Translating Technical Compound Texts Cuided By Skopos Theory

Environmental protection is an important issue that could influence the future development of mankind.The Living Building Challenge program,initiated by International Living Future Institute,aims to reduce the building energy demand through promoting net zero energy buildings and eventually helps to protect the environment.The book The Power of Zero:Learning from the World's Leading Net Zero Energy Buildings introduces the successful projects built under this program.It presents designers and contractors with the core technologies applied and lessons learnt during the construction of these buildings,while introducing the idea of net zero energy to general readers and informing them to join in,help update net zero energy technologies and protect the Earth.Although terminologies occur frequently in this book,the author managed to keep the language style elegant and beautiful.According to Text Typology,language serves simultaneously to represent(objectively),express(subjectively)and appeal(persuasively).When a text features more than two of the above-mentioned functions it is called a Compound Text.A Technical Compound Text may contain two or more of the three functions,and thus when translated,both its content and form must receive equal emphasis.According to the Skopos Theory,the translation purpose of the target text should be considered as the No.1 principle of translation activities.Translators are encouraged to decide what strategy to take in accordance with the translation purposes so as to fulfil the target texts' best function within the context and culture of the target language.Therefore,for the translation of the technical compound texts,the Skopos Theory is of instructive importance both on macro level as well as on micro level.This thesis discusses the translation strategies used in the translation of The Power of Zero:Learning from the World's Leading Net Zero Energy Buildings under the guidance of Skopos Theory.The strategies employed in the translation of terminologies and sentences are discussed from the linguistic perspective,while the presentation of text style in the translation of subtitles and sentences under the guidance of the translation purpose is discussed from the stylistic perspective.The translation summarized in this thesis could serve as references for similar translations and help to improve their quality.