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Vol. 37:3 (2025) ► pp.309–332

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A tale of two Skopos theories

(Re-)siting translation theory

ORCiD logo with link | Kent State University
ORCiD logo with link | University of Graz
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Graz.

Published online: 9 May 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.23140.hof
Abstract
Conceptual theories are generally understood as more or less static models that provide an argumentative basis for a scholar’s work. They present their intellectual genealogies through citation and referencing by which they are connected to existing works. The purpose of this article is to promote an alternative understanding, namely, that theories be treated as historical phenomena, which are influenced by space and time and are therefore constantly changing. Using the theoretical works of Hans J. Vermeer and Andrei V. Fedorov as examples, the article will trace their respective handling of secondary sources, their roots, and connect them to the subsequent circulation of these theories, their routes. In so doing, we suggest a more complex and unpredictable relationship between the roots and routes of theoretical models.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Siting translation theory
  • 3.The genealogy of Vermeer’s Skopos Theory, or when roots follow routes
    • 3.1The process of emergence
    • 3.2Theoretical borrowings
    • 3.3Circulation beyond its initial place of emergence
  • 4.The genealogy of Soviet Skopos Theory, or political re-routing
    • 4.1The process of emergence
    • 4.2Consolidation and refinement
    • 4.3Circulation beyond its initial place of emergence
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
References (79)
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