skopos

• Audio (Australia)

  (file)

skopos (uncountable)

1. (translation studies) The function of a written or spoken text, especially in the context of translating and interpreting.
   • 1995, Paul Kussmaul, Training The Translator, John Benjamins Publishing Co, p. 68:

     The topic of the novel is the typical way of life of the well-to-do British middle and upper classes, and the setting within the British culture is thus of great importance. The Skopos, to use Vermeer's term, is to translate the text as being firmly embedded within the British culture.

   • 2005, Andrew Chesterman, Training For The New Millennium, edited by Martha Tennent, John Benjamins Publishing Co, p. 196:

     [A]s with the skopos approach, a translator can have some idea of the intended effect, and translate accordingly, i.e. in a maximally relevant way.

• Skopostheorie
• Skopos theory

• spooks