Functional Theories of

Translation
Jeremy Munday
(Born May 18 1960)
 Jeremy Munday is a British language and
translation scientist. He teaches as a professor
of translation science at the University of Leeds
and works as a translator for the language
combinations Spanish – English and French –
English.

https://de.m.wikipedia .org/wiki/Jeremy_Munday
 Katharina Reiss's work in the 1970s builds on the
concept of equivalence (see chapter 3) but views the
text, rather than the word or sentence, as the level at
which communication is achieved and at which
equivalence must be sought (Reiss 1977189: 113-14).
Her functional approach aims initially at systematizing
the assessment of translations. It borrows Karl Biihlerls
three way categorization of the functions of language.'
Reiss links the three functions to their corresponding
language 'dimensions' and to the text types or
communicative situations in which they are used.
1.Plain communication of facts': information,
knowledge, opinions, etc. The language
dimension used to transmit the information
is logical or referential, the content or 'topic'
is the main focus of the communication, and
the text type is informative.
2.Creative composition': the author uses the
aesthetic dimension of language. The author
or 'sender' is foregrounded, as well as the
form of the message, and the text type is
expressive.
3. Inducing behavioral responses': the aim of
the appellative function is to appeal to or
persuade the reader or 'receiver' of the text
to act in a certain way. The form of language
is dialogic, the focus is appellative and Reiss
calls this text type operative.
4. Creative composition': the author uses the
aesthetic dimension of language. The author
or 'sender' is foregrounded, as well as the
form of the message, and the text type is
expressive.
Functional characteristics of text types and links to
translation methods (adapted from Reiss 1971)
 Figure 5.1
Reiss's text types and text varieties (Chesterman 1989:
105, based on a handout prepared by Roland Freihoff) .
 Despite the existence of such hybrid
types, Reiss (1977189: 109) states that 'the
transmission of the predominant function of
the ST is the determining factor by which the
TT is judged'. She suggests 'specific translation
methods according to text type' (Reiss 1976:
20). These methods occupy the last two rows of
table 5.1 and can be describe as follows:
1. The TT of an informative text should
transmit the full referential or conceptual
content of the ST. The translation should be in
'plain prose', without redundancy and with the
use of explication when required.
2. The TT of an expressive text should transmit
the aesthetic and artistic form of the ST. The
translation should use the 'identifying' method,
with the translator adopting the standpoint of
the ST author.
3. The TT of an operative text should produce
the desired response in the TT receiver. The
translation should employ the 'adaptive'
method, creating an equivalent effect among
TT readers.
4. Audio-medial texts require the
'supplementary' method, supplementing
written words with visual images and music.
1. Intralinguistic criteria: Semantic, lexical,
grammatical and stylistic features.
2. Extralinguistic criteria: situation, subject
field, time, place, receiver, sender and
‘affective implication’ (humour, irony,
emotion, etc.)
5.1.1 Discussion of the text type approach

Business and financial texts in English

contain a large number of simple and complex
metaphors.

Example:
Markets are bullish and bearish, profits soar,
peak, dive and plummet, while carpetbaggers
besiege building societies and banks employ a
scorched-earth policy in the face of hostile take-
over bids.
5.1.1 Discussion of the text type approach

• Some of these have a fixed translation in

another language, but the more complex and
individualistic metaphors do not.
• Similarly, the translation of business texts into
English requires more than just attention to
the informative value of the ST, since such a
method could create an English TT that is
lacking in the expressive function of Language
5.1.1 Discussion of the text type approach

A business report, classed by Reiss as

a strongly informative text, can also show a
strongly expressive side. It may also have
several functions in the source culture: as
an informative text for the company's
directors and as an operative text to
persuade the shareholders and market
analysts that the company is being run
efficiently.
5.1.1 Discussion of the text type approach

The translator's own role and

purpose, as well as socio- cultural
pressures, also affect the kind of translation
strategy that is adopted.
5.2 Translational Action

The translational action model proposed

by Holz-Mlnttiiri (Translatorisches Handeln:
Theorie und Metkode)j takes up concepts from
communication theory and action theory with
the aim, amongst others, of providing a model
and guidelines applicable to a wide range of
professional translation situation.
5.2 Translational Action

Translational action views translation as

purpose-driven, outcomeoriented human
interaction and focuses on the process of
translation as message-transmitter compounds
(Botschaftstrager im Verbund) involving
intercultural transfer:
5.2 Translational Action

Interlingual translation is described as

'translational action from a source text' and as
a communicative process involving a series of
roles and players
5.2 Translational Action

Translational action views translation as

purpose-driven, outcomeoriented human
interaction and focuses on the process of
translation as message-transmitter compounds
(Botschaftstrager im Verbund) involving
intercultural transfer:
5.2 Translational Action

[It] is not about translating words, sentences or

texts but is in every case about guiding the
intended co-operation over cultural barriers
enabling functionally oriented communication.

-(Holz-Manttari 1984: 7-8; translated)

5.2 Translational Action

The TT user: the person who uses the TT; for

example as teaching material or sales
literature;
The TT receiver: the final recipient of the TT;
for example the students in a TT user's class or
clients reading the translated sales literature.
5.2 Translational Action

The initiator: the company or individual who

needs the translation;
The commissioner: the individual who
contacts the translator;
 The ST producer: the individual within the
company who writes the ST, not necessarily
always involved in the TT production;
The TT producer: the translator;
5.2 Translational Action

Relevant features are described according to

the age-old split of 'content' and 'form' :
1. Content, structured by what are called
'tectonics', is divided into (a) factual
information and (b) overall communicative
strategy.
2. Form, structured by 'texture', is divided into
(a) terminology and (b) cohesive elements.
• The value of Holz-Mänttäri’s work is the
placing of translation within its sociocultural
context, including the interplay between the
translator and the initiating institution.
•Holz-Mänttäri’s concept of translatorial action
is considered relevant for all types of
translation and the theory is held to provide
guidelines for every decision to be taken by
the translator Schallfner,1997.
•Holz-Mänttäri’s concept of translatorial action
is considered relevant for all types of
translation and the theory is held to provide
guidelines for every decision to be taken by
the translator Schallfner,1997.
• Skopos is the Greek word for 'aim' or '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 major work on skopos theory
(Skopostheorie) is Grundlegung einer allgemeine
Translations- theorie ('Groundwork for a General
Theory of Translation'), a book Vermeer a book
Vermeer co-authored with Katharina Reiss (Reiss
and Vermeer 1984).
• Although skopos theory predates Holz-
hlanttari's theory of translational action, it
can be considered to be part of that same
theory, as it deals with a translational action
which is ST-based, which has to be
negotiated and performed, and which has a
purpose and a result (Vermeer 198912000:
221).
As the title of their 1984 book suggests, Reiss
and Vermeer aim at a general translation
theory for all texts. The first part sets out a
detailed explanation of Vermeer's skopos
theory; the second part, 'special theories',
adapts Reiss's functional text-type model to
the general theory. In this chapter, for reasons
of space, we concentrate on the basic
underlying 'rules' of the theory (Reiss and
Vermeer 1984: 119). These are:
As the title of their 1984 book suggests, Reiss
and Vermeer aim at a general translation
theory for all texts. The first part sets out a
detailed explanation of Vermeer's skopos
theory; the second part, 'special theories',
adapts Reiss's functional text-type model to
the general theory. In this chapter, for reasons
of space, we concentrate on the basic
underlying 'rules' of the theory (Reiss and
Vermeer 1984: 119). These are:
1. A translatum (or TT) is determined by its
skopos.
2. A TT is an offer of information (Information
sangebot) in a target culture and TL concerning an
offer of information in a source culture and SL.
3. A TT does not initiate an offer of information in
a clearly reversible way.
4. A TT must be internally coherent.
5. The five rules above stand in hierarchical
order, with the skopos rule predominating.
The translator is once again (as was the case in
Holz-Manttari's theory) the key player in a
process of intercultural communication and
production of the translatum. the coherence
rule, linked to internal textual coherence, and
the fidelity rule, linked to intertextual
coherence with the ST.
 The coherence rule states that the TT 'must
be interpretable as coherent with the TT
receiver's situation' (Reiss and Vermeer
1984: 113). In other words, the TT must be
translated in such a way that it is coherent
for the TT receivers, given their
circumstances and knowledge.
•The fidelity rule merely states (p. 114) that
there must be coherence between the
trunslatum and the ST or, more specifically,
between:
 The ST information received by the translator;
The interpretation the translator makes of this
information;
The information that is encoded for the TT
receivers.
 In order for the translational action to be
appropriate for the specific case, the skopos needs
to be stated explicitly or implicitly in the
commission (p. 228). Vermeer describes the
commission as comprising (1) a goal and (2) the
conditions under which that goal should be
achieved (including deadline and fee), both of
which should be negotiated between the
commissioner and the translator. In this way, the
translator should, as the expert, be able to advise
the commissioner client on the feasibility of the
goal.
 In Reiss and Vermeer (1984: 139),
adequacy describes the relations between ST
and TT as a consequence of observing a skopos
during the translation process. In other words,
if the TT fulfils the skopos outlined by the
commission, it is functionally and
communicatively adequate.
 Equivalence is reduced to functional
constancy between ST and TT (those cases
where the function is the same for both ST and
TT). HOW- ever, functional constancy is seen to
be the exception.
 Christiane Nord's Text Analysis in
Translation (1988/91) presents a more detailed
functional model incorporating elements of
text analysis, which examines text organization
at or above sentence level. Nord first makes a
distinction between two basic types of
translation product (and process), which are
documentary translation and instrumental
translation.
Documentary translation :
Serves as a document of a source culture
communication between the author and the ST
recipient' (Nord 1991: 72). Such is the case, for
example, in literary translation, where the TT
allows the TT receiver access to the ideas of the
ST but where the reader is well aware that it is
a translation.
An instrumental translation :
Serves as an independent message
transmitting instrument in a new
communicative action in the target culture, and
is intended to fulfill its communicative purpose
without the recipient being conscious of
reading or hearing a text which, in a different
form, was used before in a different
communicative situation. In other words, the
TT receivers read the TT as though it were an
ST written in their own language
 Nord's Text Analysis In Translation is
aimed primarily at providing translation
students with a model of ST analysis which is
applicable to all text types and translation
situations. The model is based on a functional
concept, enabling understanding of the
function of ST features and the selection of
translation strategies appropriate to the
intended purpose of the translation.
 Nord proposes a more flexible version of
the model. This new version synthesizes many
of the elements described in this chapter and
highlights three aspects of functionalist
approaches that are particularly useful in
translator training
The importance of the translation commission:
The translator needs to compare ST and
TT profiles defined in the commission to see
where the two texts may diverge. The
translation commission should give the
following information for both texts:
The importance of the translation commission:
1. The intended text functions;
2. The addressees (sender and recipient);
3. The time and place of text reception;
4. The medium (speech and writing);
5. The motive (why the ST was written and why
it is being translated).
 This information enables the translator to
prioritize what information to include in the TT.
In the example given by Nord, a brochure for
Heidelberg University, the motive is the
celebration of the 600th anniversary of its
founding and so clearly events surrounding the
anniversary are I, most important
 The role of ST analysis (pp. 62-7): Once
the above ST-TT profiles have / been compared,
the ST can be analyzed to decide on functional
priorities of the translation strategy. Nord's list
of intratextual factors (1991: 79-129) is one
possible model for the ST analysis. These
factors are:
1. subject matter;
2. content: including connotation and cohesion;
3. presuppositions: real-world factors of the
communicative situation presumed to be
known to the participants;
4. composition: including microstructure and
macrostructure;
5. non-verbal elements: illustrations, italics,
etc.;
6. Lexic : including dialect, register and specific
terminology;
7. sentence structure;
8. suprasegmental features: including stress,
rhythm and 'stylistic
9. punctuation'.
 The functional hierarchy of translation
problems: Nord establishes a functional
hierarchy when undertaking a translation
(a) The intended function of the translation
should be decided (documentary or
instrumental).
(b) Those functional elements that will need to
be adapted to the TT addressees' situation
have to be determined (after analysis of the ' I
translation commission as In 1 above).
(c) The translation type decides the translation
style (source-culture or target-culture
oriented).
(d) The problems of the text can then be
tackled at a lower linguistic level (as in the ST
analysis in 2 above).
 In many ways, this synthesized approach
brings together strengths of the
various functional and action theories:
The translation commission analysis
follows up Holz-Manttari's work on the players
within the translational action. The intended
text functions pursue Reiss and Vermeer's
skopos. But I without giving overall dominance
to the skopos.
 The ST analysis, influenced by Reiss's
work, gives due attention to the communicative
function and genre features of the ST type and
language, but without the rigidity of other
taxonomies.
In our case study, we therefore try out
this synthesized approach on an ST.
The Intended Text Function
The Addressees
The Time & Place of Text Reception
The Medium
The Motive
Non – Verbal Elements
The Register of The Lexis
Presuppositions