Examples
Communicative process
Skopos theory
Five Quality Rules
Translatorial
Action
What is Skopos?
- Skopos: "aim or purpose"
- General translation theory for all texts.
Examples
Justa Holz-Mänttäri (1984)
Features:
“[It] is not about translating words, sentences or texts but is in every case about guiding the intended co-operation over cultural barriers enabling functionally oriented communication.”
- shift from ST to TT
- role of translator
- different ways of translation
These are some dishes
I have prepared for you.
Please help yourself.
Criticism
*The wisdom of the masses exceeds
that of the wisest individual
*Two heads are better than one.
The nature of the TT :
Positives:
- More attention to the role of clients
- Give clear instruction prior to translation
- Same text can be translated in different ways
Translatorial action:
translate
rewrite
give advices
negotiate
proofread
project management
Negatives:
- depending on commission
- override equivalence
- Translatorial action
Introduction
- Only valid for non-literary texts
- Translatum is useless
- Pay less attention to linguistic and stylistic level
- No clear commission
- Clients do not understand the needs of the TL audience
Criticism
Positives:
- practical issues
- target audience
- sociocultural context
- link the professional world with the theories
Negatives:
- challenge the traditional equivalent-based translation
- challenge the need of linguistic training of translators
- weaken the relationship between ST and TT
- fail to consider cultural differences detailedly
- 1970s and 1980s
- functionalist and communicative approach to translation analysis
Translation Brief
- the intended text functions
- the addressees
- the time and place of text reception
- the medium
- the motive
Functional
Theories
Translation Oriented Text Analysis
Christiane Nord (1988/2005)
Text Type
Translation products
- Documentary 'exoticizing translation' (Nord: 2005:80)
Mänttäri's
Translatorial action
ST Analysis
Karl Bühler (1879-1963) text functions:
Informative Expressive Appellative
- Instrumental translation 'function-preserving translation' (ibid)
Operative Text
Informative Text
Expressive Text
Audio-medial
- Subject matter
- Content
- Presuppositions
- Composition
- Non-verbal elements
- Lexis
- Sentence structure
- Suprasegmental features
Dimension:
Dimension:
Dialogic
Dimension:
Logical
Aesthetic
Focus:
Focus:
Content
Focus:
Form - Sender
Appellative receiver
Method:
Adaptive
Method:
'Plain Prose'
Method:
ST oriented
Method: Supplementary
Hybrid Type
Functional Hierarchy
- Functional type
- Translation commission
- Translation type
- Text problems tackled at lower linguistic level
Instruction Criteria
Linguistic components:
- semantic equivalence
- lexical equivalence
- grammatical equivalence
Non-linguistic determinants:
Functional Theories
- receiver
- sender
- 'affective implications'
- situation
- subject field
- time
- place
Criticism
TT function may differ from ST
- Why there should be only 3 text types?
- Why should one predominant text type prevail?
- Koller (1979) criticized Reiss's translation method for being general rather than specific.
References:
- Are the translation methods reversible?
- Can the operative text stand independently without the informative and expressive text?
Thank You
- Fawcett, Peter. Translation and language: linguistic theories explained. Manchester, U.K.: St. Jerome (1997)
- Munday, Jeremy. Introducing translation studies: theories and applications. London: Routledge (2001)
- Pym, Anthony. Exploring Translation Theories. London : Routledge (2010)
- Venuti, Lawrence. The Translation studies reader. Second ed. USA and Canada: Routledge (2004)
Jing Chen
Sarah Abu Risheh
Shun Yin Choi
Xiuping Xue