E第四节-翻译的功能学派

UnitFour

TheFunctionalistApproaches

I.GeneralIntroductionII.Reiss’

TextTypology(文本类型理论)III.Holz-Mäntarri’sTranslationalActionTheory(翻译行为理论)IV.Vermeer’sSkoposTheory(目的论)V.ChristianeNord:FunctionalityPlusLoyalty(功能加忠诚理论)I.GeneralIntroductionDevelopedinGermanyinthelate1970s.Ageneralshiftfrompredominantlylinguisticandratherformaltranslationtheoriestoamorefunctionallyandsocioculturallyorientedconceptoftranslation.

“Functionalistmeansfocusingonfunctionorfunctionsoftextsandtranslation.”(Nord,1997)Linguisticapproaches☆functionalist/communicativeapproacheslinguistic,formaltheoriese.g.equivalencefunctional,socioculturaltheories

Actiontheory☆Textlinguistics☆Receptiontheories☆Communicationtheory☆Origin:Dissatisfactionwiththeequivalencetheoryinprofessionalpractice.Twoexceptions(Reiss):(1)Whenthetargettextisintendedtoachieveapurposeorfunctionotherthatthatoftheoriginal(e.g.adaptationsofprosetextsforthestage,translatingShakespear;splaysforforeignlanguageclass),functinalitytakesprecedenceoverequivalence.(2)Whenthetargettextaddressesanaudiencewihichisdifferencefromtheintendedreadershipoftheorginal(e.g.TranslatingGulliver’sTravelsforchildren,purificationsmotivatedbyreligious,ideological,ethicalreasons)reader-orientednesstakesprecedenceoverequivalence.

Translationisaformofhumanaction(translationalaction)designedtoachieveaparticularpurpose.Translationis'acommunicativeactioncarriedoutbyanexpertininterculturalcommunication(thetranslator),playingtheroleofatextproducerandaimingatsomecommunicativepurpose'(Nord2001:151)KatharinaReiss:PossibilitiesandLimitationsofTranslationCriticism:CategoriesandCriteriaforaFairEvaluationofTranslations

(《翻译批评的可能性与限制》1971).Languagefunction:representation（描述）–expression(表达)–appeal（诉请）.Text-type:informative–expressive–operative.KatharinaReissandHansJ.Vermeer:GroundworkforaGeneralTheoryofTranslation(《翻译理论基础》1984).Vermeer:skopostheory,anattempttobridgethegapbetweentheoryandpractice.Reiss:“adequacy”concept(adequatetotherequirementsofthetranslationbrief);adaptherfunctionaltext-typemodeltothegeneraltheory.JustaHolz-Manttari:EntwurffureinenStudienganTranslatorikundeinenPromotionsstudiengangTranslatologie(1985).Theoryoftranslationalaction.Focuson:theactionalaspect;therolesoftheparticipants;thesituationalconditions;thestatusofthetranslator.ChristianeNord:TranslatingasaPurposefulActivity:FunctionalistApproachesExplained

(1997).functionalityplusloyalty.

II.Reiss’

TextTypology1.KatharinaReiss(1923~)Germanlinguist

andtranslationscholar.TranslationCriticism:ThePotentialsandLimitations.CategoriesandCriteriaforTranslationQualityAssessment.(2000)“Atext-linguisticorpragmaticapproachtotranslation----thecommunicativefunctionofatextinitssourceculturedeterminesitsfunctioninthetargetcultureandhowitwillbetranslated.Equivalence:words/sentences---text(unitofmeaningortranslation)ThefirsttointroduceintoTSaconsiderationofthecommunicativepurposeoftranslation.“

Reiss’sfunctionaltext-typemodel/theoryoftexttypology:Based

on

Karl

Buhler's

functions

of

language,

Reiss

puts

forward

fourtypesof

text:Text-types:Informativetext

(content-focused)：“Plaincommunicationoffacts”Expressivetext

(form-focused)：

“Creativecomposition”Operativetext

(appeal-focused)：“Inducingbehavioralresponses”Audiomedialtexts(视听媒体文本)e.g.movies,TVprogramsandcommercialsSpecifictranslationmethodssuggestedbyReiss:TheTTofaninformativetextshouldtransmitthefullreferentialorconceptualcontentoftheST.TheTTofanexpressivetextshouldtransmittheaestheticandartisticformoftheST.TheTTofanoperativetextshouldproducethedesiredresponseintheTTreceiver.Audio-medialtextsrequirethe“supplementary”method.“

Texttypesandvarieties(genres)cf.NewMark’stheoryontexttypesThreemaintypesoftexts:

Expressivetext(表达功能文本)(semantictranslation)Informativetext(信息功能文本)(communicativetranslation)Vocativetext(呼唤功能文本)(communicativetranslation)(Newmark,A

TextbookofTranslation,1988)Newmarkadmitsthatfewtextsarepurelyexpressive,informativeorvocative(1988:47)

“Reiss&Vermeer:GroundworkforaGeneralTheoryofTranslation(《翻译理论基础》1984):Reiss:presentsherideaofcorrelatingtexttypeandtranslationmethodasaspecifictheory;adaptsherfunctionaltext-typemodeltothegeneraltheory;suggeststheconceptof“adequacy”inoppositionto“equivalence”,whichreferstothequalitiesofatargettextwithregardtothetranslationbrief—translationinstructiongivenbythetranslationcommissionerortheclient.“Anadequatetranslationshouldbe“adequateto”therequirementsofthetransaltionbrief.

Withintheframeworkofskopostheory,anadequatetranslationisgoal-orientedanddeterminedbytheskoposofthetranslation.“

ThefunctionoftheTTmaydifferfromthatoftheST.JonathanSwift’sGulliver’sTravels(1726).asatiricalnovel(i.e.anoperativetext)---entertainingfiction’(i.e.anexpressivetext).

Contributions:translationtheory:lowerlinguisticlevels---communicativefunctionoftranslation.thefunctionoftheTTmaybedifferentfromtheSTfunction(challengingequivalence)

Criticism:Fawcett1997:106–8).whythereshouldonlybethreetypesoflanguagefunction?(addafourth‘phatic’function)Whethertexttypesandgenrescanbedifferentiatedonthebasisoftheprimaryfunction(hybridtext).Thetranslationmethodemployeddependsonfarmorethanjusttexttype.III.Holz-Manttari’sTheoryofTranslationalAction（翻译行为理论）

JustaHolz-Manttari:

aFinland-based

German

professionaltranslator,translationscholar

.EntwurffureinenStudienganTranslatorikundeinenPromotionsstudiengangTranslatologie(1984)Drawinginspirationsfromactiontheoryandcommunicationtheory,Manttaridefinestranslationas“acomplexactiondesignedtoachieveaparticularpurpose”,i.e.“translationalaction”inherterm,andas“transferringinformationembeddedinoneculturetoreceiversinanotherculture”,i.e.“aprocessofinterculturalcommunication”[It]isnotabouttranslatingwords,sentencesortextsbutisineverycaseaboutguidingtheintendedco-operationoverculturalbarriersenablingfunctionallyorientedcommunication.(Holz-Mänttäri1984:7–8)

Holz-Mäntarri’s(1984)Theoryoftranslationalaction（行为理论）Whichfocuseson:theactionalaspectsofthetranslationalprocess;therolesoftheparticipants(sender,initiator,translator,userandreceiver);thesituationalconditions(time,place,

and

mediuminwhichtranslationactivitiestakeplace);thestatusofthetranslator,consideredastheexpertintheprocessofproducingappropriate“messagetransmitters”ininterculturalortransculturalcummunication.Holz-Mäntarri’s(1984)Theoryoftranslationalaction（行为理论）AtranslationprocessinvolvesTheinitiator(翻译发起者)Thecommissioner(委托人)TheSTproducer(原文生产者)TheTTproducer(译文生产者）TheTTuser(译文使用者)TheTTreceiver(译文接受者)

IV.Vermeer’sSkoposTheory(目的论)1.HansJ.Vermeer(1930–2010)ProfessorofLinguisticsattheUniversityofMainzandheldachairinTranslationStudiesatHeidelbergUniversity.Reiss’sstudent.Publications:ASkopostheoryofTranslation:SomeArgumentsforandagainst.(1996)GrundlegungeinerallgemeinenTranslationstheorie(1984)(GroundworkforaGeneralTheoryofTranslationalAction:SkoposTheoryExplained.)

2.DevelopmentofSkopostheory:Vermeer’sskopostheoryisthe

mostinfluentialfunctionalmodel

oftheGermanschool/thelandmarkoffunctionalapproachestotranslation.(1)Skopos:Greekword,“purpose”,

atechnicaltermfortheaimorpurposeofatranslation(2)ItwasfirstformulatedinVermeer’spaper“FrameworkforaGeneralTranslationTheory”(1978);furtherdevelopedinhisco-authoredbookGroundworkforaGeneralTheoryofTranslation(1984);extensivelyexplainedinNord’sbookTranslatingasaPurposefulActivity

(1997).

3.SkoposTheoryTranslationisatypeofhumanaction,anintentional,

purposefulbehaviorthattakesplaceinagivensituation.

Theskopostheoryholdsthat“thewaythetargettexteventuallyshapesupisdeterminedtoagreatextentbythefunction,or‘skopos’,intendedforitinthetargetcontext”(Hatim,2005:74).Theaimofanytranslationalaction,andthemodeinwhichitistoberealized,arenegotiatedwiththeclientwhocommissionstheaction.Threebasicrules:

skoposrule,coherencerule,fidelityrule.(1)Skoposrule:PurposeofTT(targettext)determinestranslationmethodsandstrategies

“Theprimeprinciplethatanytranslationshouldobserveis“skoposrule”:the

skopos(purpose)ofanytranslationisgoingtofulfilldecidesthewholetranslating

process.Askoposisessentialtotranslationanditplaysadirectanddecisiveroleinwhattranslationstrategiesatranslatorwilladopttofulfillhis

aim

inthewholetranslationprocess.”

(Vermeer,1978)“theendjustifiesthemeans”byReissandVermeer.TranslationdecisionsareNOTdeterminedby….SourceText(ST)SourceText’seffectsonrecipientsfunctionassignedtoSourceTextbyauthorTranslationdecisionsaredeterminedby….theprospectivefunctionoftheTT,asdeterminedbytheTTuser’sneedsVermeeralsostressesonmanyoccasionsthattheskoposruleisageneralrule,andtranslationstrategiesandmethodsaredeterminedbythepurposeandtheintendedfunctionofthetargettext.Forexamples,Advertisingtextsaresupposedtoadvertise;translationofadvertisingtextsisdeterminedbysuchagoal.Instructionsforusearesupposedtodescribehowanapparatusistobeassembled,handledandmaintained;themoresmoothlythisisdone,thebettertheinstructionsevidentlyare.Newspaperreportsaretoinformtherecipient,atleast;thetranslationthushastobecomprehensibletotheexpectedreadership,i.e.theaddressees.

(2)Coherencerule:(intratextualcoherence语内连贯)—translatedtextmustbesufficientlycoherent

toallowtheintendedaddresseestocomprehendit,giventheirassumedbackgroundknowledgeandsituationalcircumstances.TT‘mustbeinterpretableascoherentwiththeTTreceiver’ssituation’(ReissandVermeer1984:113).Inotherwords,thetargettextmustbetranslatedinsuchawaythatitiscoherentforthetargettextreceivers,giventheircircumstancesandknowledge.Intermsofcoherencerule,thesourcetextisnolongerofmostauthority.Itisonly

anofferofinformation

forthetranslator,whointurnpicksoutwhatheconsiderstobemeaningfulinthereceiver'ssituation.(3)Fidelityrule:

(intertextualcoherence语际连贯)

The

translatedtextshouldbearsomerelationshipwiththecorrespondingsourcetext.Thefidelityrulemerelystatesthattheremustbecoherencebetweenthetranslatedversionandthesourcetext

Hierarchicalorderoftherules:SkoposCoherenceFidelity

TheRelationshipamongtheRulesFidelityruleisconsideredsubordinatetocoherencerule,andbothofthemaresubordinatetotheskoposrule.Ofthethreerules,theskoposruleisthetop-rankingone,whichmustbegivenpriorityoveranyotherrulesintranslatingwhenthereisaconflictamongthem.Iftheskoposrequiresachangeoffunction,thecriterionwillnolongerbefidelitytothesourcetext,butadequacy

orappropriatenesswithregardtotheskopos.Andiftheskoposdemandsintra-textualincoherence,thestandardofcoherenceruleisnolongervivid.

Contributionofskopostheory:Itmovestranslationtheorybeyondthestaticlinguistictypologiesoftranslation.Translationisnolongerconsideredamerelylinguisticprocess,butapurposfulaction.Thetranslatorisnolongeramechanicalcopierfromsourcelanguagetotargetlanguage,butanexpertintranslationalaction.Itallowsthepossibilityofthesametextbeingtranslatedindifferentwaysaccordingtothepurposeofthetargettext.Itisnotonlywidelypractisedinprofessionalcontexts,butalsoappliedefficientlyinthetrainingofprofessionaltranslatorsandinterpreters.

Criticism:(1)Whatpurportstobea‘general’theoryisinfactonlyvalidfornon-literarytextsandnotforliterarytexts(‘artforart’ssake’)(2)SkopostheorydoesnotpaysufficientattentiontothelinguisticnatureoftheSTnortothereproductionofmicro-levelfeaturesintheTT.(3)WhatkindcoherencerelationshipshouldbebetweenSTandTT?STTranslationSituation1:Skopos1TranslationSituation2:Skopos2TranslationSituation3:Skopos3TT1TT3TT2

V.Nord’sFunctionalityPlusLoyalty

1.ChristianeNord(克里斯蒂安·诺德)

(1943-)Germantranslator,translationscholarspecialisedintranslationpedagogy.Publications:Translationasapurposefulactivity:Functionalistapproachesexplained.

(1997)TextAnalysisinTranslation:Theory,MethodologyandDidacticApplicationofaModelforTranslation-OrientedTextAnalysis

(2005)

2.Nord’sownfunctionalmodel:functionalityplusloyalty

TheunrestrictedfreedomReissandVermeer,andHolz-Manttarihavegiventhetranslatortoproduceatargettextofwhateverformsolongasitconformstotheskoposasdirectedbytheclient.

loyaltyisthisresponsibilitytranslatorshavetowardtheirpartnersintranslationalinteraction.Loyaltycommitsthetranslatorbilaterallytothesourceandthetargetsides.Itmustnotbemixedupwithfidelityorfaithfulness,conceptsthatusuallyrefertoarelationshipholdingbetweenthesourceandtargettexts.Loyaltyisaninterpersonalcategory

referringtoasocialrelationshipbetweenpeople.(Nord1997:125)anethicalandmoralconceptaimedtolimittheradicalfunctionalismintranslationpractice.translation

ethicsAim:‘limitstherangeofjustifiabletarget-textfunctionsforoneparticularsourcetextandraisestheneedforanegotiationofthetranslationassignmentbetweentranslatorsandtheirclients’(ibid.:126).Thetranslatorshouldaimatproducingfunctionaltargettextwhichconformstotherequirementsofthetranslationskoposfixedbytheinitiator,atthesametimerespectingthelegitimateinterestsofboththeauthor

oftheoriginalandthereadersofthetranslation.Function:thefactorsthatmakeatargettextworkintheintendedwayinthetargetsituation.Loyalty:thetranslator’sresponsibilitytowardthesource-textauthor,the

initiator

andthetargetrecipient3.Translation-orientedtextanalysisLimitationofSkopostheory:payinginsufficientattentiontothelinguisticnatureoftheSTandtothereproductionofmicro-levelfeaturesintheTT.TextAnalysisinTranslation(1988/2005)(1)twobasictypesoftranslationproduct(andprocess)documentarytranslation(文献性翻译);instrumentaltranslation(工具性翻译).Documentarytranslation:(文献型翻译)

(metatextualfunction

—informingthetargetreaderaboutcertainaspectsoftheoriginaltextanditscommunicativesituation):interlinealtranslation(word-for-wordtrans.),literaltranslation,philologicaltranslation(culturalexplanation)文献学翻译—literaltranslation,addedbynecessaryculturalor(meta-)linguisticinformationinfootnotesorglossaries(直译+脚注/尾注).e.g.trans.ofclassicaltextsexoticisingtranslation(foreignization

in

literarytrans.)‘servesasadocumentofasourceculturecommunicationbetweentheauthorandtheSTrecipient’(Nord2005:80)Instrumentaltranslation:‘function-preservingtranslations’.‘servesasanindependentmessagetransmittinginstrumentinanewcommunicativeactioninthetargetculture,andisintendedtofulfillitscommunicativepurposewithouttherecipientbeingconsciousofreadingorhearingatextwhich,inadifferentform,wasusedbeforeinadifferentcommunicativesituation’(Nord2005:80)Equifunctional(同功能)translation—ifthefunctionofthetargettextisthesameasthatoftheoriginal.e.g.translationoftechnicaltexts,instructionsforuse.Heterofunctional(异功能)translation—ifthefunction(s)cannotbereproduced.Homologous(类似功能)translation—intendedtoachievehomologousfunctionandeffect.e.g.translationofpoetry.Documentarytranslationistoreproducecertainaspectsofthe

sourcetext-in-situation

forthetargetreadership;Instrumentaltranslationistoachievethesamerangeoffunctionsasanoriginaltexthas.(2)

Translation-orientedfunctionalmodelthreeaspectsoffunctionalistapproaches：1)theimportanceofthetranslationbrief(commission);2)theroleoftranslation-orientedtextanalysis;3)thefunctionalhierarchyoftranslationproblems(prefertop-downhierarchytobottom-upone).(p127)1)Theimportanceofthetranslationbrief(Nord1997:59–62):■theintendedtextfunctions;■theaddressees(senderandrecipient);■thetimeandplaceoftextreception;■themedium(speechorwriting,and,onlineorhardcopy);■themotive(whytheSTwaswrittenandwhyitisbeingtranslated).ToprioritizewhatinformationtoincludeintheTT

2)theroleoftranslation-orientedtextanalysis■subjectmatter:includinghowculture-bounditistotheSLorTLcontext;■content:the‘meaning’ofthetext■presuppositions:■textcomposition:includingmicrostructure(informationunits,stagesofaplot,logicalrelations,thematicstructure...)andmacrostructure(beginning,end,footnotes,quotations...);■non-verbalelements:illustrations,italics,font,etc.;■lexis:includingdialect,registerandsubject-specificterminology;■sentencestructure:includingrhetoricalfeaturessuchasparenthesisandellipsis;■suprasegmental(超语段音位学)features:includingstress,intonation,rhythmand‘stylisticpunctuation’.todecideon:(a)thefeasibilityoftranslation:(b)themostrelevantSTitemsthatneedtobetakenintoaccounttoachievefunctionaltranslation;(c)thetranslationstrategythatwillbenecessarytofulfillthetranslationbrief

3)thefunctionalhierarchyoftranslationproblems(a)ComparisonoftheintendedfunctionsoftheSTandtheproposedTThelpstodecidethefunctionaltypeoftranslationtobeproduced(documentaryorinstrumental).(b)Analysisofthetranslationcommissiondetermine