从目的论看商务合同翻译.docx

1、从目的论看商务合同翻译 Review on Commercial Contract TranslationFrom the Perspective of Skopos TheoryAbstract: International commercial contracts are one of the most important legal documents. Due to their special functions and complicated sentence structures, translators often find they are restricted in crea

2、tion during the process of translation. Therefore, some scholars come to the conclusion that Skopos Theory, which take flexibility seriously to enable the translator do an excellent job for the target text readers, cannot be applied to commercial contract translation. This thesis starts from the con

3、cept and features of international contracts, and move on to the base and principles of Skopos Theory. Then it gives a review of commercial contract translation under the guidance of Skopos Theory. Finally it suggests Skopos Theory should be attached due importance to the translation of commercial c

4、ontracts.Key Words: Commercial Contract; Skopos Theory; Translation Purpose; Text Type 从目的论视角评析商务合同的翻译摘要：国际商务合同是最重要的法律文件之一，由于其具有特殊的功能和复杂的句子结构，在英汉互译过程中译者发挥创造性有一定局限，所以有学者认为目的论强调更好地服务于译文读者，具有很大灵活性，因而并不适用于商务合同文本的翻译。本文从国际商务合同的概念及特点出发，阐述了目的论的理论基础，分析了目的论的内容和原则。评析了在目的论指导下商务合同的翻译，并建议译者在翻译商务合同文本的过程中，也要注意运用目的论

5、的指导。关键词：商务合同；目的论；翻译目的；文本类型1. Introduction In the trend of economic globalization and integration, international trade is becoming more and more frequent. Commercial contracts as a necessary procedure in foreign trade continue to play a significant role in protecting interests of both parties. Since

6、the contract is a particular type, which has legal effects, the work of translation shall be done more carefully in case the ambiguity or incompleteness would arouse disagreement and even controversy.Functionalist Translation Theory is a major breakthrough in the history of translation in that it br

7、ings up a new standard for translatorsthat is translators should be dismissed from the original texts and pay more attention to the purpose they intend to achieve and the receivers of the target texts. Therefore, the translator can deploy different translation methods according to different needs.Th

8、is thesis gives a brief introduction to Skopos Theory and concludes from its contents and principles that Skopos Theory can be guidance for commercial contract translation. And in the light of this theory, certain strategies can be employed in commercial contract translation. 2. Overview of Commerci

9、al Contracts Commercial contracts are essential components of the international trade. They play a significant role in clarifying the responsibilities of the involved parties and protecting their interests. As one form of legal documents, the commercial contract has its distinguished features. Thus

10、the method of contract translation differs both from pure literary works in which free translation is more widely used and from simple technological terms where literal translation is employed.2.1 Concept of International Commercial Contract In general terms, the international commercial contract is

11、 referred to the contract that includes business of two or more countries. The contents of commercial contracts are determined by the parties that are included. It mainly includes the clauses like titles or names of the parties and the domiciles thereof; technical conditions, quality, standard, spec

12、ifications and quantities of the subject matter of the contract; terms of price, amount and way of payment and various additional charges; compensation and other liabilities for breach of the contracts.2.2 Features of Commercial Contracts Employed as an applied style, commercial contract are require

13、d that the words and sentences in the contract should basically be accurate and rigorous. Meanwhile, as mentioned above, commercial contract distinguishes themselves as one form of legal documents where no ambiguity is allowed.2.2.1Lexical FeaturePeter Newmark (1994, 56-57) stated that words and phr

14、ases are the most foundational and independent units in all languages, an authentic integration of which would show the basic technique of an excellent translator. On the contrary, ambiguity will rise if the translator misuses important words and phrases.“An apparent lexical feature is that archaic

15、words are extensively used in commercial contracts, which makes the language more serious and rigorous”, Guan Lifang (2010: 8) said. Generally speaking, these archaic words are “here”, “there”, and “where” combined with prepositions like “in”, “on”, “after”, etc. (1) If either of the Parties fails t

16、o fulfill its obligations under this Contract, it shall compensate the other party for all its economic losers resulting therefore.合营一方如不履行本合同或公司章程的义务，违约一方，得赔偿另一方因此而遭受的经济损失。 Another important lexical feature is the usage of modal verbs. According to Wu Lirong and Zhang Guang (2010: 10-11), “the moda

17、l verbs in English imply the attitude and notions of the speaker, or they are attached with certain subjective visions.” In commercial contract translation, choosing the right modal verbs is of significant importance for accuracy and seriousness. In a contract , “shall” is accepted as “坚持” and it ex

18、presses a strong wiling and determination. If one party fails to fulfill the obligations referred to by “shall”, it will definitely be counted as a violation of the treaty and the party will have to shoulder the responsibility. However, the meaning of “will” is less strict comparatively.2.2.2 Syntac

19、tic FeatureThe most distinctive feature in contract clauses is the rigorous logic, sophisticated structure and clear expression. As is mentioned before, the purpose of the contract is to divide the line of responsibilities and duties between the two parties in action. To emphasize the integrity and

20、strictness, elliptical sentences or words like “etc.” or “and so on” are seldom employed in the contract. Words like “about” are eliminated in the sentence to avoid any ambiguity. Instead, very long compound sentences are applied in order to add more information and therefore to be more clear. (2) T

21、he seller must deliver goods which are free from any right of claim of a third party based on industrial property or other intellectual property.卖方所交之货必须是任何第三方均不能根据工业产权或其他知识产权享有任何权利或提出任何要求的货物。3. Skopos TheoryDated back to the 1970s, the appearance of Germany Functionalist Translation Theory gave ris

22、e to great influence. Defining translation as an intentional action, it put an end to the discussion of whether translators should use literal translation or use free translation. Functionalist Translation Theory, from the perspective of the function and purpose of translation, stresses that differe

23、nt strategies and methods can be employed according to different purposes the translator wants to achieve. 3.1Theoretical BasisFunctionalist Translation Theory focuses on the functionalism and social and cultural factors. Meanwhile it intends to absorb and learn communication theory, behavioral theo

24、ry, article linguistics, and discourse analysis theory. Eventually Functionalist Translation Theory has developed into its own particular school of theory system. The emergency of this theory is a symbol of transformation from linguistics combined with Equivalence Theory, which attaches more importa

25、nce to form and equality, to a theory that pays more attention to the function of translation and the social and cultural factors. Translation is considered as a behavior under functionalist theory. So “the important points of the theory lie in three aspects: a description of the essence of translat

26、ion, an analysis on the participants of translation process, and an illustration of the principles of functional translation”, Nord (2001: 33-34) stated. Main representatives of the functionalist theory are Reiss, Vermeer, Manttari and Nord. 3.2 Explanation of Skopos TheorySkopos Theory is the most

27、significant one in Functionalist Translation Theory. Proposed by Vermeer and perfected by the other main representatives, the theory focuses on the purposes the translators want to reach. “Skopos” is a Greek word which means “aim” or “purpose”, according to Wang Jinquan. (2000: 15). It emphasizes th

28、at translation is a behavior that should be based on the original text, but simultaneously the behavior should have its own intention and results. In Skopos theory, purpose is the most important principle in deciding which translation method should be applied. In other words, target text is determin

29、ed by translation purpose. There are three explanations referring to this “purpose”: the intention of the translator, the communicational objective of the target text, and the purpose that one wants to achieve by deploying a specific method of translation. Under the framework of Skopos theory, the r

30、eceivers of the translated text have a higher status than those of the original text, because it is believed that receivers have their own cultural background, expectation and communicational demands. Therefore, every piece of translated text should be produced to some certain audience. 4. Review of

31、 Skopos Theory on Commercial Contract TranslationSkopos Theory gives priority to the text function and translation purpose, which means that translation should be done by analyzing the original text and according to the requirements of the receivers. Consequently, the translator must distinguish the

32、 style and define its function. As has been discussed before, commercial contracts should be informative text since its most important task is to give clear and complete information to the receivers. This brings precondition to make a research on the translation of commercial contracts under Skopos

33、Theory. 4.1 The Principles Applied to Contract Translation in Skopos TheorySkopos Theory systematically makes a study in the perspective of the communicational function of the text. The theory and the principles provide effective instruction function to applied translation. Since the commercial contract ca