Translating as a Purposeful Activity 2nd Edition: Functionalist Approaches Explained

166 Pages·2018·2.07 MB·English

by  Christiane Nord

TranslaTing as a
PurPoseful acTiviTy
This best-selling text is a comprehensive overview of functionalist approaches
to translation in English. Christiane Nord, one of the leading figures in transla-
tion studies, explains the complexities of theories and terms in simple language
with numerous examples. Covering how the theories developed; illustrations of
the main ideas; and specific applications to translator training, literary transla-
tion, interpreting, and ethics, Translating as a Purposeful Activity concludes with
a concise review of both criticisms and perspectives for the future. Now with a
foreword by Georges Bastin and a new chapter covering the recent developments
and elaborations of the theory, this is an essential text for students of translation
studies and for translator training.
Christiane Nord is Professor Emerita of Translation Studies and Specialized
Communication at the University of Applied Sciences of Magdeburg, Germany,
and Visiting Professor at several universities of the People’s Republic of China.
She also holds the position of Professor Extraordinary and Research Fellow at
the University of the Free State, South Africa. Her homepage can be found at
www.christiane-nord.de.
Translation Theories Explored
Series Editor: Theo Hermans, UCL, UK
Translation Theories Explored is a series designed to engage with the range and
diversity of contemporary translation studies. Translation itself is as vital and as
charged as ever. If anything, it has become more plural, more varied, and more
complex in today’s world. The study of translation has responded to these chal-
lenges with vigour. In recent decades the field has gained in depth, its scope
continues to expand, and it is increasingly interacting with other disciplines. The
series sets out to reflect and foster these developments. It aims to keep track of
theoretical developments, to explore new areas, approaches, and issues, and gen-
erally to extend and enrich the intellectual horizon of translation studies. Special
attention is paid to innovative ideas that may not as yet be widely known but
deserve wider currency.
Individual volumes explain and assess particular approaches. Each volume com-
bines an overview of the relevant approach with case studies and critical reflec-
tion, placing its subject in a broad intellectual and historical context; illustrating
the key ideas with examples; summarizing the main debates; accounting for spe-
cific methodologies, achievements, and blind spots; and opening up new avenues
for the future. Authors are selected not only on their close familiarity and personal
affinity with a particular approach but also on their capacity for lucid exposition,
critical assessment, and imaginative thought. The series is aimed at researchers and
graduate students who wish to learn about new approaches to translation in a
comprehensive but accessible way.
Translation and Literary Criticism
Marilyn Gaddis Rose
Translation in Systems
Theo Hermans
Deconstruction and Translation
Kathleen Davis
Can Theory Help Translators?
Andrew Chesterman and Emma Wagner
Stylistic Approaches to Translation
Jean Boase Beier
Representing Others
Kate Sturge
Cosmopolitanism and Translation
Esperança Bielsa
https://www.routledge.com/Translation-Theories-Explored/book-series/TTE
TranslaTing as a
PurPoseful acTiviTy
Functionalist Approaches Explained
Second edition
Christiane Nord
Second edition published in 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Christiane Nord
The right of Christiane Nord to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by St Jerome 1997
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nord, Christiane.
Title: Translating as a purposeful activity: functionalist approaches
explained / Christiane Nord.
Description: Second edition. | Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon;
New York: Routledge, 2018. | Series: Translation theories explored |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017043268 | ISBN 9781138573369 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781138573345 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Translating and interpreting.
Classification: LCC P306 .N593 2018 | DDC 418/.02—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017043268
ISBN: 978-1-138-57336-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-57334-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-18935-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
conTenTs
Foreword to the new English edition ix
Introduction 1
1 Historical overview 4
Early views 4
Katharina Reiss and the functional category of translation criticism 9
Hans J. Vermeer: Skopostheorie and beyond 10
Justa Holz-Mänttäri and the theory of translational action 12
Functionalist methodology in translator training 13
2 Translating and the theory of action 15
Translating as a form of translational interaction 16
Translating as intentional interaction 18
Translating as interpersonal interaction 19
Translating as a communicative action 22
Translating as intercultural action 23
Translating as a text-processing action 24
3 Basic concepts of Skopostheorie 26
Skopos, aim, purpose, intention, function, and translation brief 26
Intratextual and intertextual coherence 30
The concept of culture and culture-specificity 32
Adequacy and equivalence 33
The role of text classifications 35
vi Contents
4 Functionalism in translator training 38
A translation-oriented model of communicative functions in texts 39
A functional typology of translations 44
Norms and conventions in functional translation 50
Source-text analysis, translation briefs, and identifying
translation problems 56
A functional hierarchy of translation problems 62
Translation units revisited 63
Translation errors and translation evaluation 67
5 Functionalism in literary translation 74
Actional aspects of literary communication 74
Literary communication across culture barriers 78
Skopos and assignment in literary translation 82
Some examples 86
6 Functionalist approaches to interpreting 95
The role of interpreting in Skopostheorie 95
Translator training: from interpreting to translation 96
A functionalist approach to simultaneous interpreting 97
7 Criticisms 100
Criticism 1: not all actions have an intention 101
Criticism 2: not all translations have a purpose 101
Criticism 3: functional approaches transgress the limits of
translation proper 103
Criticism 4: skopostheorie is not an original theory 104
Criticism 5: functionalism is not based on empirical findings 106
Criticism 6: functionalism produces mercenary experts 107
Criticism 7: functionalism does not respect the original 109
Criticism 8: functionalism is a theory of adaptation 110
Criticism 9: functionalism does not work in literary translation 110
Criticism 10: functionalism is marked by cultural relativism 112
8 Function plus loyalty 113
9 Future perspectives at the end of the 1990s 118
Functionalism in the profession 118
Functionalism in academia 119
Functionalism in the English-speaking world 123
Functional translation and democracy 124
Contents vii
10 Skopos theory and functionalism in the new millennium 126
The academic world 127
The translator’s workplace 128
Functionalism in legal translation 129
Functionalism in literary and religious texts 131
Adaptation and transfer studies 132
Glossary 134
Bibliographical references 139

foreword To The new
english ediTion
Twenty years after the appearance of the first edition in 1997, published by
St. Jerome Publishing, followed by a reprint in 2014 by Routledge, comes this
second edition of Christiane Nord’s insightful book. Extended, revised, and up-
dated, it is a confirmation that functionalism is more front and centre than ever
before.
If the early years of translation studies were marked by a linguistic approach
of interlingual transfer using equivalence as the yardstick, the 1970s brought
about discourse analysis, the consideration of text types, and concern about the
effect of translation on the reader. All of this paved the way for the emergence
of functionalism. Scholars began to take texts into account as units of analysis.
Nord’s book Text Analysis in Translation (1991) broke new ground, demonstrat-
ing a clear understanding and application of intra- and extralinguistic criteria
for text analysis. Scholars also turned their attention to the distinctive roles
played by the various agents taking part in the communication process through
texts. Functionalism – Skopos theory in particular – brought to the forefront
the importance of considering not just the translator but the initiator, the com-
missioner, the sender and the author, the addressee, the receiver, and the user.
Consequently, efficiency in communication became paramount. And what more
could a translator hope for than an efficient translation? This is the very thing
offered by Skopos theory: a clear and surprisingly easy way to achieve efficiency
while communicating others’ ideas through a foreign language. Nord was still
a student when Reiss and Vermeer began enunciating the views that gave birth
to Skopos theory. She studied well indeed! She believed in Skopos; while she
clearly acknowledges her connection and debt to Reiss and Vermeer, she can be
proud of having deepened their heritage, further developed Skopos theory, and
brought it into the limelight. One has only to think, in particular, of the central
concept of loyalty, which clarifies the role of the translator as an intermediary