Abstract

With the rapid improvement of China's reform and opening up and economic globalization, many foreign brands of cosmetics have successfully entered the Chinese market. In order to attract the attention of Chinese consumers and occupy a certain market share, aside from the value of the product itself, the translation of cosmetic instructions also plays a very important role. This paper aims at exploring the translation of the English cosmetic instructions based on the Skopos Theory. It begins with discussions of the definition and functions of cosmetics instructions, makes an elaboration of the linguistic features of them, and then expounds the three rules of skopos theory, namely the rule of skopos, the rule of coherence and the rule of fidelity. Then combined with an analysis of concrete examples, feasibility of the application of skopos theory in cosmetics instruction translation is discussed. The paper makes every effort to probe into some feasible translation strategies and methods under the three rules, and finally points out that the skopos theory has an important guiding significance for the translation of cosmetics instructions, and the target language culture and the recipient’s aesthetic requirements should be considered in the translation. 

Key words: Skopos theory; cosmetic instructions; functions; translation approaches

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature Review-2

2.1 Previous Studies on Translation of Cosmetics Instructions-2

2.2 The Theory of Skopos-2

3 An Introduction to Cosmetics Instructions-3

3.1 Definition of Cosmetics Instructions-3

3.2 Functions of Cosmetics Instructions-4

3.3 Linguistic Features of Cosmetics Instructions-7

4 E-C Translation of Cosmetics Instructions under the Guidance of Skopos Theory-10

4.1 Three rules of Skopos Theory-10

4.2 Feasibility of Applying Skopos Theory to E-C Translation of Cosmetics Instructions-10

4.3 Approaches Applied in the E-C translation of Cosmetic Instructions-11

5 Conclusion-13

References-15