The End Justifies The Means--Reflections On Functionalist Approaches To Translation

For centuries, translation theory and practice cannot get rid of the dominant idea of "faithfulness" or "equivalence". The translator has always been wrestling with the dilemma between literal translation and free translation and tried in vain to meet both sides. By putting forward that any translational action is a purposeful activity and all the translator's choices of translation strategies and techniques should serve to fulfill the intended purpose best, functionalist approaches to translation set the translator free from this ever-lasting controversy and open up a new perspective for translation studies. The present thesis thus devotes itself to a research on the great significance of the theory to the development of translation practice as well as translation theory. After an exploration of the origin, development and major principles of functionalist theory, the author endeavors to probe into its significance by rich and authentic examples.In the part of "Introduction", the history and the present situation of translation studies are first of all investigated. Through the investigation, the author wants to reveal that despite the attempts of the traditional equivalence-based translation theories to define and prescribe the parameters for successful translation production, they have done little to furnish the translator with any practical solutions to his task arid have proved unable to reconcile translation theory and practice, a new theory is thus called for to meet the challenges. At the end of the Introduction, the author demarcates her research by defining the word "translation" in this thesis.Chapter One offers a brief historical overview of functionalist approaches to translation. No theory appears overnight, neither does functionalism. The functional approach to translation has experienced a long period of development just as any other theories, thus a brief description of early traces of functionalist view of translation is dealt with in the first part so as to sketch the situation from which the more recent theories and methodologies emerged. In the second part, the reason and background of the origin of functionalist translation theory is elaborated. The traditional equivalence-based translation theories turn out to be a theoretical impasse and cannot solve practical problems. A new theory is called for to dissolve the dissatisfaction with the relationship between translation theory and practice. In answer to the call, functionalism comes into being. After an analysis of the background in whichfunctionalist translation theory is originated, the thesis comes to describe the forming and developing stages of functionalist translation theory in its modern sense. Its modern development can be roughly divided into three stages with Katharina Reiss being the forerunner. On the basis of the foregoing generation's study, Christiane Nord goes further to improve functionalist theory by introducing the principle of "loyalty" into it, namely, the translator's commitment to both the ST sender and the TT recipient.After a brief historical overview of how function-oriented concepts come into being, Chapter Two begins a sketchy review of the theory proper. The first three parts explain and define the agents and conditions of translational action. Functionalist theory views translation as a type of human action. It embeds translation theory in a theory of human action or activity and draws upon the parameters of action theory to explain some aspects of translation, such as the roles of the initiator and translator as agents in communication. Taking place in situations which are limited by time and space, any translational action, as an intercultural communication, is conditioned by the constraints of the situation-in-culture as well as the specific communicative purpose. The fourth part, a key part of this chapter, expounds the three main principles of Vermeer's Skopostheorie, the cornerstone of the whole functionalist translation theory. Skopos rule, the guiding principle, holds that any translational actio...