Advertisement Translation: A German Functionalist Approach

In modern society, the rapid progress of economy, the development of international exchanges and severe competition bring about a growing need for advertisement and thus of its translation. However, advertisement translation has not yet been adequately studied in the discipline of translation. As a branch of translation study, advertisement translation has its own laws and needs a systematic study.Advertisement is a very practical type of writing with high commercial value, and the ultimate purpose of all advertisements is the same—to promote sales. Due to the differences of language and culture, a good advertisement, when translated, may not be successful to the target audience. If the translator rigidly adheres to the original form and content in advertisement translation, the translation may not produce the persuasive effect and may lead to the failure of promoting sales in the target market. Therefore, the traditional equivalence theory turns out to be increasingly inadequate and a more practical theory and translation strategy are called for.As a break with the traditional translation ideas and an important complement to translation studies, the German functionalist approach has opened up a new perspective to the study of advertisement translation. This theory emphasizes the functionality of the target text in the target culture. According to Vermeer's "Skopostheorie", any form of translation may be conceived as an action, and any action has its purpose. The prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose (Skopos) of the overall translation action, and translation strategies and methods are determined by the purpose and the intended function of the target text (translation Skopos). In this model, the source text serves as only "an offer of information" from which a translator selects the items he or shefinds interesting and important to reach the intended goal. Under the functionalist theory, translators are encouraged to make full use of various sources of information and they are entitled to choose whatever translation strategies they think appropriate to achieve the expected functions of the translation. Therefore, the German functionalist approach provides a theoretical basis for some unconventional translation strategies such as abridgement, addition and adaptation.Due to the unique style and purposes of advertisement, this thesis suggests three principles for advertisement translation, that is, correctness, acceptability, and attractiveness. Then, by authentic examples, the writer attempts to explore some successful translation techniques applicable to advertisement translation in light of the German functionalist approach.