomed Chinese literature and to gain an in-depth insight into Chinese culture.This thesis is intended to carry out a systematic and comprehensive study of the English translation of Liao Zhai Zhi Yi from the perspective of its culture-loaded words.The researcher has adopted both qualitative and quantitative methods in this study.Two parallel corpora of English translation versions of Liao Zhai Zhi Yi were built for the research.Based on the Relevance Theory,the author has analyzed typical culture-loaded words in the two English translated versions guided by the optimal relevance.Starting from five factors influencing a translation,i.e.historical background,contextual effects,purpose of translation,aesthetic expectation and acceptability level of target audience,the author studies the translated culture-loaded words and summarized corresponding translation strategies.The research shows that the translation strategies differ with different translators due to the perception and conveyance of optimal relevance.Generally speaking,if the informative intention of a cultural word alone can achieve contextual effect,literal translation can be adopted;if the communicative intention of a cultural word has to be explained to achieve contextual effect,free translation or annotation can be used;if a cultural word is extremely peculiar in China and can represent a particular Chinese element,the literal meaning should be maintained with necessary free translation or annotation in order to promote cultural transmission.