A Study on English-Chinese Translation of Forensic Rhetoric from the Perspective of Logic Translation Theory: A Case Study on All’s Well That Ends Well

Abstract

Rhetoric plays an essential role in early modern English education and profoundly influences on Shakespeare’s writings. Furthermore, forensic rhetoric offers a convenient channel through which Shakespeare could discuss such topics as law, justice and sound. Through his masterly use of forensic rhetoric, Shakespeare presents various scenes to audiences of different ages. As one of the “problem plays”, All’s Well That Ends Well also has many applications of forensic rhetoric. Rhetoricians have divided rhetoric into five cannons: inventio, dispositio, memoria, elocutio, and pronuntiatio. However, throughout the studies of Shakespeare’s plays both at home and abroad, there has been a tendency to concentrate almost exclusively on the translation of elocutio, such as word arrangement and style, etc. Few scholars have focused on the translation of Shakespeare’s inventio. Therefore, this paper analyzes the translation of forensic rhetoric in All’s Well That Ends Well.