Skopostheory, which was developed by Hans J. Vermeer, is defined as the main principle of German functionalist translation theory. “Skopos” is from Greek, which means purpose. The skopos translation theorists took the process of translation as a communicative action, and they believe that the translation purpose justifies the translation process, i.e. the end justifies the means. (Lu and Zhao, 2011: 521)

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the implications of Skopostheory on Chinese and English advertisement translation. Specifically, the thesis will introduce three rules of Skopostheory which may give guidance for the translation practice. The features of Chinese and English advertisements will also be discussed in the thesis. The main argument of this thesis is the advertisement translation strategies based on Skopostheory.

2. Literature Review

The modern advertisement studies argue that the functions of advertisements include: provision of information, persuasion, maintenance of demand, creating mass markets and insuring the quality. In order to achieve these purposes, the language should be appellative. (Wang Le, 2009:117) In Wang Le’s paper Functionalist Approaches to Advertisement Translation, he concludes that the target text in advertisements should not only remain the original appellativeness of the source text but also adjust to the culture of the target language to make the translation acceptable to the target consumers. (Wang Le, 2009:117)

However, translation is a difficult task. The famous English scholar and poet Ivor Richard once said in his article Toward a Theory of Translating that translation was one of the most complicated activities in the evolution of the universe. (Richard, 1953:250)

As a break of the former translation theories, the German functionalist translation theory, with Katharnia Reiss, Hans J.Vermeer, Justa Holz-Manttari and Christiane Nord as representatives, had opened up a new perspective to translation studies and bridged the gap between theory and practice, just as the Nord said that the functionalist view of translation is intended to solve the eternal dilemmas of free vs. literal translation, adaptation vs. alienation, good interpreters vs. slavish translation and so on.(Lu and Zhao, 2011:521)  

Vermeer developed Reiss’ idea with the proposal of the famous Skopostheory, which is defined as the main principle of German functionalist translation theory. In the framework of this theory, one of the most important factors determining the purpose of a translation is the addressee, who is the intended receiver or audience of the target text with their expectations, their cultural-specific word knowledge and their communicative needs. Every translation is directed at an intended audience, since to translate means ‘to produce a text in a target setting for a target purpose and target addressees in target circumstances’. (Vermeer, 1987:29)

It is generally agreed that translation behavior cannot be adequately explained within the framework of traditional theories and traditional principles of translation such as “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance” which are no longer valid in expounding and guiding advertisement translation which is of a unique text. Skopostheory, which emphasizes the function of target texts, maintains that translation is a purposeful intercultural activity and that translation follows the skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule. (Zhang Jinghua, 2003:64)

Christiane Nord summarizes three possible kinds of purpose in the field of translation: the general purpose aimed at by the translator in the translation 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. (Nord, 1997:315) 

Translation activities are conscious behavior of human kind. In order to achieve the translation goal, the translator can use any strategies and methods. This is the essence of Skopostheory. (Li Kexing, 2010:34) In the second volume of Advertisement Translation: A Theoretical and Practical Approach by Li Kexing, he compared Skopostheory to other three principles: functional equivalence, communicative translation, and domestication or foreignization and he found that Skopostheory is the most appropriate principle in advertisement translation process.