A Study Of Buddhist Conference Interpreting From The Perspective Of The Skopos Theory

In recent years,conference interpreting has increasingly become the research object of many interpreting researchers,covering many fields,but researchers have paid less attention to some fields,such as Buddhist conferences.The Skopos Theory points out that the purpose of the translation determines the translation strategy.This theory is consistent with the requirements of the Buddhist conference interpreting.Therefore,the thesis is guided by the Skopos Theory and a research on the Buddhist conference interpreting is taken.In view of the fact that predecessors have done less research on Buddhist conference interpreting from the perspective of the Skopos Theory,hopefully the research in this field can provide a certain reference for future interpreters and scholars,and this research has certain research value.Based on the Skopos Theory,this thesis selects the Buddha’s Light International Association World Headquarters General Conference in 2016 as the research data.With the three rules of the Skopos Theory as the theoretical frame work,this thesis analyses the characteristics of the Buddhist conference interpreting and the requirements for the Buddhist conference interpreter,aiming at exploring the interpreting methods and techniques adopted by the Buddhist conference interpreter under the guidance of the three rules of Skopos Theory to provide reference for the Buddhist conference interpreting.The research method of this thesis is case analysis and the data of the study is a video of the Buddha’s Light International Association World Headquarters General Conference in 2016.The duration of the research data is 125 minutes,and the transcription is roughly 15,000 words.The thesis analyses the speech of Master Xingyun at the Buddhist conference and summarizes the characteristics of the speeches of the Buddhist conferences from the lexical and syntactic aspects.Then the thesis analyzes the interpreting process of Master Miaoguang,based on the three rules of the Skopos Theory,and analyses the interpreting methods and techniques applied in the interpreting process by the Buddhist conference interpreters.Through analysis,it is found that(1)From the lexical aspect,the speeches of the Buddhist conference are characterized by a large number of professional Buddhist terms and four character words.Syntactically,the speeches are characterized by loose sentence structures,many simile sentences and metaphorical sentences,and a large number of Buddhist proverbs and famous Buddhist sayings.(2)Interpreters must follow the three rules,namely the skopos rule,coherence rule and fidelity rule,realizing the purpose of the Buddhist conference,making sure the coherence of interpreting and keeping faithful to the source text,so as to do a good job in interpreting at the Buddhist conferences,which are indispensable.(3)Addition,omission,substitution,combination,free interpretation,conversion of voice,explicitation and literal interpretation can help interpretation at the Buddhist conferences faithful to the source text,coherent and make interpreters be able to grasp the main purpose and content of the speaker of the Buddhist conferences.It is hoped that the research in this thesis will provide some inspiration for the interpretation of Buddhist conferences in the future,and can help interpreters to flexibly make the interpretation better at the Buddhist conferences so as to achieve the communicative purpose of the source text.