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Advertisement Translation under the guidance of Skopos Theory 学院:文法学院 专业:外国语言学及应用语言学 姓名:杨悦 学号:2012211047 Outline 1. Introduction 2. Properties of advertising 2.1 Definitions of advertising 2.2 Classifications of advertising 2.3 Requirements for advertising 3. Skopos theory 3.1 Skopos rule 3.2 Intertextual coherence rule 3.3 Intratextual coherence rule 3. Advertising translation and skopos theory 3.1 Traditional view of advertising translation 3.2 Functionalist view of advertising translation 3.3 Translation strategies under the guidance of Skopos theory 3.3.1 Amplification 3.3.2 Abridgement 3.3.3 Adaptation 3.3.4 Imitation 4. Conclusion 1. Introduction Advertising has become an essential part of our daily life in modern society. As a result of intensified international exchanges and increasingly heated competition, there is an increasing demand for advertising and also advertising translation. In the field of translation arises a hot topic known as cross-cultural advertising translation, which has a tremendous impact on international trade and product exchange. Some German scholars presented the functionalist concept of translation, which offered a new perspective for the research on advertising translation. Different from traditional translation concept, it is an important complement to translation studies. Vermeer’s “Skopos theory” advocates that any form of transnational action can be looked upon as an action, and any action has its purpose. The purpose of the overall transnational action is the most important principle that decides on any translation process. It is the purpose as well as the intended function of the target text that determines translation strategies and methods. 2. Properties of advertising Advertising translation is different from literary translation in that it is highly purpose 一 driven with AIDMA (Attention, Interest, Desire Memory and Action)as the principle,and the better the target advertisement, the better the sales. Thus,it is recognizable that the effect of target advertisements shall be as good as or better than the original. Thus,traditional-original-text-centered theories fail to achieve this state in advertising translation. 2.1 Definition of advertising There are many kinds of definitions of advertising nowadays from different perspectives. According to Encyclopedia, the definition of advertising is “the techniques need to bring products, services, opinions, or causes to public notice for the purpose of persuading the public to respond in a certain way toward what is advertised. (Cit. Schiffman 2001:141)” and according to Harris and Seldon (1962:40), advertising is “a public notice designed to spread information with view to promoting the sales of marketable goods and services.” American Marketing Association advertising as follows: “advertising is a non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through various media.” This definition indicates a few main characteristics of advertising. To begin with, “non-personal” means advertising is designed not for individuals, but for a group of people. In addition, “communication of information” indicates the fact that advertising is a communication tool used to convey information about the products towards to the audience. Moreover, advertising is often “paid for” by sponsors who intend to motivate people to buy the advertised products by this means. Finally, “various media” are used to help fulfill the purpose. An advertisement is the result of the combination of all these elements. It is the fundamental purpose of advertising to identify and differentiate one product from another with a view to motivating customers to purchase this product rather than another. Consequently, we can conclude that advertising is more than a compound of words and pictures. To be more precise, it is a creation combined with such commercial elements as product information, aesthetic evaluation, consumers’ psychological analysis and marketing strategies. Based on the above-mentioned definition from different sources and perspectives I define advertising as one form of marketing which motivates consumers to buy a product, service or accept a concept for the purpose of sales promotion. 2.2 Classifications of advertising It is true that advertising becomes increasingly complicated in both form and category. There are many ways advertisements may be classified. However, it is difficult to finalize a complete and perfect classification. Discussed below are the four commonly used classifications. When classified by ultimate purposes, advertisements fall into two categories, i.e., profit-oriented advertisements and non-commercial advertisements. Profit-oriented advertisements are further divided into four advertising types including product advertisements, service advertisements, corporate advertisements and idea advertisements. All of these are also called commercial advertisements. They are designed and launched to promote sales and services and thereby make profits. Non-commercial advertisements are usually aimed to convey particular ideas, causes and philosophies to people. They are non-profitable and typically sponsored by civic associations, charitable institutions, religious or political organizations. When classified by media, advertisements fall into many categories, including television advertising, radio advertising, newspaper advertising, and magazine advertising, outside advertising, direct mail advertising, package advertising and advertising by advanced equipment such as telex, fax and computer. When classified by geographical area, there are four categories for advertisements, i.e., international advertising, national advertising, regional advertising and local advertising. When classified by technique, advertisements are divided into hard sell and soft sell. “One well-worn and long-established distinction is between the hard sell and soft sell” (Cook, G, 1992:10). Hard sell offers consumers detailed message about the features as well as the advantages of the products. In addition, it supplies other information such as the availability, price and warranty of the product. It appeals to the consumers directly and promotes sales in a relatively aggressive way. Nevertheless, soft sell is indirect. It satisfies consumers’ emotional needs by creating a pleasant atmosphere that results in their positive feelings towards the product. 2.3 Requirements for advertising According to the American Handbook for Marketers and Managers, a successful advertisement needs to comply with the principle of AIDMA, namely, Attention, Interest, Desire Memory and Action. To put it more clearly, a good advertisement needs to attract consumers’ attention, arouse their interests toward the product, further stimulate their desire to buy the product, help them to memorize the product and finally encourage them to take purchasing actions. It is easily to understandable that advertising translation also needs to be in consistent with the principle of AIDMA. 3. skopos theory It was by Reiss and Vermeer in 1984 that Skopos theory was first put forward. Unlike any of the previous translation theories, it views translation from a different perspective and looks upon translation as an action. Moreover, according to this theory, purpose fulfillment is the prevailing standard to judge whether or not a translation is successful. In order to achieve the intended purpose, the translator can explore and employ any effective translation strategies and methods. Since advertising and advertising translation both have an obvious purpose, Skopos theory can be seen as the most suitable guiding theory for advertising translation. There are three basic rules in Skopos theories: Skopos rules, intertextual coherence rule, and intratextual coherence rule. 3.1 Skopos rule In Sokpos theory,Skopos rule is the most important, and it requires that translational action be determined by its Skopos, or “the end justifies the means”. Different from traditional theories, Skopos theory does not stick to make distinctions among free vs. faithful translation, dynamic vs. functional equivalence, good interpreters vs. slavish translators. It does not make distinctions according to text types. Instead, it holds that the translation method is decided by its Skopos. (Nord, 2001:29) In an ideal situation, the Skopos can be offered by the client. Under such circumstance, the client (regarded as the initiator of the translation) will supply the translator with a detailed description of translation purposes, which constitutes the so-called explicit translation belief. What is more, the client is mostly no expert in intercultural communication. Thus, the translator has to negotiate about the Skopos with the client. In most cases, experienced translator can infer the Skopos from translational situation itself. (Nord 2001:30) 3.2 Intertextual coherence rule Intertextual coherence sometimes refers to fidelity. It means that there must be some relationship between information offered by target text and information offered by source text. And the form of the relationship is decided by the Skopos of the translation. It might be the free or faithful equivalence, formal or dynamic equivalence, etc. 3.3 Intratextual coherence rule Intratextual coherence means that target text should be coherent with the situation of the receiver, thus to make the receiver easily understand the situation. In order to achieve the goal, the target text must make sense in the culture in which the receiver lives. Vermeer defines the culture as “the entire setting of norms and conventions an individual as a member of his society must know in order to be ‘like everybody’-or to be able to be different from everybody. (Cit. Nord 2001:33)” 3. Advertising translation and skopos theory 3.1 Traditional view of advertising translation In traditional translation theories, advertising translation is a bottom-up process in which translating is thought of as a code-switching operation that attaches primary importance to equivalence in vocabulary and syntax. Typically, source language texts are transferred on a sentence-by-sentence or even word-by-word basis. And the translation undergoes a polishing from a stylistic perspective. The process is completed when the translation meets the need of communication. Thus pragmatics is at the bottom of the list of factors to be considered in translation. However, as the translator adheres to the source-text structures all the time, linguistic interferences are inevitable in the translation process which often produces quite many mistakes. 3.2 Functionalist view of advertising translation In the 1970’s, functionalist approach to translation appeared in Germany. It was introduced into China around the 1990’s. As it does not agree with traditional translation theories, it receives criticism and challenge on the part of some scholars. But there is no denying that it continues to draw attention these years. Functionalist approach attaches great importance to the functionality of the target text in the target culture. Translator is encouraged to make the best of any resource or means in the translation process. In order to fulfill the intended functions of the translation, he/she can choose any translation strategy or method he deems appropriate. The end justifies the means. Where the target text is unequivalent to the source text, functionalist approach can provide a satisfying explanation. In terms of advertising translation, functionalist approach emphasizes the major functions of the target text in the target culture. Unlike in traditional translation theories, the translation is a top-down process. The pragmatic level is the starting point for a translation process in the functionalist approach. The translator determines the intended function of the translation first. In many cases, the form of the source text is adapted to the meet the needs of the target audience in the target culture. Advertising language is the combination of informative, expressive and especially operative texts. The several functions of advertisements such as providing information and persuading consumers all need to be fulfilled in the translation process. 3.3 Translation strategies under the guidance of Skopos theory Applied in advertising translation, the Skopos can be stated as the principle of AIDMA,namely, Attention, Interest, Desire, Memory, and Action. This means that a good advertisement needs to achieve the purpose of attracting consumers’ attention, arousing their interest towards the products, further stimulating their desire to buy the product, helping them to memorize the product and finally to take purchasing actions. Among the above purposes, final purpose or Skopos of advertising translation is the promotion of sales. Guided by the prime principle, the promotion of sales is the purpose of the overall advertising translational process. Advertising translators shall translate by giving priority to the Skopos of promotion sales. 3.3.1 Amplification Amplification refers to the means of adding information to the original text for the purpose of explaining, commenting, and supplementing. Some information in the original text such as cultural information may be familiar to the source readers. However, people from other cultural background may be confused by it. Therefore, amplification is indispensable. Here is one example: Source text: 鹌鹑蛋在《本草纲目》中被誉为动物人参… Seeing this sentence, most Chinese people can tell that《本草纲目》is an authoritative medicine book compiled by prestigious ancient Chinese medical master Li Shizhen. The copywriter chooses《本草纲目》for the purpose of emphasizing the authority of the source and convincing the customers of the effect of quail eggs. Nevertheless, most probably foreign audience has never heard of the book. An amplification to supplement information is necessary here. Therefore, the translation is suggested as follows: Quail eggs were named Animal Ginseng in Compendium of Material Medical, which is universally recognized as the bible of Chinese medicine for centuries. Moreover, amplification can help make up Chinese conventional expressions, namely, four-character phrases that contain richer connotations and are easy to use as a rhetorical device. In some cases, the translator should explore the potential meaning of some key words. It is likely that the Chinese version has a more explicit meaning than the original text. For instance: Source text: Come to Marlboro country—Marlboro Cigarette Translation: 旭日东升,万马奔腾—这就是万宝路的世界 This advertisement has achieved tremendous success both in America and in China for its heroic spirit. “Marlboro country” in the source text refers to “the world of men” and conveys the message “If you are manly enough please come to the world of men and take a Marlboro cigarette”. When the advertisement is launched in the Chinese market, the translation adds a description of the manly world and thus helps Chinese audience develop a better understanding of the western cowboy culture. Even now, Marlboro is still a leading brand of cigarettes in China. 3.3.2 Abridgement Abridgement refers to the means of omitting unimportant or unattractive information to the target readers from the source text for the sake of conciseness and better representation of useful information. As a result of the differences between Chinese and English cultures, consumers are likely to evaluate and filter the acquired information differently. Take Chinese consumers as an example. They tend to believe in the authorities in such a way that complimentary words are frequently used, including “recommended by experts”, “national best”, “prolong life and promote health” and “super quality and famous in the world”. Nevertheless, western people attach greater importance to the uniqueness of the products and want figures to support what is said in advertisements. Thus if the translation is done on word-for-word basis, it will confuse them or even increase their doubt about the truthfulness of the advertisement. Consequently, it is obvious that the sender of the information has to supply adequate relevant information while reducing useless information to the minimum in order to save processing effort for the receptor. A concise advertisement is easier to seize the target audience’s attention at the first sight. It is especially applicable in advertisement writing, where the text should be short and be of the readers’ interest, thus to catch the audience’s attention at the first sight. Abridgement is virtually required by the differences between the two languages in the translation process. For instance: Source text:水仙牌风油精特选多种三等天然药物及名贵芳香植物精油,用最 科学方法配制而成,气味舒适,清凉芬芳。 Translation: When things get on top of you, the natural ingredients in Calms can help you relax. A gentle blend of herb to help relax naturally. In this advertisement, the source text focuses on the advanced technology, while the target text emphasizes the natural herbs. This can be attributed to the differences in cultural background. Chinese people believe advanced technology ensures better quality. On the contrary, western people care more about natural things and are skeptical about advanced technology in that they believe it sometimes may exert undesired influence on people. Therefore, it is necessary to leave out the information on advanced technology in the translating process. 3.3.3 Adaptation Adaptation is common in advertising translation with strong theoretical support from Skopos theory. Different texts have variable reasons for adaptation. As Nida said, “Interlingual communication always implies some differences in cultural setting, with accompanying diversity in value systems, conceptual presuppositions and historical antecedents.”(Nida, 1998:5) Adaptation refers to the means of making great changes to the source text in terms of form and content. Translators are allowed to express the same idea in better ways to improve the readability of the translation. The following is one example that shows how adaptation is used successfully. Source text:金丝枣 Translation 1: Gold thread jujube Translation 2: Jin Si jujube Translation 3: Honey sweet jujube Seeing the three Chinese characters “金丝枣”, Chinese people immediately think of the seedless, soft and honey sweet jujube. However, it is not easy to offer a translation that meets the needs of foreign audience. Translation 1 is a literal translation that is likely to arouse antipathy for foreigners. Translation 2 is done using transliteration but has no substantial meaning. The two versions both fail to express the associative meaning of “金丝枣” and achieve the intended function of the advertisement. Translation 3 makes the audience understand what it is. Besides, it is emotionally acceptable. Therefore, it is the best among the three translation versions. 3.3.4 Imitation It is important that a translator of advertisements remember his/her ultimate objective is invariably to achieve the communicative purpose, which requires him/her to go all out to grab the attention of the target audience. Imitation stands out as a powerful solution when changes in the original form are needed. Imitation refers to the means of using expressions in the target language familiar to the intended readers to transform the original text. Such expressions include proverbs, poem lines, popular set phrases and four-character compounds. For instance, four-character compounds are widely used in Chinese writing for their simple structure, enriched meaning and charming rhythm and rhyme. Frequent application of such compounds in the Chinese version of foreign advertisements makes readers feel much more linguistically comfortable. The gap between the advertiser and the readers is shortened to the minimum in this way. Translations in which imitation is employed are more likely to impress the target audience. For instance: Source text: 爱您一辈子。--绿世界化妆品 Translation: Love me tender, love me true. The translation is a line from the world-famous song “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley. Placed in a western culture, it greatly satisfies the consumers’ emotional needs and arouses their immense interest in the advertised product—a certain cosmetics brand. 4. Conclusion As a type of cross-cultural communication, advertising translation has drawn attention from a number of scholars and some research has been done in this relatively new field of study. Most of them focus on the characteristics of advertising English and strategies and methods of advertising translation. It is always controversial whether the translation should be a reproduction of the source language and culture or it should be adapted to the target language and the culture. Moreover, there are many criteria for evaluating translation. But when it comes to advertising translation, things are much simpler. Whether or not a translation of advertisement is successful solely depends on target audiences’ responses. This is determined by the function and purpose of advertisements. Skopos theory, therefore, is a good guiding theory for advertising translation. Proposed by Vermeer and Reiss in 1984, Skopos theory was the most representative one in functionalist school. It deems translation a type of communicative human action. Like any other action, translation has an intention. It is the intention or purpose of advertising translation to persuade the target audience to make a purchasing decision. In order to fulfill such purpose, translators can make the best of various kinds of translation strategies or methods if appropriate. More exactly, translation is “the production of a functional target text maintaining a relationship with a given source text that is specified according to the intended or demanded function of the target text (translation Skopos)” (Nord, 1991). Reference 1. Bell Roger T., (2000) Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 2. Cook, G., (1992) The Discourse of Advertising, London: Routledge 3. E. A. Nida, (1984) On Translation, Beijing: China Translation and Publishing Corporation 4. Newmark Peter, (2001) Approaches to Translation, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 5. Newmark,Pete. 2001. A Textbook of Translation [M].Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 6. Nord. Christiane.2001.Transalting as A Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained Press [M].Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education