本科毕业设计论文On Subtitle Translation of the Film Lifetimes Living from the Perspective of Relevance Theory

ContentsTOC\o"1-3"\h\uAbstract IntroductionThedevelopmentoffilmshaspromotedculturalcommunicationbetweencountries.Asearlyasthetwentiethcentury,Americanfilmhadalreadytakenchargeoftheglobalmarket.Becausethetranslationoffilmsubtitlescannotmeettheneedsofviewersinvariouscountries;somanyfilmscannotbeshowninforeigncountries.Subtitletranslationisanimportantmeansofforeignfilminterpretation.Itsfunctionistoconveythemostauthenticandreliableinformationinaspecifictimeandspaceinaccordancewiththeintentionofthedirectorandthewriter.Intheprocessoffilmsubtitletranslation,theculturalbackgroundofdifferentplacescanalsobecombined.Europeancountrieshavestudiedsubtitletranslationforalongtime.However,theresearchonsubtitletranslationinChinaisnotdeepenoughandappearslater.InrecentyearstherevenueofdomesticfilmshasrepeatedsuccessinChina.Investmentforthefilmindustryisalsoexpanding.ThismeansthatChina’sfilmindustryhasenteredastageofsteadydevelopment.Themostobviousmanifestationisthatthenumberofdomesticfilmsattendinginternationalfilmfestivalsandwinningawardshasexceededhistoricallevels.Itisnotdifficulttofindthatthenumberofcinemasinthecitiesaroundushasalsoincreasedrapidlyinrecentyears,whichindicatesthatfilmshavegraduallybecomethemainstreamentertainmentinPeople’sDailylife.ThereasonisthatChinahasalargepopulation,andtherearemorepotentialaudiencesforfilms.ThishasagreatinfluenceonthedevelopmentofChina’sfilmindustry.Secondly,oureconomyisdevelopingcontinuously.People’squalityoflifehasimproved.Therefore,thefilmindustryisdevelopingrapidlyinChina.Thispapermainlystudiesthesubtitletranslationoffilmsfromtheperspectiveofrelevancetheory.LifetimesLivingisoneofthemasterpiecesofYuHua,afamousChinesewriter.ItwasmadeintoafilmbydirectorZhangYimouin1994.Ittellsthestoryofthemaster’slifeduringtheChineseCivilWar.Duetohisloveofgambling,theprotagonistFuGuibecomespoorovernightfromawealthyyoungmanandthengoesthroughallkindsofdifficulties.ThefilmwontheJuryGrandPrixandotherawardsatthe74thCannesFilmFestivalin1994,soitwastranslatedintoEnglishandshowninforeigncountries.ThisfilmhasagreatinfluenceinChina.It’saChinesestyleblackhumorist.Andthefilmhasalonghistory.Therefore,insubtitletranslation,thetranslator’stranslationlevelshouldbeveryhigh.Inthefilm,throughexplainingthesimplifiedhistoricalbackground,itreflectsthehardshipsofpeople’slife.Inparticular,thefilmshowstheChinesepeople’stoleranceinthedifficultlivingconditionsinablackhumorway.Intheresearchprocess,theauthormainlyadoptsthecasestudymethod.Themainbodyofthepaperisdividedintothreeparts.Thefirstpartisthebasicconcept,includingtwoaspects:theyarethestudyoffilmsubtitletranslationandrelevanttheoriesresearch.Thesecondpartintroducesthebasicprinciplesofrelevancetheory,namelytheprinciplesofcommunicationandtheprinciplesofcognition.Theauthortriestosummarizetherulesoftranslation,andthenapplytherulestotheselectedcasesfortextresearch.ThethirdpartintroducestheapplicationofrelevancetheoryinsubtitletranslationofthefilmLifetimesLiving.Firstly,itintroducesthespecificplotofthefilm.Secondly,theauthorintroducestheapplicationofdomesticationstrategyandforeignizationstrategyinsubtitletranslationwithexamples.Finally,theconclusionpartsummarizesthetechniquestobefollowedinfilmtranslationandthekeyroleofrelevancetheoryinfilmsubtitletranslation.

1BasicConceptsFilmisaninformationtransmissionmedium,whichcanmakepeopleknowofhistory,customsandcultureofacountryorregionregardlessoftimeandspace[1].Itinterfaceswithawiderangeofotherdisciplinesfromlinguisticsandmodernlanguagestoculturalstudiesandpostcolonialism[2].Andnowfilmhasbecomeoneofthemostpopularformsofentertainment.Then,peoplepaymoreandmoreattentiontothetranslationoffilmsubtitles.Relevancetheoryisanimportantpartoftranslationstudies,anditplaysadecisiveroleinthestudyoffilmsubtitles.Therefore,inthefollowingbasicconceptpart,relevancetheoryandrelatedcontentoffilmsubtitletranslationwillbeintroduced.1.1StudiesofFilmSubtitleTranslationThesubtitletranslationisaprocessthatturnsthesourcelanguageintothetargetlanguageinthewrittenform[3].Filmsubtitletranslationisdifferentfromgeneraltranslation.Itmustgothroughtheprocessofconversionfromspokenlanguagetowrittenlanguage.Becauseoftheinstantaneouscharacteristicsoffilmandtheconstraintsoftimeandspace,itisimpossibletoannotatethesubtitle.Therefore,thetranslatormustusethemostconcisewordstoexpressthemostabundantmeaning,soastoachievethebesteffectoffilmsubtitletranslation.Thefollowingpartmainlyintroducesthedefinitionoffilmsubtitlesanditspreviousstudiesathomeandabroad.1.1.1DefinitionandFeaturesofFilmSubtitlesTheleadingplaceandspreadinginfluenceoffilmsarelastinguntiltoday,eventhoughtheworld’sfilmindustrywentthroughmanyupsanddownsinhistory[4].Asanewfieldoftranslation,thetranslationoffilmsubtitleshasmadegreatachievements,butatthesametimeithassomedefectsinitsowndevelopmentprocess[5].Asacomprehensiveart,thelanguageoffilmismostlyintheformofmonologueordialogue.Therefore,whatissubtitletranslation?Fromtheperspectiveoftranslation,subtitletranslationisaspeciallanguageandaconversiontype.Nowadays,foreignfilmsandTVprogramsaremoreandmorepopular.Intherecentyears,thepopularityofChinesecultureandthereleaseofsomanyforeignfilmswithplentyofChineseelementshaverenderedChineseculturemoreandmoreimportant[6].Moreandmorepeopleliketoenjoyfilmswithoriginalsubtitlesinforeignlanguages,soastobetterunderstandforeignculturethesubtitlesofChinesefilmsareusuallyinbothChineseandEnglish.Althoughthefilmsubtitlesappearinconjunctionwiththepicture,thelanguageisstillthroughspecificanalysis,notthedailypurespokenlanguage.Becausealargenumberoffilmsareadaptedfromliteraryworks,thedesignofsubtitlesisalsoselectedafteringeniousdeliberationwithacertaindegreeofliterariness[7].Thefilmismainlycomposedofsymbolsprovidedbyfourchannels.Theyarelinguisticvocalchannel,non-verbalvocalchannel,languagevisualchannelandnon-linguisticvisualchannel.Thelanguagetrackmainlyincludesthecharacters’languageandsonginterlude.Nonverbalchannelsincludescenesofnaturallandscapesandspecificatmospheres.Languagevisualchannelreferstotext,posters,subtitlesandotherforms.Ratherthanlanguagevisualchannelmainlyreferstotheintroductionofstorybackground,environmentalcharacteristics.Thusitcanbeseenthatthesubtitleisnotthemeaningofbeingindependentofthepictureorsoundofthefilm,butexistsintheworldofthefilmonlywiththepropertyoftimeandspace.Onlyinthefilmworld,thesubtitlescanplaytheirimportancewiththepictureandsound.Duetotheparticularityoflanguage,someEuropeancountrieshavecarriedoutin-depthresearchonfilmsubtitletranslation,andsummarizedsometranslationstrategiesandmattersneedingattention,etc.Thelanguageinvolvedinfilmsubtitlescomesfromthewordsofthecharactersinthefilm.Therefore,thefilmsubtitlescanreflecttheinnerfeelingsandpersonalitycharacteristicsofthecharactersinthefilm.Thechoiceofwordsisveryflexible.Inaddition,duetothelackoffilmsubtitles,includingthedescriptionofsceneryorcharacters,therealmeaningoffilmsubtitlesshouldbeexploredinthetranslationprocess,andfreetranslationshouldbeadoptedwhennecessary.Filmsubtitlesshowthecharacters’emotionalstatesandattitudestowardslifethroughdialogues.Thedialogueinthesubtitleperfectlymatchestheplotofthefilm.Therefore,whentranslatingsubtitles,wetrytomaketheaudienceunderstandthestorywithoutlookingatthepictures.Thisreflectsthatthefilmsubtitlesarefullofpersonalityandveryexpressive.Secondly,thelanguageoffilmsubtitlesmustbereadable,thatismustbereadsmoothlyandhaveadistinctrhythm.Asuccessfulsubtitletranslationisthatthetranslationandtheoriginaltextinlength,mouthandrhymeareunified.Asuccessfulsubtitletranslationmakesthesoundperfectwiththepicture.BecauseoftheprofoundmeaningofChinesecultureanditsstrongregional,ethnicandtraditionalcharacteristics,manyforeignaudienceshavenowaytotrulyunderstandtheculturalvalueofChinesefilms.Therefore,intheprocessofsubtitletranslation,weshouldpayattentiontotheculturaldifferencesandsimilaritiesbetweencountries.Thetranslationofsubtitlesshouldbeconsistentwiththestyleofthework.Thatistosay,thetranslationofsubtitlesshouldbeconsistentwiththehistoricalbackground,political,economicandculturalcharacteristicsofthefilmitself.Thiswillenabletheaudiencetobetterunderstandthemainideaofthework.Therelevanceprinciplemakesiteasierfortheaudiencetounderstandthemainideaofthefilm.Duetospaceandtimeconstraints,itisdifficulttoachieveperfectsubtitletranslation.Therefore,thetranslationprocessneedsrepeatedthinkingandoptimization.Translatorsshouldchoosetherighttranslationstrategytotranslate.Forexample,freetranslationoraugmentedtranslationcanbeusedtohelptheaudienceunderstandthestoryfaster.Filmsubtitlescannotexistindependently,thatistosay,theycanplayaneffectiveroleonlywhencombinedwithmovies[8].Filmsubtitlescanusuallybedividedintotwotypes,namelyin-languagesubtitlesandinter-languagesubtitles.Interlinguasubtitlereferstothetextthatisdirectlyattachedtothebottomofthescreenbytranslatingthesourcelanguageintothetargetlanguagewhilekeepingtheoriginalsoundofthefilmandtelevision.Basedontheparticularityofsubtitletranslation,thatistosay,thetranslatorshouldfollowthedoublerestrictionoftimeandspace,andanalyzethetranslator’sdualidentityintheprocessofostensivereasoning.Firstly,translatorsshouldmakeahypothesisaboutthetargetaudience’scognitiveenvironmentandestimateitsexpectation.Thentranslatorsshouldseekthebestrelevanceofinformationthroughthetranslator’sunderstandingoftheoriginal’scommunicativeintention.Inordertoverifywhetherthetranslatedtextisasimilarsegmentoftheoriginal,appropriatetranslationstrategiesareusedtoensurethattheaudienceobtainsthemaximumamountofinformationwiththeminimumprocessingeffort[9].Thein-languagesubtitlesarethesubtitlesofthesourcelanguageofthefilm.Subtitletranslationisrestrictedtotwotypes.Oneisquantitativerestriction.Theotheristhelimitationofquality.Insubtitletranslation,thelengthofthetranslationshouldnotbetoolong.Nomorethantwolinesatatime.Ingeneral,Englishshouldnothavemorethan35wordsatatime.Thelimitationofqualityisthatthecontentofthesubtitleisconsistentwiththepicture.Ofcourse,subtitlesareanimportantpartofafilm,butnotanecessarypart.Onlywhenthesubtitlesmeettheaestheticstandardsofthefilm,andthefontcolorandsizemeettheactualrequirements,cantheycomplementeachotherwiththelanguageenvironmentofthefilm.Asaformofexpression,subtitlepaysmuchattentiontotheissuesoftimeretention,lengthofcontentsymbolsandfontcolorinthefilmscreen,soastofullyreflectthecharactercharacteristicsofthemainplotofthefilmandimprovethetextureandfullnessofthefilm.Therefore,theeffectofsubtitletranslationisdirectlyrelatedtothestoryofthefilm.Translatorsshouldfullygraspthehistoricalbackgroundoffilmstorieswhentranslatingfilmsubtitles.Otherwiseitwilleasilyaffecttheeffectexpressedbythesubtitles.Atranslatormustrespectgoodwritingscrupulouslybyaccountingforitslanguage,structuresandcontent,whetherthepieceisscientificorpoetic,philosophicalorfictional[10].1.1.2PreviousStudiesonSubtitleTranslationSubtitletranslationisanartaswellasatranslationability,whichisintegratedwithsubtitletechnology[11].DuetotheadvancedscienceandtechnologyinEurope,thestudyoffilmtranslationanditsrelatedtheorieshasmaderapiddevelopmentinEurope.Asaresult,filmsandtelevisionbecamepopularinEurope.Thestudyofsubtitletranslationbywesternscholarscanbetracedbacktothelate1950s.In1974,Dolleruppublishedhisarticleonsubtitletranslationforthefirsttimeonnewspaper.Dolleruppointsouttheimportanceofsubtitlesinteachingandthatpeoplecanusethemtolearnaforeignlanguage.The1990sbelongstotheheydayofwesternfilmandtelevisiontranslationstudies.Duringthisperiod,greatachievementshavebeenmadeinfilmsubtitletranslation.Since1995,thestudyofsubtitletranslationinwesternfilmshasenteredastageofrapiddevelopment.WhatstandoutaretheresearchachievementsofEuropeanscholars.Somewesterncountrieshaveheldconferencesonfilmsubtitletranslation.Forexample,aninternationalconferenceon“on-screenlanguageconversion”washeldinLondonin2004.TheEuropeanfilmandtelevisiontranslationassociationhasbeenestablishedinEuropetofocusonfilmandtelevisiontranslation.Thegroupwasoriginallymadeupofmorethanadozenteacherswholovefilmandtelevisiontranslationstudies.Todaytheorganizationhasmembersallovertheworld,includingteachersandprofessionaltranslators.ComparedwithEuropeancountries,thestudyofsubtitletranslationinChinaisrelativelylate.Atthebeginningofthe19thcentury,filmswerebasicallysubtitledinforeignlanguages,andthemostcommonwasthenarrative.Later,withtheentryoffilmsintotheChinesemarket,therewasalsosomeresearchonsubtitletranslationinChina.Around1946,dubbingfilmsgraduallyemergedandbecamemorepopularduetothedifferencesineducationlevelsoftheChinesepeopleatthattime.Therealpopularityoffilmandtelevisiontranslationcameafterthereformandopeningup.AlargenumberofforeignfilmsandTVprogramsarepouringintoChina.IntheearlydaysofforeignfilmsenteringChina,professionaltranslatorsfromfilmstudiosortelevisionstationsdidthetranslation.Nowadays,withthepopularizationoftheInternet,filmandtelevisionworksarewidelyspreadontheInternet.Therefore,mostofthesubtitletranslationoffilmandtelevisionworksisdonebysubtitlegroups.Themainjobofthesubtitlegroupmembersistotranslate.However,duetothelargeamountoftranslationwork,itrequirestheassistanceofmultiplemembers.Thetranslationspecificationsofsubtitlegroupsaredifferent,althoughtheefficiencyofsubtitletranslationhasbeenimproved;thequalityofsubtitletranslationstillneedstobeimproved.ThemaintheoriesstudiedinChinaarefunctionalequivalencetheory,relevancetheory,andteleologyandsoon.InChina,professorMaZhengqiisfamousforhisresearchonfilmsubtitletranslation.In1997,hepublishedhispaperontheBasicPrinciplesofFilmandTelevisionTranslation,whichmainlystudiedtranslationandcross-culturalcommunication.Withnearly30yearsofresearchexperience,hehastranslatedtheMysteryoftheDisappearanceandMadameCurie.Andhealsowonthenationaloutstandingtranslatedfilm“FeiTian”award.Atthesametimehealsocompletedanumberofscientificresearchprojects.NowAmericanTVseriesarebecomingmoreandmorepopularamongstudents.Therefore,theacademicachievementsrelatedtothetranslationofsubtitlesaregraduallyincreasing.Infact,thepurposeofsubtitletranslationistonarrowtheculturaldifferencesbetweencountries.Filmandtelevisionworksasoneofthemainculturalformsintoday’ssociety.ThenthetranslationoffilmsubtitleswillaffectthedevelopmentofChineseforeignlanguagefilmandtelevisionindustry.Comparingthestatusquoofsubtitletranslationathomeandabroad,itcanbeseenthatChinastartedstudyingsubtitletranslationlaterthanwesterncountries.Thepresenttheoreticalsystemisnotperfectenough.Foreignstudiesonfilmsubtitletranslationcoverawiderrangeoffields,andtheresearchobjectsandmethodsaremorediverse.Therefore,incomparison,thedepthandbreadthofresearchonfilmsubtitletranslationinChinaisnotasgoodasthatinthewesterncountries.Therefore,translatorsshouldpaymoreattentiontosubtitletranslation.Weshouldalsostartfromourselvesandfollowtheprincipleofservingthepublic.Thereasonforsubtitletranslationistoenabletheaudiencetobetterunderstandthefilm.Therefore,thetranslatormustfullyunderstandtheartisticcharacteristicsofthefilm,andcorrectlyunderstandthecentralideaexpressedinthefilm,soastoconsiderappropriatestrategiesandmethodsfromtheperspectiveoftheaudience.1.2StudiesofRelevanceTheoryTheinnovativeorconservativepositionoftranslationswithinaculturalsystemdependsonthesystem’srelationwithothersystems,andmaycorrelatewiththetypeoftranslationstrategyused[12].Relevancetheoryisaveryimportantpartoftranslation.Itexplainslanguagecommunicationfromtheperspectiveoflinguistics,philosophy,cognitivepsychology,communicationscienceandsoon.Itcombinescommunicationwithcognition,andtransfersthefocusofpragmaticsresearchfromthegenerationofdiscoursetotheunderstandingofdiscourse.Itpointsoutthatlanguagecommunicationisaprocessofreasoningfromcognition.Relevancetheorynotonlypromotesthedevelopmentofcognitionandpragmatics,butalsoprovidesabroaderresearchspacefortranslationfromanewperspective.Thentheauthorwillbrieflyintroducethedefinitionofrelevancetheoryandtheresearchresultsofrelevancetheoryathomeandabroad.1.2.1DefinitionofRelevanceTheoryRelevancetheoryisaninterpretivetheoryoflanguagecommunicationwhichemergedinthefieldofphilosophyoflanguageinthe1980s.ThistheorywasproposedbyDanSperberandDeirdreWilson.Relevancetheoryregardscommunicationasaprocessfromostentationtoinference[13].RelevancetheorywhichisproposedbySperberandWilsonarguesthatthehearerwillsearchformeaninginanygivencommunicationsituationandhavingfoundmeaningthatfitstheirexpectationofrelevancewillstopprocessing[14].Thespeakerfirstmakesclearthepurposeofhis/hercommunication,andthenthelistenermakesinferencesaccordingtothespeaker’slanguageexpressionandthenunderstandsthemeaningofthespeaker,soastoachievethepurposeofcommunication.Becauseboththespeakerandthelistenerfollowtheprincipleofrelevance,theycancommunicatesmoothlyandunderstandeachother[15].Ofcourse,thistheoryalsoappliestothetranslationoffilmsubtitles.Therearedifferencesinthecognitiveenvironmentbetweentheauthorandtheaudience.Therefore,whentranslatingsubtitles,translatorsshouldfocusontheaudience,correctlyestimateandunderstandtheoriginalintentionoftheauthor.Translatorsalsoshouldcombinethecontextandtheaudience'sexpressionhabitsintheircountrytoseekthebestrelevanceandappropriatetranslationstrategies.Theaimofthetranslatoristhatthereceiverofthetargetlanguagecanobtainthemaximumcontextwiththeleasteffort,whichmeansthattheaudiencecanunderstandtheplotofthefilmandtheculturalvalueofthecountrytothegreatestextent.Whenitcomestofindingtheoptimalrelevance,theoptimalrelevanceprinciplemusttobementioned.Theprincipleofoptimalrelevanceisoneoftheprinciplescommonlyusedinfilmtranslation.Theprincipleofoptimalrelevanceisthecoreprincipleofrelevancetheory.Relevancetheoryisbasedontwoprinciples.Oneisthecognitiveprinciple,alsoknownastheprincipleofmaximalrelevance.Theotheristheprincipleofcommunicationalsoknownastheprincipleofoptimalrelevance.Theprincipleofmaximalrelevancemeansthatpeoplewanttogetthemaximumcontextualeffectaseasilyaspossiblewhentheyunderstandthepurposeoftheotherperson’sspeech.Thatis,whenapersonistalkingtoyouaboutanevent,thereceiverofthetargetlanguageimaginestheeventthatismostrelevanttotheeventtohelpthemunderstandthespeaker’sintention.However,differentfromtheprincipleofmaximalrelevance,theprincipleofoptimalrelevanceisthatwhenpeopletalkandunderstandeachother,theyusuallywanttomakeeffectiveefforts,andthentheycangetinsufficientcontextualeffect.Therefore,thebestrelevanceprincipleisalsoknownasthelaborsavingprinciple.Whendealingwithexternalinformationindailycommunication,peoplealwayshelpthemselvestounderstandandreachaconclusionthroughdeductivereasoning,whichfollowstheprincipleofoptimalrelevance.Therefore,relevancetheoryhasagreatinfluenceontranslation.Relevancetheoryisanopentheory,whichiseasytooperateandhasstrongexplanatorypower.Relevancetheory,whichcombinescommunicationwithcognition,canmaketheaudiencefeelthespeaker’sintentionmorevividly.1.2.2PreviousStudiesonRelevanceTheoryRelevancetheoryisatheoryputforwardbyFrenchphilosopherDanSperberandBritishlinguistDeirdreWilsoninRelevance:CommunicationandCognitionpublishedin1986.Inrelevancetheory,contextdoesnotrefertosomepartsoftheexternalenvironmentofthecommunicationpartners,thetextprecedingorfollowinganutterance,situationalcircumstances,culturalfactors,etc.Itratherreferstopartoftheir“assumptionsabouttheworld”orcognitiveenvironment,asitiscalled[16].SperberandWilsonbelievethatlanguagecommunicationisdivisiveandthatlanguagecanexistindependentlyinpeople’slivesevenwithoutcommunication.Whatreallyinvolveslanguageuseisnotcommunicationbutcognitivebehavior.Theythinkthattheprocessofusinglanguagetocommunicateisnotanon-intelligent,mechanizedprocess,butaprocessofreasoningbyexpress.AmongtheWesternrelevancetheorystudies,Setton’sresearchonsimultaneousinterpretationin1998andHill’sresearchonexperimentaltranslationtestin2002areofgreatconcern.Guttfirstappliedrelevancetheorytotranslationstudies,whichopenedupanewwayforit.Therelevancetheorypointoutthattranslationisadynamicprocessofinterpretingsourcelanguage.Guttbelievesthatagoodtranslationwillconsidermanyfactorssuchassocialculture,religionandsoon,andchoosetherightstyletoseekrelevanceamongtheoriginalauthor,translatorandreaders.ThestudyofRelevanceTheoryinChinabeganin1994,andLinKenanpublishedabookreviewinChineseTranslation.Atpresent,theresearchofrelevancetranslationtheoryinChinainvolvesmorethan20subjects,suchasadvertisement,attribution,alienation,pun,religiousculture,metaphor,coherence,idiomsandsoon.InChina,relevancetheoryhasattractedtheattentionoflinguists.Itsdevelopmentcanbedividedintofourstages.Inthefirststage,from1988to1993,ShenJiaxuanfirstintroducedtherelevanceandotherissuesintherelevancetheoryinChina.Inaddition,ZhangYafeiandothersalsopublishedrelevantcommentsoneafteranother.Sincethen,relevancetheoryhasbeenacceptedbyChinesescholars.The

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scholars.Atfirst,relevancetheorywasfirstappliedinthefieldofpragmatics.SunYuintroducedthetwocharacteristicsofreasoningprocessinrelevancetheory.LiuShaozhongalsomentionedthedefinitionofcontext,orrelevanceTheoryofcommunication.Thenrelevancetheoryisappliedinthefieldoftranslation.LinkenanbecamethefirstpersoninChinatoadvocaterelevancetheorytoguidetranslationpractice.Thethirdstageisfrom1997to2005.Duringthisperiod,theresearchfocusesontheproblemsofrelevancetheoryanddifferentscholars’differentviewsonrelevancetheory.ThemostfamousoneisHuangYa’stheoryofrightandwrong.Accordingtorelevancetheory,scholarsalsostudythemisunderstandingofspeechcommunicationcausedbytranslation.Thelaststageisfrom2005tonow;Chinesescholarshavemademoreandmoreextensiveandin-depthresearchesonrelevancetheory.Atthesametime,theapplicationofrelevancetheoryhasgraduallyexpanded,includingpsychology,translationandEnglishteaching.Nowrelevancetheoryhasbecomeoneoftheguidingtheoriesintranslationstudies.AlthoughtheresearchofrelevancetheoryinChinaisgraduallyin-depthandhasachievedremarkableresults,therearestillsomelimitationsthatneedscholarstocontinuetoinnovateanddeepentheresearch.Relevancetheoryplaysanimportantroleinthestudyoftranslationprocess.Thekeyoftranslationistodealwiththerelationshipamongtheauthor,thetranslatorandtheaudience.Theyinteractwitheachotherthroughcommunicationbetweentheoriginalandthetranslatedworks.Intheprocessoftranslation,thetranslator’smaintaskistoexpresstherelevantinformationinferredfromtheoriginaltexttotheaudienceaccordingtothecontextofthetargetaudience,sothattheaudiencecantrytoobtainthemaximumrelevancewiththeleastinference.Thetwoprocessesarebasedontheprincipleofrelevance,whilethetranslatoristheintermediaryofinformationtransmission.Translatorshavetochoosebetweentheauthor’sintentionandtheaudience’sexpectation,soastoachieveasuccessfulcommunicationeffect.Therefore,relevancetheorycangrasptheessentialcharacteristicsoftranslationproblemswithrelevance,whichhasapositivesignificanceforguidingtranslationpractice.

2PrinciplesofRelevanceTheoryAccordingtorelevancetheory,translatorsknowthattranslationaimstoachievetheo