本书作者率先将关联理论应用于翻译研究中，并指出翻译是一种言语交际行为，是与大脑机制密切联系的推理过程。它不仅涉及语码，更重要的是根据动态的语境进行动态的推理，而推理所依据的就是关联性。作为交际的翻译，在对源语理解和翻译的过程中，人们对语码的选择所依赖的也是关联性。该论点在翻译学界引起了不小的反响。本书集中体现了他的理论，在关联理论的基础框架内探讨了翻译研究中颇具争议又引人注目的重要问题，既为翻译理论研究者深入清晰地阐述了观点，又为实践者提供了明确的指导。

Preface to 1st Edition
Preface to 2nd edition
Acknowledgements
1.The State of the Art-Some Critical Obserations
A New Initiative
Reservations
The risk of(multidisciplinary)disintegration
The problem of determining the domain of the theory
The problem of evaluation and decision-making
Non-theoretical approcaches
Equivalence
A Problem of Scientific Method(Research Programme)
Changes in Scientific Method
A shift in the domain of the theory
A shift from description to explanation
Translation as communication?
2.A Relevance-Theoretic Approach
The Inferential Nature of Communicatin
Semantic Representations
Context and the Principle of Relevance
Descriptive and Interpretive Use
Interpretive resemblance between propositional forms
Interpretive resemblance between thoughtsw and utterances
Interpretive resemblance between utterances
3.Covert Transaltion
The Notion of Covert Translation'
Translation-When all is Change?
Descriptive Ues in Interlingual Communication
4.Translating the Meaning of the Original
5.Translation as Interlingual Interpretive Use
6.Translating what was Expressed
7.A Unified Account of Translation
Postsript
General Bibliography
Index