ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with ways in which the functional approach can be applied in the translation of literary texts. It looks at the Skopos or assignment of literary translation and the role of equivalence in this context. In non-literary translation, source texts are often connected with conventional intentions: instructions for use, for example, are intended to instruct the user. The choice of one translation type or another inevitably influences the effect the translated text will have on its readers. In literary translation, the translator is expected to transfer not only the message of the source text but also the specific way the message is expressed in the source language. The translated text should be an independent, parallel work of art or a kind of metamorphosis of the original, able to live on in another culture. The strangeness of the text world is marked explicitly whenever the text refers to England, the English language, personalities, or facts from English history.
