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Introduction:
The aim of this essay is to outline the different types of functionalist approaches
to translation. Firstly will give an elaborate definition of translation and its purpose
secondly, look at the different types of approaches and criticism, and finally, the
translation process from a functionalist approach.
Definition of translation:
Translation is defined as a written or spoken text in one language that is aimed to
convey the same meaning into another language, Catford (1965:20) claimed
that translation involves the replacement of textual material in one language:
source language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language target
language (TL), however, is a much more elaborated activity which entails
linguistic and cultural knowledge of both languages. There is no one definition to
translation. For a translation or text to be regarded as functional, it has to achieve
its aim or purpose. Functionality of a text is not dependent on the quality of a text,
but on the on the reaction of the receiver during reception.
The purpose of a translation:
The purpose of a translation many differ according to the type of a translation
used within a text. There are different types of aims such as, the pragmatic,
linguistic, aesthetic-poetic and ethnographic aims, these aims serves different
purpose, for example, a pragmatic translation the purpose is to translate the
message as effectively and factually correct as possible. The emphasis is on its
visual form, grammatical form or the cultural content, an example of a pragmatic
translation is a government document. On the other hand if a translation is
linguistic, the purpose of the translation will focus mostly on issues of meaning
and equivalence.
Different types of functionalist approaches to translation:
To assist translators overcome translation problems, theorist has developed
functionalist approaches theories over the last couple of centuries, this theory is
derived from a general approach called the skopotheorie, other approaches to
translations are Reisss text typology and Nords Manipulation and loyalty to
functionalist approach.
an operative text is a type of text that aim to appeal to the reciever, in the
translatio of an appelative or operative text, the translator should be guided by
the overall aim of provoking the same reactionin the audience that was made by
the original author.