An Evaluation of Chinese to English Translation in Light of Skopos Theory

【Abstract】In the filed of community translation， the translation tasks are given based on the purpose that all people in the community who do not have the full command of the mainstream language can have the same access to the information. Therefore， community translation can be viewed as a task in one language rewriting in another with a certain purpose to achieve.

【Key words】Skopos Theory； Community Translation

【作者簡介】王曬存，福州大學外國語學院。

1. Introduction

The Chinese text mainly consisted of short sentences，and the text is in a formal voice. The purpose of the original text is to emphasize the impact of smartphone addiction on our daily life and how this phenomenon has changed the way of our communication. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the Chinese translation version of “別讓智能手機綁架我們的生活” in light of Skopos theory as theoretical framework. By analysing the translation under the theory，approaches in accordance with the community translation will be demonstrated.

2. Theoretical framework

Skopos theory is a theory put forward by German scholar Vermeer in the late 1970s. Skopos is a Greek，meaning purpose. Skopos theory is also known as Purpose theory today. The translation process is determined by the purpose of the producing translation. The essence of the theory is that it proposes “the prime principle determining any translation process is the purpose of the overall translational action.”（Nord，2001：27）. Vermeer explains the Skopos rule in the following way：Each translation task is proceeded for a certain purpose and such a purpose should be served. Skopos theory provided a new perspective to the approach and strategy of translation and the main principles make the function of production closer to practice in the process of translation.

3. Approaches of translation

3.1 Analysis of original text

The original Chinese text was an extracted article about smartphone addiction from a news on Guangzhou Daily. It mainly consisted of short sentences，and the text is in a formal voice. Therefore，verbal English has been avoided to some extent and passive voice is mainly adopted to the stress the formality of the news text. The purpose of the original text is to emphasize the impact of smartphone addiction on our daily life and how this phenomenon has changed the way of our communication. A persuasive purpose should be served in target text，which should also reflect the negative consequence brought by smartphone addiction.

3.2 Approaches of translation

In the translation of “別讓智能手機綁架了我們的生活”，several examples of the translation have been picked up to demonstrate the approaches of community translation in light of Skopos theory.

1） ST：別讓智能手機綁架了我們的生活

TT：Do Not Let Smartphone Hijack Our life

In the title，“綁架” means smartphone nowadays is so prevalent that it has become the centre of our life. The purpose of the title is to call on people`s attention in terms of smartphone addiction instead of our life being literally kidnapped by smartphone. If “綁架” being translated to “kidnap”，the meaning of the source text has been distorted. Besides，kidnap normally to describe people instead of life. Therefore，a better word “hijack” is a more accurate choice.

2） ST：“00后”

TT：who were born after the year 2000

The translation of “00后” is also worth discussion. “00后” is a popular Chinese expression，meaning those who were born after the year 2000. In English translation，however，it is better to explain the Chinese expression instead of word-to-word translation to clarify the common Chinese expression and give target reader a straightforward idea.

4. Conclusion

From what has been discussed above，this essay has given an understanding about the function and purpose of the target text served and approaches to be adopted in community translation in light of Skopos theory. Skopos theory is applied in many aspects of community translation to serve the purpose of the produced text.

References：

[1]Baker，Mona.（2000）.In Other Words：A Coursebook on Translation.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.