A Study Of The Translation Strategies And Techniques For Translating Mottos From Famous Chinese And Western Universities From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Prestigious universities in China refer to the universities with a higher academic level and a greater number of enrollments, which enjoy greater popularity in society and are given the priority for support in terms of the key construction of universities in China by GOC(the government of China). Similarly, there are also many famous universities in foreign countries, which enjoy a world-wide fame relating to their academic levels and have a great influence on political, economic and scientific fields.A university motto not only represents the quintessence of the history and tradition, but also reveals the characteristics and features.With the development of globalization, the intercultural communication among leading universities is increasing. Motto, as the soul of university spirits, plays a significant role in international publicity, especially for the academic scholars and overseas students.Based on the Skopos theory and some historical records, some case studies have been conducted upon the mottos of prestigious universities, analyzing the translation strategies applied in translation process.By studying translations examples, the following conclusions has been reached First, university mottos are informative and functional texts, and the Skopos theory is instructive for motto translation. Second, in motto translation, the most appropriate translation strategy should be slected according to different cultural backgrounds, linguistic logic and stylistic features. Third, when translating between Chinese and English with flexible translation strategies, translators aim to faithfully transfer the implied information in source text to the target text readers, which proves translators finally achieved the translation skopos in international publicity and intercultural communications.This thesis suggests that from the perspective of Skopos theory, the adaptable translation strategies applied in motto translation are worth appreciating.