Christiane Nord's Functionalist Approach To Translation And Translation Process

German functionalist approaches to translation studies regard translation as a purposeful activity and claim that the decisive factor in translation is the translation purpose.For over a decade since German functionalism was introduced into China, much domestic research has been done which revolves on the first generation of this school,i.e.the Skopostheorie.However,the second and the third generations of German functionalism,adding more practical elements to Skopostheorie and making German functionalism even more applicable and universal,have already claimed their presence in the forum of modern translation studies.In view of this overshadowed status of the further development of German functionalism,this thesis attempts to re-examine the theory of Christiane Nord who is the leading figure of the second generation of German functionalism,and explains how her theory takes into full consideration both the extratextual and intratextual factors in translation practice.The author first introduces various German functionalist approaches,their advantages and potential problems,and then explains in detail the theoretical background,the requirements,and the content of Nord's functionalism.Special attention is given as to how it is derived from the first generation of the German functionalism and what aspects it includes.Then the author explains how Nord's translation model works and how the model directs a translator in the process of translation.The thesis uses a case study of translating English fantasy novels into Chinese.After presenting the directory function this theory has,the author moves on to the aspect of translation evaluation with reference to the principles offered in Nord's functionalism.Based on the thorough interpretation of the theory and the detailed analysis of quantitative examples,the thesis demonstrates how Nord's functionalist approach to translation studies systematically helps translators approach a translation task,decide translation strategies,solve translation problems and evaluate translation results.The author draws the following conclusions:(1) In terms of any German functionalism,and Nord's theory is no exception,translation of any kind of texts can be dealt with as a purposeful activity.The translator must translate with certain governing principles after a thorough analysis of the extra and intratextual factors.The translation strategies to be chosen should conform to the purpose of the translation process.(2) The analysis of texts is a crucial aspect in deciding the translation purpose, the intended text function(s).(3) In the translating process,the translator should bear in mind the purpose and the intended function(s) of the target text and produce a translation that is comprehensible and acceptable to the target readers.By comparing the intended function(s) of the target text and the source text,the translator can foresee the possible translation problems and thus deduce coping translation methods.(4) Translation methods such as literal translation,free translation,and adaptation can all be applied in one translation task,as long as the translator follows the principle of function plus loyalty.It is the hope of this author that this thesis will shed some light on Christiane Nord's functionalism and give due credit to her research and study.It is another hope of this author that translation learners may realize the significance and practicality of this theory and learn,accordingly,to use it to direct their translation process and improve their translation products.