On Advertisement Translation from the Perspective of Skopostheorie

陈莹

【Abstract】with many international companies being founded， there is a growing need for efficient international advertising communication and translation. Due to the cultural difference between two languages， advertising translation is a great challenge for the translator. On this occasion， the functionalist approaches which allow enough freedom and flexibility of the translator can be the leading guidance in the advertising translation. This paper introduces the skopos features of advertisement translation， meanwhile， discusses the translation strategies of advertisement.

【Key words】advertising translation； Skopostheorie； functionalist approaches

Introduction

Advertisement is a practical text with high commercial values and has the special purpose of promoting sales. Therefore， the translation of advertisement is regarded as a key factor in opening and exploiting the foreign market. If the translator neglects the linguistic and cultural differences between the two languages， the translation may fail to produce the persuasive effect.

Guiding Theory to Advertisement Translation

Skopos is the Greek word for aim and purpose and was introduced into translation theory in the 1970s by Hans J. Vermeer as a technical term for the purpose of a translation and of the action of translating. The Skopostheorie gives the translator privilege to dethrone the place of source text. Furthermore， the Skopostheorie put more emphasis on the target readers whose cultural background， linguistic background， consuming psychology are different from those of the source readers. In the translation process， it is the Skopos of translated text that matters. The functions of advertising materials are summed up by British and American advertising as： “information， persuasive， maintenance of demand， creating mass markets and quality.”Advertising text translation must take the cultural concepts as its prerequisite.

Strategies of Advertising Translation

Conform to the Convention of the Target Language

The slogan of Nescafe “Nescafe， good to the last drop” is rendered into “雀巢咖啡，滴滴浓香，意犹未尽”. This example well illustrates some rules of the Skopostheorie. The “Skopos” here refers to the sellers purpose to persuade the Chinese consumers to buy Nescafe. Second， a target culture does not initiate an offer of information in a clearly reversible way； which means the function of TL in target culture has not to be the same as that of SL in source culture. Although the translated version “意犹未尽” exaggerates the feeling of tasting Nescafe in the ST， it can bring a stronger desire to the consumers to buy the product for “意犹未尽” in Chinese language will bring people unlimited daydream give them imagination. Besides， the TT is made up of three parallel four-character compounds which will arouse the response of Chinese consumers， for they are very familiar with this language convention.

Respect the Target Culture

Heiren， also a Chinese brand name of toothpaste， gets the name from the origin that the blacks teeth always seem to be whiter than the other races. So the brand name indicates that the toothpaste is very effective in cleaning and whitening the teeth. But if the name is just literally rendered into “Black Man”， when introduced into the international market， it will be probably taken as racial discrimination. To avoid this embarrassing situation， the translator is clever to translate it into “Darlie” which meaning darling. This example accords with the rule “a target culture does not initiate an offer of information in a clearly reversible way”； Although the translated version is changed both in form and meaning and completely different from the SL， it can create an atmosphere that the there is an intimate relationship between the product and the person who is using it， which will probably win the hearts of the consumers. So this version is successful in promoting the sales.

Conclusion

Advertisement is a practical type of writing with high commercial values。In order to achieve the best effect of the advertisement， the translator has to be aware of the cultural differences between two languages， and ties to bridge the gap by respecting the target culture， conforming to the conventions of the target language and catering to the psychology of consumers.

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