Abstract: German functional translation theory is its mainstream. Among them, Fermi's Skopos Theory is the dominant theory of functional translation theory. Newmark and Nida also combined translation studies with language functions to explore translation from the perspective of textual functions, which broke the framework of traditional linguistic studies and broadened the horizons of translation studies.
[Keywords:] Skopostheorie Text Functional Classification Theory Functional Equivalence
I. Introduction
With the vigorous development of modern linguistics and translation activities, western translation theory has made a breakthrough. Based on different approaches and methods of translation research, many schools have emerged, such as translation language school, translation research school, translation culture school, translation function school, multi-system school and so on. On the basis of absorbing the outstanding achievements of predecessors, scholars of various schools have synthesized their own views, described and demonstrated translation and its research methods from a new angle, and gradually formed their own unique translation theories. Among the above schools, translation functionalism is one of the representative schools.
Second, the functional translation theory
Translation function supports functional translation theory. "Functionalism of translation refers to the study of one or more functions of a text" (Nord, 200 1: 1), which is a broad term used by various theories produced by this research method. Among them, Skopos theory of German functional translation theory is the dominant theory of this school. In addition, it also includes scholars who agree with functional translation theory and are inspired by German Skopos Theory. Representative examples are British scholar Newmark and American scholar Nida. Both of them combine translation studies with language functions and propose that different translation methods should be adopted for different functional texts.
(A) German functional translation theory
German functionalist translation theory is the mainstream of translation functionalism, which appeared in the 1960s and 1970s, and was marked by the publication of Les's Possibility and Limitation of Translation Criticism in 197 1. Among them, Fermi's teleology is its dominant theory. Fermir clearly pointed out that all translation is aimed at its intended goal, and translation itself is "the text in the language background and the language goal in the language environment created for the purpose of language" (Nord, 200 1: 12). As a purposeful communicative behavior, the whole translation process is determined by the purpose it wants to achieve, that is, the "purpose determination means" (Nord, 200 1: 124). The original text only plays the role of "providing information" in translation. In order to adapt to the new communication environment, combined with the social and cultural background knowledge of the target readers, expectations and communication needs of the target text, the translator can adopt specific translation strategies and skills suitable for the translation purpose, and realize the communication function of the target text more effectively without sticking to the function of the original text.
At the same time, Fermir put forward three principles that should be followed in the process of translation: the purpose principle, the coherence principle and the loyalty principle. Skopos theory refers to the communicative purpose of translation. Coherence rules reflect the internal relations of the text, that is, whether the translation can be understood by the receiver and whether it is readable and meaningful in the target culture and communication environment of the translation. The fidelity rule reflects the relationship between the original text and the translated text. The translated text cannot be created at will and deviates too much from the original text. The purpose rule is the first, which runs through the whole text and applies to all parts of the text. Consistency rules and loyalty rules are subordinate to purpose rules. In the process of translation, if the Skopostheorie requires the translation to have different functions from the original, the Faithfulness Rule will be abandoned. If the target rule requires poor translation, the consistency rule is abandoned.
Reiss, the pioneer of German functional translation theory, first combined language function with translation, classified texts according to different functions, and put forward three types of functional texts: "information type" chooses appropriate language and stylistic forms to present readers with objects and phenomena in the objective world; "Vivid" pays attention to aesthetic function, and the choice of stylistic form should reflect aesthetic effect; The content and form of "induction" should be based on obtaining the expected super-linguistic effect of the text.
(B) Newmark's text function classification theory
Newmark (1982:2 1), a British translation theorist, reclassified the text genre according to the three types of expressive text, informative text and vocative text proposed by Rice, and put forward communicative translation on this basis. "Expressive texts", such as official announcements, autobiographical literature, private letters, etc. , pay attention to express the author's thoughts, reflect the author's personality, especially the author's personal language style. In order to keep the form of the original text and make the translation as close as possible to the original text in structure and word order, semantic translation should be adopted. "informative texts", such as natural sciences, newspaper articles, meeting minutes, etc. , pay attention to the authenticity and effect of information transmission, and adopt communicative translation, (Newmark,1982: 39); "Call-up", such as notices, pamphlets, promotional materials, etc., focus on the transmission effect of information and readers' emotional response to arouse their actions, thoughts and feelings. Therefore, translation should fully consider the psychological feelings and appreciation habits of the target readers, use their familiar language expressions, and adopt the method of "explanation" instead of "copying" to "logically improve" the text. By reorganizing the language structure of the translation, the translation is authentic, fluent and easy to understand, and the readability of the translation is enhanced (Newmark, 1982:42). Because most texts have three functions, one of which is the main one. Therefore, the translator should first determine the main functions of the text, otherwise the same text will not.