Press Conference Interpretation With Functionalist Approach

The reform and development deepening in economic and politicalfields, as well as China's access to the WTO, have enhanced China'sinternational status. As a result, the economic, cultural and politicalco-operations and exchanges between China and the rest of the worldhave been tremendously increased. In recent years, more and moreinternational and local press conferences on various subjects have beenheld in China. Every March, the press conferences held by Ministry ofForeign Affairs during the NPC and CPPCC sessions are increasinglydrawing worldwide attention, which has not only raised higher demandfor interpreters but also provided a new studying field for translationresearch. It is in this situation that the author deals with the PressConference Interpretation (PCI) as the research object in this thesis.On the one hand, the interpreter is the bridge to facilitate thecommunication between the addressor and the foreign journalists. It isalso of necessity to study the PCI against the background of theincreasing globalization.On the other hand, the increasingly arresting Functionalism providesa new perspective for interpretation study. The author searched the website of www.cqvip.com with the keywords as "interpretation+Functionalist approach" and "interpretation+Skopostheorie" in April 5,2007. Only two articles hit the target. Therefore, it is of great significanceto study the PCI with the functionalist approach.This thesis analyzes three roles of an interpreter in PCI process fromthe functionalist approach with adequate examples, i.e., the analysis ofthe translation brief, the design and analysis of a "source text" and themediation of interpersonal relationship between the addressor and theaudience which is the most important part played by an interpreter.According to the functionalism, the target text receiver (here refers to theaudience) is a crucial factor in translation activity. The interpreter shouldtake into account the requirements and demands of the audience. While ata press conference, the addressor is always an official of the governmentthat the interpreter works for. In other words, the interpreter is subject tothe addressor. Therefore, this thesis discusses more on the mediationbetween two parties.Based on the analyzing of the three roles, this thesis summarizes thePCI as a comprehensive process of fundamental top-down process andsupplementary bottom-up process, which are respectively guided by theskopos principle and the loyalty principle.