Skopos Theory Put Forward by Hans J

7/23/2019 Skopos Theory Put Forward by Hans J

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Universidad Popular Autónoma de Veracruz

Licenciatura en Idioma InglésSeventh term

“Skopos theory

Su!"ect#

$raducción Literaria

$eacher#

%dén %ste!an Silvano

Student#

&'maris (arrillo )arru*o

(oatzacoalcos Ver+ &ecem!er ,th -./,



Skopos

Theory



Skopos theory is a theory o* translation !y the 0erman translator

Vermeer in /1234 $his is a ne5 perspective o* looking at translation+

5hich is no longer limited !y conventional source6te7t oriented vie5s4

Vermeer 8nds that+ according to action theory+ every action has a

purpose+ and+ since translation is an action+ it must have a purpose too4

$he purpose is assigned to every translation !y means o* commission4

$o some e7tent+ Skopos theory makes up+ or at least tried to+ *or

the de8ciency o* conventional translation theories4 In Skopos theory+

there are not such things as right or 5rong+ *aith*ulness or

un*aith*ulness+ and the translation Skopos decides the translation

process4 Skopos theory accounts *or di9erent strategies in di9erent

situations+ in 5hich the source te7t is not the only *actor involved4

Skopos is the 0reek 5ord *or “aim or “purpose and 5as

introduced into translation theory in the /12.s !y :ans ;4 Vermeer as a

technical term *or the purpose o* a translation and o* the action o*

translating4 :ans Vermeer !elieves that the purpose o* a te7t determines

the translation strategies4 :e o!"ects to the traditional e<uivalence6!ased theories+ 5hich speak o* the source te7t+ or its e9ects on the

source te7t reader+ or the purpose o* the source te7t author as a decisive

*actor in translation and raises the Skopos o* the translation action to the

center4

In (hristiane =ord>s $ranslating as a Purpose*ul Activity6

?unctionalist Approaches %7plained+ she de8nes the Skopos theory in

this 5ay# Skopos is a 0reek 5ord *or “purpose4 According to Skopos

theorie @the theory that applies the notion o* Skopos to translation+ the

prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose

@Skopos o* the overall translational action4 $his 8ts in 5ith intentionality

!eing part o* the very de8nition o* any action4 Skopos theory *ocuses



a!ove all on the purpose o* the translation+ 5hich determines the

translation methods and strategies that are to !e employed in order to

produce a *unctionally ade<uate result4 $his result is the $$+ 5hich

Vermeer calls the translatum4 $here*ore+ in Skopos theory+ kno5ing 5hy

an S$ is to !e translated and 5hat the *unction o* the $$ 5ill !e crucial

*or the translator4

$he Skopos theory e7perienced *our stages#

@/ Batharina Ceiss and the *unctional category o* translation criticism

@- :ans ;4Vermeer# Skopos theorie and !eyond

@D ;usta :olz6)anttari and the theory o* translational action4

@E (hristiane =ord>s ?unction plus Loyalty Principle

$he !ook Possi!ilities and Limits o* $ranslation (riticism+ 5ritten !y

Batharina Ceiss+ can !e regarded as the “starting point *or the scholarly

analysis o* translation in 0erman4 In her opinion+ the ideal translation

5ould !e one “in 5hich the aim in the $L @target language is

e<uivalence as regards the conceptual content+ linguistic *orm and

communicative *unction o* a SL @source language4 :o5ever+ she 8nds insome situation e<uivalence is impossi!le4

?unction is yet another term that re*ers to 5hat a te7t means4 $he

meaning o* the te7t is vie5ed !y the receiver4 Another related term to

skopos is intention 5hich is regarded as an aim6 oriented plan o* action

on the part o* !oth the sender and the receiver4 $his points to5ards an

appropriate 5ay o* producing or understanding the te7t4

$he skopos rule is the *ollo5ing# %ach te7t is produced *or a given

purpose and should serve this purpose4 $he skopos rule thus reads as

*ollo5s# translateFinterpretFspeakF5rite in a 5ay that ena!les your



te7tFtranslation to *unction in the situation it is used and 5ith the people

5ho 5ant to use it and precisely in the 5ay they 5ant it to *unction4

It is 5orth mentioning that translation is normally done G!y

assignmentG 4A client needs a te7t *or a particular purpose and calls upon

the translator *or a translation+ thus acting as the initiator o* the

translation process4 $he initiator is the person 5ho initiates the process

o* translation !ecause he 5ants the S$ to !e translated4 :e can !e the

S$ author+ the $$ recipient+ the translator+ a private company+ an agent

*rom the government etc4

A te7t in skopostheorie approach is considered as an o9er o*

in*ormation4 $his o9er is directed *rom the producer o* the te7t to its

recipient4 $ranslation is then is a secondary o9er o* in*ormation a!out

in*ormation originally o9ered in another language 5ithin another culture4

$ranslators are a5are o* the *act that the norms o* the target language

5ill not necessarily go in line 5ith those o* the source language4 $hat is

5hy a kind o* accommodation @ad"ustment in the target te7t is needed

so as to arrive at a solution *or the pro!lem4 (onse<uently+ a $$ is ano9er o* in*ormation *ormulated !y a translator in a target culture and

language a!out an o9er o* in*ormation in the source culture and

language4 A translator is in a position to produce a te7t that is

meaning*ul to target Hculture receivers4 In VermeerGs terms+ the $$

should con*orm to the standard o* Gintrate7tuality coherenceG4 $his is

e7plained in his !ook in colla!oration 5ith Ceiss @Ceiss and Vermeer+

/13E !#/.194 ?or a te7t to !e communicative and understanda!le+ it

has to !e coherent 5ith the receiversG situation4 eing Gcoherent 5ithG is

synonymous 5ith !eing Gpart o*G the receiversG situation and conte7t o*

use4

Jhat is signi8cant is that there is a relationship !et5een a S$ and $$

since a translation is an o9er o* in*ormation a!out a preceding o9er o*



in*ormation4 Vermeer calls this relationship G interte7tual coherence G or

G8delityG @ =ord + /112 #D- 4 $he interte7tual coherence relationship

holds !et5een source and target te7ts4 $he *orm o* this coherence

depends on#

a4 the translatorGs interpretation o* the S$ and

!4 the translation skopos4

Basic concepts of skopos theory

A. Theory of Action

$he theory o* action provides the *oundation *or Skopos theory4

Action is the process o* acting+ 5hich means “intentionally @at 5ill

!ringing a!out or preventing a change in the 5orld @in nature4 Action

can thus !e de8ned as an intentional “change or transition *rom one

state o* a9aires to another4 I* there are t5o or more agents+ the theory

o* action can !ecome a theory o* interaction4

B. Skopos, Aim, Purpose, Intention, Function

Skopos is a 0reek 5ord *or “purpose>4 According to Skopostheorie+

the prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose

@Skopos o* the overall translational action4 $his 8ts in 5ith intentionality

!eing part o* the very de8nition o* any action4 Je can distinguish

!et5een three possi!le kinds o* purpose in the 8eld o* translation# the

general purpose aimed at !y the translator in the translation process+

the communicative purpose aimed at !y the target te7t in the target

situation+ and the purpose aimed at !y a particular translation strategyor procedure4

=evertheless+ the term Skopos usually re*ers to the purpose o* the target

te7t4



C. Intertextual and Intratextual Coherence

Intratextual coherence speci8ed that a translation should !e accepta!le

in the sense that it is coherent 5ith the receiver>s situation+ that is+ the

target6te7t receivers should !e a!le to understand the target te7t and

interpret it as !eing suKciently coherent 5ith their o5n communicative

situation and culture4

Intertextual coherence is considered su!ordinate to intrate7tual

coherence+ and !oth are su!ordinate to the Skopos rule4

D. Culture

$ranslating means comparing cultures4 $ranslators interpret

source6culture phenomena in the light o* their o5n culture6speci8c

kno5ledge o* that culture+ *rom either the inside or the outside+

depending on 5hether the translation is *rom or into the translator>s

native language6and6culture

ules of Scopos Theory

/4 A trunslatum @or $$ is determined !y its Skopos4

-4 A $$ is an o9er o* in*ormation @In*ormationsange!ot in a target

culture and $L concerning an o9er o*

in*ormation in a source culture and SL4

D4 A $$ does not initiate an o9er o* in*ormation in a clearly reversi!le

5ay4E4 A $$ must !e internally coherent4

,4 A $$ must !e coherent 5ith the S$4

4 $he 8ve rules a!ove stand in hierarchical order+ 5ith the Skopos rule

predominating4



Conclusion

It is o*ten said+ especially !y laymen+ that translation does notreally have a theory4 =ot true# it has lotsM ut at least it does not have a

general theory4 $ranslation Studies has produced at !est only a mi7ture

o* *ragmentary theories4

$he *unction o* a translation depends on the kno5ledge+

e7pectations+ values and norms o* the target readers+ 5ho are again

inNuenced !y the situation they are in and !y the culture4 $hese *actors

determine 5hether the *unction o* the source te7t or passages in the

source te7t can !e preserved or have to !e modi8ed or even changed4

$he skopos theory had helped to make traduction more realistic4



eferences

$heory and Practice in Language Studies+ Vol4 -+ =o4 /.+ pp4 -/316-/1D+

Octo!er -./- A(A&%) PULIS:%C )anu*actured in ?inland4

http#FF5554ias"4netFias"Q*uncR*ullte7taIdR,../D

http#FF5554helsinki48FTchestermF-./.a4skopos4html

http://www.iasj.net/iasj?func=fulltext&aId=50013

http://www.helsinki.fi/~chesterm/2010a.skopos.html

http://www.helsinki.fi/~chesterm/2010a.skopos.html

http://www.iasj.net/iasj?func=fulltext&aId=50013

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Skopos Theory Put Forward by Hans J