Term Paper on "Comparisons Between Two Translation Theories Equivalence and Skopos"

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However, it may be suggested that this vagueness is somewhat deliberate, as it suggests the arbitrary nature of the relationship between source and target text. The translator is to be creative in his or her efforts when translating the source text according to the needs and requirements of the target audience and the purpose of the target text (Skopos Theory in Practice, 2007). Because these needs and purposes will fluctuate with every text, it is impossible to construct an exact science surrounding what should be done during the translation process itself. This is left up to the experience and creativity of the translator. Indeed, the main requirement for this theory to realize is the fact that it promotes a negotiation between the translator and the client, where the client specifies the conditions under which the target text should function. The target text is no longer the "sacred original" according to its function in equivalence. Instead, the translator chooses among three major purpose kinds to construct a translated text for the appropriate audience. The first type of purpose is the general purpose of the translator in constructing the translation (Skopos Theory in Practice, 2007). The second is the communicative purpose of the text, which could entail something like providing information to a certain audience type. The third kind of purpose is the strategic purpose of a particular procedure, such as free translation. The strategy of the translation is determined by the function of the target text. Importantly, the main premise of this theory is that the target text may not have the same person as the source text. There could for example be a different sociolinguistic, pragmatic, and sociocultural context and significance to be followed by the target text.

Equivalence, in its strictest scientific sense, refers to an absolute symmetrical relationship between words of different languages (Zakhir). This assumption was then used as the basis for Nida's equivalence theory, which holds that the source and target text should be as close as possible to each other in terms of diction and linguistic elements. This was also the premise for developing automatic translation platforms, which provided a much faster product than Skopos translation.

According to Zakhir, Roman Jacobson was one of the earliest theorists to study equivalence in meaning among languages. He also acknowledged that there is no full equivalence among all the words of all languages. Differences are also found among… READ MORE