Skopos Theory Essay

Introduction

Skopos is the Greek word for “aim” or “purpose”(Nord 1997a: 27). It is the most significant theory that focus on the function of translated text in target situation and culture. It aims to make coordination between the cultural function of translation and the impact of target culture on translation. This paper argues that how skopos theory formated and developed to impact on translation approach. A translator should always chooses translation approaches purposefully as well as being able to translate a text in the way they want it to function(Nord 1997a: 29). It holds that translation approaches or strategies should be taken by the intended purpose of the target text and points out that certain translation methods which do not seem to conform to conventional translation criteria should be reappraised so that the function of the target text will be given due attention in the translation process.

The formation and development of Skopos Theory

Skopos theory was first presented by German functional translation theorists, Hans Vermeer. Its formation and development has experienced three stages.

The first stage came from the research by Katharina Reiss. She first proposed that text feature acts as a translation criticism standard in her book “possibilities and limits of translation criticism”published in 1971. On the one hand, Reiss is still adhere to the equivalence theory that centered on the original text", on the other hand, she also think "the relationship between the function of both ST and TT could evaluate the text, and pointed out that "the ideal translation should be equivalent between the conceptual content, language form and communicative function and the original text", so she referred to that t...

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... want it to function (Nord 1997a: 29). Such as the purpose of advertisement is usually for promotion and attracting customers. The most popular translated advertisement is usually not loyal to the original works. The purpose of trademark propaganda is to maximize economic benefits, convey commodity information, and attract target consumers. The purpose of translating a TV news is to attract more viewer. The purpose of translating a book is to increasing sales volume. This shows that the translator should select appropriate translation approaches or strategies in order to achieve different expected purposes or functions of translation. Flexibly selection includes literal translation, free translation, omission or adaption. In order to express the same meaning to different people, different methods should be selected to achieve ideal effect of the specific function.