Bible translation and relevance theory : the translation of Titus

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Relevance theory has seriously challenged the theoretical soundness of formal andfunctional equivalence as Bible translation methods. In Translation and relevance: Cognitionand context, Gutt (1991) argued that relevance theory provides translators with the bestavailable framework for understanding and practicing translation. In his effort to provide acomprehensive account of translation, he proposed two new approaches to translation: directtranslation and indirect translation. He did not, however, develop direct and indirecttranslation into well-defined approaches to translation.This study explores the viability of direct and indirect translation as approaches to Bibletranslation. First, by applying insights drawn from relevance theory, it spells out thetheoretical and practical implications of these approaches in an attempt to develop them intowell-defined translation methods. The explication of the two new approaches shows how andwhy relevance theoretic approaches to translation differ from formal and functionalequivalence. In addition to describing the general approach of direct and indirect translation, italso demonstrates how each approach handles specific translation issues such as figurativelanguage, implicit information, ambiguity, and gender-biased language.Then, by using them to translate the epistle to Titus, the study tests the practicaleffectiveness of each new approach. This lengthy application yields many examples of howrelevance theory provides translators with valuable guidance for making difficult translationdecisions. It emphasises the need for translators to take measures to bridge the contextual gapbetween the source context and the receptor context, illustrating how this can be done byproviding footnotes in a direct translation or by explicating implicit information in an indirecttranslation.The study closes with a brief assessment of the two new approaches and somesuggestions for further research. The conclusions show both the value and the limitations ofthe results of this study.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University