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Abstract Exploring the way to process text dynamically based on the mental models built during plot development, Text World Theory aims to form the reader’s mental structures via cognitive schemas. By integrating Text World Theory into Critical Discourse Studies, this paper compares Alai’s works and its English translations in terms of the regional characteristic language, attempting to analyze the equivalence in translation from the perspective of cognitive stylistics. The results indicate that the target text, The Song of King Gesar, incorporates not only different world-building elements and function-advancers, but also different attitudinal and epistemic information from its source text. By contrast, the target text, Tibetan Soul: Stories, establishes almost the same text-worlds as its source text, although with different attitudinal and epistemic information. The differences can be discovered by revisiting Critical Discourse Studies rather than Text World Theory. The results further prove the in‐ ability of Text World Theory to collect complete social information. Therefore, with regard to the English translation of Alai’s novels, a similar text-world in the target text is not a guarantee of equal attitudinal and epistemic information.
Key words: regional characteristic language; English translation; Text World Theory; Critical Discourse Studies; Alai
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