abstract translation has become a cultural act which plays a significant role in human life. with the emergence of functional translation theories, and skopos theory in particular, translation has been considered as a purposeful, interpersonal and intercultural activity which is produced for particular recipients and directed by a specific purpose. this purpose determines the translation strategies employed in translating different elements of a text. so it is the translators task to choose the best strategy due to the specific purpose. some scholars maintain that skopos theory is not applicable to literary texts since such texts do not have any specific aim. the present study investigated the applicability of skopos theory to the literary texts from english to persian and checked the effect of translation skopos on the translation strategies of political and religious csis. therefore, two novels, the pilgrims progress by john bunyan and 1984 by george orwell, and their translated persian versions were analyzed. the results demonstrated that skopos theory is applicable to literary texts, and the translation purpose has a significant effect on the translation of religious and political csis.