Creat App Theo EN 4

4 Yin Meida

Abstract

The skopos theory, after being constantly refined, has become a very powerful theory which could guide many translation practices and end the eternal debate over literal translation and free translation, domestication and foreignization. And it has provided a new perspective on the process of translating and the study of translation. But skopos theory isn’t without its deficiencies. In fact, there are some drawbacks such as being not appropriate for literary translation, the theoretical foundation being not solid enough, giving too much priority to target text and target audiences etc. Furthermore, skopos theory makes translation a way of obtaining money and wealth, thus makes it a commercial activity for utilitarianism. This article will focus on pointing out some deficiencies of skopos theory and giving opinions on the improvement of skopos theory that maybe helpful to the development of appropriateness theory as a generous translation theory.

Key Words

ideology, appropriateness, translating,communication and cooperation

Introduction

We have done a pretty good job in introducing and translating foreign works, especially English ones into Chinese. The past decades have seen tremendous influence of English books, songs,films etc on our society and daily life. We embrace their ideas and lifestyles from which we benefit a lot. Yet our achievements and efforts in promoting Chinese culture, books, songs and movies are far from enough. Cooperation and communication are based on mutual understanding. In order to achieve that and contribute to the peaceful development of the world, we shall not only embrace other cultures, but should help others know about Chinese culture and ideas. And Translation plays a significant part in this respect. However, more than a hundred years ago, when British army forced open China's door with advanced weapons, translation activities, under the influence of different ideologies, are biased and serve for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of nations and rulers. The foreign translation of Chinese works then has shaped western people's views on China and Chinese people for over a century. With the development of globalization and the increasing amount of cooperation, China seems to be paid more attention to and be known by more and more countries. However, there are still some deep-rooted prejudices and stereotypes against China, which hinders the smooth communication and cooperation between China and other countries. Translation, when manipulated by ideology, shall lose its value and significance. This article will summarize the relation between translation and ideology, analyze the influence and consequences of translation under the manipulation of ideology through a few cases, and put forward the principle of appropriateness to reduce such influence and preserve the value of translation. On the one hand, we shall not blindly accept others' ideologies, but take the essence and discard the dregs in line with the actual situation of our country. At the same time, we should try our best to spread our essence so that people from different countries shall have a better understanding of China and Chinese people, realize that China has been a peace-loving nation and we respect different cultures for thousands of years, and such shall never be taken as a threat but a friend who strives to work with others to build a community with a shared future for mankind.