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Exploring the Principles of Translating Economic Literature from Chinese to English Based on Skopos Theory

Author: TaoQuanSheng
Tutor: ZhouFangZhu
School: Anhui University
Course: English Language and Literature
Keywords: skopos adequate information pragmatically functional equivalence consistent in translating terms
CLC: H315.9
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2005
Downloads: 837
Quote: 1
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Abstract

The existing principles of translation are rarely applicable to the translation of economic literature, since they are established based on the equivalence-based theory, which excessively stresses complete textual equivalence in contents, styles and effects between the source and target text. In view of this infeasibility, a few scholars have done some research work in the field aiming at exploring new principles of translating economic literature. But some arguments are still influenced by the traditional theory, and therefore the conclusions are not so effective as to guide the present economic literature translation. There are still other persons who put more emphasis on a particular principle or principles of translating a particular type of economic literature. Frankly speaking these people’s explorations are very useful to the practice of translating economic literature, but for lack of comprehensive explorations in the field, the principle or principles which they have put forward can not be widely used.With the development of the market-oriented economy, the exchange of economic information as well as other information is becoming more and more important. It’s very urgent to establish a set of practical and comprehensive principles of translating economic literature to meet the needs of the development of economy. Faced with this requirement, based on Skopos theory, the principles of translating economic literature from Chinese to English are put forward in the dissertation: that is, translators should select adequate information; the target text should achieve functional equivalence pragmatically and the translations of terms should keep consistent in the process of translating economic literature. The other theories such as those of discourse analysis, pragmatics, reader-oriented theory and translation variation are also used to support the principles. This dissertation is to bedivided into six sections.The first section gives a brief introduction to the necessity, feasibility and significance of exploring the principles of translating economic literature.In the second section, the concepts and rules of Skopos theory are introduced. As the equivalence-based theory can not be used as a basis for our exploration, it is necessary to turn to other theories. Vermeer’s Skopos theory enlightens us very much and enables us to go on a further exploration in the principles. According to Skopos theory, translating is seen as a purposeful activity, so the purpose of translating and the related concepts, rules and persons involve in the translation must be very important in discussing the principles of the translation. In this section, the development of functionalism and Skopos theory are briefly introduced, and then the concepts and rules relevant to the purpose of translation, translation brief and roles of some persons involved in the translational action are discussed in detail. As any single theory can not solve all the problems of translation, some theories which are constructive for our discussion are briefly mentioned at the end of this section.The third section focuses on the relationship between the purpose of translational action and the translation of economic literature. According to Skopos theory, the prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose (skopos) of the overall translational action. In terms of translating economic literature, the purpose of the translation is determined by the initiator (or sender). In order to make the translation successful, the main task of the translator is to find suitable ways to have the target text both compatible with the purpose of the initiator and meaningful to the target receiver. Faced with cultural barriers, the communication between the sender and the receiver through translation is very difficult. Although the equivalence-based theory can not offer a practical approach to the problem,some suggestions for a purpose-oriented approach to the translation of economic literature may be obtained according to Skopos theory.The fourth section is the main body, which deals with the principles from the above suggestions. The principles are: (a) selecting adequate information, (b) achieving functional equivalence pragmatically, (c) keeping consistent in translating terms. In this section the definition and the application of each principle as well as its relation with other theories are addressed in detail.In the fifth section, the interchangeable application of the three principles is discussed. Although the application of each principle has been dealt with in the previous section, as the three principles are united as an organic whole, it’s better to apply them interchangeably and make them work together in the translation of economic literature.The sixth section is made for a brief summary of our viewpoint. Generally the three principles, which have been put forward, can work interchangeably as an integrated whole. But in the practical application each of them has its own special focus due to divergent types of the source text and different purposes of translation.

Exploring the Principles of Translating Economic Literature from Chinese to English Based on Skopos Theory

Abstract

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