关联理论下《IT狂人》中的幽默语言翻译策略研究_英语论文

A Study of Verbal Humor Translation strategies in The IT Crowd from the Perspective of Relevance Theory

摘要

幽默是一种说话的艺术，同时也是一种普遍的语言现象，在人们的日常生活中占据着非常重要的地位。然而，由于各国之间文化的差异，导致人们在理解外国言语幽默时会有很多困难。斯波伯和威尔逊于1986年提出了关联理论，认为交际双方之所以能够配合默契是因为有一个最佳的认知模式，因此关联理论对于幽默翻译有着强大的解释力。本课题是基于目前的幽默言语的研究成果，以英国情景喜剧《IT狂人》的字幕翻译为语料，研究其翻译策略，旨在进一步证明关联理论对翻译作品的解释力和指导作用，尤其是对幽默言语翻译的解释力，同时拓展幽默翻译研究的视角，以期能促进幽默言语的翻译和跨文化交际的发展。

关键词：关联理论；幽默翻译；《IT狂人》

Abstract

Humor is not only an art of speaking but also a common language phenomenon. It plays an indispensable role in people’s daily conversation. However, due to the differences of the culture, people always have difficulties understanding the humor of other nations. Sperber and Wilson proposed the relevance theory in 1986, holding the idea that the communication can be made smoothly is because there is a optimal cognitive model. Thus the relevance theory has a strong explanatory power for humor translation. On the basis of the present studies, this thesis takes The IT crowd for an example and aims to further prove the explanatory power and guidance of the relevance theory for translation works especially for humor translation works. The author hopes that this thesis can broaden the vision for studies of humor translation and promote the development of cross-cultural communication.

Key words: relevance theory   humor translation  The IT crowd

Contents

Acknowledgements I

Abstract II

摘要 III

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the Study 1

1.2 Significance of the Study 1

1.3 The IT Crowd 2

1.4 Thesis Structure 2

Chapter Two Literature Review 3

2.1 Relevance Theory 3

2.2 Previous Studies on Humor Translation in Sitcoms 3

2.2.1 From the Perspective of Skopostherie 3

2.2.2 From the Perspective of Cooperative Principle 4

2.2.3 From the Perspective of Equivalent Theory 4

Chapter Three Relevance Theory and the Translation of Verbal Humor in The IT Crowd 6

3.1 Relevance Theory and Verbal Humor Translation in The IT Crowd 6

3.2 Strategies of Verbal Humor Translation in The IT Crowd Based on Relevance Theory 6

3.2.1 Direct Translation in The IT Crowd 6

3.2.2 Indirect Translation in The IT Crowd 8

3.2.2.1 Paraphrase 8

3.2.2.2 Amplification 9

3.2.2.3 Replacement 9

3.2.2.4 Re-creation 10

Chapter Four Conclusion 12

4.1 Major Findings 12

4.2 Limitations 12

References 13