A Translation Report Of The Selected Humorous Stories Of Leacock In Light Of Relevance Theory

This is a report on the translation practice of humorous texts.The translated text is excerpted from The Selected Humorous Stories of Leacock by Canadian humorist Stephen Butler Leacock.This book is a collection of Leacock’s humorous stories,a total of 35 passages.Each story is independent,which constitutes the epitome of the entire society at that time and reflects people’s mental outlook and mind set in different social strata.The book,full of humor and satire,is mild in language and rich in connotations.The seemingly plain narrative all reveals ingenuity and wit.Relevance theory,first proposed by Sperber and Wilson,is a theory about verbal communication.As to cognition and communication,it provides a reasonable explanation that communication is regarded as an ostensive-inferential process of cognition with certain purpose and intention.The translation practice report worked on the translation of the excerpts from the humorous stories in light of relevance theory.Case analysis was employed in the report guided by relevance theory.Focusing on the problems and difficulties in the translation of The Selected Humorous Stories of Leacock,the author selected ten representative examples to specifically interpret the two translation techniques developed out of relevance theory,namely direct translation technique and indirect translation technique,for elaborating the guiding role of the theory in the translation.The translator intentionally prioritized reformulation and compensation in this humor translation under the guidance of cognitive and communicative principles.The specific translation methods and techniques were adopted in line with the specific texts to reproduce the content and style of the original text for target readers.Specifically,the translator is required to sufficiently understand the function of the two principles and apply them flexibly to the translation in terms of the translation needs.Regarding content,the translator should follow the principle of cognition,be faithful to the original meaning,and use precise words to ensure coherence,readability and acceptability of the translation.Concerning form,the translator should adhere to the principle of communication,retain the original style,and convey the author’s intention,thus building a good connection between the author and the target readers.The drafting of this report is expected to enhance the translator’s translation competence and shed light upon the translation of relevant humorous texts.