Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained

By Christiane Nord

This classic text has long been the essential guide to functionalist approaches to translation. Christiane Nord explains the complexities of theories and terms in simple language with numerous examples from a variety of languages and cultures, including new examples from Chinese language.

Covering how the theories developed, illustrations of the main ideas, and specific applications to translator training, literary translation, interpreting, and ethics, Translating as a Purposeful Activity concludes with a concise review of the main criticisms of this approach. This edition also includes a new chapter on the latest developments and research currents since the turn of the century, focusing on functionalism at the translator's workplace, in legal translation and in Bible translation.

This new edition also has an improved layout and many new examples ensuring that this remains essential reading for students of translation studies and translator training.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1041159021
• ISBN13: 9781041159025
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 194 Pages