Skopos Theory and Advertising TranslationChapter I IntroductionThis part, which serves as the introduction to the thesis, first defines the key term “advertising” and expounds its essential functions, then it moves on to provide a brief review of relevant studies, and finally, it explains the necessity and purpose of the research.1.1 Definition and functions of advertising1.1.1 Definition of advertisingThe definition of advertising given by the American Marketing Association (AMA) is commonly regarded as the most standard one: Advertising is the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media (Zhao Jing, 1992:1) .1.1.2 Functions of advertisingAdvertising is both applauded and criticized for its role in selling products and its influence on society. For years, critics have denigrated advertising for a wide range of sinssome real, and some imagined. The result has been a steady growth in the number of consumer groups, business organizations, and government bodies that now regulate virtually everything that advertisers say and do (Arens, 1996:39). Anyhow, advertising does play a very important role in both reflecting and shaping our society. Five different functions have been identified for advertising. They are briefly discussed below.1.1.2.1 The marketing functionAlong with sales promotion, public relations and personal selling, advertising is one of the vehicles employed by a business or an organization to communicate with its customers. Although advertising is only one element in a companys overall promotional program, it is the most visible one (Wells, 1989:9).1.1.2.2 The communication function Advertising is a form of mass communication. It transmits different types of market information to match buyers and sellers in the market place. Advertising both informs and transforms the product by creating an image that goes beyond straight forward facts.1.1.2.3 The economic function The two major schools of thought concerning the effects of advertising on the economy are the market power school and the market competition school. According to the market power school, advertising is a persuasive communication tool used by marketers to distract consumers attention from the price of the product. In contrast, the market competition school sees advertising as a source of information that increases consumers price sensitivity and stimulates competition.Actually, little is known about the true nature of advertising in the economy. Charles Sandage, an advertising professor, provides a different perspective. He sees the economic function of advertising as “helping society to achieve abundance by informing and persuading members of society with respect to products, services, and ideas.” In addition, he argues that advertising assists in “the development of judgment on the part of consumers in their purchase practices” (Wells, 1995:14).1.1.2.4 The social function Advertising has a number of social functions. It informs us of new and improved products and teaches us how to use these innovations. It helps us compare products and features and make informed consumer decisions. It mirrors fashion and design trends and contributes to our aesthetic sense (Wells, 1989:11). 1.1.2.5 The educational functionAdvertising, as an educator, speeds the adoption of the new and untried and, in doing so, accelerates technological advances in industry and hastens the realization of a fuller life for all. But advertising must be more than educational to be successful. It must also be persuasive to move people to action, whether that action is the purchase of a different brand of breakfast cereal or regular attendance at church.1.2 Literature review1.2.1 Tendencies in translation theory developmentTranslation has been in existence since ancient times, but it is mainly marked by literary translation. Translation theories develop with translation practice. And there are always debates about translation strategies. Although such debates lead to no agreement on translation strategies, yet many translators agree that the process of translating involve both procedures: a faithful reproduction of formal source-text qualities on the one hand, and an adjustment to the target audience on the other.Since the 1960s, with the development of modern linguistics, translation studies have come to a new stage. New theories spring out and tend to be more flexible. Among all the translation theories two main clues can be clearly seen. One is that translation studies break with purely linguistic translation theory to be a theory combining linguistics (including semantics, syntax and pragmatics), sociology, and intercultural communication. Translation is now widely regarded as a “cross-cultural event” (Snell-Hornby, 1988). The other clue is that the target text reader has been assigned an im