The Translation of Pharmaceutical Texts: A Functional Case Study on Katzung & Trevor’s Textbook of Pharmacology

Abstract

All fields of science question the same thing: Do all the actions take place for a reason? Similarly, in the field of translation studies, in the 1980s Holz-Mänttäri proposed that translingual practices are based on an aim. In terms of translation studies, all kinds of texts that are built on the foundation of an aim turns into a part of Action Theory (Yazıcı, 2005: 53). Hans J. Vermeer who introduced the Skopos Theory in the field of Translation states that all translation actions has a Skopos, i.e. a purpose (1996:12). In this study, it is aimed at focusing on the Skopos of the translation of the book entitled Katzung and Trevor’s Pharmacology Examination and Board Review which is used as a textbook and has become an indispensable part of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology. It is worth contemplating on this book due to the fact that it is the most popular and mostly the only textbook that is read and studied in the most significant two fields dealing with human health: Medicine and Pharmacology.

First of all, the thesis studies the methods and developments in pharmacology that have been observed from the past to the present, and the developments in Turkey related to this field are referred. Then, the studies on functional theories in translation and the development, the scope, and the basic principles of Skopos theory as well as criticisms against the theory are explained. Lastly, Turkish translation of Katzung and Trevor Pharmacology Examination and Board Review which is a comprehensive source in the field of pharmacology is analysed in the framework of skopos, coherence and fidelity rules, and the functions of the translation in the source language are analyzed.