Business Advertising Translation and Strategies from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

Xu Tingting

(Beijing Language and Culture University,Beijing 100000)

Abstract：With the boom of the exporting and importing trades,the competition between the commodities from different countries is becoming increasingly intense.Before manufacturers only need to consider how to attract domestic customers but now they face the problem of drawing the attention of the customers both at home and abroad.Therefore,before the manufacturers advertise for their products,more factors need to be taken into consideration such as culture and religion differences.This thesis combined the requirements and features of the business advertisement,views the business advertisement translation and strategies from the perspective of the Skopos theory and connects these two aspects.

Key words：Skopos Theory;Business advertisement;Translation;Strategy

1 Introduction

Facing the fierce commodity competition from different countries,the priority of manufacturers is making their products stand out among the various products.Therefore business advertising plays an extremely significant role in this process.An excellent business advertisement can stimulate consumer’s purchasing desire and yield more profits,however,because of the differences in language and culture,the business advertisement translation becomes a significant bridge which promotes consumers overseas to accept and favor the products.From the above-mentioned,a conclusion could be reached,that is,how to translate the business advertisement well and properly,is a vital issue in raising product sales in today’s international market.

2 The Introduction of Skopos Theory

2.1 The Development of Skopos Theory

In the first stage,in the 1970s,the functional translation theory emerged in Germany,which laid the foundation for the formation of the Skopos Theory.In the second stage,Hans Vermeer (1996) put forward Skopos Theory,which holds that translation is a purposeful behavior based on the original text,which must be completed through negotiation.

In the third stage,Justa Holtz-Mantari drew on the theory of communication and behavior,proposed the theory of translation behavior,and further developed the functionalist translation theory.And in the final stage,Kristina Nord (1997) comprehensively summarized and enriched the functionalist theory.

2.2 The Rules of Skopos Theory

2.2.1 Skopos rule

Skopos Theory holds that the primary principle to be followed in all translation activities is the“purpose principle”,that is to say,the methods need to be chosen according to the purpose.Therefore,the translator should define his specific purpose in a given context,and according to this purpose,decide what translation method to adopt,literal translation,free translation or something in between.While translating,what is the purpose of the translating needed to be considered in the first place.

2.2.2 Coherence rule

Coherence rule refers to the fact that the translation must meet the intra-textual coherence standard which could guarantee the readability and intelligibility of the translated text.

2.2.3 Fidelity rule

The fidelity rule refers to the inter-textual coherence between the text and the translation.

The fidelity rule could guarantee the consistency between the original text and the translated text.While translating,the original meaning of the original text can’t be altered at random.All in all,minor changes can be made but the meaning can’t be changed.

2.2.4 Loyalty principle

This was put forward by Nord.According to Nord,translators have a moral responsibility for the recipients of the translated text and must explain to them what they have done and why.This is one aspect of the loyalty principle.Another aspect of this principle is that the translator should be loyal to the original author,he or she must respect the original author and coordinate the target language of the translation with the intention of the author.

2.3 The Evaluation Criterion of Skopos Theory

The evaluation criterion of Skopos Theory is“adequacy”.Adequacy means that the target text should meet the requirements of the translation purpose and "select symbols to realize the translation purpose based on the target text in the translation process".

3 Strategies of Advertising Translation from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

3.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation is a translation method that preserves both the content and the form of the original text.

For example,Quality first,customer supreme.(質(zhì)量第一，用戶至上）——電風(fēng)扇。

We lead,others copy.(我們領(lǐng)先，他人仿效）——理光復(fù)印機(jī)。

Just do it!（想做就做，堅持不懈）——耐克運(yùn)動鞋。

The taste is great.(Nescafe) 味道好極了——（雀巢咖啡）。

Enjoy Coca-Cola.(Coca-Cola) 請喝可口可樂——（可口可樂）。

The business advertisements mentioned above have all adopted the literal translation more or less,faithful to the original text and achieved good publicity effect.But if literal translation is only used in the business advertisement translation,the effect will be a lot less satisfactory,It is better to combine the literal translation with other translating strategies to get an expected result.

Transliteration is the translating method that is often applied in the literal translation.

Transliteration means translating using Chinese characters with similar pronunciation.This method is often chosen when translating brand trademarks,it pays little attention to the original meaning of Chinese characters,only for the convenience of pronunciation and memory while preserving the exotic flavor.For example,SIEMENS（西門子）,McDonald(麥當(dāng)勞）,Ford(福特）,Coca-cola(可口可樂）,Philips (飛利浦家用電器）,Kodak (柯達(dá)膠卷）,Nikon (尼康）.These translations make it easy for customers to memorize the name of brand trademarks and not only remaining the charm of the original text,but also conform to consumers’ psychological expectations.They are vivid and can achieve the effect of killing two birds with one stone.

Traditionally,translation is required to reproduce the information expressed in the source language in terms of equivalents,but sometimes translator can’t find matching words from the target language,in which case transliteration could make up for it.The rules of the Skopos Theory require translators to make the purpose of translation clear,for the purpose of the translation decides the strategies adopted in the following translation work.The purpose of the translation in the trademarks is to disseminate corporate culture.In order to achieve this goal,the strategy must be made use of properly.

3.2 Free Translation

Free translation refers to translation according to the main idea of the original text,different from word-for-word translation .free translation is often used in translating sentences or phrases.

Skopos theory broke the inherent pattern of taking the original text as the center in literal translation and translators adopt free translation method according to the purpose of translation and free translation advocates that we should translate according to the main idea of the original text,not word for word.Usually applied when there are big differences between the source language and target language to represent the independence of the culture.Free translation possesses more aesthetic feeling in language and can arose the interest of the customers.

For example,

To me,the past is black and white,but the future is always colorful.對我而言，過去平淡無奇，而未來，卻是絢爛繽紛—（軒尼詩酒）

What it’s like to be small but good.麻雀雖小，五臟俱全——（旅店）

Come to where the flavor is----Marlboro Country.光臨風(fēng)韻之境—萬寶路世界——(萬寶路香煙）

The advantage of free translation is that the translated texts can be easily understood.For example,Holiday Inn（假日酒店）,Times（時代雜志）,Blue Ribbon Beer（藍(lán)帶啤酒）.The essential meaning of the original text is kept unspoken in the translated text,therefore it is easy for the target consumers to understand the advertisements.

The business advertisements above all adopted the free translation strategy.Translators use the strategy according to the features of the products without violating the main idea of the original text and deliver the information of the products vividly. Amplification and abbreviation are the methods frequently used in the free translation.Amplification refers to adding words,phrases or sentences into the translation.When translating Chinese non-subject sentences,except the ones into English non-subject sentences,passive voices or“There be”structures,the subject should be complemented according to the context to make the sentences complete.Pronouns are frequently used in English,therefore,it is necessary to add subject pronouns in Chinese-English translation,and to delete them appropriately in English-Chinese translation.English sentences are rich in prepositions and articles.In addition,while doing Chinese-English translation,attention should also be paid to adding some words implied but not explicitly stated in the original text and some general and annotative words to ensure the meaning of the original text.In a word,while translating,the priority is to ensure a whole grammatical structure and a clear meaning in translation.

唐時宮廷酒，盛世劍南春。The king’s wine in Tang Dynasty and Jiannanchun in the prosperous time.

Only a few can tell.(Martell) 獨(dú)具慧眼,領(lǐng)悟非凡 (馬爹利) Named after its founder,martell is a famous brandy brand from France.This advertisement is concise but rich in meanings.In the original sentence,just five words express the extraordinary quality of the brand.The noble and elegant temperament arises spontaneously.When translated into Chinese,to better express the meaning,the translator expanded it as“a great eye,grasp special”,not only containing the exact meaning but also combined with the characteristics of the target language,making Chinese consumers well aware of the charm of the products.

Abbreviation is to condense the original language to make the meaning in target language simple and easy to understand.For example,“Time set free overseas”.(“自由真義”)

Generally speaking,making use of“ abbreviation”to translate the business advertisement can realize the effect of publicity.

3.3 Combining Transliteration and Free Translation

In order to avoid the disadvantages of the literal translation and free translation and to make full use of the advantages of the two,combining the transliteration and free translation could be taken into consideration.

For example,Disneyland(迪斯尼樂園).When translating the“Disney”into“迪斯尼”,the translator uses the literal translation.The pronunciations have something in common.When the translator translates“l(fā)and”into“樂園”,the translator applies the free translation,Disneyland is a place that can bring people happiness and in Chinese“樂園”also conveys the same meaning as the English word“l(fā)and”.The combination of transliteration and free translation makes the translation vivid and easy to understand and memorize.

3.4 Foreignizing Translation

Foreignzing translation is a method which intentionally breaks the conventions of the target language and retains the exotic flavor of the original text.Corresponding translation is often found in the foreignizing translation.Corresponding translation means a compromising method,using the existing vocabulary in the local language such as idioms,proverbs,aphorisms or epigrams to replace the corresponding words or sentences in the original text.

For example,Coco-cola adds flavor.可口可樂為生活增光添彩。

Translators translate the advertisement into“ 可口可樂為生活增光添彩.”They did not translate it into“增添風(fēng)味”but use a Chinese idiom“增光添彩”。

This strategy endows the advertisement with native characteristic and makes it easy for the consumers to understand.

3.5 Domesticating Translation

The purpose of domestication is to minimize the exotic tone in the target text and provide a natural and fluent translation version for the target readers.Creative translation method is often used in the domesticating translation.Besides,amplification and abbreviation are frequently applied in the domesticating translation.

The purpose dictates the means.When the translated text can’t trigger the resonance in the hearts of the receivers,the creative translation can be applied appropriately.Creative translation means that in the process of translation,the translators gives full play to his or her subjective initiative and carries out creative translation to meet different translation purposes.

For example,“北京歡迎你。”We are ready.

The translator did not literally translate the slogan,but did some creative translation which means that China is ready for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and implies China’s strong comprehensive national strength.

Another example,“Apple thinks different.”蘋果電腦，不同凡“想”。

If“Apple”in this advertisement was translated into“想的不同”,the translation will be boring.However,the translation above creatively explains the advantages of Apple,making it easier for consumers to memorize.

只為幸福點(diǎn)滴。(蒙牛牛奶廣告) Every drop of happiness matters.

車到山前必有路，有路必有豐田車。(豐田汽車廣告)Not all cars are created equal.

4 Conclusion

We have mentioned the content of the Skopos Theory and the features of the business advertisement,and after thinking about these two aspects,we choose strategies of transliteration,equivalent translation,free translation,creative translation and replacement translation or other translation methods to translate the business advertisements.When we translate the business advertisement,if we want to make the translated text correct,we must know the features of the business advertisement and apply a proper figure of speech in order to reach the effect of promotion.

In the future,we can view the strategies of the business advertisement translation from the perspective of the Skopos Theory and push it into a new height.