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A Study Of Commercial Advertisement Translation From The Perspective Of German Functionalist Approaches

Posted on:2013-05-08Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:W J FuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2235330371480540Subject:Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
As a typical kind of practical writing, the ultimate function of advertisements isto persuade consumers or the public to accept the products, services or ideas andfinally to take immediate actions. With the rapid development of the global economy,advertisement can be seen as an effective means in business communication inmodern society. It has penetrated every aspect of people’s life. Advertisementtranslation belongs to a branch of translation study which has its own features anddisciplines distinguishing from literature translation. Thus, it is necessary to make asystematic study of it.Each language has its own background of national history, ethnic culture andnational psychology, so that different languages have vast differences in languagestructure, language background and the way of thinking. Traditional translationstrategies based on equivalence theories mainly focus on reproducing the form orcontent of the ST, which are no longer appropriate to advertisement translation, thespecial text style with ultimate function of persuasion. Under many circumstances,many economic losses led by mistranslation are due to the failure in luring orpersuading the target receivers into action. Therefore, more and more scholars arepaying their attentions to advertisement translation study and it is imperative to studythe strategies of advertisement translation.From German functionalist perspective, the purpose of advertisement translationis to realize the anticipated function of the ST in TC and the aim of persuasion shouldbe receiver-culture oriented. The translators must choose appropriate translationstrategies overcoming culture barriers to fulfill the persuasive function of the ST inTC. This thesis makes a study of advertisement translation based on the theoreticalframework of German functionalist theories. Analysis methods such as description,comparison, exemplification and induction are adopted to analyze specific examplesof commercial advertisements enumerated. The author tries to summarize translationstrategies such as transliteration, imitation, rewriting and abridgement as many aspossible and thus attempt to get the conclusion that German functionalist theories are more appropriate in guiding advertisement translation. The author has revaluedGerman Functionalist theories by reviewing some important concepts of them withthe attempt to make readers know German Functionalist theories well. Meanwhile,this thesis has also widen the application of German Functionalist theories in thepractical field of advertisement translation. Therefore, this study has both theoreticaland practical value.
Keywords/Search Tags:German functionalist theories, advertisement translation, target language culture, translation strategy
PDF Full Text Request
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