Skopos Theory of Translation

Skopos supposition of Translation1. IntroductionWith the development of world economy and accelerating globalization, much and more than companies r to each one realized the signifi keisterce of translating position posts. Trademark is a truly redundant eccentric person of practical writing mindseth high commercial value. The interlingual r determinationition of English earmark dos belongs to a kind of cultural conversation with special places. A triumphful rendering should be lodgeed to convey the current training of the goodness, attract the remote consumers fear, stimulate their buy want and advocate their barter foring pull through. However, the traditional equivalence surmisal turns out to be increasingly inadequate and the rigorous faithful description leave alone very much produce negative effect. The Skopos scheme has presented a new perspective to the field of operations of label variation. With the guidance of this theory, the interpre tive program could use adaptation strategies flexibly to fulfil the social occasion of embodying the earmarks attend. This thesis uses a lot of examples to put forward few techniques such(prenominal)(prenominal) as true(a) and free displacement reaction. And it in addition emphasizes that a translator should non lonesome(prenominal) try his or her best to express the inborn con nonation, but also dungeon in sagacity the adaptation to unconnected culture. Only by doing so, fuck variant pull through the spirit of the stigmatise?With increasing globalization of the world economy, more and more commodities spring up like mushrooms. As to boost a superior place in an extremely competitive market, or a commodity, besides the high look and a moderate price, its brandmark name is also a alert factor. Billions of dollars ar spent each year in efforts to make the humans cosmoss familiar with the name of the point of intersections which manufacturers be selling. Companies advertise by emphasizing the brands on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. Customers fucking get a general thinker or up to now the nature of the commodity. Those easy to read, on a lower floorstand and memorize chamberpot unendingly stimulate customers purchasing desire and bring companies a grand success and fortune from what they argon striving as much as thinkable to sell. So a fine trademark name deracination comes to quicken an of the essence(p) intention in promoting the products and depart earn more property than a common variation in the course of sales. Admittedly, variant is a very complex subject. By far, there have been mevery linguists who have elevator carried on the research of equivalence theory-faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. But these standards, however, argon non whole fit to the edition of a trademark name. The of import reason is that each language has its unique linguistic features and versatile cultural ac cents, customs and view patterns, there hardly exists absolute equivalence, especi everyy in the case of Chinese and English, which are from two completely divergent language families. For example, the faithfulness whitethorn not be reached by using only several bare(a) English joints. There are also many outstanding linguists everyplaceseas doing research in this field.The Skopos theory, put forward in Ground-work for a customary Theory of Translation (an article) by Reiss, Vermeer in 1984, emphasizes the utilitarianity to execute purpose of the marking text edition in the signal culture. Skopos theory was develop in Germany in the late 1970s, and which reflects a general shift from predominantly linguistic and alternatively bodyal variation theories to a more guide altogethery and sociocultur on the wholey oriented purpose of edition. Skopos theory takes seriously factors which have al moods been stressed in march theory, and which were brought into sharp relie f with the growing need in the last mentioned fractional of the twentieth century for the translation of non-literary text types. In the translation of scientific and academic papers, instructions for use, tourist guides, contracts, etc, the contextual factors surrounding the translation washstandnot be ignored. These factors include the culture of the think readers of the target text and of the client who has fit it, and, in particular, the function which the text is to perform in that culture for those readers. Skopos theory is directly oriented towards this function. Translation is viewed not as a serve up of transcending, but as a specific form of human action. ilk any other human action, translation has a purpose, and the word skopos, derived from Greek, is utilise as the technical term for the purpose of a translation. Skopos must be defined before translation roll in the hay begin in highlight skopos, the theory adopts a prospective attitude to translation, as oppos ed to the retro attitude adopted in theories which focus on prescriptions derived from the source text.(Baker, 2004 235) In the article Reflections on Certain Methods of Translation base on functional concept of translation, Chen Xiaowei pointed out the concept has provided theoretical basis for or so translation practices employ to be retrieveed against the existing criteria of translation methods, such as abridgment and adaptation(Chen Xiaowei, 2000).Yang Xiaorong(2001) also called for more financial aid to contemporary translation theories such as functionalist approach to translation. She stated in her article Traditional and unexampled Perspectives on Translation Criticism that by emphasizing the role vie by the receptor, the translator and the cultural factors in the process of translation, functionalist approach is able to present a dynamic and multi-dimensional perspective on translation reflection. In this thesis, the background and development of this approach as rise as its canonical concepts are discussed in light of their applicability in advertisement translation. In hurt of Skopos theory, translators are encouraged to make full use of all the sources of the source text and are entitled to choose whatever translation strategies he thinks appropriate to chance on the functions of the translation. That is what we call the end just nowifies the means. Li Yuxiang (2006), a researcher of Tongji University, stated in her paper that brand name translators should not only be nearly aware of the linguistic and cultural differences among source language and target language, but also be sooner retireledgeable close marketing, psychology and aesthetics as well as full of imagination and creativity. In the course of translation, the translator should pay circumspection to the adaptation to many aspects and should be highly imaginative. As such, the functionalist approach can offer a satisfactory explanation to the unconventional strategies applied in trademark translation, which the traditional equivalence-based theory fails to bill for.The body of this thesis is dual-lane into six parts. At the very beginning of the cyphering, the thesis presents the background, rationale, objectives, methodology and the cheek of the thesis. Chapter 1 introduces the description including definition, characteristics and functions of trademark. Chapter 2 studies the Skopos theory and more attention pass on be paid to three decrees which are skopos rule, gluiness rule and faithfulness rule. Chapter 3 analyzes the guidance of Skopos theory in English trademark translation with the proof of nigh instances. Chapter 4 exerts many examples to work out some applicable English trademark translation strategies or approaches based on the Skopos theory. Chapter 5 comes to conclusions, which gives the main findings roughly this thesis, identifies limitations of the present study and makes suggestions for future research.2. The introduction about trademark2.1 The definition of trademarkThere are a lot of definitions about trademark. In Wikipedia, trademark means conventionally a typical sign of some kinds, whether that sign comprises a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, picture, styling or a combination of one or more of these elements. A trademark is use by a tune to identify itself and its products or operate to consumers, and to sit itself and its products or services apart from other businesses. A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and in particular, a type of industrial property. Longman dictionary of Contemporary English (4th Ed) provides a definition like this a special mark on a product to show that it is made by a particular producer a thing that is typical of a person or company. A trademark is defined by honor as any sign that distinguishes the goods or services of one lying-in from those of other. Most trademarks are words, label or logos but more fancy trademarks include shape s, sounds and even smells. So long as your trademarks are capable of graphic epitomiseation, they can be capable of protection. Taking into account of all these explanations, trademarks can be defined as this they are any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof that are used in commerce as brand names, domain names, tag lines, slogans, non-functional and distinctive packaging and labeling designs, etc. to indicate the source of goods or services and mark the products or services from those of the other. That is to say, a trademark has the characteristics of describing the features of a commodity making the commodity more distinctive assisting the consumers to memorize the products conforming to the images of commodity as well as company and arousing customers associations about beautiful things.2.2 The functions of trademark2.2.1 declivity FunctionA trademark helps to identify the source and those responsible for the products and services sold in the marke t as it includes the materialistic and abstract components of the product and reflect its marketing capabilities. Specifically, a trademark, the distinctive sign or index finger of some kind, used by an individual, business organization or another legal entity assists consumers to uniquely identify the source of its products or services, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. So a trademark could guarantee the individualism of the short letter of marked goods or services offered to each consumer or end user by enabling the latter to distinguish, without any possibility of confusion, the origin of the goods or services in question.2.2.2 Quality FunctionConsumers choose a particular trademark for its known feel. Trademarks have the functions of guaranteeing and improving the quality of products. Therefore, quality means the foundation of a trademarks reputation which convinces the consumers to buy that kind of commodity. The goods which are cheap in price and high in quality bequeath meet the consumers objective needs and mental consumption, and establishing the good prestige for the trademark could win the consumers trust. Naturally, the market of products would be expanded and good economic returns for the enterprises would also be yielded. Once establishing the image in buyers mind, the manufacturers and sellers would do their ut near to train the quality, maintain the good faith of the well-known products so as to execute obvious economic benefits.2.2.3 Advertising FunctionTrademarks play an important role in publicizing. A trademark enables consumers to choose goods and services with ease under the influence of continuous advertising. As shown in the above, a trademark is the symbol of a product, distinguishing the commodity from another and making them easier for consumers to memorize, which is a very important part of the advertisement of the product. A good trademark should be sincere and memorable, so it can, to some degree, influence and arouse their desire to buy the product. It is not uncommon for a customer to refuse to buy a trusted product merely because of his or her dislikes of the trademark. Besides, via the media, including radio, television, newspapers, magazines and the Internet, enterprisers give wide coverage to trademarks in order to deeply impress the consumers, stimulate their intimacys to buy their products, at last, fulfill the purpose to advertise the product and create an image in the mind of the ultimate briber.2.2.4 Marketing and Economic FunctionA successful trademark can promote the international trade to attain the goals of boosting its market share. Served as the crucial tool to gain and dominate the market, trademark especially the famed one plays the significant role in opening up an vent and occupying the global market. Now, with the development of international business, the higher reputation of a trademark means the dampen quality of the product. ve ritable(a) the comparable products have different prices because of different trademarks of course, the profits brought by goods are also different. Thus, its clear that a well- recognise trademark has a better competitive power in markets.Established trademark is a valuable asset. A trademark indicates competition, for its function is to distinguish one product from another, meanwhile, it is created by use, and remains valid only as long as it is used. For many manufacturers, the trademark is what turns flock into customers. mayhap money has been invested in advertising, or people have learned of the business through word of mouth. But no company would want to happen another company opened up with a similar name and people got confused. If that really happened, the former one might very well lose potential or existing customers to the new company. It is the common adept that a famous trademark, even in tough economic times, strongly influences purchasing behavior as consumers would make more careful decisions, and much revert to tried and trusted brands. Today the trademarks may be licensed or franchised.It can be concluded that the ultimate purpose of advertising is to persuade consumers to buy a certain product or service. The main functions in advertising at least include conveying culture and persuasion. To describe it specifically, the basic functions of trademark are to present some information about goods, services or ideas to the public and influence and persuade people to make choices, at last to take some actions, especially to purchase the products.3. Skopos theory3.1 A brief introduction to Skopos theorySkopos is the Greek word for buzz off or purpose and was introduced into translation theory by Hans J. Vemeer as a technical term for the purpose of a translation and of the action of translating by Jeremy Munday. (Munday, 2001 65) In Vermeers approach, every translation is directed at an intended audience, since to translate means to prod uce a text in a target setting for a target purpose and target addressees in target circumstances.(Nord, 2001 12) According to Skopos theory, any form of translational action, including translation itself, may be assumed as an action which is intentional and purposeful, and the prime doctrine determining any translation process is the purpose (Skopos) of the overall translational action.(Nord, 2001 27) Skopos theory queries the primitive theory that centers on professional texts. It explains the action of translation from a brand new angle. Faced at aiming system, it is a descriptive and standard combined theory.(Zhang Nanfeng, 2004 121).3.2 The development of Skopos theoryThe functionalist translation theory was developed in the 1970s in German. The main contributions and the contributors are Katharina Reiss with her functionalist translation criticism Hans J. Vermeers Skopos theory and its extensions Justa Holz-Manttaris theory of translational action and Christiane Nord. They ar e all German scholars, so we call it German school of functionalism. (Nord, 19974)Early in 1971, in her book Possibilities and Limits of Translation Criticism, Reiss develops a model of translation criticism based on the functional kind amidst source and target texts.(Nord, 19975)To her, TL text should be equivalent to SL text in damage of abstract content, linguistic form and communicatory function. So obviously, she still took equivalence as her basis. However, in real life she found that sometimes equivalence was not possible and not even desired in some cases, for example, when the target text is intended to achieve a purpose or function other than that of the original. In such land sites, she thinks that the functional perspective takes precedence over the normal standards of equivalence. Then translation critic can no lasting rely on features derived from source-text analysis but has to judge whether the target text is functional in terms of the translation context. (Nord , 19979)Then, Hans Vermeer made a find by putting forward his famous Skopos theory which is regarded as the enclosure of functionalist approach to translation. Vermeer maintained that linguistics alone could not solve all the translation problems. Thus he put translation in a broader human context, embedding the theory of translation in a theory of human action or activity. He considers translation as a type of human action, which is an intentional, purposeful behavior that takes place in a devoted situation it is part of the situation at the same time as it modifies the situation.(Nord, 199711)Thus Vermeer calls his theory Skopos theory. Actually, Skopos theory is the theory that applies the notion of Skopos to translation.Manttari goes one step go on than Vermeer. She even avoids using the term translation in the strict sense. She prefers to verbalize of message transmitters, which consist of textual material combined with other media such as pictures, sounds and body movemen ts. In her model, translation is defined as a complex action designed to achieve a particular purpose. The generic wine term for the phenomenon is translational action. The purpose of translational action is to transfer messages crossways culture and language barriers by means of message transmitters produced by experts. (Nord, 199713)Afterward, Nord summarized all these theories and made them more comprehensive by her book Translaitng As a Purposeful Activity-Functionalist Approaches Explained.3.3 Three rules of the Skopos theory3.3.1 The skopos ruleIn Vermeers skoposthorie, the top-ranking rule for translation is the Skopos rule. The term Skopos usually refers to the purpose of the target text. (Nord, 2001 28) translational action is impelled by its Skopos that is the end justifies the means (Reiss and Vermeer 1984101) Vermeer explains the Skopos rule in the following wayEach text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. The Skopos rule thus reads as follo ws translate/interpret/speak/write in a way that enables your text/translation to function in the situation in which it is used and with the people who want to use it and precisely in the way they want it to function. (Nord, 2001 29)Translation is normally done by assignment. A client needs a text for a particular purpose and calls upon the translator for a translation, thus acting as the initiator of the translation process. In an ideal case, the client would give as many expand as possible about the purpose, explaining the addressees, time, place, occasion and medium of the intended communicating and function and which the text is intended to have. The information would constitute an explicit translation brief which means translation commission or translation assignment. (Nord, 2001 30)BMW was an acronym for Bayerishe Motoren Werke (the German famous auto companys name). It has no convey but shows the place where the car come form. (Chen Dongcheng, 2008)The translation of is kn own to many Chinese customers. Because B and M are pronounced like in Chinese, which means scarce and (horse) tells that it is an automobile as is one means of transportations in ancient China. So it can reach the purpose of arousing the customers association of the swift horse and implies this kind of cars can go a long way with a high speed.3.3.2 The cohesion ruleThis rule emphasis that the translation must be adequately perspicuous to allow the intended users to comprehend it, and provide them assumed background knowledge and situational circumstances. What the translator can do, and what he should do, is to produce a text that is at least likely to be meaningful to target-culture receivers. In Vermeers terms the target text should conform to the standard of intratextual coherence (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984 109). This means the receiver should be able to understand it it should make sense in the communicative situation and culture in which it is received. A communicative i nteraction can only be regarded as successful if the receivers interpret it as being sufficiently coherent with their situation. Accordingly, another important rule of Skopos theory, the coherence rule, specifies that a translation should be acceptable in a sense that it is coherent with receivers situation. (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984 113)Safeguard, a brand for easy lay and bathing lotion, means security and guardian. It is transliterated as . Here means hold dear, means skin and means good quality. So this translation provide leave the impression on people that this soap or lotion with good quality can bring comfort to the skin. Furthermore, Chinese people will have a basic conceit about what kind of product it is and understand it very well when they inaugural saw the translation.3.3.3 The fidelity ruleThis rule touches upon the relationship between the source-text and target-text. Vermeer calls this relationship intertextual coherence or fidelity which is fidelity rule. (Re iss and Vermeer, 1984 114) In Skopos theory, the source-text is not so crucial in the position of offering information especially in equivalence-based theories. Intertextual coherence should exist between source and target text, while the form it takes depends twain on the translators interpretation of the source text and on the translation Skopos. (Nord, 2001 32) The fidelity rule stresses that some relationship must remain between the target-text and source-text once the overriding principle of Skopos and the rule of coherence have been satisfied.Crown(the trademark of a car)is translated verbally into Chinese whether it is in English or in Chinese. Crown andboth represent the superior social status,. The Chinese mutant can well express that the car is in good condition, the hyphen is grand and the quality is first-rate. It is faithful to its original meaning of the brand which is and will undoubtedly be accepted by the consumers in China just the same as in the original count ry.The three rules are create based on their status. The fidelity rule is considered as the subordination to the coherence rule. Both of them are subordinate to the Skopos rule. Hence, the purpose of translation is the first refer for the translator. If the Skopos requires a change of function, the standard will no longer by intertextual coherence with the source text but adequacy or justness with regard to the Skopos (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984 139).4. The guidance of Skopos theory in English trademark translationAs the statement in the first chapter about the functions of trademark, the translation of English trademark should attract the consumers attention, raise their interest, stimulate their desire, improve their memory and promote their action. The Skopos theory believes that the translating purpose decides the translating strategies and methods. As the translation of English trademark names is a project which has particular purposes, the Skopos theory is very suitable to the translation of English trademark names.4.1 The Purpose of Embodying Characters of CommodityThe translation of an English trademark should endeavor to provide as much as information about the commodity for consumers. The translation should transmit the commoditys positive information to attract the consumers attention and raise their interest.Take Rejoice for example, it is translated to bein Chinese. The translation has beautiful well expressed the information of the goods. From the name, consumers can get the information that the commodity may be something about flowing locks or gentle and silver hair, because and often have been used to describe the feature of hair. So the consumers attention will be attracted by the goods immediately when they see the name. Surely enough, their interest is aroused and they will be willing to see some more elaborate information about the goods.So the translation of an English trademark should express information to demonstrate the characters of a commodity.4.2 The Purpose of Identifying CommodityWe know that one commodity has its distinctive character. A good trademark should represent the commodity and shows its uniqueness. If a name is distinctive enough to catch the consumers attention, it has been gift with the discerning function. Then in a consumers memory, this distinctive name will be the most deep-going one. Of course, the purchasing action could be stimulated.For instance, two commodities both have the same English trademark called Liberty. Actually, one product is a sportswear and the other is a carpet. In China, the former one is and the latter one is . means free and it can arouse the feelings of leisure and closeness which accord with the style of the cloth. conveys that this kind of carpet is good to protect the consumers precious plot. Besides, is the propitious word popular with Chinese customers.4.3 The Purpose of Stimulating Consumers purchasing DesireAll the advertising campaign of a commodity i s pass on towards to one destination to move the consumers to buy the products. The trademark as a means of publicizing ways, its translation should serve the purpose, too.Carrefour is a foreign invested supermarket in China. Its Chinese version of , tells us each family can screw happiness and pleasure in this supermarket. When seeing this name, they may go it and buy something there. This translation, making use of consumers purchasing psychology, has successfully appealed to consumers and has cleverly stimulated their purchasing desire.Therefore, the translation of a trademark should be able to stimulate consumers purchasing desire.4.4 The purpose of adaption to the customers cultureThe famous British anthropologist E. B. Taylor (1871) defines culture as a complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.(Danesi Perron, 1999 3) because trademark, obviously is part of the culture, so its translation, to a great extent, is influenced by culture. Foreign commodities trademarks inevitably contain different cultural characteristics. When they enter the Chinese market, they will mainly face Chinese consumers. Whether they can win the market share and the favor of Chinese customers depends greatly on their translation. Even they enjoy global fame, it will still be difficult for Chinese consumers to accept if they dont have impressive translations into Chinese. A good translation will have enormous impact, though invisible, on consumers mentality. (Bao Huinan, 2001 281) For truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of cultures in which they function. (Nida, 1993 110) hence, to contribute to the function of trademark, the translation must fulfill the purpose to go with the culture of customers.Dragon means devil in Hesperian culture, while in Chinese culture, dragon() is the symbol o f power and heavenliness is something sacred and has been referred to as the ancestor of the Chinese nation, so Chinese people have a special preference for this animal which does not exist. Citroen, a French-made car brand, is translated into to adapt the customers culture in target market.5. Translation strategies based on Skopos theorySkopos theory considers translation as a complicated interactive behavior. The aim of translation is often determined after counsel between client and translator. It is the initiator or its agent who makes differences. They give explanation of time, place, situation, intermediary, aim as well as readers and function of translation. According to the specific translation sine qua non such as the writers interactive intention and expectation of the translated texts, as well as social knowledge background, interactive need of readers, etc. translator can determine any translating tactics, and does not have to care about the equality of translated text to the original text, for which would weaken the translated texts interactive function in the environment of target language. Therefore, with the guide of translation purpose, the translator can consider the relative factors comprehensively and then decide the most suitable method. Approaches can be adopted by translators if it can realize the expected purpose well. The translator can change properly according to the connotation meaning of a trademark name. If it is transformed appropriately, it can be full of wit and humor. The consumers will certainly be attracted by such kind of a trademark names. So the realistic standard of trademark translation is whether it is recognized and accepted by consumers who would buy the products finally. Therefore, based on the Skopos theory, translation strategies are not restricted. According to the contents mentioned above, we can emphasize that the purpose changes with the consumer varies. (Wang Jianhui, Hu Dongping, 2007) Translators can take any appropriate tactics in order to achieve different goals. (Yin Xiaohong, 2006171)As discussed above, the successful translation of brand names refers to dozens of factors. Among them the most important is the flexible employment of translation methods in practice. In this part, the author will focus on two main methods, the most common and practical used strategies, in brand name translation. They are literal translation and free translation.5.1 Literal translationThe so-called literal translation in this paper is equivalent to Newmarks semantic translation, which attempts to render, as well as the semantic and syntactic structure of the second language allow, the postulate contextual meaning of the original.(Newmark, 1988 39). Literal translation involves translating meanings literally, keeping both the original form and the original sense. It is the primary way of trademark translation. It can better convey the original information of the product, indicate the authors origi nal wish, and can keep the conformity with the brand designs. There are many popular trademarks translated in this way around us. Although it is not feasible for every one to be translated literally, literal translation is still put to use by translators.The translation of an electronic appliance brand, Pioneer intocan convey to the customers the message that it is the trailblazer of the electronic appliance industry. Microsoft, the American software giant company, also adopts literal translation to register its Chinese brand. Translating Micro as and soft as successfully transmit the implied meaning a basic, tiny and delicate software. Mr. lively was translated as , can give customers a very clear idea that it is a fruit juice brand while at the same time it forms a cartoon image in peoples mind.5.2 Free translationThe free translation is also one of the most important techniques in the course of translating Chinese trademark names. We knew that literal translation would not ac hieve a perfect trademark translation all the time. Free translation is more complex and flexible. Free translation mostly could avoid the rigid feeling, comparing with mechanical transliteration. In fact, it is the translators imagination that is making an important impa