关联理论视角下文化负载词的汉译策略研究——以《秘密特工》为例

An Analysis of Chinese Translation Strategies for Culture-Loaded Words through the Lens of Relevance Theory: A Case Study of The Secret Agent

Taking The Secret Agent as an example, this paper explores the strategic choices in the Chinese translation of culture-loaded words. Based on Nida’s fivefold classification and combined with relevance theory, the paper analyzes the translation difficulties of five categories of culture-loaded words—ecological, material, social, religious, and linguistic—and proposes methods such as literal translation, free translation with functional equivalence, explanatory translation, and transliteration with annotation. These strategies not only ensure semantic accuracy and cultural transmission in the target text but also reduce the cognitive burden on target readers, reflecting the optimal relevance between processing effort and cognitive effect emphasized by relevance theory. The study shows that relevance theory provides an operable explanatory framework for the translation of culture-loaded words and can effectively guide translators to achieve the unity of linguistic fidelity and cultural representation in cross-cultural communication.

本文以《秘密特工》为例，探讨文化负载词在汉译中的策略选择。依托奈达的五分法并结合关联理论，文章分析了生态、物质、社会、宗教和语言五类文化负载词的翻译难点，并提出直译、意译加功能对等、释义及音译加注释等方法。这些策略既保障译文的语义准确与文化传递，又降低目标语读者的认知负担，体现了关联理论所强调的加工努力与认知收益之间的最佳关联。研究表明，关联理论为文化负载词的翻译提供了可操作的解释框架，能够有效指导译者在跨文化交际中实现语言忠实与文化再现的统一。