Functionalist approach to translation

Introduction:
The aim of this essay is to outline the different types of functionalist approaches
to translation. Firstly will give an elaborate definition of translation and its purpose
secondly, look at the different types of approaches and criticism, and finally, the
translation process from a functionalist approach.
Definition of translation:
Translation is defined as a written or spoken text in one language that is aimed to
convey the same meaning into another language, Catford (1965:20) claimed
that translation involves the replacement of textual material in one language:
source language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language target
language (TL), however, is a much more elaborated activity which entails
linguistic and cultural knowledge of both languages. There is no one definition to
translation. For a translation or text to be regarded as functional, it has to achieve
its aim or purpose. Functionality of a text is not dependent on the quality of a text,
but on the on the reaction of the receiver during reception.
The purpose of a translation:
The purpose of a translation many differ according to the type of a translation
used within a text. There are different types of aims such as, the pragmatic,
linguistic, aesthetic-poetic and ethnographic aims, these aims serves different
purpose, for example, a pragmatic translation the purpose is to translate the
message as effectively and factually correct as possible. The emphasis is on its
visual form, grammatical form or the cultural content, an example of a pragmatic
translation is a government document. On the other hand if a translation is
linguistic, the purpose of the translation will focus mostly on issues of meaning
and equivalence.
Different types of functionalist approaches to translation:
To assist translators overcome translation problems, theorist has developed
functionalist approaches theories over the last couple of centuries, this theory is
derived from a general approach called the skopotheorie, other approaches to
translations are Reisss text typology and Nords Manipulation and loyalty to
functionalist approach.

The skopos theory:

Skopos theory was developed by Vermeer in Germany in the early 1970s and
1980s. The word skopos is Greek, which generally means aim, purpose or goal.
Vermeer used the word to refer to the aim of the translation process. The
skopos theory is part of a theory of translational action, Translation is seen as the
particular variety of translational action which is based on a source text (Other
varieties would involve e.g. a consultant's information on a regional economic or
political situation, etc.) Any form of translational action, including therefore
translation itself, may be conceived as an action, as the name implies. Any action
has an aim, a purpose.(Vermeer: 1989).
The theory assumes that language is embedded in translation, its seen as a type
to a more general culture which give status to a source text, and hence the role
of the translator in the course of intercultural communication. Every text is written
with a specific audience, target or culture in mind. Most original author has no
cultural background knowledge, but if an author has background knowledge on a
specific target culture, he or she would write the text according to the conditions,
requirements and norms of the target language.
According to Vermeer It is thus not to be expected that merely "trans-coding" a
source text, merely "transposing" it into another language, will result in a
serviceable translatum. As its name implies, the source text is oriented towards,
and is in any case bound to, the source culture. The target text, the translaturn, is
oriented towards the target culture, and it is this which ultimately defines its
adequacy. It therefore follows that source and target texts may diverge from each
other quite considerably, not only in the formulation and distribution of the content
but also as regards the goals which are set for each, and in terms of which the
arrangement of the content is in fact determined (1989:228).
The theory generally states that for a text to be considered functional it has
conform to the rules and norms of the source culture, to a point where the
translator has the power to critic the form and function of the source text to
passable as compared the predetermined skopos in the target culture, to an
extend where there is coherence between source text and target culture. The
translator has the right to change the text as long as it fulfils its purpose the end
justify the means.

Objections against the skopos theory:

There has been objections and criticisms against the skopos theory from other
theories. The first objection maintains that not all actions have aims, as claimed
to be the case with all literary texts, or at least some of them (Mnttri,
1988:256), Herding (1987:689) also adds a second objection by maintaining that
not every translation can be assigned a purpose, an intention, i.e. There are
translations that are not goal-oriented, example translation in its traditional
translation. A given skopos may restrict or rule out other possible interpretation
to a text because they are not a part or follow the translation purpose.
Reisss text typology:
The approach is built on concepts of equivalence, which essentially mean that
the target text serves the same communication function as the source text.
Equivalence is reached at text level rather than word or sentence level. To give a
better explanation to the approach there are three main functions, language
dimension, text types and the three text types, which are the informative text,
expressive text and operative text.
The informative text:
informative text serves as a means of factual communication, which are backed
by evidence and represent objects. the text informs or advices reader on certain
subjects,an example of an informative text is a newspaper. Reiss (2001:68)
states that "with an informative text the translatoraims at establishingequivalence
between source and target text, the translator must give a correct and complete
representation of the text's content and should be guided in terms of the stylistic
choices,by the dominant norms of the target alnguage and culture.
expressive text:
The text expresses emotion of the sender's attitude,it contains creativeness of
the author, it has an aesthetic form,the author has to adopt perspective of the
source target author,an example of an expressive text is a novel,a poem or a
song lyrics." the translator must strive to produce an analogy of the stylistic
effect,allowing the reader to experience the same expression of the relationship
between form and content the original reader" (Reiss,2001:69).
Operative text:

an operative text is a type of text that aim to appeal to the reciever, in the
translatio of an appelative or operative text, the translator should be guided by
the overall aim of provoking the same reactionin the audience that was made by
the original author.