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2 About Skopos
2.1 Implication of Skopos
“Skopos theory”, simplified as “the end justifies the means” is first put forward by Hans J. Vermeer (Nord, 2001:124). It tries to liberate the translation from the confinement of the source text. The aim is to explain the translation activity from the point of view of the target language. This skopo has three explanations: the translator's purpose; the communication purpose of text and the purpose achieved in some special translation methods. Usually, “purpose” refers to the aim of communication. The purpose of translation actions decides the entire translation behavior of the decision process. Therefore, translation strategy should be decided from the point of view of the target language readers, according to the purpose. “Skopos rule” as the top-ranking rule for any translation, means a translational action is determined by its skopos. Vermeer explains as: Each text is produced for a given purpose and should serve this purpose. There are also two subordinate rules in the “skopos theory”: coherence rule and fidelity rule. Coherence rule means the target texts must be comprehensible to receivers in target language culture and the communicative situation in which the target texts is to be used. Fidelity rule means there must be an inter-textual coherence between the source texts and target texts, which is similar to the fidelity to the source texts. However, the degree and form of the fidelity depend on the aim of the target texts and the translator’s comprehension of the source texts.
2.2 Skopos of Tourism Texts
Tourism translation means a translation practice performed for tourism activities, tourism career and tourism industry; across-society, cross-space, cross-culture and cross-psychology communicative activity(Chen gang, 2004:86). The main function of tourism text is to broaden people's view and to attract them to tourist and visit some place by the introductions and advertisements of certain scenic spots. The main readers of tourism text are foreign tourists, therefore the main purposes are:
(1) To attract foreigners to tourist China so that our country’s tourism and economy can be developed. (2) To carry forward Chinese culture, to make China known all around the world and lead China to the world.
3 About Tourism Texts
3.1 Differences Between Chinese and English Tourism Texts
Cultural differences between China and western countries result in their differences in language. Chinese prefers to represent things both objectively and subjectively, among which the subjective part are more than objective part; Chinese is abstract, subtle and profound, having the beauty of artistic conception, while English pay much attention to logicality and reality; The words in it tends to be concise, simple and natural, with a visual style. In the Chinese way of thinking, English words seem to be too straightforward, direct and lack of literary grace; Chinese tourism material is filled with magnificent words, and has a lot of historical allusions, folk tales, having much more information than English. The introduction of scenic spots in Chinese is often abstract and general, which is difficult to be translated into English.
Let’s further explain their differences through two examples.
水光潋滟晴放好，山色空蒙雨亦奇。欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓墨总相宜。”这是北宋文学家苏东坡在观赏西湖之后，对西湖精彩的描述，他把西湖比作一位春秋战国时期越国的美女，一位具有东方魅力的美女――西施。 西湖又名西子湖，位于“人间天堂”的杭州。一年四季风景各异，魅力独具,具有典型的东方女性之美。特别是早春时节，西湖如梦初醒，妩媚迷人。 西湖湖中有岛，岛中有湖，加之白堤、苏堤的分割，很有东方美学风格。西湖由于地质方面的原因，西湖水不象其它湖泊那样清澈透明，而是半透明，水光潋滟，山色空蒙，非常含蓄朦胧，具有东方的闲适含蓄之美，符合东方人的审美情趣。