Nord Christiane. Translating as a Purposeful Activity

Functionalist Approaches Explained. Second edition. — Abingdon: Routledge, 2018. — xii + 153 p. — ISBN: 978-1-351-18935-4 (Translation Theories Explored)This bestselling text is a comprehensive overview of functionalist approaches to translation in English. Christiane Nord, one of the leading figures in translation studies, explains the complexities of theories and terms in simple language with numerous examples. 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 both criticisms and perspectives for the future. Now with a Foreword by Georges Bastin and a new chapter covering the recent developments and elaborations of the theory, this is an essential text for students of translation studies and for translator training.Historical overview
Early views
Katharina Reiss and the functional category of translation criticism
Hans J. Vermeer: Skopostheorie and beyond
Justa Holz-Mänttäri and the theory of translational action
Functionalist methodology in translator training
Translating and the theory of action
Translating as a form of translational interaction
Translating as intentional interaction
Translating as interpersonal interaction
Translating as a communicative action
Translating as intercultural action
Translating as a text-processing action
Basic concepts of Skopostheorie
Skopos, aim, purpose, intention, function, and translation brief
Intratextual and intertextual coherence
The concept of culture and culture-specificity
Adequacy and equivalence
The role of text classifications
Functionalism in translator training
A translation-oriented model of communicative functions in texts
A functional typology of translations
Norms and conventions in functional translation
Source-text analysis, translation briefs, and identifying translation problems
A functional hierarchy of translation problems
Translation units revisited
Translation errors and translation evaluation
Functionalism in literary translation
Actional aspects of literary communication
Literary communication across culture barriers
Skopos and assignment in literary translation
Some examples
Functionalist approaches to interpreting
The role of interpreting in Skopostheorie
Translator training: from interpreting to translation
A functionalist approach to simultaneous interpreting
Criticisms
Criticism 1: not all actions have an intention
Criticism 2: not all translations have a purpose
Criticism 3: functional approaches transgress the limits of translation proper
Criticism 4: skopostheorie is not an original theory
Criticism 5: functionalism is not based on empirical findings
Criticism 6: functionalism produces mercenary experts
Criticism 7: functionalism does not respect the original
Criticism 8: functionalism is a theory of adaptation
Criticism 9: functionalism does not work in literary translation
Criticism 10: functionalism is marked by cultural relativism
Function plus loyalty
Future perspectives at the end of the 1990s
Functionalism in the profession
Functionalism in academia
Functionalism in the English-speaking world
Functional translation and democracy
Skopos theory and functionalism in the new millennium
The academic world
The translator’s workplace
Functionalism in legal translation
Functionalism in literary and religious texts
Adaptation and transfer studies