Skopos Theory Explained for Translators
Skopos theory, developed by Hans Vermeer in the late 1970s and codified with Katharina Reiss in 1984, holds that a translation is determined by the purpose (Greek skopos) it must serve for its target audience, not by fidelity to the source surface.
The three rules
- Skopos rule: the purpose of the target text determines the translation strategy.
- Coherence rule: the target text must be coherent for its receivers in their situation.
- Fidelity rule: the relationship to the source is constrained by the first two rules, not the other way round.
Why translators reach for Skopos
Skopos is the right framework when the brief is explicit and the target situation differs sharply from the source: a German company brochure rewritten as a US sales sheet, a UN resolution adapted as a press release, a peer-reviewed paper reshaped into a public-facing summary.
Further reading: the 8 frameworks explained, what is register, foreignization vs domestication.