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

skopos theory; deficiencies; appropriateness theory

Introduction

Skopos theory is an approach to translation firstly put forward by German scholars Reiss and Vermeer in 1970s, which reflects a general shift from predominantly LINGUISTIC and rather formal translation theories to a more functionally and socioculturally oriented concept of translation[1]. This theory is developed on the basis of action theory, text type theory, skopostheorie, as well as the theory of function plus loyalty by C. Nord. “Skopos” is a Greek word for “purpose”, ”aim” or “intention”. According to skopostheorie, the basic principle which determines the process of translation is the purpose (skopos) of the translational action[3]. The idea of intentionality is part of the very definition of any action (Nord,1997:27). Functional translation theory originated in Germany in the 1970s. It provides a new perspective on translation action, which inherits the essence of traditional translation theories and at the same time, break away the shackles of traditional translation theories. Skopos theory is the foundation of the functional theory of translation whose development has gone through the following four stages.

Stage one: Katharina Reiss first introduced functional categories into translation criticism, developed the connection among language functions, text types and translation strategies, thus put forward a model of translation criticism based on the functional relation between source text and target text. The functional translation theory began to take shape. Stage two: Hans Vermeer put forward skopostheorie, which freed translation studies from the bondage of traditional original-text-centered theory. According to skopostheorie, translation should follow three priciples, namely, the principle of purpose, the principle of intralingual coherence and the principle of interlingual fidelity, among which the principle of purpose takes the first place. Also, the criterion for translation criticism is transformed from “equivalence” to “adequacy” to fulfill the expectation of translation. Translators are given much rights in retaining, omitting and modifying the target text. Stage three: Jasta Hotz Mantari draws on the communication theory and action theory, and puts forward the behavioral theory of translation, which further develops the functionalist theory of translation. This theory regards translation as a purpose-driven, result-oriented interaction between people, and was later incorporated into skopos theory by Hans Vermeer. Stage four: Kristina Nord, for the first time in English, expounded systematically the internal and external factors that need to be considered in the text analysis of translation, and how to choose appropriate translation strategies based on the function of the original text. Nord sorted out various theories of functionalism and brought out the principle of “function plus loyalty”, which improved the skopos theory.

1.The core elements of skopos theory

1.1 Translation and translation action

Vermeer believes that translation and translation action are different concepts. In his opinion, translation action refers not only to the action of translating but also all the actions involved in the whole process of translating, such as the action of giving advice to the translator by the initiator. And translation is part of translation action.

1.2 Skopos and translation brief

Vermeer believes that skopos refers not only to the purpose of translation by the translator but all the purposes involved in the translating process by various people such as the initiator, the client, the target reader etc. And the most important purpose is the communicative purpose the target text.

1.3 Principles of skopos theory

There are mainly four principles in skopos theory, namely, the principle of purpose, the principle of coherence, the principle of fidelity and the principle of loyalty, the last one being added by Christina Nord to improve the skopos theory.

1.3.1 Principle of purpose

Principle of purpose is the predominant one in skopos theory, in which the purpose determines the whole process of translating. Purposes of translation could be roughly devided into three kinds, namely, basic purposes for translators(such as make a living), communicative purpose of the source-text as well as the purpose of using a particular means of translation, the most important being the communicative purpose of the source-text. The purpose determines the process of translating.

1.3.2 Principle of coherence

Coherence rule refers to the intra-textual coherence in the target text, which means the translation should be readable, acceptable and understandable by the target readers

1.3.3 Principle of fidelity

Fidelity rule refers to the inter-textual coherence between the source text and the target text. This principle stresses the importance of the source text and claims that the target text should be loyal to the source text. But the degree of loyalty lies on the purpose of the target text and the understanding of the source text for target audiences.

1.3.4 Principle of loyalty

Principle of loyalty was put forward by Christina Nord to improve skopos theory. Loyalty refers to the interpersonal relationship between the translator, the source text sender, the target text addressees and the initiator[4]. Nord systematically summarized the functionalist approaches and then elaborated them with typical examples in Translating as a Purposeful Activity. To solve some problems in functionalism, she put forward the principle of loyalty and suggested that translators should follow the guiding principle of “function plus loyalty”. When there are clashes of interests among the initiator, the target text reader the source text author, the translator should act as a mediator to seek the consensus among the three parties. This principle makes up for the deficiencies of skopos theory to a large extent.

2. Deficiencies of skopos theory

Skopos theory has become a very powerful theory and made up for the deficiencies of equivalence-based translation theories. It was created under certain social and economical circumstances and fulfilled well some needs of translation. However, a lot of deficiencies of skopos theory have been discovered by many scholars when they found it inappropriate for some translations. Skopos theory was mainly criticized for allowing the purpose to justify the process of translating and paying not enough attention to the source-text, which made it not suitable for some translation types as literary translation and religious translation. Otherwise, as a purpose-driven translation theory, shopos theory may have gone off-course. As what has been pointed by some scholars, skopos theory makes translation a way of obtaining money and wealth, thus makes it a commercial activity for utilitarianism, thus the problems of morality and ethics are ignored.

2.1 A brief summary of criticism on skopos theory"

A lot of western scholars have criticized skopos theory such as Newmark, Nord and House. Newmark criticized the theory harshly by saying that “ to translate the word ' aim ' into Greek , and make a translation theory out of it , and exclude any moral factor except loyalty , added on as an afterthought by Nord ( e.g. , Nord , 1997 ) to Vermeer ( who wrote that the end justifies the means , ( e.g. Vermeer ,1978 ) is pretending too much and going too far”(Newmark, 2000: 259-260) . Nord summerized ten pieces of deficiencies put forward by herself and other scholars: (1) not all actions have intentions, (2) not every translation can be interpreted as purposeful, (3) skopos theory is not an original theory, (4) functionalism is not based on empirical findings, (5)functional approaches go beyond the limits of translation proper, (6) functional translation theory does not show respect to the author of the source text, (7) functional approaches are not appropriate for literary translation, (8) functional theory of translation leads to the emergence of mercenary translators, (9) functional theory of translation puts forward the translation method of adaptation, (10) functional theory is characterized by cultural relativity (Nord, 1997; 109-122). House discovered four drawbacks on skopos theory: (1) The notion of function which is crucial to the approach is never made explicit in any satisfactory way (2) Its inability to determine the (relative)equivalence and adequacy of a translation (3) The indeterminacy of the linguistic realization of the skopos of a translation (4) Due to the role of the 'purpose' of a translation , the source text is considered as a mere offer of information.

Chinese scholar Wang Jinhai believes that skopos theory is not a general translation theory because it’s greatly restrained in literary translation. Li Longquan and Luo Peiya share the similar opinion that skopos theory is suitable for the translation of some special text types such as advertisements, business slogans, manual instructions etc, but it cannot be regarded as a general theory because it has deadly drawbacks such as confusing concepts like translation actions, the ambiguity of the definition of “skopos” and paying not much attention to the source text. Chen Daliang concludes that skopos theory possess a strong propensity for pragmatism and utilitarianism which is only applicable to the practical translations but not literary texts.