Applying Functional Theories To Pragmatic Translation

In the late1970s, as economic globalization started and made much headway, translation activities became more frequent with an growing demand for translating texts of various kinds. At that time, the major subjects for translation studies switched to non-literary texts, and functionalist approach to the analysis of translation emerged and flourished in Germany. The representatives of Functional Theories school include Katharina Reiss, Hans J Vermeer, Nord and Christine Schaffner.Translation is not only a human activity that changes one language into another, but also an activity with strong intentions. Holz-Manttari once said,"It is not about translating words, sentences or texts but is in every case about guiding the intended co-operation over cultural barriers enabling functionally oriented communications (Holz-Manttari,1984:7-8). To put it simply, what Holz-Manttari said means that owing to the differences in language type, expression mode, language habits and thinking mode between English and Chinese as well as the differences in cultural backgrounds between China and West, what the source language authors’ purposes are and what they truly want to express may not be correctly or precisely conveyed to target readers; so, throughout the translation process, it is essential for translators to take target readers’ needs into account and decide what translation strategies should be adopted after identifying the intended functions of the target texts.The text Discover the Ocean, Understand the Planet this paper analyzes is an article about the most advanced technology that General Customs Administration of People’s Republic of China selected particularly from foreign journals. It is a pragmatic style writing. The research method adopted in this paper is case study. This author compares the source text and target text, collects typical examples that illustrate the guiding role of Functional Theories in pragmatic English-Chinese translation, and analyzes the functions that Functional Theories perform in the process of pragmatic translation.