Academic literature on the topic 'Skopos theory of translation'

Sven Birkerts (1951-) is an American essayist. His essay The Strange Days is well received by readers. In the context of globalization, literary translation is an important part of cultural exchanges. The Skopos Theory is the theory that applies the Skopos concept to translation. The core concept of Skopos Theory is that translation strategies and methods are determined by the purpose of translation. In the process of translation, the translator should follow three principles, namely, skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule. The translation of literary texts coincides with the idea of Skopos Theory. This paper analyzes the advantages of Skopos Theory in the selection of translation strategies for the translation of The Strange Days from the perspective of the principle of skopos, coherence and fidelity.

Faithfulness and equivalence are two issues that gained the attention of many scholars in the translation field. It has always been presumed that a faithful translation is the one that could achieve equivalence at its maximum level. However, one theory of translation, namely, the Skopos theory, suggests that the aim or Skopos of a translation should be the target of a translator. Adopting such a theory, equivalence does not mean sameness; it rather means achieving the least dissimilarness. In relation to this, a translation of the Holy Quran is supposed to target conveying the primary meaning of the source text (ST) and its function rather than unachievably aiming at rendering its stylistic features. This study aims to highlight the problems faced in the translation of some verses of the Holy Quran and how they can be handled from a different theoretical and practical perspective and in regard to the Skopos theory. To this end, six verses ( ayahs) from the Chapter of the Heights and the Chapter of Cattle were purposively selected and analyzed. Frequent problems and loss in translation were found in the translations of Abdel Haleem, Pickthall, Shakir, and Sarwar. This study, guided by the Skopos theory with some modifications, suggests a new perspective in the translation of the Holy Quran. It also provides a more applicable definition of faithfulness in the translation of the Holy Quran.

The aims of this study were to analyze how many translation strategies found as applied in translating process of song lyrics entitled Hingga Akhir Waktu translated into English version by Chirstian Bautista as a singer and also the translator. The data were analyzed by Rainer Schulte and John Biuret’s translation strategies. Since the data consists of words and sentences, qualitative descriptive was applied in this research. The result of the study showed that there were certain types of translation strategies found in the process of translating song lyrics. The findings showed that the rules of Skopos theory in the translating process were running well.
 Keywords: Skopos Theory; Translation Strategies; Song Lyrics; Hingga Akhir Waktu

<p>Chinese businesses have realized the importance of publicity in foreign markets. However, the translation of Chinese corporate promotional materials is not of high quality so far. Problems in the translation may be caused by multi-facet factors, but the influence of formal equivalence theory on translators can be a big cause. Skopos theory shift translators’ attention from loyalty to the source text to the purpose of the target text, shedding a new light to translation studies. This paper discusses the application of Skopos theory in the translation of Chinese corporate promotional materials and explores the strategies and methods of translating corporate promotional materials from Chinese to English.</p>

Abstract The author presents his strictly functional theory ("Skopos Theory") of translation. Acting is primarily conditioned by a "purpose" and the nature of the intended addressees. The source text wording is of secondary importance. The functional skopos model allows the translator freedom to act as an expert and gives him responsibility for his approach. Modern research in reception aesthetics, neurobiology, philosophy and other disciplines confirms the contingency and relativity of all human behaviour. The author briefly discusses several new brain theories and Dawkins' "meme" concept and some of their implications for translating.

<p>The Skopos theory is an approach to translation which was put forward by Hans Vermeer and developed in Germany in the late 1970s. It focuses on the purposes of translations and provides a new perspective for the research of translation. Catchwords, however, makes more and more important influences on people’s lives. Movies, as a main carrier of catchwords, also give a significant influence to our lives and talking. This thesis mainly makes a research on the translation of catchwords in Chinese and American movies, making Garfield as an example, using the methods of comparison, analysis and comprehension. After these different versions of translations, the thesis comes into a conclusion that Skopos Theory is the best choice to guide the translation of catchwords in Chinese and American movies. </p>

Abstract Advertising is a fast growing industry in modern societies. Multinational companies promote their products to various countries by means of glamorous advertisements in different languages. When a product is marketed to another country, usually the original advertisement is translated with appropriate adaptation to cater to the needs of the new market. The process of advertisement translation often is not only a linguistic transfer, but also a cultural transfer. This paper attempts to discuss the relevance of the culturally-oriented approach to translation studies, and the skopos theory as advocated by Hans J. Vermeer in particular, to the cross-cultural communication of advertisement translation. The advertiser plays the key role of Translation Initiator (TI) in the translating process, by outlining the skopos for the translator to fulfill. The paper concludes that equivalent effect is not always the primary concern of translating of advertisement, and at times cultural transposition or adaptation is inevitable in this type of translating. This is not only legitimate, but also necessary, in the attainment of the skopos. Résumé La publicité est une industrie qui se développe rapidement dans nos sociétés modernes. Les sociétés multinationales font la promotion de leurs produits dans différents pays au moyen d'annonces séduisantes dans différentes langues. Lorsqu'un produit est mis sur le marché d'un autre pays, l'annonce d'origine est traduite en l'adaptant de façon appropriée afin de satisfaire aux besoins du nouveau marché. Le processus de la traduction publicitair en'implique pas seulement un transfert linguistique, mais aussi un transfert culturel. Cet article tente de mettre en évidence le bien-fondé d'une approche orientée culturellement des études de traduction, et la théorie du "skopos" telle qu'elle est préconisée par Hans J. Vermeer pour la communication interculturelle de la traduction publicitaire. L'annonceur joue le rôle-clé de Traducteur Initiateur (TI) dans le processus de traduction, en faisant ressortir le skopos à réaliser par le traducteur. L'article a pour conclusion que l'effet d'équivalence n'est pas toujours le souci essentiel de la traduction publicitaire, et parfois, la transposition culturelle ou l'adaptation est inévitable dans ce type de traduction. Ceci n'est pas seulement légitime, mais aussi nécessaire pour atteindre le skopos.

With a wide spread of American teleplays in China, teleplay translation has become an urgent task for giving viewers access to teleplay appreciation. Based on Skopos Theory, this thesis carried out a tentative study on teleplay translation according to a case study of American teleplay House of Cards. The Skopos of teleplay is to provide, within the constraints of time and space, the well-translated teleplays which aid viewers to understand the content of teleplay well. In order to translate purposefully and fulfill the Skopos of the teleplay translation, translators have to adopt certain principles respecting the target culture and particular strategies in the process of teleplay translation. This essay discussed the characters and functions of teleplays as well as the detailed information of Skopos Theory.