Skopos-Theory

SkoposTheory(2012-11-3022:29:56)1.(translationstudies)Theideathattranslatingandinterpretingshouldprimarilytakeintoaccountthefunctionofboththesourceandtargettext.2.o1995,PaulKussmaul,TrainingTheTranslator,JohnBenjaminsPublishingCo,p.149:2.ThefunctionalapproachhasagreataffinitywithSkopostheory.Thefunctionofatranslationisdependentontheknowledge,expectations,valuesandnormsofthetargetreaders,whoareagaininfluencedbythesituationtheyareinandbytheculture.Thesefactorsdeterminewhetherthefunctionofthesourcetextorpassagesinthesourcetextcanbepreservedorhavetobemodifiedorevenchanged.IntroductiontotheSkoposTheoryTheSkopostheoryisanapproachtotranslationwhichwasputforwardbyHansVemeeranddevelopedinGermanyinthelate1970sandwhichorientedamorefunctionallyandsocioculturallyconceptoftranslation.Translationisconsiderednotasaprocessoftranslation,butasaspecificformofhumanaction.Inourmind,translationhasapurpose,andtheword“Skopos”wasfromGreek.It’susedasthetechnicaltermforthepurposeofthetranslation.翻译目的论，skopos是希腊语“目的”的意思。其核心概念是翻译过程的最主要因素是整体翻译行为的目的。1.IntroductiontotheSkoposTheoryTheSkopostheoryisanapproachtotranslationwhichwasputforwardbyHansVemeeranddevelopedinGermanyinthelate1970sandwhichorientedamorefunctionallyandsocioculturallyconceptoftranslation.Translationisconsiderednotasaprocessoftranslation,butasaspecificformofhumanaction.Inourmind,translationhasapurpose,andtheword“Skopos”wasfromGreek.It’susedasthetechnicaltermforthepurposeofthetranslation.Intheframeworkofthistheory,oneofthemostimportantfactorsdeterminingthepurposeofatranslationistheaddress,whoistheintendedreceiveroraudienceofthetargettextwiththeirworldlanguage.Everytranslationisdirectedatanintendedaudience.Thetheoryfocusesaboveallonthepurposeofthetranslation,whichdeterminesthetranslationmethodsandstrategiesthataretobeemployedinordertoproduceafunctionallyadequateresult.Vermeerregardsitasan“offerofinformation”thatispartlyorwhollyturnedintoan“offerofinformation”forthetargetaudience.Fromthisview,thestatusofthesourceisclearlymuchlowerinSkopostheorythantheequivalencetheory.Ⅰ.IntroductionoftheSkoposTheorySkopostheoryisthenucleusofGermanFunctionalSchool.ThemainideaofSkopostheoryisthattranslatorsshouldholdthethoughtfromtheperspectiveofthetargetreadersduringtheprocessoftranslation.Therefore,translatorsshouldbearinmindwhatthefunctionoftranslationtextis,whatthetargetreaders'demandisandevenwhatcommunicativesituationis.Consequently,thechoiceoftranslationstrategiesisdecidedbythepurposeofthetranslationtext,inordertoachieveabetterfunctiontext.Therearethreemainruleswhichareskoposrule,coherenceruleandfidelityrule.1.SkoposRuleSkoposisaGreekwordforaimorpurpose.Thetop-rankingruleforanytranslationisthusthe'skoposrule',whichmeansthatatranslationactionisdeterminedbyitsskopos;thatis,'theendjustifiesthemeans'byReissandVermeer.Vermeeralsostressesonmanyoccasionsthattheskoposruleisageneralrule,andtranslationstrategiesandmethodsaredeterminedbythepurposeandtheintendedfunctionofthetargettext.2.CoherenceRuleThecoherencerulestatesthatthetargettextmustbeinterpretableascoherentwiththetargettextreceiver'ssituation.Inotherwords,thetargettextmustbetranslatedinsuchawaythatitiscoherentforthetargettextreceivers,giventheircircumstancesandknowledge.Intermsofcoherencerule,thesourcetextisnolongerofmostauthoritybutonlypartofthetranslationbeliefe.Itisonlyanofferofinformationforthetranslator,whointurnpicksoutwhatheconsiderstobemeaningfulinthereceiver'ssituation.2.FidelityRuleTranslationisaprecedingofferofinformation.Itisexpectedtobearsomerelationshipwiththecorrespondingsourcetext.Vermeercallsthisrelationshipintertextualcoherenceorfidelity.Thisispostulatedasafurtherprinciple,referredtoasthefidelityrulebyReissandVermeerin1984.Thefidelityrulemerelystatesthattheremustbecoherencebetweenthetranslatedversionandthesourcetext4.TheRelationshipamongtheRulesFidelityruleisconsideredsubordinatetocoherencerule,andbotharesubordinatetotheskoposrule.Iftheskoposrequiresachangeoffunction,thecriterionwillnolongerbefidelitytothesourcetextbutadequacyorappropriatenesswithregardtotheskopos.Andiftheskoposdemandsintra-textualincoherence,thestandardofcoherenceruleisnolongervivid.SkopostheorySkopostheoryisanapproachtotranslationwhichwasdevelopedinGermanyinthelate1970s(Vermeer1978),andwhichreflectsageneralshiftfrompredominantlyLINGUISTICandratherformaltranslationtheoriestoamorefunctionallyandsocioculturallyorientedconceptoftranslation.(cf.ACTION(THEORYOFTRANSLATORIALACTION);COMMUNICATIVE/FUNCTIONALAPPROACHES).Thisshiftdrewinspirationfromcommunicationtheory,actiontheory,textlinguisticsandtexttheory,aswellasfrommovementsinliterarystudiestowardsreceptiontheories(seeforexampleIser1978).ApartfromHansVermeer,thefounderofskopostheory,otherscholarsworkingintheparadigmincludeMargretAmmann(1989/1990),HansHönigandPaulKussmaul(1982),SigridKupsch-Losereit(1986),ChristianeNord(1988)andHeidrunWitte(1987a);seealsoarticlesinthejournalTEXTconTEXT,publishedsince1986byGroosinHeidelberg.Skopostheorytakesseriouslyfactorswhichhavealwaysbeenstressedinactiontheory,andwhichwerebr