Translation Principles And Strategies In The Light Of Skopostheorie

In step with the accelerating process of economic globalization, China is carrying on ever-increasing economic exchanges with various countries in the world. Chinese corporations have taken advantage of this great opportunity to enter the international market. A well translated company profile contributes to good corporate image of a company as well as the competitiveness of its products in the international market. As a special text type, company profiles aim to project good corporation images, to promote products or services, and to improve the competitiveness of Chinese corporation in the international market. In view of the special translational purpose of company profiles, traditional translational theories do not seem to suffice. Despite this, the translation of company profile, including its guiding principles and applicable strategies and approaches, has not received sufficient academic attention in China. It can be argued that the traditional translation strategies guided by equivalence-based translation theory is far from satisfactory for three reasons. Firstly, English and Chinese belong to completely different language systems and it is difficult to achieve absolute equivalence in translation process. Secondly, a company profile is a text type typical of purposeful propaganda. If we try to seek formal equivalence blindly in company profile translation, the realization of its communicative function will be undermined. Thirdly, the big gap between cultural backgrounds is another barrier in achieving the translation equivalence.As a break with the traditional translation ideas and an important complement to translation studies, the German functionalist approach, with Skopostheorie as its core, has opened up a new perspective to the study of company profile translation. According to Vermeer's Skopostheorie, any form of translation can be conceived as an action which has a certain Skopos. The prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose (Skopos) of the overall translation action. That is, the end justifies the means. Translation strategies and methods are determined by the Skopos and the intended function of the target text. In this model, the top-ranking rule for any translation is the Skopos rule. In addition to the Skopos rule, there are two other principles in the functionalist translation theories: coherence rule and fidelity rule. These two rules are subordinate to the Skopos rule. Therefore, Skopostheorie provides a theoretical basis for some unconventional translation strategies. In particular, its main concepts are applicable to company profile translation.Company profile translation deals not only with language, but also with culture. There are great differences between Chinese and English company profiles at linguistic and cultural levels. In the C-E translation of company profiles, the linguistic and cultural features of English company profiles have to be observed carefully in order to cater to the English readership's habits and expectations.The study, with Skopostheorie as its theoretical framework, is undertaken to explore the linguistic and cultural features of English and Chinese company profiles by comparing translated texts with the parallel texts in the target language after explaining the purposes and functions of company profiles. The C-E translation of company profiles should take these distinctions into consideration in order to serve the purpose of the original text. Due to the unique style and purposes of company profiles, it is pointed out that company profile translation should be a target-language-oriented and creative translation activity. Then three target-text-oriented principles are suggested for company profile translation, that is, idiomatic, comprehensible and acceptable. Based on a survey and detailed analysis of authentic examples, some successful translation strategies and techniques are also proposed in the study: addition, abridgement and restructuring, which are applicable to the C-E translation of company profiles.Finally, a conclusion can be drawn that it is feasible to guide the C-E translation of company profiles in the light of Skopostheorie. In the translation process, the translator is expected to bear in mind the intended function of the target text and produce a version that is comprehensible and acceptable to the target reader.