On Realization Of The Textual Functions In Legal Translation-from The Perspective Of Forensic Rhetoric

The use of rhetorical language is universal. There are so many different rhetorical features between English and Chinese language that rhetorical translation has become a major factor affecting the quality of cross-cultural communication. During the studies on Chinese forensic language, the application of forensic rhetoric attracts more and more attention of Forensic linguists and legal scholars. Due to the unique features of Chinese legal language and widely application of functionalism in translation, rhetorical devices applied in legal texts of different functions are worth exploring.From the functionalist perspective, the present study adopts the Skopostheorie that a translation action is determined by its skopos. Since the functionalism and Nord's function typology for translation are mainly practiced in the field of general translation, the present study attempts to adapt this approach according to the features of legal translation and apply it to the translation process of forensic rhetoric with the purpose of seeking proper strategies in the realization of expected communicative function.This paper analyzes the major functions of legal texts proposed by Kelson and discusses the legal texts with primarily prescriptive function and primarily descriptive function, on the basis of which, the present study further probes into the subfunctions of legal texts. Accordingly, the author explores the rhetorical devices applied in legal texts with different functions and their translation from the functionalist perspectives after the recognition and analysis of the elements of forensic rhetoric. At last, through the identification of the exact communicative function, the present study discusses what strategies should be adopted by legal translator to deal with forensic rhetoric translation in order to realize the expected function of a target legal text.