A Study On The Translation Methods Of Fuzzy Language In Helen Wang’s English Version Of Bronze And Sunflower Under The Relevance Theory

In many contemporary literary works,a large amount of fuzzy language is often used,the purpose of which is to shape characters and show their artistic charm,and to leave room for readers’ imagination,thus activating their aesthetic imagination.In the famous children’s literature Bronze and Sunflower,the author Cao Wenxuan,while taking into account the childlike nature,also strives for the embodiment of literary“beauty”,which leads to the appearance of a lot of fuzzy language in the text.These languages not only have rich cultural connotations,but also subtly express the author’s inner feelings,which poses a great challenge to translation.Relevance Theory,as a cognitive pragmatics theory,the basic concept of it is that when communicating,the communicating parties will adjust the mutual cognitive context of both parties through the ostensive-inferential process,which eventually brings about the contextual effect.With the deepening of research,the explanatory power of Relevance Theory for translation is increasingly recognized by the translation community and has been more widely used in the field of translation research,but its application to the translation research of fuzzy language is still rare.In view of this,this paper will study the English translation of fuzzy language in Bronze and Sunflower by using the methods of literature research,case study and comparative research.This paper aims to answer the following three questions:(1)What kinds of fuzzy language are there in Bronze and Sunflower? And what effects do they bring to the work?(2)Does Relevance Theory have strong explanatory power for the translation of fuzzy language?(3)What translation methods does the translator adopt in translating the fuzzy language in Bronze and Sunflower? Are these translation methods able to achieve the optimal relevance? Through a series of researches,this paper draws the following conclusions:(1)Based on the linguistic functions and scope involved in fuzzy language,the fuzzy language in Bronze and Sunflower can be analyzed at four levels: phonological,lexical,utterance,and cultural levels.These fuzzy languages play a crucial role in shaping the characters’ natures,expressing the author’s emotions and reflecting the literary aesthetics in the novel.(2)Based on the three theoretical modes of relevance-theoretic translation theory: direct translation mode and indirect translation mode,univalent translation constituent inference mode and bivalent translation constituent inference mode,and the principle of equal inferential distance in translation,this paper demonstrates through case studies that Relevance Theory has explanatory power for the translation methods of fuzzy language in Bronze and Sunflower and can provide guidance for the translation of fuzzy language.It is also proved that some of the translation methods used by Helen Wang in translating the fuzzy language,such as literal translation,free translation,omission,amplification and adaptation,some of them fail to fully convey the informative and communicative intentions of the author,but most of them help the translation to achieve the optimal relevance and then help the readers to obtain the contextual effect.The analysis in this paper further proves that Relevance Theory is instructive for the study of translation methods of fuzzy language,helps readers better understand the English translation of Bronze and Sunflower,elaborates the deep-seated reasons for Helen Wang’s high-quality translation and some shortcomings,and hopes to contribute to the research on translation of fuzzy language and the application of Relevance Theory.