A Functional Approach To Contract Translation

With the introduction of functionalist theories into contemporary translation studies, translation theories have undergone great advancement. Inspired by the Equivalence Theories proposed by Eugene Nida and Peter Newmark, as well as the Skopos theory, fidelity rule and Function-plus-loyalty model proposed by Functional School scholars, such as Katharina Reiss and Hans Vermeer, domestic scholars have done a lot of research within the realm of translation studies and a lot of publishing came out as a result. However, it is necessary to point out that most of their studies based on functionalist theories focused on the translation of literatures, such as poems and novels. Rarely can functionalist theories be seen applied to legal translation, let alone contract translation. That's why this thesis intended to use functionalist theories to provide some guidance to the translation of legal contract. On one hand, the thesis tried to formulate principles for contract translation based on Equivalence Theories and functionalist theories; On the other hand, with the help of the writer's experience in contract translation, the thesis tried to provide some useful strategies inspired by these principles to facilitate contract translation.In Chapter 1, contract translation is defined and classified; also a literature review is given to summarize the status quo of contract translation in China.In Chapter 2, a thorough introduction to Nida's functional equivalence theories and functionalist theories is given. Then, based on these theories, the four principles for contract translation are proposed.In Chapter 3, for a practical point of view, the thesis analyzes the language features of legal contract and provides some strategies for contract translation.Chinese economy is now becoming more and more open and transparent than ever before. With more multinational companies establish themselves in China and more Chinese companies seeking to invest abroad, greater need is being generated for contract translation. However, low quality contract translation is still not hard to be found. Therefore, it is the sincere hope of the writer of the thesis that this study can help improve the current situation and shed some light on contract translation to draw more public attention.