A Translation Case Analysis Based on Skopos Theory

劉冬梅

【Abstract】With the spread of globalization，the role of translation is crucial in cultural，economic，and social communication.The functionalist approaches of translation originated in the 1970s in Germany.They had carried on the reasonable aspects of the traditional theories and broken their restraint，which are very practical.Skopos theory reflects a general shift from predominantly linguistic and rather formal translation theories to a more functionally and socio-culturally oriented concept of translation，which drew inspiration from communication theory，action theory，text linguistics，and text theory，as well as from movements in literary studies towards reception theories.

【Key words】case analysis； Skopos theory

1.The Description of the Translation Task

This prose poem written by Zhu Ziqing，on 28，March，1922 and translated by Zhang Peiji.On that time，the May 4th movement was prevailing and in low spirit.Reality constantly brought upset and disappoint to the author.Nevertheless，the author was not sinking but pursuing his own brief.He said：“The various processes of life have their independent meaning and value- every moment has its own meaning and value in duration，there it quite location！” The whole prose revealed authors uneven heart whispering in touch of sadness，which also reflects the general mood of the youth during the ebb period of May 4th Movement.The rush is a prose，which applies various rhetoric methods，such as metaphor，personification，reduplication，parallelism and so on.In addition，most of the sentences in the article is brief，light and plain but containing profound meaning.All in all，the characteristic of this article has three aspects：Using a lot of parallelism to describe “how time flies！” Using rhetorical question to enhance the tone and emotion of the article.Using plain sentence and vivid image.

2.Key Concept of Skopos Theory

Skopos is the Greek word for“aim”or“purpose”and was introduced into translation theory in the 1970s by Hans J.Vermeer as a technical term for the purpose of a translation and of the action of translating.Skopos theory focuses above all on the purpose of the translation，which determines the translation methods and strategies that are to be employed in order to produce a functionally adequate result.This result is the TT（target text），which Vermeer calls the translatum.Therefore，in Skopos theory，knowing why an ST（source text）is to be translated and what the function of the TT will be of crucial for the translator. There are three rules in this Skopos theory：the Skopos rule，the coherence rule and the fidelity rule.Skopos rule：refers to the top-ranking rule for any translation which indicates that a translation action is determined by its Skopos.Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose.The Skopos rule thus reads 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.

3.Case Analysis

Translation is a special language activity，involving the creation of source text，the understanding of source text，the expression of target text，the receive effect of target text and so on.All these can influence the specific translation methods the translators choose.Next the author would like to refer to three factors.

3.1 Text Type

Text is a semantic unit to convey various information during the communication.Due to different kinds of occasions and communication purpose，the text presents sorts of variations，so-called text types.For instance，in accordance with the scope of discourses，the text types can be divided into：religion text，literary text，news text，technical text，advertising text，legal discourse，etc.These different sorts of text types possess distinctive language expression form and characteristic.In the course of translation，these different language expression form will directly decide the collect and use of translation methods.The Rush is a prose.Under the circumstance of conveying the meaning of source text，the translator fully presents the characteristic of the target text，translating this literary text in keeping with the target language expression and forms easy for the reader to accept.The first sentence uses parallelism to describe “how time flies”.The second sentence uses many reduplication，the translator translated into “oblongs，lightly and furtively，blankly”，which are in accordance with the expression of English，brief，plain and expressive.

3.2 The Reader

In the course of translation，the reader or receptor is another factor which can influence translation method.Although translator can not fully undertstand the specific target reader of the target reader，the target reader group is still existed and will influence the chosen translation methods.For example：

（1）Like a drop of water from the point of a needle disappearing into the ocean，my days are dripping into the stream of time，soundless，traceless.

（2）Thus，——the day flows away through the sink when I wash my hands，wears off in the bowl when I eat my meal，and passes away before my daydreaming gaze as I reflect in silence.In the translation，the translator used many pure English to express “how time flies”.As it was the ebb period of the May 4th Movement，the work was read for the acquainted youth.So the prose can be accepted well.

3.3 Translation Purpose

The choice of translation methods has great deal with translation purpose.For example： What have I been doing in that eight-thousand-day rush，apart from hesitating？ Those bygone days have been dispersed as smoke by a fight wind，or evaporated as mist by the left behind any gossamer morning sun.What traces have I left behind me？ Have I ever left behind any gossamer traces at all？ I have come to this world，stark nakedness； am I to go hack，in a blink，in the same stark nakedness？ It is not fair though：why should 1 have made such a trip for nothing！——translated by Zhu.What have I been doing during the 8000 fleeting days except wavering and wondering？ The bygone days，like wisps of smoke，have been dispersed by gentle winds，and，like thin mists，have been evaporated by the rising sun.What traces have I left behind？ No，nothing，not even gossamer-like traces.I have come to this world，stark naked； and in a twinkling of an eye，I am go back as stark naked as ever.However，I am taking it very much to heart：Why should I be made to pass through this world for nothing at all？——translated by Zhang. The above translation，Zhus version focus on the representation of source texts language expression while Zhangs version tends to convey the meaning of source text with target texts expression.For example，Zhus version translated as“Those bygone days have been dispersed as smoke by a fight wind，or evaporated as mist by the left behind any gossamer morning sun”.Zhangs version translated as “The bygone days，like wisps of smoke，have been dispersed by gentle winds，and，like thin mists，have been evaporated by the rising sun”.The author considers that Zhangs version is common express way to convey the information of the source text，which makes the target text more readable，more acceptable.

4.Conclusion

From the above case analysis based on Skopos Theory，we can see that the literary text is closely connected with the translation theory and it can be explained by it.An important advantage of Skopos theory is that it allows the possibility of the same text being translated in different ways according to the purpose of the target text and the commission which is given to the translator.In Vermeers words：What the Skopos states is that one must translate，consciously and consistently.The theory does not state what the principle is：this must be decided separately in each specific case.

References：

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