1.4.1 The Characteristics of News Title.3
1.4.2 The Characteristic of News Lead.4
1.4.3 The Characteristics of News Language5
2 The Application of Three Rules of Skopos Theory.7
2.1 The Application of Skopos Rule .7
2.1.1 Translation of Generic Terms and Proper Nouns under the Guidance of Skopos Rule.7
2.1.2 Translation of Capitals8
2.1.3 Transforming Approach.10
2.2 The Application of Coherence Rule.10
2.2.1 Deletion under the Guidance of Coherence Rule11
2.2.2 Separating Method.11
2.3 The Application of Fidelity Rule12
2.3.1 Literal Translation under the Guidance of Fidelity Rule.12
2.3.2 Translation of Words Related to Numbers.13
2.3.3 Free Translation.14
3 Conclusion15
Bibliography17
1 Introduction
1.1 Paper organization
The thesis is composed of three major parts. Chapter 1 is introduction of Skopos theory and the characteristics of English economic news. Chapter 2 is about some study of translation under the guidance of Skopos theory. Specifically speaking, I analyzed some translation examples of economic news under the guidance of three rules and cited some translation methods used in the process of translation. Chapter 3 is about conclusion of my thesis. What’s more, the last part is the indispensible bibliography part. In this part, I exampled those reference that I inquired through the whole process of my thesis writing.
1.2 The Overview and Development of Skopos Theory
The Skopos theory of Germany functionalism came in vogue in 1970s. In 1978, the German scholar Hans J. Vermeer, the representative of the Functionalist Translation Theory, first put forward the Skopos theory in his book A Groundwork for a General Theory of Translation. It tries to liberate the translation from the confinement of the source text. Vermeer defined translation as: "produce a text in a target setting for a target purpose and target addresses in target circumstances." (Net.1) The theory is used as the technical term for the purpose of the translation, which oriented a more functional and socio cultural concept of translation. The functionalist approaches consist of three parts: Katharina Reiss’s work on text type and language function, Justa Holz-Manttari’s theory of translation action, and Hans J. Vermeer’s Skopos theory. Skopos theory is the center part of the German school and the foundation of the modern functionalism in the translation theories. H. J. Vermeer, gave definition to “translation” as an intentional, goal-directed behavior which occurs in a specific situation in 1978. (Xia, 2013:12) The Skopos theory is core of functional translation theory, whose purpose is to free translation from the bondage of the origin language with the viewpoint of the target language. It focuses on the selecting of all targets in the course of translating, which may compensate the shortcomings in traditional translation.
The Skopos theory shifts the focal point of translation to the more challenging creation of translation text. It makes translator’s motivation more active. Let the translation text and translator be the core, instead of the text itself. There are three rules in Skopos theory. They are three rules in Skopos theory. They are: Skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule.
1.3 Rules of Skopos Theory
As for the three rules of Skopos theory, Skopos rule is the top-ranking rule. Any translation action is determined by its Skopos. Vermeer explains it as: Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. (Net.1) Vermeer explains the Skopos rule as follows:
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 (Vermeer, 1989:20). We can distinguish between three possible kinds of purposes in the field of translation: the general purpose aimed at by the translator in the translational process, the communicative purpose aimed at by the target text in the target situation and the purpose aimed at by a particular translation strategy or procedure. Nevertheless, the term Skopos usually refers to the purpose of the target text, (Nord, 2001:27) which is decided by the initiator of the translational action. Though most translational actions have a variety of Skoposes to reach, or more than one purpose to achieve, they will usually follow a hierarchical order. The translator, as a decision-maker, should judge which particular Skopos should be the most initial one for him to carry out in a translational process. It also gives the translator a new perspective to decide which method will be employed in the whole process. The translator's task is to ascertain and then apply the suitable methods to reach its purpose. As Vermeer puts it, What Skopos stressed is that one must translate consciously and consistently, in accordance with some principle respecting the target text the theory does not state what the principle is and this must be decided separately in each specific case (1989:182). Vermeer also stresses on many occasions that the Skopos rule is a general rule, and translation strategies and methods are determined by the purpose and the intended function of the target text. 目的论的角度下英语经济新闻的汉译(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_839.html