The Directive Functions Of Skopos Theory In Literary Translation

The skopos theory was established by German linguists Hans Vermeer and Christiane Nord. These linguists believe that translating and interpreting are communicational behaviors whose purposes determine the whole translation process. To be specific, there are three key rules in the theory:the skopos rule, the loyalty principle and the coherence rule. The skopos rule is the supreme one while the other two rules are subordinate to it. Most current studies about the skopos theory’s guidance towards translation mainly involve non-literary translation rather than literary translation. This thesis, by basing itself on the content and the characteristics of literary translation, has made a comparatively detailed study of the directive functions of the three key rules of the skopos theory in literary translation. On the basis of the study, the author has done some literary translation under the guidance of the rules. The result of the translation turns out that the skopos theory has as strong directive functions in literary translation as it does in non-literary translation, and that the application of the theory in literary translation can help improve the quality of literary translation.