Translating as a Purposeful Activity

Functionalist Approaches Explained
3. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-15902-5
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 202 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Translation Theories Explored

This classic text has long been the essential guide to functionalist approaches to translation. Christiane Nord explains the complexities of theories and terms in simple language with numerous examples from a variety of languages and cultures, including new examples from Chinese language.

Covering how the theories developed, illustrations of the main ideas, and specific applications to translator training, literary translation, interpreting, and ethics, Translating as a Purposeful Activity concludes with a concise review of the main criticisms of this approach. It also includes a new chapter on the latest developments and research currents since the turn of the century, focusing on functionalism at the translator’s workplace, in legal translation and in Bible translation.

This new edition has an improved layout and many new examples ensuring that this remains essential reading for students of translation studies and translator training.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nord, Christiane

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

1 Historical overview

1.1 Early views

1.2 Katharina Reiss and the functional category of translation criticism

1.3 Hans J. Vermeer: Skopostheorie and beyond

1.4 Justa Holz-Mänttäri and the theory of translatorial action

1.5 Functionalist methodology in translator training

2 Translation and the theory of action 2.1 Translating as a form of translational interaction 2.2 Translating as intentional interaction 2.3 Translating as interpersonal interaction 2.4 Translating as a communicative actdion 2.5 Translating as intercultural action 2.6 Translating as a text-processing action

3 Basic aspects of Skopostheorie 3.1 Skopos, aim, purpose, intention, function, and translation brief 3.2 Intertextual and intratextual coherence 3.3 The concept of culture and culture-specificity 3.4 Adequacy and equivalence 3.5 The role of text classifications

4 Functionalism in translator training 4.1 A translation-oriented model of communicative functions in texts 4.2 A functional typology of translations 4.3 Source-text analysis, translation briefs and identifying translation problems 4.4 Translation errors and translation evaluation

5 Functionalism in literary translation 5.1 Actional aspects of literary communication 5.2 Literary communication across culture barriers

6 Functionalist approaches to interpreting 6.1 The role of interpreting in Skopostheorie 6.2 Translator training: from interpreting to translation 6.3 A functionalist approach to simultaneous interpreting 6.4 Functionalism in other forms of interpreting

7 Criticisms 7.1 Criticism 1: not all actions have an intention 7.2 Criticism 2: not all translations have a purpose 7.3 Criticism 3: functional approaches transgress the limits of translation proper 7.4 Criticism 4: Skopostheorie is not an original theory 7.5 Criticism 5: functionalism is not based on empirical findings 7.6 Criticism 6: functionalism produces mercenary experts 7.7 Criticism 7: functionalism does not respect the original 7.8 Criticism 8: functionalism is a theory of adaptation 7.9 Criticism 9: functionalism does not work in literary translation 7.10 Criticism 10: functionalism is marked by cultural relativism

8 Function plus loyalty

9 Functionalism in the new millennium 9.1 Spreading the word 9.2 Functionalism in the profession 9.3 Adaptation and transfer studies 9.4 Functionalism and AI

Glossary

Bibliographical references

Über Autor(innen)

Christiane Nord is Professor Emerita of Translation Studies and Specialised Communication at the University of Applied Sciences of Magdeburg, Germany, and Visiting Professor at several universities of the People’s Republic of China. She also holds the position of Professor Extraordinary and Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Her homepage can be found at www.christiane-nord.de.