Skopos theory (German: Skopostheorie) is an approach in the field of translation studies that gives primary importance to the purpose which a translation is meant to fulfill. This purpose then determines a translation strategy.
The theory originates with the linguist Hans Vermeer, who uses the Greek word skopos (“purpose,” “intention,” or “aim”) as a technical term.
The framework of the theory assumes the existence of a client, a translator, and a specific audience. The client formulates the skopos of a given text, with the audience in mind. The translator uses the client’s brief, and the rules and directives of the theory, to produce a target-language text. Thus the translation is determined by the skopos, more than by the original text.
Within translation studies, skopos theory can be seen as part of a trend away from equivalence toward functionalism.
Overview
Background The theory first appeared in an article published by Vermeer in the German Journal Lebende Sprachen, 1978.
As a realisation of James Holmes’ map of Translation Studies (1972), skopos theory is the core of the four approaches of German functionalist translation theory that emerged around the late twentieth century. They were part of the development of skopos theory contributed by scholars of translation studies, categorised into four stages:
Katharina Reiss's Functional Category, 1971 Hans Vermeer’s Skopos theory, 1978 Justa-Holz Manttari's Theory of Translatorial Action, 1981 Christiane Nord's Theory of ‘Function plus Loyalty’, 1997
Definition Skopos (Greek: σκοπός) is a Greek word defined as "purpose". It is a technical term, coined by Hans Vermeer, that represents the aim of a translation. Paul Kussmaul illustrates skopos theory as "the functional approach has a great affinity with skopos theory. The function of a translation depends on the knowledge, expectations, values and norms of the target readers, who are again influenced by the situation they are in and by the culture. These factors determine whether the function of the source text or passages in the source text can be preserved or have to be modified or even changed."Kussmaul, P. (1997). Training the translator. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
According to Vermeer, there are three possible types of purposes. First, a general purpose that a translator strives for, such as translating as a source of professional income. Second, a communicative purpose of a target text in a target circumstance, such as to instruct the audience. Third, the purpose of a translation strategy or approach, such as to exhibit the structural traits of the source language. The term ‘skopos’ in skopos theory refers to the second type of purpose. The theory treats the source text as an "offer of information in a target culture" and this view is seen as a consequence of constructivist comprehension theories.
A clearer execution of the translational action—translation as a human action that thus possesses intention—can be achieved through the identification of its purpose. Consequently, this generates a translatum—the target text (outcome) of a source text.
Motivations Skopos theory was implemented by Vermeer to bridge the gap between practice and theory that existed in the previously widespread and commonplace Equivalence Theory. In this attempt, Vermeer sought another method of translation that would go beyond looking only at the linguistics level and consequently move translation forward from “the eternal dilemmas of free vs. faithful translation, dynamic vs. formal equivalence, good interpreters vs. slavish translators, and so on”, which are problems existing in past translation theories. Vermeer stated that:
Under this perspective, he determined that the purely linguistic approaches to translation then were flawed and the translation issues at hand would be problematic to solve. Thus, the general skopos theory was established as the foundation of functional theories, with reference to the existing action theory. Vermeer saw translation as an action like any other and as such, had to possess purpose (skopos) under the action theory. In relation to this, Vermeer saw the act of translation as the production of text in specific target settings for specific purposes and people under specific circumstances.
Goal and audience Skopos theory is a general framework for translators that signals “a move away from the static linguistic typologies of translation shifts”. Unlike past translation theories that focus on linguistics and equivalence based translations at a micro level, the translatum in skopos theory does not require functional equivalence to the source text, as the goal of skopos theory places emphasis on the purpose of the translational action instead.
Theoretical framework
Action theory According to Vermeer, the Action Theory underpins Skopos Theory in that every action is steered by a purpose. An action is defined as “the action of acting, which means intentionally (at will) bringing about or preventing a change in the world (in nature)”. Since translating is a form of translational action that involves intentional communication (or interaction, if it affects two or more agents) and transition, there must be a purpose associated with it. Vermeer provided several axioms or theses in order to contextualize Skopos Theory as a form of action theory and these include the claim that the Skopos of acting determines the strategy for obtaining the intended goal. Other scholars suggest that, in the translation of materials, contextual factors have to be considered in the process such as the culture of the reader as well as the client who initiated the translation. Action theory, however, has a broader scope than Skopos Theory.
Translation brief In order for the translator to interpret the purpose of the translation and employ strategies to act in accordance to the purpose, a translation brief provided by the client is deemed necessary. It states the instruction to execute an assigned action, that is “to translate”.Jensen, M. N. (2009). Professional translators’ establishment of Skopos - A ‘brief’ study (Unpublished master’s thesis). Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University, Denmark. A commission should comprise as much detailed information as possible on the following (1) the goal, i.e. a specification of the aim of the commission; (2) the conditions under which the intended goal should be attained (naturally including practical matters such as deadline and fee). The client will provide “as many details as possible about the purpose, explaining the addressees, time, place, occasion and medium of the intended communication and the function the text is intended to have”. By stating the information through written or spoken form, the translation brief is made explicit. However, when the client does not explicitly provide the detailed translation commission, probably due to the unfamiliarity with intercultural communication, the translator ought to negotiate and provide directions on whether the source text has to be translated and the type of target text needed to achieve the purpose, which is the skopos. +An example of a Translation Brief:Translation Brief:
Please translate the following passage into your LOTE. The client is the University of NSW; the translations are to be published on the UNSW website as information for prospective international students and their parents.
UNSW at a glance
The University of New South Wales is one of Australia’s leading research and teaching universities. Established in 1949, it is ranked among the top 60 universities in the world, renowned for the quality of its graduates and its world class research. From this translation brief, it can be observed that the client, the University of New South Wales, requires the target language of the information to be in Indonesian. The information will be displayed on a medium that is on UNSW’s website, for the target readers who are Indonesians. The purpose of the translation is to provide information for prospective international students and their parents. Thus, with the explicit purpose identified, the translator will be able to follow it closely and choose the appropriate translation strategy to execute the commission.
Culture Vermeer views norms and conventions as the principal features of a culture and sees translation as comparing cultures. In this “comparison”, source-culture knowledge is interpreted using the translator’s existing culture-specific knowledge of the source culture, and whether this “comparison” takes an insider or outsider perspective hinges on whether the translator is translating into or from their own language and culture. Treating cultures and languages as systems and lower level items as elements, when one element is transferred from one system to another, its value will change because it is now related to the elements belonging to the new system. This means that modifications when transferring from source text to target text are appropriate in certain contexts so long the transferred element possesses the same amount of conventionality in the target culture as the original did in the source culture. In addition, the skopos of the translation is determined by a translation brief or translation commission, otherwise referred to as an “intercultural operative”.Green, B. S. (2012). A skopos-based analysis of Breytenbach’s Titus Andronicus (Doctoral dissertation). Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa. Thus, it can be seen that although Skopos Theory is more target-oriented, the cultural aspects of the source and target languages play important roles.
Historical development
Vermeer's general skopos theory During the time period in which Vermeer's general Skopos theory was founded, the field of Translation Studies was facing a shift from predominantly more formal and ‘linguistic’ theories, where ‘faithfulness’ and ‘equivalence’ to source text was the greatest criterion with the most authority in determining a translation’s success, to theories holding greater regard for functionality and sociocultural factors. This shift had been motivated by the Communication Theory, Action Theory, Text Linguistics and Text Theory, and the orientation towards Reception Theory in Literary Studies. Thus, Skopos Theory can be considered as an offspring of these said theories. Consequently, Skopos Theory formed in that period, and under the influence of the aforementioned theories, had a functionally and socioculturally oriented framework due to its focus on translation factors that lie between extra-linguistic and textual. Many of the factors it adopted from the Action Theory became essential in the late twentieth century due to the growing demand for non-literary text translations. In such texts, contextual factors surrounding them became essential in their translation particularly, when in relation to the function of the text in that specific culture for the specific reader(s).
Vermeer and Reiss