任何语篇均由句子构成;不管是这些句子抑或是整个语篇,均可通过某种方式,突显或弱化所需表达的信息。形成语篇线索并推进语篇往前发展的信息称为前景信息,对语篇作者的目标不产生直接或关键性作用而只起辅助、强化或评论作用的信息称为背景信息。信息布局理论认为,可接受的语篇是前景信息和背景信息合理布局的结果。本文以汉语文学作品《醉翁亭记》第一段的三个英译文为例,通过对其中前景信息的提取并回译成汉语,探讨前景信息在语篇构建过程中对通篇连贯起所的重要作用。
Any discourse, a conglomeration of different sentences, features background information as well as foreground information both at the clause level and at the discourse level. The information which knits the thread of a discourse and which moves the discourse forward is called foreground information and the information which does not immediately and crucially contribute to the speaker’s goal, but which merely assists, amplifies, or comments on it is background information. Information grounding theory holds that an acceptable discourse results from the modulation of both foreground information and background information. The present paper, by taking three translations of the first paragraph of the Chinese literary discourse “Zuiwengting Ji” as an instance and through extracting and back-translating into Chinese their respective foreground information, aims to make readers fully aware of the important role that foreground information plays in achieving global coherence in discourse structuring.
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