论翻译目的论对化妆品品名翻译的影响

1、论翻译目的论对化妆品品名翻译的影响acknowledgementsfirst of all, a special thanks should be shown to my supervisor ms. liu, who has given me the most valuable and patient instructions all through my writing, and helped me revise many times. meanwhile i would like to extend my gratitude to all teachers of our departme

2、nt, who have taught me how to learn english and the way to live well in the university. finally, i would like to express my thanks to my friends and classmates, without their supports, i wouldnt finish my thesis. abstractnowadays, with the economic globalization and internationalization of commodity

3、 markets, commodity brand has become a major source access to product information for a business, enterprise and consumers. the brands with successful translation give me an important guarantee to sale goods to others and stimulate consumers interest. female cosmetics brands have different styles, r

4、eal or vital, elegant or vulgar, classical or fashion. therefore, on the one hand, the style to be translated must reflect the ethnic and cultural characteristics; on the other hand, psychology, interest, language and other cultural tendencies of groups in a target market should also be considered.

5、according to a systematic exposition of skopos theory and features of cosmetics brand, this thesis delves preliminarily into the application of skopos theory in the translation of cosmetics brand.this thesis is composed of three chapters: chapter one introduces the skopos theory, including its devel

6、opment and three rules; chapter two summarizes translational skopos and features of cosmetics brand; chapter three mainly analysis several cases for further illustration. key words: skopos theory; cosmetics; brand translation摘要在经济全球化和商品市场国际化的今天，商品品名已成为商家、企业和广大消费者获取商品信息的重要信息来源，而成功的品名翻译是对外推销自己商品、激发消费者

7、购买欲望的重要保证。女性品牌化妆品名风格各异，或实或虚，或雅或俗，或古典或时尚，因此要翻译成何种风格，不仅要反映本民族的文化特点，还要考虑目标市场的群体心理、兴趣追求和语言倾向等文化内涵。本问通过对翻译目的论和化妆品品名特点的阐述，对化妆品名翻译进行了初步探讨。本文主要分为三部分:第一章介绍了目的论，包括其发展过程及三个原则。第二章阐述了化妆品品名翻译的目的和特点。第三章通过分析实例作了进一步阐述。关键字：目的论；化妆品；品名翻译contentsintroduction1chapter one skopos theory1.1 introduction to the skopos theory

8、21.2 development of skopos theory21.3 rules of skopos theory4 1.3.1 the guiding principle-skopos rule.4 1.3.2 two subordinate principle-coherence rule and fidelity rule4chapter two translational skopos and features of cosmetics brand2.1 translational skopos of cosmetics brand62.2 cultural difference

9、s in the translation of cosmetics brand72.3 aethetics in the translation of cosmetics brand8 2.3.1 formal beauty.8 2.3.2 artistic beauty.9 2.3.3 creative beauty.9chapter three cases analysis-translation of perfume brands3.1 three famous translated cases under cultural differences103.2 a famous case

10、under aesthetics10conclusion 12bibliography13chinese translation14introductionthe translation of cosmetics brand is different from that of general language. in many cases, it reflects implication and aesthetic taste of different cultures. different countries, different nationalities, different langu

11、ages have different cultural developing paths. therefore, cultural differences produce inevitably. every name given by each country is with its cultural characteristics. as a result, it is not just a translation about languages inter-conversion but an interpretation of cultural level as well as a cu

12、ltural decoding.the skopos theory is an approach to translation which was put forward by hans. j. vermeer and developed in germany in the late 1970s and which oriented a more functionally and socio-culturally concept of translation. translation is considered not as a process of translation, but as a

13、 specific form of human action. in this theory, translation has a purpose, and the word “skopos” was from greek. it is used as the technical term for the purpose of the translation. the skopos theory posits that translation is produced for particular recipients with specific purpose(s) in a given si

14、tuation. the maturing of the skopos theory results in the dethroning of the source text and the demystification of “equivalence”, foregrounding the significance and implication of “purpose” that contributes to the translation as a sort of social construction. chapter one skopos theory1.1 introductio

15、n to skopos theoryskopos theory, simplified as “the end justifies the means”, was first put forwards by hans j. vermeer. it tries to liberate the translation from the confinement of the source text. the aim is to explain the translation activity from the point of view of the target language.in the f

16、ramework of this theory, one of the most important factors determining the purpose of a translation is the address, who id the intended receiver or audience of the target text with their world language. every translation is directed at an intended audience. the theory focuses above all on the purpos

17、e of the translation, which determines the translation methods and strategies that are to be employed in order to produce a functionally adequate result. vermeer regards it as an “offer of information” that is partly or wholly turned into an “offer of information” for the target audience. from this

18、view, the status of the source is clearly much lower in skopos theory than the equivalence theory.1.2 development of skopos theorytranslation theory in its modern sense is closely related to modern linguistics. all those linguistic approaches basically see translating as a code-switching operation.

19、they try to find the equivalence-based linguistic approaches, which focus on the source text. koller expresses the same idea in the following: “there exists equivalence between a given source text and a given target text if the target text fulfills certain requirements with respect to these frame co

20、nditions. the relevant conditions are those havingto do with such aspects as content, style and function. the requirement of equivalence thus has the following form: quality (or qualities) x in the sl text must be preserved. this means that the source-language content, form, style, functions, etc.mu

21、st be preserved, or at least that the translation must seek to preserve them as far as possible.”(werner koller, 1979: 187) some theorists hold that any target text, which is not equivalent to the corresponding source text, is a non-translation. but translators have often found that professional tra

22、nslating includes many cases where equivalence is not called for at all. however, since there are differences in linguistic structures, cultural backgrounds and thought patterns etc, one-to-one correspondence between two languages does not exist usually.in his translation practice, reiss knew that “

23、real life presents situation where equivalence is not possible and, in some cases, not even desired”(nord, c. 2001:9). in such situations, the functional perspective takes precedence over the normal standards of equivalence.vermeer states his general position, “linguistics alone wont help us in tran

24、slation, firstly, becaude translating is not merely and not even primarily a linguistic process; secondly, because linguistics has not yet formulated the right questions to tackle our problems”. (nord , c.2001:10)he tries to bridge the ga between theory and practice, and sets up skopos theory, which

25、 has played a major role in the development of functionalism. according to skopos theory, translating can be regarded as a purposeful activity. in accordance with action theory, vermeer defines human action as intentional, purposeful behavior that takes place in a given situation. “since situations

26、are embedded in cultures, any evaluation of a particular situation of its verbalized and non-verbalized elements depends on the status it has in a particular culture system.”(nord, c. 2001:11)as translation is a means of communication across cultural barriers, it cannot be considered as one-to-one t

27、ransfer between languages. in the framework of skopos theory, any form of translational action may be conceived as an action, as the name implies. any action has an aim, a purpose. the main task of translator is to fulfill the purpose of the translation process.justa holz is another important schola

28、r who has made major contributions to the developmemt of skopos theory and even goes one-step further than vermeer. her theory is designed to cover all forms of intercultural transfer, including those, which do not involve any source or target texts. she prefers to speak of message transmitters”, wh

29、ich consists of textual materials combined with other media such as pictures, sounds and body languages. holz places special emphasis on the factional aspects of translation process, and has analyzed the roles of participants (initiator, translator, user, message receiver) and the situational condit

30、ions (place, time, medium) in which the activities take place.1.3 rules of skopos theoryin skopos theory, three rules are important. they are skopos rule, coherence rule(intra-textual rule)and fidelity rule( inter-textual rule)which will be discussed respectively.1.3.1 the guiding priciple-skopos ru

31、leaccording to skopos theory, the top-ranking rule for any translation is the skopos rule, which says that a translational action is determined by its skopos. each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve that purpose. the skopos rule thus reads as follows: translate/interpret/speak/wri

32、te in a way that enables your text/translation to function in the situation in which it is used and with people who want to use it and precisely in the way they want it to function.(vermeer,1989:173)obviously, the skopos has to be negotiated between the clients and the translator. however, in most c

33、ases, the initiator will not bother to give a detailed translation brief which would give as many details as possible about the purpose, explaining the addressee, time, place, occasions and medium of the intended communication and the function that the text is intended to have, the translator has to

34、 decide on the skopos of the text, the translation strategy and the translation type and so on according to his own competence and responsibility.1.3.2 two subordinate principles-coherence rule and fidelity rulethe coherence rule stipulates that the translation must be sufficiently coherent to allow

35、 the intended readers to comprehend it. the starting point for a translation is a text as part of a world continuum, written in the source language. it has to be translated into a target language in such a way that it becomes part of a world continuum, which can be interpreted by the recipients as c

36、oherent with their situation.(vermeer 1978:100)this rule implies a translation should be acceptable in a sense that it is coherent with the norms of the target culture.( nord 1997:32)by fideliyrule or inter-textual coherence, vermeer means faithfulness of the target text to the source text.(nord, c.

37、1997:32) “since a translation is an offer of information zbout a preceding offer of information, it is expected to bear some kind of relationship with the corresponding source text. vermeer calls this relationship inter-textual coherence or fidelity.”(nord, c.2001:32)the three basic rules of the sko

38、pos theoty are designed to govern the translators activities in the whole translation process. in most cases, however, a translation cannot satisfy the three rules at the same time due to the reason that the skopos of the translation is frequently likely to deviate from the intention of the correspo

39、nding source language text. in general, the hierarchical order of abidance of the three rules should be the skopos rule first, the coherence rule second and then the fidelity rule, or to put it in another way, “inter-textual coherence is considered subordinate to intra-textual coherence and both are

40、 subordinate to the skopos rule.”chapter two translational skopos and features of cosmetics brand2.1 translational skopos of cosmetics brandcosmetics are womens articles of everyday use, whose address aesthetic characteristics determine the importance of its brand translations. at first, the transla

41、tion of cosmetics brand is a language cultural phenomenon. it is manifested in language. from the form of language existences point view, cosmetics brand can be divided into two kinds: oral phonetic form and written form. a cosmetics brand can be seemed as a persons name. it is a meticulous design o

42、n pronunciation and characters. it usually chooses some words whose sounds, tone, and tune are harmonious. at the same time, the brand should be in accordance with womens quality. however, the translation of cosmetics brand considers not only the transfer of language and culture, but also the busine

43、ss purpose of production sales under the commercial economy. women are born to pursue beauty. they are the most important customers of cosmetics. therefore, womens pursuing and longing for beauty is the motive power that women buy commodity. the translation must appeal to the psychology that female

44、customers seek for elegance and good looks. as a result, translation of cosmetics brand is requested at a higher level.in the translation of cosmetics name, source text and target text share the same purpose, which determines the cosmetics translation id too supposed to functional equivalence. the p

45、urpose of translation is to achieve sales target, therefore, which is more than a problem of semantic equivalence. it is asked to pay a greater emphasis on actual results produced by the language translation, whether it is infectious and whether it can enhance advertising effectiveness or not. in th

46、e functional theory, “adequacy” took the place of “equivalence” to become the evaluation standard of translation, which means if the translation text can achieve expected social effects. translation of cosmetics brand aims at achieving this target, so it should focus on the acceptance and reaction o

47、f address, that is, enhances their aesthetic beauty to attract more customers. 2.2 cultural differences in the translation of cosmetics brandcosmetics brands show certain styles, western or oriented, real or imaginary, elegant or vulgar, classical or fashionable, smooth or risky. different groups ha

48、ve different preferences and language customs. therefore, which kind of style that brand names would be translated into should consider the certain groups psychology, interests, wishes, language tendencies and other cultural prose in a target market?first, brand translation should reflect the indivi

49、dualism in western culture emphasizes on individual consciousness. it often spreads individual efforts and contribution and promotes self-respect. the word “individualism in chinese is treated as a derogatory term; while on the contrary, it considers individual rights and freedoms are the most impor

50、tant rights and thoughts in the society in english. it is not hard to see that there is no derogatory meaning. in the economic field, one reflection of individualism is that a persons first name or last name are used as brand name, in order to show respect and commemoration to those product investor

51、s, business founders or others who had made a significant contribution to the product or enterprise once, reflecting personal values. one of world-top cosmetics brand estee lauder is a good example. it was set up by estee lauder and joseph lauder. now it has developed into the largest company sellin

52、g skin-care products, cosmetics and perfumes in the world. other cosmetics named after their founders including mary kay, chanel, arden, and dior and so on. all of these products are best-sellers all over the world.second, brand translation should reflect the cultural meaning. foreign products come

53、into chinese market with a clear position. the translator should target the psychological characteristics of consumers and translate into names that meet specific groups psychology. for example, new generation of young people has the pursuit on modern fashion, the western-style fast food, western mu

54、sic, foreign brand beverages, clothing and western values and lifestyle. the brand with the translation of foreign policy would be more attractive to this group as the target market. a kind of lipsticks named kiss me are translated into “奇士美”rather than directly to “吻我”，considering the implicit char

55、acteristics of the chinese nation. “奇士”and“骑士”are homonyms. it gives an image of hero and beauty when combined with“美”.on one hand, it takes care of chinas consumer psychology; on the other hand,it expresses the meaning that kiss me wants to.2.3 aesthetics in the translation of cosmetics brandwhen t

56、ranslating female beauty products marks, in addition to reflect the properties of goods.it is needed to try to make a perfect unity of formal, artistic and creative beauty, for the purpose of giving poetic feelings and stimulating consumers to purchase at the same time.an aesthetic principle stands

57、that: any beautiful thing is a dialectical unity of formal beauty and inner beauty. trade name is no exception. for the translation, the aesthetic is a means that we are to understand and analyse artistic translation. the development of aesthetic ideas and theories makes us realize that translation

58、studies must pay attention to aesthetic subjectivity and initiate; aesthetic attitude, in order to ensure the artistic quality of translation. the main task is to develop the aesthetic potential, including the aesthetic experience, aesthetic sense and the ability of aesthetic judgement, so that translation thought can go forwards in the aesthetic plane effectively. it can be said as the basic laws of art in translation. this part analyses the translation of several international well-known cosmetic brands from aesthetic aspect.2.2.1 formal beautyformal beau