Functionalist Approach Applied In Textbook Translation

Functionalism views the communicative function and use of language, whose purpose and effect are closely related with each other, as its focus of attention. Contemporary functionalist approach in translation studies, originated in Europe (chiefly in Germany and Finland) in the 1980s, advocates that it is exactly because of the communicative function of languages that makes possible the existence of"action movability"and"transference potentiality"between languages, and that contextualization of communications lays the very foundation for translatability. The principal viewpoint of this approach goes that: 1) Language, once deprived of its communicative function, would loose its viability. Therefore, the purpose and effect of communicative activities deserve being taken as the core of any endeavor in language studies; 2) The meaning is subjected to the purpose and effect of communication, without which it would be of no points to seek the meaning; 3) Texts do not have innate or fixed meanings. As a result, the transference of meaning in translating activities --- manifested by the"transformation of texts"--- marks translating endeavors that are limited or bound by specific translating purposes; 4) Translating is more than a language activity. Rather, it is a purposeful activity of using language for communicative intentions. For this reason, translating activities must be regulated and governed by the intention, or purpose of the communication, which is embodied in the concerned text.Through case studies on Professor Liang Xiaomin's Chinese version of Principles of Economics, a popular textbook originally written by N. Gregory Mankiw, the author of the present paper aims to testify that: textbook translation is"a highly purposeful communicative activity"that intends to disseminate knowledge and culture with the use of language. The effect of this dissemination endeavor is determined not just by the accuracy and correctness of the information (the"faithfulness"in Yanfu's term), but also relies heavily on the language used for this purpose as well as on the way the language is employed. The degree of intelligibility and comprehensibility of the language (the"expressiveness"in Yanfu's term) has a crucial role to play in deciding whether the goal can be achieved with efficiency.The paper concludes that functionalist approach for translation studies is of great significance for guiding textbook translation. The"target-language-orientedness", as proposed by skopostheorie, attaches great importance to the needs and expectations of the target readers and favors the naturalization of language. By highlighting the effect of information conveyance as the indicator for judging the success or failure of the translation, it conforms to the fundamental principles and purposes of textbook compilation, and therefore plays a very constructive role in guiding translating practices, in quality-evaluation as well as in the elevation of the translator's competence.The case study carried out in this paper will hopefully provide some meaningful implications for China's present mechanism for introducing foreign textbooks into its home market. On the part of the publishers, more discretion is expected in such aspects as compiling practical translation brief, selecting suitable translator, overseeing the quality and deciding on the proper style of the textbook. On the part of the translator, the philosophic argument that"meaning is use"should be consistently born in mind, with due attentions given to its significant function in guiding his efforts in interpreting the original text, in selecting the translating methods, in implementing self-initiated quality assessment, and in polishing the target text.