Translating Conversations That Flout Grice’s Maxims In Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the suitable translation method in translating conversational implicatures. Based on Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principles, 60 conversations that flouted Grice’s maxims from the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J. K. Rowling, 1997) were selected and analyzed. Newmark’s (1988) Translation Methods was used as the theoretical framework to investigate the use of translation method by Ly Lan in the Vietnamese version of the novel (Harry Potter và Hòn Đá Phù Thủy). Moreover, based on Nida’s (1964) Dynamic Equivalent and Chesterman’s (2007) Translation Effect, readers’ reception toward the translations and the relationship between readers’ majors and their favored translation were also investigated. The results indicated that the communicative method was used at the highest frequency by the translator, and the method is also preferred by readers.