关联理论

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关联理论来源:《逻辑学大辞典》资料时间:2004年12月第1版
详细内容:(relevance theory)一种认知语用学理论。

由斯珀伯(Sperber)与威尔逊(Wilson)在《关联性:交际与认知》中提出。

以关联性概念与关联原则为基础分析言语交际中的话语理论。

关联原则包括:认知原则,即人类的认知倾向于与最大程度的关联性相吻合;交际原则,即每一个话语(或推理交际的其他行为)都应设想为话语或行为本身具备最佳的关联性。

在关联理论中,关联性被看作是输入到认知过程中的话语、思想、行为、情景等的一种特性。

当输入内容值得人们加工处理时,它就具有关联性。

是否值得加工处理取决于认知效果与处理时付出的努力。

关联理论认为,人们在接收和理解话语时是在不断变化着的语境基础上处理新信息的。

新信息可以增加或加强原有的假设,也可以否定原有的假设。

假设的增加、加强和否定就是“语境效果”或“认知效果”。

在其他条件相同的情况下,处理某一输入内所取得的认知效果越大,其关联性就越强,反之越弱;为进行加工处理而付出的努力越少,其关联性就越强,反之越弱。

根据关联理论,为理解话语所需要的语境不再被当成预先确定的推导前提,即不是先确定语境,然后判定关联度,而是先设定有待处理的新信息是关联的,然后选择适当的语境来证实这种假设。

在关联理论中,语境假设就是认知假设。

听话人凭借认知语境中逻辑信息、百科信息和词语信息作出语境假设。

找到对方话语与语境假设的最佳关联,通过推理推断出语境暗含,最终取得语境效果,达到交际成功。

关联理论对格赖斯会话理论提出挑战。

关联理论认为,交际不是以合作准则为基础的,为使交际成功,说话人与听话人唯一的共同目标就是要理解对方与被对方理解。

因此,关联理论将语用研究的重点从话语生成转移到话语理解,认为言语交际是一个“认知-推理”的互明过程。

关联推理是非论证性的、或然性的。

话语理解是一种认知活动。

关联理论指导下的理解过程,应以最小的努力推算出认知效果:(a)按处理的先后顺序审视理解时的假设(包括消除歧义、确定指称、语境假设、隐含等);(b)一旦达到期待的关联度,理解过程就终止。

这种受制于关联期待的说明内容与隐含之间的相互调节是关联理论语用学的主要特征。

对关联理论的质疑,主要针对话语解释结果的评价方面。

在现代社会,随着国际商务以及市场经济的高度全球化,广告无处不在,而英语是一种主要的商务语言,英语广告业开始在人们的日常生活中流行起来。

因此如何更好地领会并且翻译英语广告变得越来越重要。

隐喻作为一种有效地表达方式,在广告中被经常使用,获得
了很大的成功,成为了广告语言中的一项重要特征。

广告的本质就是隐喻。

换句话说,只要我们能将英语广告中的隐喻翻译好,我们就算是成功的翻译了广告。

关联理论最早是由法国哲学家Dan Sperber 以及英国著名言学家Deirdre Wilson 于1986 年在他们的著作Relevance: Communication and Cognition 中提出的。

根据关联理论,人们会对一段消息本能的起反应,考虑到另外一个相关信息上去。

根据关联理论,这意味着能用尽可能少的努力传达更多的信息。

Ernst-August Gutt's 的关联性分析基于Sperber-Wilson 的理论. 这
种理论认为翻译的过程可以分为交际的两个阶段,译者同时起到读者和交际者的作用。

在第一个阶段,他是作为读者,需要尽可能的理解作者的意图。

在第二个阶段,译者变成了一个交际者,需要向目标读者表达这种意图,用一种和他们最相关的方式。

很明显,在每一个阶段,翻译的目标是使得从原意到读者的理解之间有着最大的相关性。

这对广告隐喻翻译有很重要的指导作用。

一:隐喻综述
对隐喻的修辞研究,从公元前300 年,亚里士多德开始,到1930 年的理查德,持续了超过2000 年。

在这个阶段,隐喻被认为是一种修辞现象。

就是用一个词代替另一个词。

在1936
年,英国评论家I.A.Richards在《修辞哲学》中提出他对隐喻的看法,认为隐喻不仅仅是一种修辞手法,还能够在人们的交互行为中融入特定的含义。

从二十世纪七十年代开始,许多聪明的学者开始从认知的角度来研究隐喻。

隐喻能用来表达情感和态度。

广告语言作为表达的一种,也是具有隐喻性的。

在广告中使用隐喻能加强语言的表达性,促进产品的销量,并且使得广告服务更加繁荣。

二:关联理论与英语广告隐喻翻译
在前面的章节中已经讨论过,隐喻本身是认知型的。

对隐喻的理解以及在目的语中寻找对应的表述也是一个认知的过程。

因此,可以说隐喻的翻译是一个认知的过程。

关联理论从认知的角度为隐喻的翻译提供了指导,在关联理论指导下,我们在广告隐喻翻译中得出以下几点翻译技巧。

斯珀伯(Sperber)与威尔逊(Wilson)提出了两条关联原则,第一条原则为认知原则,即人类倾向于追求关联的最大化”;第二条原则是交际原则,该原则建立在认知原则的基础上(王建国,2009: 6-7>。

关联理论的核心就是寻求最佳关联原则,即人类的交际行为都会产生一个最佳相关性的期待,听话人要确定说话人的交际意图,就必须在交际双方共知的认知环境中找到对方话语和语境之间的最佳关联,通过推理判断出语境的暗含意义,从而获取语境效果,达到交际目的。

翻译也是一种交际,也应遵循交际原则。

翻译涉及到三个交际者:原文作者、译者、译文读者。

关联理论追求的不是原语和译语的直接关联,而是原作者、译者和译文读者三者之间的相互关联。

因此,译者在进行广告翻译时,不能只拘泥于原广告的词句,而应从广告明示的交际意图中寻求最佳关联,从而在译者和消费者共有的认知环境下传递给消费者,实现广告的意图,诱使消费者接受其产品和服务。

2.1 隐喻译成隐喻
如果隐喻的形象化的比喻能够为目标语言的观众所接受,那么就能够通过在目标语言中重现该比喻来实现隐喻。

如下广告:In Asia’s bustling cities, an oasis awaits the trader and traveler.在亚洲喧闹的城市里,一座绿洲等待着商人和游客。

(崔刚,1993:2)在喧闹的城市中,人们是很忙碌的。

因此,一个能提供休闲和娱乐的地方能够吸引大量的人,绿洲就正是人们实现此理想的地方。

由于绿洲的含义和引申义能被两种文化同时接受,因此对于中国观众来说,直接翻译就足够了,因为我们中国人了解绿洲的含义。

例子中,源语言中“绿洲”这种形象化的比喻也得到了保留。

2.2 隐喻译成明喻
虽然隐喻的意境能够被观众所接受,但是如果直接用目标语言翻译会显得不大自然,让人觉得不适应。

这时,译者可以做出改变,将隐喻变为明喻,同时保留其意境,以节省观众思考的时间。

如:Waterford, Light a Crystal Fire. 一waterford Glass Vessel(Chen
and Ding173)瓦特副水晶玻璃器皿,像一团透明的火焰。

(tr.ChenandDing173)在这个隐喻中,意思保持了一致,意境和背景发生了变化。

产品使用了两个类比:“lighter”和“fire”。

通过两个暗喻,作者成功地向观众介绍了产品的主要特征- 瓦特副水晶玻璃器皿非常透明,就像水晶一样。

并且通过想象,观众清楚地认识到了这层意思,广告获得了最佳关联性。

隐喻经常根据其意义转化为明喻, 使得观众不需要太多的努力就能知道作者想要表达的意思。

然而,如果明喻仍然不足够清晰,那么就需要加上暗喻的意义,以使得翻译清晰明了
2.3 隐喻译成非隐喻
由于认知环境的不同,有些观众不能理解一些隐喻的含义,很难在目标语言中找到合适的意境来替代源语言,然而,如果直接翻译的话,这种表述又难以阐明广告的意图。

在这种情况下,译者可以放弃隐喻这种表示方式,直接用其意义表示,使得人们能完全的理解隐喻的意图。

这也是一种有效的翻译方法。

如:Our department store can be relied on. we eat no fish and play the game (Li 198)本百货公司一向本着忠实可靠,公平竞争的原则,值得顾客信赖(tr.Li198)在这则广告中,在超市中使用“eat no fish”以及“play the game”都是隐喻的方法。

特别是前者,是有特定的文化背景的,可以追溯到英国历史上一场著名的宗教斗争。

“eat no fish”的隐含意思就是忠于某人或某事。

至于后者,“play the game”的原意是遵守游戏规则,在这里翻译后的意思是在市场经济中公平竞争。

但目的语文化背景不同,所以把隐喻译成目的语读者能理解的意义,因此获得最佳关联性.
1.保留策略。

This strategy is used when the image in the source language also exits in the target language, so the vehicle of the metaphor, the original pronunciation or the original form can be reserved. As for communicators of both the original and the target text, they share identical cognitive environment about the same metaphor (e.g. the semantic use and pragmatic use), so the use of this strategy will not cause cultural conflictions nor mislead the reader
Example 1: Crown/ Ivory/ Jaguar皇冠/象牙/美洲虎、捷豹
Example 2: Goldlion --- It's a man's world.金利来,男人的世界。

2.替换策略。

If there is a big divergence between the original and the target readers' cognitive environment in terms of this metaphor and it is hard for the latter to understand, or the text involves some social taboos and sensitive topics (such as the death or sex),the use of the reserving strategy would mislead the readers or even produces some negative influence on them, so in order to obtain the optimal relevance the translator can introduce a new related metaphor into the text
Example 1 Dangerous, but worth the risk.…Niki De Saint Phalle致命诱惑,极限享受
Example 2: On Wall Street, if you are out to lunch, you are lunch.在华尔街,你出去吃顿午餐,你就是别人的盘中餐
3 补偿策略
This strategy is used when there is a big gap between the source and the target language readers' cognitive environment on the metaphor, if translated directly, the advertiser's informative intention may not be realized, so there is a need to add some new information to help the target reader's comprehension. The translator can introduce new related figures of speech, such as simile, personification and contrast in the same or different position of the rendering or give some additional explanations. It aims that compensate the loss of semantic meaning, emotional expression and stylistic differences to make the translated version more faithful and sounds more natural. Example 1: Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country. —Marlboro
cigarette Version 1:来到Marlboro的乡村世界,来到特殊风味的所在地。

(Cui Gang,1993:50)
Version 2:追寻牛仔风度--西部潇洒走一回。

(Ding Hengqi,2004: 80)
Example 2: Ugly is only skin - deep.其貌不扬,精彩内涵。

/貌不惊人,超凡性能。

4明晰化策略
Sometimes the use of the compensation strategy will lead to semantic repetition, or because of stylistic needs (to be translated into antithesis or parallelism for emphasis),the translator will deliberately use this strategy. However, a deletion of metaphor can be justified only on the ground that the metaphor's function is being fulfilled elsewhere in the text. (Newmark, 2001: 91)
Example 1: Wherever you are; whatever you do. The Allianz Group is always on your side. (Allianz Group) 安联集团,永远站在你身边。

(安联集团)
Example 2: It gives me my hair a top-quality look.它给我一流的秀发/一流秀发,超级精彩
5动态组合策略
The principle of optimal relevance possesses excellent dynamic explanatory power, which can be seen from the examples listed above. Those four basic strategies are not always used alone. In order to keep a balance between various contradictions that influent the relevance, the translator can combine two or more strategies according to specific context to achieve the best effect. The way of choosing translation strategies is not pre-determined; instead, it is context-determined. Therefore, according to the principle of optimal relevance, the translator can choose one or more strategies in the translation process in order to achieve the best contextual effect.
Example 1; Fuel for Your Global Perspective! Newsweek Fuel for Active Minds! 丰富的资讯,为您提供全球视角! 《新闻周刊》,思想者的信息加油站!…《新闻周刊》
Relevance theory
According to Sperber and Wilson, human cognition is relevance-oriented. Relevance is a relation between the given assumption and a given context. An assumption is relevant if and only if it has some contextual effect in that context
3.1 Cognitive environment
Everyone is in a visible environment that contains a set of facts visible to him. Conceptual cognition is constructed by manifest facts. There is always a time when the individual is capable of representing the fact mentally and accepting its representation as true or probably true. The cognitive environment of an individual is a set of facts that are manifest to him. (Sperber & Wilson, 2001: 39) The cognitive environment of relevance theory regards environment as a psychological construct system, and it is a collection of facts existing in the brain of the listeners. The cognitive environment mainly consists of lexical information, encyclopedic information and logical information. The cognitive environment varies with each individual, so different people have different cognitive environment. People achieve the purpose of communication and understanding through "mutual manifestation".
3.1.3 Optimal relevance
Sperber and Wilson define optimal relevance as an ostensive stimulus which is optimally relevant if, and only if: (i) It is relevant enough to be worth the addressee's effort to process it, (ii) It is the most relevant one compatible with the communicator's abilities and preferences. (Sperber & Wilson,2001: 270) Relevance is the key to human cognition, and "human cognition tends to be geared to the maximization of relevance", (Sperber and Wilson, 2001: 260) Ground on relevance theory, during the process of communication, the speaker always tends to produce the most relevant discourse, and the listener also tends to pay more attention to these facts that are most relevant. The purpose of human communication is to search for the optimal relevance, that is, to obtain the information with adequate contextual effects for the minimum necessary processing effort
3.1.4 Ostensive-Inferential Communication
Combining Saussure's code model with Grice's intention model, Sperber & Wilson proposes ostensive-inferential model. Ostensive-inferential model doesn't only concerns coding——decoding, but also reasoning. Sperber & Wilson think the essence of human's language
communication is ostension and inference. Communication refers to two aspects: ostension and inference. Ostensive-inferential model is regarded as the main model in communication, with coding——decoding in subordination to it. What is ostensive-inferential model? He Zhaoxiong states “明示和推理是交际过程的两个方面。

明示是对说话人而言的, 说话人通过某种使听话人显映的方式进行编码、表达意图;明示就是指说话人明确地向听话人表示意图的一种行为。

如果听话人能明了说话人所做的明示行为,那么这种明示行为便是向听话人显映的。

推理是对听话人而言的,听话人凭说话人所提供的显映的方式进行解码,并将解码所得到的证据作为前提的一部分,在结合听话人本身的认知语境(旧信息)对话语信息(新信息)按一定的方向进行推理,最终达到对话语信息的正确理解”(何兆熊,2000: 185-186
Take the following dialogue for example:Example (B)
A: Do you like spicy food?\
B: I am Chinese.
B's ostensive utterance gives an inferential cognitive environment to A, from which A is informed that B is Chinese. Then A assumes according to its own cognitive environment that Chinese love spicy food, on the basis of which A is thus able to infer, namely, to infer B's implicated intention from B's ostensive information, and finally gains the contextual effects. Its inferential process can be expressed like this:
(Bl) (a) The Chinese like rugby
(b) B is Chinese
(c) B likes spicy food.
That is to say, the communicator gives the ostension and say what he wants to say, in other words, he expresses his communicative intention to receptor, which activates the relevant part in the receptor's cognitive context, as a result, the receptor tries to search
for relevance , and then reasons and makes intellectual enquiries to get the utterance implication. From the above discussion, ostensive-inferential model mainly aims at Grice's cooperative principle and it overcomes some disadvantages in cooperative principle. This model adds the utmost important concept "ostension" to the inferential model. Only does the communicator express his intention by utterance, the receptor's inference has a right direction and achieves the goal of mastering the communicator's intention and comprehends the utterance implication. In Sperber & Wilson's book Relevance: Communication and Cognition, they emphasize the concept of ostension, then get the conclusion of ostensive-inferential model.。

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