A Receptive Aesthetic Analysis Of Functionalist Approach To Advertising English Translation

With the development of international exchanges and fierce competition, there is a growing demand for efficient international advertising communication and translation. For a long time, studies have been made on the language and translation of advertisements. The German functionalist approach has opened up a new perspective to the study of advertisement translation. This theory focuses on the functionality of the translated text in the target culture. However, most of the researches focused on the practical function but failed to study the translation of advertising English through an aesthetic approach. This thesis is a study on functionalist approach to advertising translation from the perspective of receptive aesthetics.The functionalists regard translating as interpersonal interaction. They believe that the people or agents involved in the interaction have certain functions or roles. These roles are interconnected through a complex network of mutual relations. From the production of the source text to the application of the target text, all the people or agents involved, with regard to different socio-cultural background, expectations, sensitivity or world knowledge, would exercise their different influences on the text.According to Jauss's receptive aesthetics, when the target audience reads one book, he should include his aesthetic check and experience compared to the works he had read before. In this case, the obvious historical significance is that the chains of the target audience's reception could be reserved and applied and identified. The trilogy of artistic authenticity—creation, works and appreciation—forms a dynamic procession mode. The original text would get its meaning only by reflecting the idea on the readers.This thesis will discuss the advertising translation with a receptive aesthetic view. It will put more emphases on the readers'role in the whole appreciation process of the advertising translation. After a thorough analysis, the thesis will verify the feasibility of the functionalist approach to advertising translation in terms of receptive aesthetic. It will also provide readers with a new perspective of the relationship between advertising and its audience, the ultimate receptor. Meanwhile, this thesis will make a detailed comparison between the English advertisements and the Chinese advertisements. The readers can get some enlightenment from it.