2. Literature Review

2.1 Review on Skopos Theory 

“Functionalist approach is a kind of cover term for the research of scholars who argue that the purpose of the TT is the most important criterion in any translation.” (Munday, 2001:78).The functionalist theories develops the scope of translation studies, making it broader which refers to extralinguistic and cultural aspect. It is highly necessary for translators to consider from a more flexible perspective.

Then the German functional theories of translation emerged in German in 1970s. To a school of German scholars, dynamic functionalism become their focus when conducting translation studies.

Catharina Reiss is the initiator of the functional theory. She first introduces the prototype of functionalism to the field of translation in 1971. Reiss finds that it is not appropriate to insist on equivalence in some special cases. So she thinks that measure of all things is the source text during the process of the translation. 

Hans J. Vermeer. is the student of Reiss who has an important impact on Vermeer. He created the Skopos theory which is the core of the whole functional theory. He defines the new concept of the translation. Vermeer regards the translation as a intentional, purposeful behavior. Obviously, Skopos theory is a theory of purposeful action. 

Skopos is a Greek word and the meaning of it is “purpose”. He first introduces it into  the translation field in the 1970s. In the view of Vermeer, the process of the translation is a purposeful activity which pay much attention to the predicated results of the translation. According to Vermeer, there are at least three types of purposes in the process of translation:“the general purpose aimed at by the translator in the translation process (perhaps to earn a living), the communicative purpose aimed at by the target text in the target situation (perhaps to instruct the reader) and the purpose aimed at by a particular translation strategy of procedure (for example, to translate literally in order to show the structural particularities of the source language.” (Nord, 2001:28).

 The purpose of the translation is the key factor which determines the translation approaches and strategies used in the process of the translation to product a functionally adequate result. So in the three rules of Skopos Theory ---fidelity rule, coherence rule and Skopos rule-- Skopos rule is the top-ranking rule. It is more important than another two rules of skopos theory-fidelity rule and coherence rule. Fidelity rule is a further principle and it is also called “intertextual coherence” by Vermeer. He points out that the fidelity rule should exist between the source and the target text. And the form of fidelity is determined not only by the translator's interpretation of the source text but also by the translation purpose. Coherence rule refers that“information generated by the translator (the target text) must be able to be explained by context coherence of target addressees.” (Nord, 2001:32). The original text of translation written by the source language is the source text, after being translated into target text. Therefore, the translator should take full consideration of cultural backgrounds of the target addressees to make the translation acceptable for the addressees. It is a highly demand for the target text to achieve the readability and acceptability to make addressees understand its meaning. Only in this way can translated versions be communicated successfully. 源[自*吹冰^`论\文"网·www.chuibin.com/

According to Vermeer's definition, “Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. The Skopos rule thus reads as “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.” (Vermeer, 1989:20).