On The Translation Of Business English Contracts From The Perspective Of Functionalism

In the book Selected Readings of Contemporary Western Translation Theories, there areseveral approaches to translation, including linguistic approaches, functionalist approaches,descriptive approaches, cultural studies approaches, philosophical approaches and cognitiveapproaches. Eugene Nida and Peter Newmark once studied translation from the perspective oflinguistic approaches; GermanFunctionalistSchool of translation has long been considered asthe theoretical guide and pioneer in modern translation practice. The representing theories suchas Skopostheorie, typology and translational action have played extremely great part ontranslation. These theories are used widely in translation practice, both literary and practical.The theoretical basis of functional approaches to translation is action theory andcommunication theory. This reflects clearly in Holz-Manttari’s theory of translational action.Drawing inspirations from action theory put forward by von Wright and Rehbein,Holz-Manttari defines translation as “a complex action designed to achieve a particularpurpose”, i.e.“translational action” in her term. She focus on the actional aspects of thetranslation process, the roles of the participants (sender, initiator, translator, user and receiver),and the situational conditions such as time, place and medium in which translation activitiestake place. She also pays special attention to the status of the translator. Reiss and otherscholars further developed the theory into a mature shape. According to the language featuresof business English contracts, functionalism can serve as the theoretical guide for theirtranslations.