{"id":19,"date":"2026-02-19T17:06:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/introducingtranslationstudies\/?p=19"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:34:07","slug":"chapter05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/introducingtranslationstudies\/chapter05\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This chapter examines the development of functionalist and communicative approaches to translation, which emerged in Germany in the 1970s and 1980s. These theories shifted the focus of translation from linguistic equivalence to intercultural communication. Reiss\u2019s work connected language function, text type, and genre with translation strategy, laying the groundwork for Vermeer\u2019s influential skopos theory, which prioritizes the purpose and function of the target text in its cultural context. Skopos theory also forms part of Holz-M\u00e4ntt\u00e4ri\u2019s theory of translatorial action, which situates translation within a broader sociocultural and professional framework. Here, translation is seen as a communicative act involving multiple stakeholders, and its success is judged by functional adequacy rather than equivalence. Nord extended these ideas with a model tailored for translator training, incorporating detailed text analysis. The chapter also considers how digital technologies have introduced multimodal texts and new genres, expanding the roles and practices of translators in both professional and volunteer contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n