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The roots of relevance theory are grounded in a cognitive method that originally upheld two assumptions. The first included the belief that most human communication consists of overt expression and recognition of intention. The second related to the first by inferring that two or more communicators expect certain standards to be met by the other party when transferring intention through verbal and non-verbal expression. As a result, relevance is defined as the nature of this process that allows communication and cognitive function to measure the equality of terms and concepts and the processing effort of the exchange. However, as the study of linguistics developed, relevance theory began to expand, finding that many aspects of communication may only hint at an exchanges intention and therefore broadening the complexity of communication and the theory itself.
Within the area of translation, the developments within relevance theory began to stir changes in theories of translation. Prior methodologies suggested that translation is a procedure that should be approached through a code model of communication which encoded, rendered, and decoded given information and conversation. However, the traditional strategy noticed a shift to literary and linguistic approaches to translation. These methods based their processes on equivalence, with the achievement of equivalence being the primary goal of translation. In fact, descriptive translation studies often took equivalence as a permanent feature of this form of translation and did not attempt to implement it separately. As such, this approach seeks to reach optimal relevance or to recreate the cognitive effects intended by the original communicator as closely as possible. Further, the altered equivalence provided by such methods often creates unsure results in terms of translation quality. To better understand the relationship between translation and relevance theory, it is important to observe its implementations in real-world situations through the thematic elements of communication problems, cultural significance, dialects, and language-based specifics such as humor, irony, and puns.
Certain diverging theories that stem from relevance theory have been noted to lack universality in their applications. This issue is often met within translation in intercultural settings, in which certain theories were unable to meet the general requirements of a theory of communication. Both Grices theory of conversational implicature and Brown and Levinsons theory of politeness were noted to be inadequately effective in being applied to all data provided by intercultural sources (Zuo, 2018). Grices cooperative principle suggests a universality of understanding and pertaining to communicative maxims even outside of direct, verbal communication. The theory states that appeals to a rational basis by a communicator that is then rejected by another are indicative of one of the communicators uncooperativeness.
This theory becomes largely inefficient in a number of cases that are influenced by cultural differences and incomplete knowledge of behavior among different backgrounds. An example of this can be found within Malagasy speakers which may often respond to questions in ways that suggest a lack of knowledge or avoid using referring expressions (Piskorska, 2017). From the perspective of Grices theory, this may suggest uncooperative behavior despite the understanding of social maxims and communicative intentions, though in reality, this is untrue. In fact, it is a result of missing equivalence in translation, as the cultural implication of Malagasy speakers may be lost when analyzed through Grices theory.
Brown and Levinsons theory is also challenged by its lack of universality when applied to the diverse communication that is inherent to the varied cultures of the world. The theory posed by Brown and Levinson suggests that a communicative method for interpretation or translation is based on politeness or the perception of the negative or positive expressions of an address as being primary to a process of communication. However, Asian cultures and languages posed direct opposition to the universality of such a theory. Honorifics, a formal linguistic device that exists in a number of cultures but is especially prominent in Japan, is negated in value or even largely disregarded by Brown and Levinsons theory. The behavior and manner of address within Japan from one speaker to another are crucial in establishing respect and social placement through both verbal and non-verbal exchanges. As such, the culture observes politeness as obedience to the convention, which portrays another loss of equivalent translation within intercultural settings.
A 2019 study had made discoveries in the practical applications of translations of lexical and visual information and the understanding of cross-cultural factors between Japanese and English speakers. The research observed the results through the framework of the relevance theory in order to establish its effectiveness in advancing intercultural understanding and the factors that contribute to the process. The experiment provided a number of Japanese students involved in English communication courses with text material concerning a topic that was culturally unfamiliar to the group, maple syrup production (Okaura, 2019). Initially, they were subjected to an English-only explanation of the process, followed by a semantic introduction, visual information, and an English-Japanese translation at the final stage.
The value of the entire experiment and the ways in which it was performed largely relate to the current and prior issues that adversely affect English learning in Japan as a result of grammar-based translation. Alternatively, the study provided the participants with both the original text of the authors that had provided maple syrup production information and a translation that prioritized the equivalence element of the relevance theory. The study also rejects the notion that translation exists as a communication purely between the translator and the audience, and acknowledges both the role and intent of the original author. The combination of these factors resulted in students presenting a better understanding of the text, suggesting that visual information and relevance-based translation have a positive impact not only on communication as a result of translation but also on language learning.
All the aforementioned information becomes increasingly important when analyzing the ways in which media is translated and presented. While the existence of geographical and other dialects within literary works may be considered minor by some, their prevalence and the challenges posed by them in the processes of translation continue to be formidable. As such, certain actions have been taken in order to broach the function of dialects in literature, the strategies and variations of translations associated with them, and the potential introduction of relevance theory to these practices.
Primarily, the appearance of dialects within literary works exists as a clue by both the original writer and translator for a better understanding of certain cognitive environments and references by the reader. Similarly, the translator also accounts for the recipients cognitive state, processing effort, and communicative gain when approaching the text. An important example is F.H. Burnetts The Secret Garden, which has stark changes between its 1917 and 2012 editions in the Polish language (Szymanska, 2017). These largely exist as a result of the dialect rendition process becoming changed by the assumptions of the translator regarding the cognitive environments of the readers. It is a form of coherence with relevance theory, as translators frequently base their translation of a dialect based on their interpretation of its function and equivalence to the language of the readers to which the work is being provided to.
Within the Secret Garden, the contrast that manifests between standard English and the Yorkshire dialect has a prominent impact on the narrative and thematic aspects of the literary work. While the Yorkshire accent sets characters apart by associating them with features like poverty and the lower classes, it also alludes to their closeness with nature, community-based closeness, and openness in expressing their emotions and identities. The main characters shift from regular English to the Yorkshire dialect is parallel to her evolution from a sulky, contrary child to someone more joyful, active, and open. As such, the equivalent translation of the dialect is necessary in order to accommodate for the original intent of the author. Within the 1917 publication of the Secret Garden in Polish, the dialect is largely missing through certain instances of rural vocabulary and methods of address. Mentions of characters changing to their Yorkshire dialect that was present within the original text also remain within the early Polish translation. On the other hand, the 2012 translation by PaweB Bersewicz provides constant elements of regional dialects through misspelling as a result of pronunciation, colloquial or archaic words, and dated syntactic patterns. The accuracy of both texts to the original can be debated, but through the lens of relevance theory, the 2012 translation provides a much more equivalent story by establishing the importance of the dialect to the narrative and thematic components of the work.
Another important proponent of language-specific elements is irony. While some may assume that irony by definition and function does not vary between most languages, it is the cognitive environment or background information of the audience that dictates the understanding and equivalent translation of any ironic text, speech, or imagery. According to the theory of relevance, the original version of an ironic statement, and by extension the translated form as well, is an echo of an idea, thought, or opinion from the opposition. Essentially, the user of an ironic element attributes their own statement to another speaker, someone whom they directly oppose and as such, segment their disapproval of the ironic statement. While the translation of such elements can be done with easy equivalence and accuracy into another language, if the audience is unable to infer the irony of the statement through knowledge of political, oscila, or cultural specifications, the true intention of the speech or text may be lost to them.
An example of this can be observed in English and Ukrainian variations of Ukrainskyi Tyzhden, or The Ukrainian Week, a magazine with a number of opinion articles (Kamyanets, 2017). The medias primary themes include politics, economics, arts, and specific values of democracy and liberalism. From this it can be inherently understood that any ironic titling or in-text information has the potential to be missed by a reader without background understanding of Ukrainian politics, economics, and arts or shared values of the customer base of the magazine. This directly affects the universality of any translation and its ability to provide equivalence if observed through the perspective of relevance theory. The intent of both translations is identical as both the English and original texts are provided by the same media source. Despite this, a study noted that irony was more pronounced within the English translations while the value judgements remained largely unchanged. While both languages implement irony in similar ways, the translated versions of the opinion articles sought to exaggerate the equivalence to readers outside the targeted demographic of the original text.
While humor has a number of characteristics that may seem completely incompatible or non-transferable between languages, the equivalence of any text or speech can still be translated in a way that upholds the original intent of the piece. The same occurs within linguistic-specific elements such as puns which present challenges both in audial, title, and other translations. Some attributes of humor and puns are also inherently dependent on cultural elements that may be unfamiliar to a number of viewers.
As such, certain examples can be observed in order to observe translation patterns with special focus on language-corresponding elements such as puns. American TV series such as How I Met Your Mother pertain to a varied number of puns and cultural references that are targeted at American audiences or those that have access to common knowledge of American politics, culture, history, and social components (Waloszek, 2020). Within the translation of the series from English and Norwegian a number of immediate issues were considered including inter-semantic redundancies and the limitations of screen-space. This case illustrates the ways in which equivalence becomes limited by the medium in which translation occurs. Audial issues may occur due to sentence length and elongated vowels. However, more focus will be placed on challenges faced in translation subtitling which usually faces spatial and contextual problems. Essentially, especially when pertaining to humor, subtitling that prioritizes the relevance of the original intent may also need to be aware of the original delivery and invocation of comedy in its translated form.
Further, in a separate study while relevance theory is acknowledged as a framework that can offer a standardized or unified approach to independent process in translation, its ability to create equivalence in others. The approach of relevance in translation can be seen as a broadening or narrowing of certain metaphorical devices, as they all have some form of universality whether it is through lexical or cultural elements. However, the study hypothesized that this format may be ineffective in translating components such as synecdoche, neologisms, blends, metonymy, or puns (Al-Jarrah et al., 2018). In spite of this, the study argues, at least in the case of puns, that relevance-focused translation can still be successful as the pragmatically adjusted meaning of a word or sentence is more equivalent to the audience than its linguistically encoded meaning. Essentially, the immediate context or environment as well as other factors of a certain medium assist in translating the original intent of a creator to an audience that is otherwise unfamiliar. In terms of puns, prior and ongoing translation that promotes equivalency will similarly function for puns.
Relevance theory is also contracted of cognitive and pragmatic components of communication. Within audiovisual translation, the reliance on relevance theory is especially important in subtitling decisions especially in relation to translating humor (Braun, 2018). The subtitling of humorous cinematic sequences poses a number of challenges not only due to matching an equivalence of the original media, but also as a result of technical constraints. A primary example of this can be found in Traditional Chinese subtitling for comedic films or television shows such as The Office (Pai, 2017). Relevance has been identified as the inherent choice of translation strategies for such instances of recurring humourous utterances within subtitled media. A study uncovered that while the principle of relevance is implemented in a subtle way, the cognitive efforts encouraged by the subtitler enhance the acceptability of the subtitles by the viewers. This may be due to the familiarity and equivalence that becomes more prominent as watchers are exposed to subtitles based on relevancy and are in coherence with the themes and stylistic choices of the media. This can suggest that, at least for the subtitling of humour, the relevance theory and related techniques can be used as a primary benchmark for film and television program subtitling.
In order to determine the extent to which translated subtitles have reached equivalence, it is possible to observe optimal relevance in spite of limitations that interact with the specific context of the chosen mode of translation. As an example, the subtitled translation of Forrest Gump by the National Radio and Television Administration of China was observed for primal relevance and the feasibility with the relevance theory in general (Minmin, 2020). The goal of any such translation is in providing the audience with appreciation and understanding of a piece of work by presenting effective contextual data.
Teh narration by the titular character, Forrest Gump, makes use of the word walk in three separate scenes, each implicating different settings and moods. The Chinese subtitles therefore implement three unique words to signify the nature of each scene, one being a calm walk in Gumps childhood, another occurring during a war, and the last being with his love interest, Jenny. Therefore, the translated text accommodates the context of each scene by providing words that supply meaning to the Chinese audience. In another scene, there is the use of the word coon, which in the setting of the film meant either a shortened form for a raccoon or a derogatory term for an African American. Essentially, the film suggests that Gump does not infer the racial remark and assumes the conversation regards actual racoons. Within the Chinese subtitled translations, air quotes are implemented in the racial remark and absent in reference to the animal. Collectively, such choices that are driven by equivalence have caused the translation to reach optimal relevance in spite of technical and cultural barriers.
A majority of the aforementioned works have observed the translation of originally English pieces into other languages. However, the process by which foreign films are subtitled into English run into similar and unique issues that have been described as both an effect of relevance theory and the limitations posed by the nature of subtitling as a form of translation. The film Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back, a part of the successful and now internationally known Monkey King series, had become prevalent within theatres outside of China and required the implementation of translation, both in audio and subtitle formats (Liu, 2020). An abundance of Western media currently has more familiarity even in foreign audiences due to its widespread progoation.
Certain Chinese stories are unable to offer the same limited cognitive efforts to viewers who are not familiar with characters or myths of Monkey King. The film introduces a number of characters and development that are familiar to most Chinese viewers such as the White Dragon Horse, in which the character appears without introduction and only character dialogue that warns of its danger. However, the English subtitles initially make reference to the White Horse Dragon before continuing the character dialogue. The same is seen when character names are followed by either titles or achievements. Prevalent examples are Sun Wukong-The Great Sage Equalling Heavens and Huaguo Shan-Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, who are introduced without the secondary characteristics in the original version of the film. While some of these elements may appear excessive, they have been largely judged to improve the ability of viewers to formulate cohesion between characters and the narrative and achieve optimal relevance.
While relevance theory has been implemented to relative success in the following instances, certain translations continue to lack equivalence often as a case of semantic loss through under-translation, over-translation, and mistranslation. Translation within movie subtitles from English to Kurdish will be observed to analyze ways in which barriers reduce the chances of equivalence and optimal relevance between the two languages. Primarily, semantic loss had been attributed to the fact that the source text and target language lacked equivalent terminology or lexical options. Further, lacking translator qualification, subtitling limitations, limited vocabulary, phraseology, and sentences have also hindered the audience from understanding the intent of the original source.
Examples of this can be seen in translated subtitles of the Witch Hunter, firstly with the phrase this woman will burn. The aforementioned phrase has been mistranslated to a sentence that more closely resembles this woman must be burnt which not only changes the original intent of the sentence but results in a total tense shift (Muhammad, 2017). A lexical issue occurs when mot was wrongly translated to a word that is strictly defined as gulf which simply results in the audience perceiving a completely different geographical feature. This creates an interesting and challenging issue for the relevance theory, as a clear solution to reaching optimal relevance with non-equivalent vocabularies does not exist currently. While the translators for the Witch Hunter may have attempted to select the most fitting sentence structure and vocabulary, it is also possible that external factors such as time limitations and inexperience may have contributed to the lacking translation in terms of relevancy.
Relevance theory has evolved with a number of translation theories in the past few years. Although it continues to encounter obstacles with certain linguistic features such as humour, cultural barriers, non-verbal markers, and languages that lack equivalent features, it is likely to continue to develop. Because the goal of the theory is in achieving not only optimal relevance of select works but universal application, solutions to such issues are likely to become more prevalent and employable as engagement between languages continues. As such, the relevance theory and all related processes will largely benefit from continued interaction with languages and mediums that may lack the more obvious elements of equivalent translation.
References
Al-Jarrah, R. S., Abu-Dalu, A. M., & Obiedat, H. Translation of strategic ambiguity: A relevance-theoretic analysis. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 54(1).
Braun, S. (2018). The importance of being relevant? A cognitive-pragmatic framework for conceptualising audiovisual translation. Target, 28(2), 1-20.
Kamyanets, A. (2017). Translating irony in media texts: A relevance theory perspective. Across Languages and Cultures, 18(2), 261278.
Liu, J. (2020). A Review of Translating Film Subtitle of Monkey King: Journey to the West by Relevance Theory. Journal of Education and Teaching Management Research, 1(3), 37-43. Web.
Minmin, T. (2020). A Study of Subtitle Translation in Forrest Gump from the Perspective of Relevance Theory. International Journal of Liberal Arts, 8(7), 71-85.
Muhammad, H. A. (2017). Semantic Loss in Translating Movie Subtitles from English into Kurdish (Witch Hunter as a Sample). Journal of Raparin University, 4(11), 5-24. Web.
Okaura, Y. (2019). A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to the Effective Use of Lexical Information, Visual Information, and English-Japanese Translation in Cross-Cultural Understanding. Research Bulletin Fukuoka Institute of Technology, 25(1), 25-29. Web.
Pai, F. (2017). Subtitling Humour from the Perspective of Relevance Theory: The Office in Traditional Chinese [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University College London.
Piskorska, A. (2017). Editorial: Relevance Theory and Intercultural Communication Problems. Research in Language, 15(1), 19.
Szymanska, I. (2017). The treatment of geographical dialect in literary translation from the perspective of relevance theory. Research in Languages, 15(1), 61-77.
Waloszek, B. (2020). Audiovisual Translation of Puns and Cultural References in the First Season of the TV Series How I Met Your Mother [Unpublished master thesis]. University of Stavanger.
Zuo, B. (2018). Emotive misunderstanding within an extended relevance theory. Intercultural Pragmatics, 15(5), 627-650.
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