The Skopos Theory And Translation Strategies

As the study of translation has gone deeper and more comprehensive, translation theorists began to realize that traditional linguistic translation theories were increasingly incompetent. It was under such circumstances that German scholars put forward the functionalist approach to translation as an important complement and perfection to traditional theories. It has opened up a new perspective and become increasingly popular in the contemporary translation studies. From the perspective of German functionalism, translating is considered as a purposeful activity, focusing on the function or functions that the translation tends to achieve. The functionalist approach to translation is represented by Hans J. Vermeer's"Skopos theory", a theory that applies the notion Skopos (Greek word for purpose) to translation. This thesis is to provide an analysis of the Skopos theory concerning its theoretical basis, basic concepts, significance as well as its features and also attach much importance to its utility and rationality in translation practice by an analysis of Yan Fu's translation of A Short History of Politics.In Introduction to this thesis, the reason and purpose of the study and also the range and significance of the research will be introduced. Then in Chapter Two a detailed analysis of the theoretical background, essential ideas and the great significance of the Skopos theory will be given. By introducing the term"action"from the action theory, Vermeer defines translation as"a purposeful activity"and then proposes his principles. The prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose of the overall translation action. The Skopos rule is the guiding principle, by which all the translation process must abide. Translation strategies and methods are thus determined by the Skopos or the intended function for which a translation is undertaken. The other rules, such as the coherence rule and fidelity rule, are subordinate to the Skopos rule. A translation is considered to be successful if it successfully achieves its intended purpose. The significance of the...