A Comparative Study of English Versions of The Everlasting Regret-Based on Relevance Theory

Abstract In the era of globalization, China is trying to make its culture known to the world so as to make it more brilliant。 And Tang poetry is the typical example。 The Everlasting Regret is a long narrative poem written by Ba Juyi in Tang dynasty。 He writes the poem on the basis of the love story between emperor Tang Xuanzong and his consort Lady Yang。 As a traditional classic work, it has been translated into several English versions。 In this paper, on the grounds of the relevance theory, the versions of Yang Hsien-yi and Xu Yuanchong are chosen as the focus of translation study to make a comparative study。 Relevance theory was put forward by Sperber and Wilson in1986。 And there are two factors that should be taken into consideration when assessing versions’ degree of relevance according to relevance theory。 One is contextual effect, and another is processing effort。  Meanwhile, the paper will also point out some shortcomings of the two versions。 Therefore, this paper will not only give us a better understanding of the poem’s English versions, but also enhance the reader’s ability to appreciate the translating versions。 89633

Key words: The Everlasting Regret; relevance theory; contextual effect; processing effort

基于关联理论的《长恨歌》英译本的对比研究

摘  要在全球化背景下，中国致力于文化走出去，使中国文化更加灿烂。唐诗是其中的典型代表之一。唐诗《长恨歌》是由唐朝诗人白居易所作的长篇叙事诗，该诗以唐玄宗和杨贵妃的爱情故事为背景而展开。作为传统经典诗作，《长恨歌》现在已有多个英译版本。本文基于关联理论，将对杨宪益以及许渊冲两个译本进行比较深入研究。关联理论是由斯珀波和威尔逊在1986年提出的。他们认为影响关联性的有两个因素，其一是语境效果，其二是心力。同时在论文中，作者也会指出两个翻译版本的一些不足之处。因此，这篇文章不仅让我们对英文译本有更好的体验，也会让我们的审美有所提升。

毕业论文关键词：《长恨歌》；源Q于W优E尔A论S文R网wwW.yOueRw.com 原文+QQ75201,8766 关联理论；语境效应： 心力

Contents

1。Introduction 1

2。Literature Review 3

2。1Relevance Theory 3

2。2Related Researches 5

3。The Comparison of Two English versions of the Everlasting Regret 7

3。1 An Overview of the Poem 7

3。2 A Comparative Study of Two English 来自优Y尔L论W文Q网wWw.YouERw.com 加QQ7520~18766 Versions from the Perspective of Relevance Theory 7

3。1。1A Brief Introduction to Two Translators 7

3。1。2 A Comparative Study of Two English Versions from the Perspective of Relevance Theory 8

4。Conclusion 12

References 13

1。 Introduction 

    As national strength and international power of China has grown substantially, Chinese culture “going out” is currently confronted with unprecedented opportunities。 Meanwhile, at the philosophy and social science symposium in 2016, president Xi Jinping has proposed that rebuilding cultural confidence and vigorously implementing the strategy of going out played an important role in economic growth and diplomatic influence。 Therefore, it is imperative to spread our cultural gem to the world and establish our cultural confidence。 论文网