最新英语专业全英原创毕业论文,都是近期写作
1 从《西游记》中的童话语言特色看其宗教色彩
2 On the Aesthetic Connotation of the Death in For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway 3 浅析电影《风雨哈佛路》中女主人公的性格特征
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9 On Contradiction Between Comprehension and Expression in Translation
10 从文化差异比较研究中美家庭教育
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13 浅析造成盖茨比悲剧的因素
14 文档所公布均英语专业全英原创毕业论文。原创Q 805 990 74 9
15 Cultural Differences in Sino-US Business Negotiation
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17 英语演讲语篇中的parallelism及其汉译策略—以奥巴马就职演说稿为例
18 汽车广告功能分析
19 非英语专业大学生英语学习动机调查
20 论《老人与海》中的英雄主义
21 影响二语习得的因素--案例研究
22 浅议功能翻译理论指导下的英文歌曲汉译
23 Cultural Differences Between English and Chinese by Analyzing Brand Names
24 论小说与电影《最后的大亨》的叙事特征
25 从《远大前程》看狄更斯的家庭理想
26 中英隐私禁忌语对比分析
27 通过《蝇王》看人性
28 《第二十二条军规》的荒诞性解读
29 《永别了,武器》中的自然象征意义
30 从影视作品看中西方英雄主义的变迁
31 Coherence in English-Chinese Translation: A Pragmatic Study
32 论爱伦坡的恐怖小说创作及其特点
33 An Analysis of the Ambivalent Character of Frederick Winterbourne in Daisy Miller 34 马丁伊登的自杀根由
35 英汉颜色词翻译
36 分析嘉丽妹妹性格变化的原因
37 论《可爱的骨头》中的多重象征
38 从《唐老鸭》看赵健秀的男性主义
39 Risk Comparing of Documentary Collection and Letters of Credit
40 论《兔子, 跑吧》中哈利的逃避主义
41 浅谈我国服装行业的网络营销
42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84
85 商标名的英译汉目的论研究——以洗护用品为例 解析名词化与商务语篇的汉英翻译 英汉歌词衔接手段的对比及翻译 从异化和归化的角度浅析中文菜单的英译 从《女勇士》中的女性形象看文化差异 英汉“悲”、“喜”情感隐喻的认知比较研究 从《一间自己的屋子》看弗吉尼亚伍尔芙的女性主义意识 论英语俚语的汉译—以奈达的功能对等理论为指导 中西文化差异在广告创意中的影射 中学生英语自主学习能力的培养 从女性主义视角解读《飘》中斯嘉丽?奥哈拉的性格特征 英语政治新闻中委婉语的形式及语用功能研究 经典英文电影台词的文体分析 从心理学角度谈中国学生英语学习中典型语法错误的产生原因及其应对策略 浅谈互动模式下的英语文化教学 The Study of Strategies on Cosmetic Marketing based on Female Consumption Psychology 从存在主义视角研究J.D.塞林格《泰迪》 论中美送礼文化差异 广告翻译策略初探 从文化视角看中西方婚礼习俗的差异 An Analysis of the Cultural Identity in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club 对《德伯家的苔丝》苔丝的悲剧分析 汉语亲属称谓语的文化内涵及翻译方法 The Rose in the “Heights”—An Analysis on Catherine’s Personality in Wuthering Heights 论《了不起的盖茨比》中美国梦的幻灭与重生 《小妇人》--家庭教育对儿童个性的影响 商务英语和普通英语对比浅析 接受美学视角下的儿童文学翻译--以《夏洛的网》任溶溶译本为例 A Study of Angel Clare’s Multiple Personalities in Tess of the D’Urbervilles 功能对等理论视角下《越狱》字幕翻译的研究 跨文化交际中文化负迁移的原因及其对策研究 麦当劳的制胜之道 关联理论关照下文化缺省现象及其翻译应对策略 英语汉源借词研究 The Emerging Tendency of Marketing—Network Marketing 伍尔夫的《到灯塔去》中的女性主义 论惠特曼的战争诗歌 《天边外》的悲剧分析 试析《傲慢与偏见》中的书信 《第十二夜》中女性人物特征分析 学前英语游戏教学法 超验主义和美国个人主义 中美大学课堂文化比较研究 商业意识对美国电影片名翻译的影响
86 浅析父权体制下黛西的“他者”形象
87 外贸合同中介词的用法与翻译
88 汉语请求策略的分析
89 A Brief Analysis of China English and Its Future
90 性别差异在日常英语词汇和句法中的体现
91 从女性意识的角度解读《荆棘鸟》中的女性形象
92 英语委婉语及其翻译
93 Thackeray’s Ambivalent Attitude towards the Women in Vanity Fair
94 An Analysis of Virginia Woolf's Androgynous Vision in To the Lighthouse
95 英语新闻标题的汉译方法——以英国《金融时报》中文网为例
96 试析中英婚姻生活差异及其原因
97 《嘉莉妹妹》中的象征主义
98 《嘉莉妹妹》中女主人公的服饰所反映的女性意识
99 伊丽莎白.贝内特与简.爱的婚姻观之比较
100 《乱世佳人》中的清教主义思想解析
101 Analysis of the Factors that Influence News Listening Comprehension
102 《远大前程》中乔的人道主义精神
103 A Study on the Role of Parents in Primary School English Learning
104 分析托马斯?哈代对西奥多?德莱塞的文学影响
105 全身反应教学法在儿童英语教学中的运用
106 阶级矛盾导致的爱情悲剧―<<呼啸山庄>>解读
107 反复在格特鲁德斯泰因的作品《三个女人》中的运用
108 中世纪的典雅爱情:本质、渊源和影响
109 高中英语课堂师生互动研究
110 从时代背景看《唐璜》中个人主义到人道主义的升华
111 英语动结式V+PP的语义整合研究
112 简析译者文化背景对其处理习语翻译的影响--《水浒传》赛珍珠译本中的习语翻译 113 中西礼貌用语的语用对比研究
114 《雾都孤儿》中批判现实主义写作手法分析
115 论翻译的艺术
116 从读者接受理论看《达?芬奇密码》的成功
117 浅谈《红楼梦》诗词的文化意象翻译
118 城市公共标识翻译技巧及问题分析
119 从三美原则看中国古诗词中酒意象的英译
120 《小妇人》中四姐妹的命运
121 An Analysis of Word Formation of China English
122 简析黑人英语的主要特征及其文化影响
123 从礼貌原则角度分析电影《暮光之城》中的对白
124 On the Conflicts Reflected in the Character of Rebecca Sharp in Vanity Fair
125 从翻译角度浅析英语写作中的中式英语问题
126 法律语言及其翻译研究
127 中美餐桌文化差异比较研究
128 目的论在广告翻译实践中的应用
129 高中英语阅读课教学策略
130 根据空缺理论在跨文化交际中如何翻译数字
131 公示语汉英翻译中的语用失误浅析及对策
132 对外新闻的导语编译研究
133 American Individualism and Its Reflection in the Film Erin Brockovich 134 认知语境在语言交际理解中的作用
135 海丝特白兰—清教时代的新女性
136 海斯特—《红字》中一位具有反叛精神的女英雄
137 从童话看中西方儿童教育的差异
138 人文主义思想在《皆大欢喜》中的运用
139 从关联翻译理论看《圣经》汉译过程中的关联缺失
140 A Comparison of the English Color Terms
141 中西文化差异对品牌翻译的影响
142 试谈黑人英语在美国电影中的渗透
143 产品说明书的翻译技巧
144 《安尼尔的鬼魂》中“鬼魂”的象征意义探究
145 A Tragedy of Ambition on Macbeth
146 英式英语与美式英语的拼写差异
147 从《哈克贝里﹒费恩历险记》看马克﹒吐温的幽默讽刺艺术 148 基于作品人物浅析菲茨杰拉德
149 英语前缀和后缀在初中单词教学中的应用
150 论简?奥斯丁《理智与情感》中两姐妹的成长
151 英语委婉语教学模式探究
152 苔丝悲剧中乌托邦情结的探析
153 从意象的角度看劳伦斯短篇小说中女性的婚姻爱情观
154 英汉“骨”与“血”的隐喻研究
155 中英文旅游广告语言特点对比研究
156 数字“三”的文化意蕴及其翻译方法
157 Analysis of the Subtitle of White Collar under Skopostheorie
158 环境与命运——从自然主义的角度分析《美国悲剧》中的克莱德 159 论圣地亚哥性格的多重性及《老人与海》中的悲剧色彩 160 在幻想中回归童年──评析《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》
161 海洋运输货物保险条款的文体分析
162 英汉称谓语对比研究
163 企业英文简介中的概念语法隐喻分析
164 从生态和消费的角度解读《瓦尔登湖》中梭罗的思想
165 中英身份名词翻译中的不对等性
166 小学英语课堂教学活动的有效性研究
167 《药》的两个英译本中翻译技巧比较
168 顺从还是叛逆——解读《汤姆叔叔的小屋》中的基督教义精神 169 多媒体在高中英语教学中的应用研究
170 小说《飘》中瑞德巴特勒的人物性格分析
171 中学英语教学到大学英语教学衔接问题研究
172 高中英语教学过程中实施情感教育的研究
173 An Analysis of Communicative Language Teaching Method in Teaching Spoken English in
China
174 跨文化商务谈判中的语用原则分析
175 An Analysis of Life and Death in Mrs. Dalloway
176 华兹华斯的浪漫主义文学在《嘉莉妹妹》中的再现
177 应对写作逻辑乱象的对策
178 《永别了武器》中战争对人类所造成的毁灭
179 《麦田里的守望者》中霍尔顿的精神之旅
180 维拉?凯瑟《我的安东尼亚》中的生态女性主义分析
181 自我效能感对大学生英语学习的影响
182 《名利场》利蓓加?夏泼和《简?爱》简?爱的对比研究
183 《药》的两个英译本中翻译技巧比较
184 《儿子与情人》恋母情结分析
185 英语学习者对合作学习的看法
186 从功能对等理论看汉语文化负载词的英译
187 Pragmatic Empathy and Chinese-English Translation
188 英汉语中恐惧隐喻的认知分析
189 从功能翻译理论谈美剧字幕翻译
190 《美国丽人》中折射出的父母对青少年行为和心理的影响
191 体育新闻标题汉译中修辞的作用——以历届奥运会为例
192 论《百舌鸟之死》中的百舌鸟象征
193 《魔术与童年》翻译中英汉词汇衔接对比研究
194 《汤姆·索亚历险记》中所反映的社会问题
195 中英茶文化的比较和对比
196 美国黑人英语的句法特征
197 从功能对等理论来看委婉语翻译
198 Cultural Mediation in Interpreting—An Observation from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication
199 英语商务合同的文体特点及其汉译
200 从东西方文化差异视角看动物词汇的翻译
湖南师范大学
硕士学位论文
从功能对等看情景喜剧《老友记》的字幕翻译
姓名:潘琛
申请学位级别:硕士
专业:英语语言文学
指导教师:黄振定
20080501
摘要
电视是当今人类文化的主要文化交流途径。当今的中国,越来越多人对外国影视剧开始关注和喜爱。近年来美国电视连续剧的流行大有上涨趋势,观看美剧已经成为一种时尚潮流。由于人们对影视产品的需求变大,美剧的字幕翻译重要性日益凸显,这种翻译的研究也日益提上日程。影视字幕翻译也成为一个新兴的不可或缺的翻译实践领域。但与之不相符的是在我国翻译界影视字幕翻译的重视不够,大多也是一些零散的关于相关论文,更没有形成成熟的有关字幕翻译的理论。
所幸的是其他人为我们提供了很多有价值的理论。其中奈达的“功能对等矽理论应该是很适合于字幕翻译的。本文先论述了把“功能对等"理论运用到电视情景喜剧《老友记》的字幕翻译的可能性和必要性。功能对等理论将译文读者与原文读者在阅读过程中的反应是否对等作为衡量翻译的最高标准,所以观众在观看情景喜剧时也有对等反应。
本文接着从具体翻译策略,从《老友记》中涉及对文化信息翻译的详细分析中,例证分析了字幕翻译如何达到动能对等,其中包括对幽默语的翻译、文化专属词的翻译、诅咒语及禁忌语的翻译和文字游戏的翻译。本文还提出当涉及文化翻译时,可用异化、归化的方法以更好地实现功能对等。如果异化能保留原文的信息和文化色彩,则是较好的选择;如果译文观众对异化的翻译理解困难,归化则为更好的选择。文章得出结论,无论用何种翻译策略和翻译方法,字幕翻译者的首要任务是要让译文观众可以很好地看懂节目,有着与源语观众相似的反应。
文章最后指出奈达的功能对等翻译可为字幕翻译提供一种新方法和新思路,可以解决许多问题,但也指出了功能对等翻译的局限性:在某些情况下达到功能对等非常困难,而且以“读者反应论”为中心的功能对等的比较,即源语观众和译文观众之间所产生反应的可比性有限。因此,好的字幕翻译还在于译者是否可把握原文在源语观众中产生的社会影响,同时也能了解译文观众的情绪和爱好,这样才可能译出较好的字幕。关键词:字幕翻译;功能对等;《老友记》;译文观众
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湖南师范大学学位论文原创性声明
本人郑重声明:所呈交的学位论文,是本人在导师的指导下,独立进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外,本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体,均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律结果由本人承担。
学位论文作者蜊席缘
伽∥年∥月汐日
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作者签名:‘日期:概∥月乙日日期:沙曙年乡月砂日导师签名:
OnSubtitlesTranslatio—n—o—f—theSitcom
FriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
Introduction
0.1
ResearchBackground
Itisnow
all
emwhenglobalizationisdevelopingrapidlyandexchangesof
cross?culturalcommunicationbecomes
indispensable.As
further,an
China’sreformgoesdeeper
andheropeninguptotheoutsideworldgoes
increasingnumberofforeign
sees
filmsandTVshows
call
beaccessiblequiteeasilythroughvariousways.China
thegreatmovetowardmoviepeople
ale
and
TVprogramtranslation
on
activities.More
thatthey
can
andmore
startingtowatchprograms
theintemet
SO
watchsome
call
showspromptlyandgainasmuchinformationaspossible.Atthesametime,mey
cnjoytheoriginalprogramwith
help
people
no
interruptionofothersound.Theunderstand
the
show.Facing
objective
influx
a
ofof
subtitlesistobetter
this
informationintheofcertain
form
offoreignlanguages
and
thefactthatnoteveryoneis
master
toolto
or
foreignlanguages,translationonce
themass.Therefore,subtitles,as
a
againisused签amostimportant
entertainan
indispensablepartofmoviesubtitlesthis
or
TV
shows,isplayingmore
more
importantrole.Thus
translation
attractsmore
and
attentionandbecomesindispensableunder
SubtitlesaletextsputtotheTVprogram
circumstance.
filmduringthelaterstageofthe
editingaccordingtotheneedoftheshow.Subtitlesusuallyappearatthebottomoftheshow
or
themovieassome
explanatory
information.Theappearanceofsubtitles
help
theaudiencenotonlyknowthemovieorTVshowsfromthesound,butalsoknowthe
content
and
appreciatetheshowbetter.
TVplaysisincreasingrapidly
ThepopularityofAmerican
society
cannot
andits
influence
on
the
beignored.Itisbeyonddoubtthattheneedoffilm
willbe
ftu'therincreased
in
to
andother
multimediatranslationtranslation
exist
no
productshasnot
thefuture.However,subtitlesby
scholars.Compared
at
been
paidenough
attentionwith
ofliteratureworks,itisgenerallyless
as
studied,especially
home.There
systematictheoriestoact
guidelinesaccordinglyexceptforsomepapers
MAThesis
withsomefragmentedideasofmultimediatranslationanddubbingtranslation.AsProfessorQianShaochangmentionsinhisarticlethataudiovisualtranslationisbecomingamoreandmoreimportantfieldinthetranslationcircleandhecallsONthetranslatorstopaymoreattentiontoit.(钱绍昌2000:61)。
Friends,oneofthemostpopularsitcomsintheUS,hasmillionsoffansover60countries.ThetargetaudienceofFriendsinChinaaremainlyyoungeducatedpeoplerangingfromteenagersto40.IthasbecomeapopularkindofteachingmaterialformostEnglishlearners,especiallyintheaspectsoflisteningandspeaking.IthasalsobeenproducedintoanintegralmediapackagewhichincludesitsDVDs,EnglishandChinesescripts,explanationstodifficultpoints,backgroundinformation,introductiontoeachcharacter,relevantexercise,etc.Therefore,thestudyofthesubtitles仃ansiationinFriendsiscrucialtosomeextent.
0.2MajorTopics
TheaimofthethesisistofocusonthehiglllyspecializedareaofsubtitlestranslationforFriends.Thepresentstudyisatarget-orientedproductresearch.Thefunctionalequivalencetheoryisadoptedintotheresearch.Attemptwillbemadetofindoutapplicabilityoffunctionalequivalenceinsubtitlestranslation,relevantstrategiesandmethodswillbediscussedinsubtitlestranslationofthesitcomFriends.DiscussionsofthesubtitlestranslationonculturalinformationinFriendswillalSObeheld.
Thethesisconsistsoffourchapters.Eachchapteralsohasitsownparts,whichfocus011somedetaileddiscussion.
InChapterOne,thethesisstudiesandgeneratesstudiesonsubtitlestranslationabroadandhomebyfamousscholars.Theauthoralsopresentssomemeritsandshortagesoftheseresearches.
InChapterTwo,thethesisfirstdiscnssesthemajorpointsoffunctionalequivalenceandthendiscussesapplicationoffunctionalequivalenceinsubtitlestranslationfromtheperspectiveoflanguage,cultureandreceptorsrespectively.2
In
Chapter
Three,fromtheperspectiveoffunctional
as
equivalence,some
translationstrategiessuch
reduction,addition
are
discussedinsubtitlestranslation.
analysis
on
InChapterFour,thethesisgivessome
translationofculturalinformationunderthepresentingfourkindsofculturalspecific
detailedthe
subtitles
guidanceoffunctionalequivalence,
ofhumors,cultural.
translation,namely,translation
wordplay.
words,swearwordsandtaboowordsand
thesis
a
Thetranslators
concludesthat
asa
functional
equivalence
Can
offerTVsubtitlesspecial
thoughtful
sightuniversalprincipalbutsometimesthere
are
casesthatitis
notalways
applicable.The
authorhopesthatbythisdetaileddiscussion
ofthe
ofsubtitlesinFriends,sheCanarouseinterests
translation
circletopaymore
attention
tothisl【indofpracticaltranslation.
a
Adescriptive—explanatorymethodtogetherwith
Friendswillbe
casestudyofthesitcom
adoptedin
thisresearch.Comparativemethodwillalsobeused.
The
thesiswilldiscussparticularaspectsinsubtitlestranslationwiththematerial
fromthelasttwoseasonsofthemostpopularAmericansitcom
Season9
Friends,namely
Taiw锄and
andSeason
10.1Itwas
translated
bysubtitlestranslatorsin
intemetsubtitlesgroups.
us髑twoversionsofFriends.OneiscopyrightedDVD疔omTaiw锄,柚dthe叫btitlestrailslationisinChinesecomplicatedbyprofessionalTaiwansubtitlestranslators;theotherisfromthemternetandthetrailslation
isdonebymainlandsubtitlinggroup.
Thethesis
1
so眦anonymous
3
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
ChapterOne
StudiesofSubtitlesTranslation
Translationwastraditionallyusedtomakeaccessibleto
a
widerreadershipin
a
religious,literatureandscientifictexts,However,ithaschangedtothematerialtranslatednowadayssincethe20m
widerscopewith
century.Technical
a
andpoliticaltexts
弱well
as
popularliteraturehavebeenmadeaccessibletomassaudience(Newmark
over
1991:16).Studiesofsubtitlestranslationhaveundergonerapiddevelopmentpast
the
decadesthanks
to
thedevelopmentofmultimediaindustry,hi曲technologyand
globalization.Inthischapter,subtitleswillfirstlybe
introducedanditsstudieswillbe
discussed
in
thesecondsection,includingsomestudiesofmultimediatranslation,
qualitycontrol
andtranslationstrategies.
1.1Subtitles
Subtitles
are
tagged
atthebottomofthescreen嬲avisualchannelof
communication.Subtitlesareworthstudyingwiththeincreaseofmultimediaproducts.
Thesectionwilldiscussthedefinitionwellastheconstraintsofsubtitles.
andclassificationofsubtitles,thefeatureas
1.1.1DefnitionandClassificationofSubtitles
Translated
text
subtitlesCanbe
definedastranslationsofthe
a
spoken
or
writtensource
of
an
audio-visualproductinto
written
targettextwhichisaddedontothe
imagesoftheoriginaltextatthebottomoftheprocess
ofproviding
screen(Gottlieb
and
1994:262).ItistheTV
synchronized
captionsforfilmsdialogues.With
translatedsubtitles,theaudience
listeningtothe
isactuallyreading
one’S
nativelanguagewhile
originallanguage(Gottlieb1992:165).Inshort,itmaybeconsidered
translation.It
as
a
written,additive,immediate,synchronousandmultimedia
Can
be
5
MAThesis
explainedasfollows:
Beingwrittenisincontrasttoaspokennatureanddiffersformothertypesofscreentranslation.
Beingadditivemeansthatinsubtitlingverbalmessagesis
original,maintainingtheaddedtothesourcelanguagediscourse.
Beingimmediatereferstothefactthatinmediaalldiscourseispresentedinaflowingmanner,beyondthecontrolofthe
thatthelistener-audience—reader.orBeingsynchronousmeansoriginalfilmTVplayandthe
translateddialoguearepresentedsimultaneously.
aleBeingpolymedialreferstothefactthatatleasttwoparallelchannels
usedtoconveythetotalmessageofthe
Subtitlesserveasoriginal(Gottlieb1992:162)audiencefurtherunderstandtwomainroles:oneIStohelpthe
theplotofthemovieor"IVprogram,howthestoriesgoes,thecharacteristicofdifferentcharacters,thedetailoftheshowsuch
aasthenameofpeopleorplaces,anumbers,awrittennoteandtheheadlineof
personwithanewspaper;theotherroleistohelpdefectinhearingorwithdifficultyinunderstandingdialoguesbetween
audiencecharacterstobetterappreciatetheshow.Allinall,subtitles
createaCanhelpthementalpicturethatissimilartowhattheyseeonthescreen.
Linguistically,itisgenerallydistinguished
Intralingualsubtitles:Itisintwomaincategories.onewrittenwordswithinlanguage.It
onesservestoshowthecaptionsofdomesticprogramsforthedeafandthe
problems.whohavehearing
Interlingual
predominantsubtitles:Itistranslationbetweentwolanguages.Thistypeisinallnon-dubbingcountriesinEurope.Besidesthefeaturesinthe
adefinition,ithasdiagonalqualityoftransmission.InInterlingualsubtitles,the
spokenforeignsubtitlestranslators‘crossover’frominterpretingthedialogueto6
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSiteomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
presentingawrittendomestic—languagetranslation
areonthescreen.(Gottlieb1992:162)Technically,there
Opentwomaindistinctions.withtheoriginalfilmorsubtitles(receivedtelevisionversion).Allfilm
orsubtitlesstillbelongtothiscategory.Inthecinema,afilmisshowneitherwitll
withoutit.Andalsonormalmodern(electronic)television
onasubtitlebelongstothisaregroup.Althoughthesubtitlesarewritten
inseparablepartofthetelevisionsignal.
Closedfloppydisc,theybroadcastasallsubtitles(optionallyaddedtotheoriginalversion).Asweknowmanytelevisionprogramofdomesticlanguagearebroadcastwithintralingualsubtitlestransmitted
televisionviaaseparatesignal,visibleonlyafterbeingdecodedintheindividualofset.Withanincreasingoutputsatellite-transmittedtelevisionacrosslanguageboundaries,thissortofsubtitlesisrapidlygainingground,makingitpossiblefor
televisiondifferentlanguagecommunitiestoreceivedifferentversionsofthesameprogramatthesametime(Gottlieb1992:163).
Sincethisthesisstudiesthetranslation
Chinese,whatisbetweentwolanguages----Englishandillustratedisinterlingualopensubtitlesfortelevision.1.1.2FeaturesofSubtitles
Subtitleshavesomefeaturesasfollows:
OnefeatureiStoswitchthemodeofcommunication,i.e.fromaudiotovisual,fromcolloquialtowritten.Subtitlesinvolveachangefromaspokenmedium,theonginal,to
screen.The
oneawrittenmediumandintheformoftofaceoneortwolinesatthebottomofthesubtitlestranslatorhasthechallengespresentedbytheswitchfromasubcodetoanotherthedifficultiesof‘'retainingspeechcharacteristicsinwrittentext,especiallythoseinspontaneousspeech,suchaspauses,falsestarts,
1994:105).Theshiftinmodefromspeechinterruptions,ungrammaticalities'’(Gottlieb
towritinghastheresultthatcertainfeaturesofspeech(emphaticdevicessuchas
notintonation,code—switchingandstyle—shifting)will
thewrittenformofthetargettext.automaticallyberepresentedin
7
MAThesis
Thesecondfeatureisthecondensationandsimplificationofmessage.Thespaceislimited,SOcompressionofthemessageisinevitable.Thereassessscreentranslatorhastocoherence
astrategiesinordertomaximizetheretrievabilityofintendedmeaningfrommoreconcisetargetlanguageversion.
The
writtenlastfeatureisspecifictothenatureofmultimedia.Unlikethetranslationoftextssuchasnovelsandshortstories,thesubtitlesinmoviesandTV
tosay,peoplecannotareirreversible,thatisgobacktorevieweitherdialoguesor
subtitles.Subtitleshavetobeinaccordancewiththemotionpictureandthespeedofthedialogue.
1.1.3Constraintsi11Subtitles
ofiginalfilmorSubtitlespreservetheTVprograminitsentketyandofferthe
audienceunblockedaccesstoit,whichdoesnotdelete
aanyelementofitexceptforsomeminorimageloss.However,askindofmultimediatranslation,subtitles
inevitablyinvolvespecificconstraints.HenrikGottliebdescribedtheseconstraintsofsubtitlesinhispaper“Subtitles---ANewUniversityDiscipline'’(1992).
AccordingtoGottlieb,onemajorconstraintofsubtitlesis“formalorquantitativeconstraint'’,dealswiⅡlthephysicallimitationforsubtitlestranslators.Theother
orconstraintisthe‘'textualqualitativeconstraint’'’whichGottliebmeaIlsthatthe
matchofdialogueandpicturemustberetainedwhentranslating.Inotherwords,theappropriatesubtitlesmustappearsynchronouswiththepicture.1.Formal(quantitative)constraints
1)Thesizeofatelevisionscreen(incombinationwiththeminimumletter-size
alegibletotheaverage
withaviewer)limitsthenumberofcharacterstoabout35torow,maximumoftworows(spacefact00
oftheaveragevieweris2)Thereadingspeed
speedofthepersontobeconsideredslowerthanthetalkingsubtitled(timefactor).
2.Textual(qualitative)constraints
Asanadditivetypeofmultimediatranslation,subtitlesputitselfontopofthe8
exitingtractsofcommunication.Subtitlesintrudeintothepictureandchallengesthedialog.Ontheotherhand,thepicturetranslator:
and
even
thedialoglimitthefreedomofthe
1)Thepositioning(inspace)andcueing(intime)ofthe
con'espondwiththestatic
subtitlesmust
anddynamic
visualfeaturesofthefilmor'IV
program.
2)Thewordingof
toacertain
subtitlesmustreflectthestyle,speechtempoandthesyntax
degree--the
or
syntaxand
orderofkeyelementsinthedialog,whether
or
informative
entertaininginnature,instructed
spontaneousin
form.
as
Althoughsubtitleshaveitsconstraints,itmayberegarded
any
other
translationinthesameway:the
textwhichwill
goalisto
render
a
sourcelanguage
a
textinto
another
makethemeaningaccessible
to
targetaudience.Accordingto
Gottlieb,a
talentedand
conscientioussubtitlestranslatorCandealwith
a
minimalloss
ofinformation,to
thedelightofhisaudience.(Gottlieb1992:164)
1.2
OverseasStudiesofSubtitlesTranslation
Inwestern
countries,many
on
scholarsand
experienced
a
subtitlestranslatorshave
turnedtheireyes
subtitlestranslation.As
result,works
and
essayshavebeen
writtenandpublished.
1.2.1
Inhas
Multimedia
translation
Translation
been
ignored.Greatchange
studies,textswithpictureshavelong
taken
placesinceReissfirstdrewOurattentiontothe“audio—media'’textwhich
hasvisualbutnotacousticelements.
ItiSdi伍culttodefinetheboundariesof‘'multimediaGottliebhavein
a
translation”asGambierand
betweenmedia
and
visual
suggested.They
claimedthat‘'thereiscertainconfusion
strict
sense
meaning(TV,cinema,computer)and
translation(film,domesticand
on
codessuchasverbal
video,TV
codes,screen
corporate
programs),
under
translationforand
theNet,translationofoffiineproductsandservices’’(Gambier
the
&Gottlieb2001:xi).InthisSenSe,subtitlestranslationshouldcome
9
MA111esis
categoryofmultimediatranslation(MM).
alsopointedthatmultimediatranslationneedsmore
GambierandGottlieb
teamworkbecauseofitscomplexity.Besides,multimediatranslatorsoftenworkwith
intermedia‘'texts’’,such勰scenarios,scriptsanddraRsandSO
Inthepreface
on.
of“(Multi)MediaTranslation,Concepts,Practices,andResearch”.
raisedsome
general
YvesGambierandHenrikGottlieb
considerations
a
ofmultimedia
㈣translations.They
ignoredin
claimedthattextswithpictureshaveforlongtime
been
translation
studies.Therapiddevelopment
ofmultimediagivesgreat
challengesforlinguistic,culturalandtranslationespecially
studies.Thus
theyputlanguage,
languagetransfer,to
thecenteroftheirstudiesofmultimediaafter
studies.Thestudiesof
giving
a
reviewofthehaveof
historyofmultimedia
language
been
a
inmultimediagreatdiversity
increased
since1990s.Speakingof
the
translation,therehas
representationsconceming
concept.Thedifferent
labelsexisttodayinsome
professional
fields:localization,languagetransfer,adaptation,editing,revision,
co-authoring,technical
writing,
documentationmanagement,
creation
multilingual
text
anddesign,versioning,languagemediation,language—service
provision,
languagemanagement,proofreading,copywriting,languageconsultancy,etc.Theydemonstratedthat‘'the
conceptof‘text’is
no
longerseen勰acombinationof
sentences,partlybecauselanguageisseen勰beingintegrated
with
images,sounds,
graphics,etc.”(Gambier&Gottlieb2001:xi).nlisunderstandingis
forfurtherstudiesshould
on
veryfundamental
MMtranslation.They
claimedthestudiesof
MM
translation
emphasizeinterdisciplinarity.
our
Thetwoscholarsalsodrew
attention
totherelationship
out
betweenMM
translationtranslation
and
translation
studiesingeneral
translation
andpointedtheimportanceofMM
forthe
latter.MM
distinguishes
itself,toSOmeextent,from
on
othergenresof
translation.Thestudies
andto
ofitforceinsidersto也i11l【moreclassical
translationstudiesredefinesome
concepts,reformulate
certain
questions,
listed
whichhavebeentakenforthefollowingsixofMM
granted
for
a
long
time.ThenGambierand
Gottlieb
the
items
attheendoftheprefacetoillustratetowhat
totranslation
extent
concept
translationisrelevant
studies.Thatis:
lO
(1)MMtranslationrevealsthecomplexitiesandchallengesofalltypesofcommunicationandhighlightsthenecessaryfunctionsofanytranslation.(2)Itestablishescertainwaysofviewinglanguage,ofdealing
andwithverbalcode,ofconsideringtherelationshipbetweenverbalothersemiotic
systemsinorder
ratherthansolelytofocusmoreonculturalandcommunicativeaspectsonlanguageandtext.
rethink(3)ItforcesUStosomeconceptslike“original”‘'meaning”,
“faithfulness'’thatformallyaretakenforgranted.(4)Itsharerstheverynotionoftranslation.Translationhasnowcomeintocontactwithotheractivitiessuchastechnicalwriting,editingand
aSOon.(5)itchangestheworkoftranslatingandrevising,forlongtime
submittedtowrittenlanguagestandards,‘'textual”conventions.(6)ItleadsUStotakefleshlookatthetranslator’Scompetenciesand
attrainingpractices,atthewaysofrecruitingandtesting,andhence
methodology.(Gambier&Gottlieb2001:xix).
AnotherscholarCattryssestatedthatinordertoappealtoanintemational
andaudience,amessagemustfunctioninanefficientwayinaninternationalcontext
thatinternationalappealisnotdirectlylinkedwiththeuseofwidelyknownlanguages
then,he
ofthe
ofaasopposedtolanguageofalimitedgeographicalspace.Thecrucialquestionproposed,is‘'howdoesthecormnunicator/narratorinfluencetheempathyonlyoneintemationalaudience?’’and‘‘languageisclearlyaspect
communicationalwhole”.(Cattrysse2001:10)
Studieson(Multi)Mediatranslationredefinetranslationinthemultimediaandcontextoftechnologyand
aunraveltheconfusioninthisfieldandpushthecorrespondingstudiestobetterposition.The
llrelationsbetweenMMtranslationand
MAThesis
thetraditionaltranslationarei11us仃ated.
AlthoughthestudiesonlVIMtranslationhaveunraveledmuchconfusioninthefield,therearestillmanytermsleftunclear.Therefore,morefurtherdetailedstudiesshouldbedonetOmakeathoroughcoverageofthediversifiedsituation.1.2.2QualityControl
subtitles?WhatisthecriterionofaHowtomakegoodquality
HowtOgoodsubtitle?makejudgmentsonsubtitles?Thesekindsofquestionsalwayspuzzlesubtitlestranslatorsbecausethequestionsarenoteasyforthemtoanswer.Thefactis,studiesonqualitycontrolarecarriedoutbyscholars,subtitleseditorsinTVstationorsubtitlescompany.
asSubtitlesshouldtrytomakethelinguisticsigns
subtitlesarenaturalaspossible,whilebestsupposedtObethoroughlytotheirenvironmentthattlleyappearinvisibletOthetotalprogram.Iftheaudiencestopsbeingawareofreadingsubtitles,wecansaythatthesubtitlestranslatorhaveachievedhismajorgoal.
Inhis“Subtitlingforchannel4
4TelevisioninUK,firsttalkedtelevision’’'Morgan,asubtitleseditorofChannelaboutsometechnologicalconstraintssubtitlestranslatorswouldmeet:spotting,thenumberofcharactersperlineavailableinthefontusedforsubtitles,readingspeed.
Morganbelievedthatalthough
subtitlesgoodsubtitlescannotsaveabadfilm,badonesoneCanspoilagoodone.Morganthoughtthat‘'thebestsubtitlesarethehardlynoticesbecausetheymakeyoufeelyouunderstandtheoriginalasyouhearit.’’(Morgan2001:161)
Heclaimedthat‘‘goodsubtitlesareaccuratelytimed,andconveyconciselythe
aauthor’SintentionsinstyleaspossibletOtheoriginal.’’(Morgan2001:162)Healso
pointed
togetheroutthat“a900dsubtitlesprogramisalwaystheresultofeverybodyworkingasateam.”(Morgan
might2001:162)Atlast,heshowedhisgreatregretthattheliteracystandardsriseandthenpeoplemayultimatelyenjoyreadingsubtitles.
(Morgan2001:164)12
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
EivorGummerrusandCatrineParobothhaveaten-yearexperienceworkingfortheSwedishsectionoftheFinishBroadcastingCompanyastranslators,eAitorsandeducatorsresponsibleforrecruitingandtrainingfree—lancetranslators.Theystatedthattoensuregoodqualityofsubtitles,thefollowingmattersshouldbetakenintoaccount:criteriafortherecruitmentoftranslators(qualification,selection,testing),on-jobtraining,continuingtraining,andrevisingandeditingtranslation.Asfortranslationquality,GummerrusandParotendedtotaketheviewthat‘‘qualityreferstothetotalviewerexperienceandthetranslation’Sroleiscontributingtoit.’’(GummerrusEivor&ParoCatrine2001:138).Theybelievedthat‘'everystepinthetranslationprocessisimportant”.(GummerrusEivor&ParoCatrine2001:138)Asaresult,translationqualityisnotonlyamatterofthecompetenceofallindividualtranslator,butalsoaresultofjointeffortbyallthepeopleinvolvedintheproduction.Throughallparties’efforts,aqualitativeendresultCanbeachieved.
Subtitleseditorsandscholarshavesummedupsomecommollfeaturesofgood-qualitysubtitles.Theyalsopresentdifferentmethodsfromtheirownworkingexperiencestoachievethesehi【曲standards.Forinstance,GummemsandParoemphasizetheimpactoforganizationaldesignandmanagementonscreentranslationquality,andsummarizespecificmethods.Theyareofgreatsignificancetobothsubtitlestranslatorsandproducers.
Scholarshavesummedupsomecriterionofgoodsubtitles,butitisalmostimpossibletodefinequalityinsubtitlestranslation,whichmakesqualitycontrolaratherdifficultproblem.Besides,thequalityofmediaproductsCanonlybeguaranteedwiththecooperationoftheproductionteam.Thefinalproductsshouldmeetandsatisfyclients’needs.Butwhohadthefinalsaytodecidethequality?Audience,clients,agenciesorsomeorganizations?HowCansubtitlestranslatorsdefendtheirproductsagainstunjustifiedcriticism?Morestudiesshouldbedoneonthesekindsofproblemsinthefuture.13
MAThesis
1.2.3
StrategiesforSubtitlesTranslation
a
In‘'TheSubtitlesofLaHaine:AcaseStudy'’,AnnJackelconductedinvestigationinthesubtitlesof
a
systematic
a
French
movie屯口Haine.La
Haineis
popular
movieandhaswonseveralprizesinthefamousEuropeanfilmfestivalsandseemstohavestrong
potential
appealtoAmericanyouth.However,itisnot
as
successful
as
expectedintheUnitedStates,its
This
an
majorforeigntarget.
a
film
clearlyrevealsFranceas
multicultural
anddividedsociety.Itoffers
almost
perfect
example
ofeverypossibledeviationfromstandardFrench:sloppy
isdefinitelyhardwork
forsubtitles
a
language,bad
grammar,slang,ete,which
to
translators.According
thedirector’Sinstructions,thesubtitlestranslatorsadopt
domesticationmethod,namely‘'choiceofAmericanslang'’.Thischoiceobviouslyhas
implicationinboxofficeresults.Therefore,certainpoliticalandculturalreferences
to
Frenchsocietydisappearwhileotherreferencesweretransposed
and
replacedby
Americanequivalents.ItWas“franklygearedtowardstheAmericanmarket'’.(Jaekel
2001:232)TheoutcomeisbetterintheUK
out
and
Francebecausemostpeoplegothere
ofcuriosit),ofthe
ale
languageFrenchyouthuse.However,to
Americans,the
subtitlestoo
American,whichhinderratherthanhelptheunderstandingofthefilm,
can
andthecharacteristicsofprotagonist
be
lostinthedomesticatedsubtitles.
Culturaldifferencesdoaccountforthereceptionofthemoviein
At
last,theauthor
America.
ispartly
claimedthatitis
truetllat
languagetransfer
is
responsibleforthelossinthework
on
characters’differentiations.It
a
unlikely
thatadditional
theverbalexchangeswouldhaveresultedin
audience.Shealso
greateracceptancebythe
American
suggestedthat
to
ifthesubtitlestranslatorshad
taken
a
moredecisiveroleinadaptingthefilmthetargetculture,the
film
mighthavemore
easilyovercomedifferencesbetweenoriginalandtargetcultures.(Jackel2001:235)
Gottlieb
analysed
AnglicismsintheDanishsubtitlesofEnglishLanguageTV
an
Programsinhis‘'AnglicismsandTVSubtitlingin
everytime
a
AnglifiedWorld'’.Hestated
or
that
not
subtitlesiscreated,thesubtitlestranslatormay,consciously
choose,oneofthefollowingstrategies:
14
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
(a)totalsurrender(non-translationofforinstancecursingandpunsinEnglish),thusgeneratingovertAnglicisms.
(b)theuseofunnatural-soundingEnglish?flavoredDanishconstructions-displayingwhatcouldbelabeledcovertAnglicisms.
(c)theuseofcommonlyacceptedEnglishbans,adoptions.
(d)orfullytranslateddialogueinidiomaticDanish.(Gottlieb2001:249)
GottliebalsostatedthatinsubtitlingfromEnglishincountrieswherelargesegmentsoftheviewersunderstandEnglish,subtitlestranslatorssometimescensorthemselves,sacrificingidiomatictranslationfor“closecorrelation”withthedialogue.Subtitlestranslators’fearsofdepartingfromthewordorderoftheoriginaldialogueoftenleadtounnatural-soundingclonesofEnglishphrasesandconstructions.(Gottlieb2001:253).Atlast,healsopointedouttheubiquityofAnglicismsleadstoovertAnglicismornon—idiomaticelementsintranslations.
SchroterconductedanalysesofsevenEnglish-languagemoviesandavarietyoftranslations(coveringdubbing,subtitlingandfivedifferenttargetlanguages)in‘‘Astudyoflanguage-basedscreenhumorintranslation”.
Heclaimedthatalargearrayofstrategies,rangingfromsimplealliterationandrhymetopunsandelaboratemanipulationsofthegrammar,cailcontributetothehumorouscharacterofatext.Language-playbasedonsuchstrategiesisthusaheterogeneousyetimportantelementinmanyfilmcomedies.Duetoitsfunctioninthatgenre,almostalllanguage—playoccurringtherewouldnormallybeexpectedtohavecounterpartsinatranslation,buttheusuallylanguage—specificwaysinwhichthestrategieshavebeenused,inadditiontothewell?knownconstraintsofdubbingandsubtitling,canbesuspectedtoworkintheoppositedirection.Itissuggestedthatonaverage,roughlyonethirdofthestrategiesemployedinoriginallanguage?playareneithercopiednorreplacedbyotherstrategiesinsubtitlestranslation。Themodeandlanguageofthetargettextdonotappeartoinfluencethatresult.
Schroteralsopointedoutthatthemorecomplexorlanguagespecificawordplay
MAT11esis
is,themorelikelyitistobesimplified,replacedofattempting
a
or
omittedinthetranslation.Instead
difficulttransfer,theresultofwhichwouldbcliabletocriticism,the
an
subtitlestranslatormightthenconsidermeaningofthetroublesome
StudiesperspectivesAnglicism
on
unpretentioustranslationofthehard-core
sequence
tobe
thebestsolution.(Schroter2001:161)
featuresofsubtitlesfrom
focus
011
subtitlesstrategiesviewthe
various
different
as
andputforwardscreen
strategies.Some
are
specificaspectsuch
concretecase
Oil
byGottlieb.Someanalyzed
by
a
study.
Therefore,thestrategiesproposedhere
iftheymeet
callserve
asguidelinesforsubtitlestranslators
similar
situationinsubtitlingandthe
a
present
translation
strategies
and
methodologiesCanalsobeadoptedin
Differentstrategieshavetranslating
wider
rangeofmultimedia
theyare
context.
been
put
forward,butnotalwayssuitablein
ale
subtitles.What’Smore,how
studies.
todealwithsomespecialproblems
not
mentionedclearlyinthose
1.3SubtitlesStudiesinChina
Comparedwiththeresearchesinthewest,therelated边vestigationinChinais
farfromsatisfaction.Onlysomelimitedpapersarepublishedinsomejournals.
Inhis“StrategiesforSubtitlesTranslation'’,LiYtmxing,professorinTianJin
Normal
University,statedthattheprimaryrequirementofsubtitlesistoprovide,
withintheconstraintsoftimeandspace,themostrelevanteffective
information
inthemost
way.(李运兴2001:38)Onlyin
this
way,Canthetargetaudiencegetthe
mostdistinct
information
wimthepossiblelowestefforts.Hethenanalyzed
function
the
featuresofsubtitlesintermsoftime-spaceculturalfactors.Inordertoget
constraints,informative
presentedCanbe
some
and
forinto
an
effectiveresult,hestrategiesclassified
subtitlestranslationsuchasdeductionstrategy,which
further
condensation,reductive
subtitles,healsoput
paraphrasing
and
deletion.As
fortheculturalwordsin
or
forward
fivemodes,namely,literaltranslationtransliteration,
these
omitting,paraphrasing,integrating,anddomestication.Atlast,hecombined
strategies
into‘'deduction,simplicity,and
directness”witlltheprincipleofrelevance.
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
(李运兴2001:39)
Qian
calledonShaochang,averyexperiencedsubtitlestranslatorandprofessorinChina,thatmoreattentionshouldbepaidinaudiovisualtranslationinhis‘'FilmTranslation--aFieldofGrowingImportanceinTranslation'’.(钱绍昌2001:61)Qian
andwrittenlanguageanddescribesanalyzedthedifferencesbetweenfilm
the5characteristicsoflanguagefilmlanguagewhichaleaudio,integrated,instantaneous,
intranslationintwo
authorinformal,withoutcommentary.Hethenpointedcases:thehugecultureoutthedifficultydifference,andpunsandwordplay.Finally,the
presentedhis
whicharepersonalexperiencesinfilmtranslationinChinesecircumstance,amongforthedubbingtranslation.(钱绍昌2001:65)
Inherpaper‘'TranslationintoChineseofFilmScriptsandScriptsofTVDrama
translationofSeries—Four
scriptsofMainConflictingDemands’’,ZhaoChunmeistatedthattheorfilmTVshowshasthenatureofliterarytranslation,butitalsohaveto
authormeetsomespecial
analyzedfourrequirements.Basedonmainconflictingdemandsa
VS.semanticthesespecialrequirements,thetranslatormaymeetintheprocessofVS.translation:lengthVS.content,wordorderVS.pictureorder,naturalizationalienationandtransliterationtranslationandsuggestedwaysofdealing
withtheconflicts.(赵春梅2002:50)
The
givesUSgeneralizationofoverseasstudiesandhomestudiesofsubtitlesatranslationsomeideasofsubtitlestranslation.Asmatteroffact,nomatterfromwhataspect,thefocusandmainaimofsubtitlesistomakeitconvenientfor
appreciatetheaudiencetounderstandand
functionalfilmorTVprogramfully,whichisinaccordwitlltheequivalence.Inthefollowingchapter,thetheoryfunctionalequivalenceis
ongoingtobeintroduced
translation.andanalyzed,thusdrawsomeenlightenmentsubtitles
17
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
ChapterTwo
FunctionalEquivalenceandSubtitlesTranslationItisgenerallybelievedthatanequivalent
sanleisawordorphrasethat,inaspecificcontext,exactlycorrespondstothe
rathervagueunitintheoriginal.Butthisdefinitionisaandambiguous.Linguistic
betweentwolanguagesfactsprovethatforfullequivalenceCanneverabeestablishedlanguageisnotmathematics.Iffull
equivalence
translationisnotpossibletoachieve,thenitisnaturaltoasktowhatextentequivalencecanbeobtained.Inthischapter,Nida’Sfunctionalequivalencetheoryistobediscussed.
2.1AnOverviewofNida’sFunctionalEquivalence
Theequivalencetheoryhasbeenintroducedintoourcountryforyears.AndNidaisoneofthemostinfluentialtranslationtheorists
andsupportingthetheory.Ashestated:Thereisalwayssomelossdistortioninverbalcommunicationsinceno
twointerlocutorseverhaveexactlythesamedesignativeandassociativemeaningforthesame
gridsphonological,lexical,grammatical,anddiscourseforcomprehensionfeatures.Theirandevaluationarealways
somewhatdifferent,buttheirexperienceintheuseoflanguageandtheircapacityforforeign-languageempathymakeitpossibleforthemtocommunicateeffectively.(Nida2001:87)andhebelievedanythingthatbesaidinoneCalllanguageCanbe
andsaidinanother.(Nida1969:4)peoplesThehistoryofcommunicationculturalexchangesbetweendifferent
hasshownthevalidityofNida’Stheory,andthesecommunicationsandexchangesCan19
MAnesis
only
occur
whereequivalenceisestablished.Followingisthe
majorpoints
andtwo
differentlevelsofNida’Sfunctionalequivalence.
2.1.1The
Major
a
PointsofFunctionalEquivalence
equivalence'’in
1969.Dynamic
themessage
Nida
gave
cleardefinitionof‘'dynamic
as
equivalenceis
defined
intermsofthedegreetowhichthe
receptorsof
inthereceptorlanguagerespondtoitinsubstantiallythesamemanner笛the
receptors
inthe
source
language.(Nida1969:24)In
equivalenceisbased
on
terms
of“dynamic
equivalence”,
Nidastatedthat
dynamictheprincipleofequivalenteffect,
wheretherelationshipbetweenthereceptorandthemessageshouldbesubstantiallythe
sanle
asthatwhichexistedbetweenthe
original
a
receptors
a
andthemessage.Nida
heldthatthetranslatedtextshouldproduce
responsein
readerintoday’Sculture
thatisessentiallyliketheresponseoftheoriginalreceptors,ifnot,hesuggestedthat
changesbe
made
tomatchtheinitialresponse,
Later,the
expression‘'dynamicequivalence’’Wasreplaced
hisbookLanguage,Culture
andTranslating
no
by‘‘functional
1993.
equivalence'’in
publishedin
However,accordingtoNidahimself,thereis
essential
discrepancy
betweenthe
two.Nida
terms
of
claimedthat‘‘ingeneralitisbest
a
tospeakof‘functional
no
equivalence’in
completely
range
of
adequacy,since
translation
isever
equivalent."(Nida2001:91)Hearguedthat‘‘‘equivalence’cannot
mathematicalmeaningof
beunderstoodinits
identity,butonlyin
terms
ofproximity,i.e.onthebasisof
thatfunctional
degreesofclosenesstofimctional
identity.’’('Nida2001:87)Hebelievedand
flexibleterm
equivalence
is
a
more
scientific
a
thandynamicequivalence.
Functionalequivalenceplays
crucialroleinpointingtheroadawayfromstrict
word—for-wordequivalence.Theintroductionofthe
concepts
of
formal
and
dynamic
equivalenceisimportant
Inessence,toarrive
one
inintroducing
a
receptor-oriented
viewtotranslationstudies.
atasatisfactoryeffectoffuncfionalequivalentintranslation,
a
can
not
merelysimplifythegrammarandrestrictthenumberofwordsin
vocabulary.Onemust,firstofall,weighallthefactorsinvolved
inthe
communication,
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionaiEquivalence
andproducevariousalternativerenderings,especiallyofcomplexpassages,andtesttheacceptabilityandintelligibilityofsuchrenderingswithreceptors.
Firstly,afunctionalequivalenttranslationcannotbeeffectivelyproducedunlessthetranslatorhasaprofoundunderstandingofallthefactors,whichenterintothemeaningofthesourceandtargetlanguagetext.Forexample,itisnotenoughforatranslatortorecognizethevariousculturalorlinguisticfeaturesofatext,hemustatthesametimeunderstandthecapacityandmotivationoftargetreceptors.Thatistosay,toachieveafunctionalequivalenceintranslationonemustbeconstantlyawareofallthefactorsandtrytoreflecttheminthetargettextwording.
Secondly,itisimportanttorecognizethefactthattheremaybemorethanonenaturalwaytoreproduceasourcelanguagesentence,especiallyacomplexpassage,andthetranslatormustselecttheclosestandmostnaturalonefromsuchways.Inotherwords,theprocessoftranslatingisalwaysamatterofchoosingthebestrenderingfromvariousalternatives.Somemayberelativelyliteral,othersquitefree,andsomemaybesomewhatinbetween.Andthebasisforthechoiceofoneoranotheralternativemustdependon(1)faithfulnesstothecontentofthesourcelanguagetext,(2)thefunctionoftheliterarygenreinthesourcelanguage,(3)thedecodingcapacityoftargetreceptors(whethertheyarespecialistsorlaymeninthesubjectmatter,orwhethertheyareeducatedadultsorchildren),and(4)howandinwhatcircumstancesthetargetlanguageistobeemployed.
Thirdly,examinetheacceptabilityandintelligibilityofsuchrenderingswithtargetreaders.Someofthemostexcellenttranslatorstrytoimaginethatanintendedaudienceislisteningtoandreadingitontheothersideofthedeskwhiletranslatingandmakegreatefforttopreparetheirtextsofthetranslationnotonlyforthematchofwordsandsyntaxbutalsoinkeepingwiththeacceptabilityandintelligibilityoftargetreaders。Thenthetranslatorprobablybecomemoreconsciousoftranslatingmeanstranslatingmeaningandmakeshisorhertranslationmorenaturalforthetarget
AccordingtoNida,translatingisanactivitytoconveymessagesbetweendifferentculturesandlanguagesSOthetransferenceofmeaningplaysamajorrolein
MAThesis
evaluatingatranslationwork.ThatiswhyNidabelievedintheimportanceofendeavortotranslatethemeaningoftheoriginaltextinsuchawaythatthetargetlanguagetextwouldproducethesameimpactonitsreadershipthattheoriginalversionhasonitsaudience.Meaningheremeansatotality,includingmeaningsofmorphemes,words,howwordsalelinkedwitheachother(syntax),wordsindifferentcontextsandsituations(pragmatics),ere.Nidaattachedgreatimportancetothemessageofthetargetlanguagetext,thatis,thesemanticdimensionofthetranslatedversion.Hecalledforlaborwithpainstakingeffortsinthetargettext.HenceafunctionalequivalenceCanbedescribedas‘'theclosetnaturalequivalencetothesourcelanguagemessage”(Nida1964:166).
2.1.2TwoDifferentLevelsofFunctionalEquivalence
AsforNida,sincenotranslationisabsolutelyequivalentandthereisnoidenticalresponsebetweenTLreadersandSLreaders,functionalequivalenceisdiscussedintermsofarangeofadequacy.Quiteafewoftranslationsofdifferentversionscanrepresentvaryingdegreesofequivalence.Soequivalencecannotbeunderstoodinitsmathematicalmeaningofidentity,butonlyintermsofproximity,namelyonthebasisofthedegreesofclosenesstofunctionalidentity.
Nidadefinedfunctionalequivalencefromtheperspectiveofdifferentagreesofadequacyfromminimaltomaximaleffectivenessbasedonbothcognitiveandexperientialfactors.
Theminimaldefinitionoffunctionalequivalenceisstatedas‘q'hereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletocomprehendittothepointthattheyCanconceiveofhowtheoriginalreadersofthetextmusthaveunderstoodandappreciatedit.’'(Nida2001:87)
Themaximaldefinitionoffunctionalequivalenceisstatedas‘'Thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletounderstandandappreciateitinessentiallythesamemannerastheoriginalreadersdid.“(Nida2001:87)
Thedivisionofthetwolevelsoffunctionalequivalenceshowstheflexibifityof
functionalequivalence.AccordingtoNida,anythinglessthanthisminimaldegreeofequivalenceisunacceptable,whiletheabsoluteequivalenceisonlybeapproachedratherjustallidealwhichancanthanachieved.Themaximaldefinitionisonly
aidealsetfortranslators.Ofcourse,theclosertothemaximallevel
is.Histwolevelsoffunctionalequivalencearetranslationis,thebetteritlikeanidealfunctionalequivalence
aandapracticalequivalence.ThetwodifferentlevelsNidaputforwardgiveusclear
ideathatthegoalthatweyeamtogetbuthardtoattainintheprocessoftranslation.Ithaspracticalsignificancetotranslationpractice.2.2
rnApplication■』●ofFunctionalEquivalenceinSubtitles
lranSlatlon
Fromthepreviousstudies,wehavegottoknowthatsubtitlestranslationisabranchoftranslationstudies.Indeed,therearesomeconstraintsinsubtitlestranslation.However,itCannotberuledoutofthecategoryofgeneraltranslation.Ithasthesamemaintranslationprocess,anditWasborninthesamedrivethatguidedthetranslation.Inliterarytranslation,thesourcetextisthenovels,poetryere.andthetargetacceptoristhetargetreader,whileinsubtitlestranslationthesourcetextistheoriginalfilmorTVprogramsandthetargetacceptoristhetargetaudience.Inliterary
atranslationthepurposeofthetranslatorsistomakethereaderof
abletotranslatedtextbeunderstandittothepointthattheycancomprehendofhowtheoriginalreadersofthetextunderstoodandappreciatedit.Insubtitlestranslation,the
ofthegoalofsubtitlestranslatorsistomaketheaudiencesubtitledtextbeabletounderstandittothe
pointthattheyCanunderstandofhowtheoriginalviewersofthefilmcomprehendedandappreciatedit.
2.2.1TheLanguagePerspective
trueItisthatlanguagesdiffergreatlyonefromanother
thatonlevelsofnotpronunciation,vocabularyandgrammar.Some
oneevenargueoneCancommunicateadequatelyinlanguagewhathasbeensaidinanotherlanguage.
MAnesis
However,thesedifferenceslanguagesbecausethere
cannot
preventeffectivecommunication
or
betweendifferent
area
lotofcommonfeatures
lawsamongdifferent
languages.‘'Butatleastninetypercentofthefundamentalstructuresofall
ale
languages
1993:
quitesimilar,andlanguageuniversalsfaroutweighthedivergences’’(Nida
106)。Itisthesecommonlaws
or
featuresthatmakefunctional—equivalencetranslation
possibleinsubtitlestranslation.Forinstance,thereexistcorresponding
structures
language
betweendifferentlanguages:phoneme,rnorphelne,word,phrase,clause,
employssomefigurative
to
sentenceandparagraph,eachlanguage
a
expressions,and
has
greatnumberofliterary
forms--fromnarratives
prayers.(谭载喜1999:63)
maydiffervery
content
AccordingtoJinDi,hebelievedradicallyinform,thereale
rio
that‘‘_舶oughlanguages
tOrepresenting
insuperablebarriersequivalent
for
atleastmostpracticalpurposes.In
otherwords,themaindifferencesbetween
languages
donotlieinwhatthey
call
say,butinthewaysinwhichtheysayit”.(金堤
1984:53)Therefore,whatfunctional—equivalencetranslmionseeksforis‘‘thewaysinwhichtheysaysubtitles
it”and‘'what
theysay'’,andfunctionalequivalence
isapplicablein
translation.
languages,Englishand
originalmovie
or
Astwototallydifferent
Chineseeachhavetheirown
istackledinsubtitlessometechniquesinthe
languagefeatures,Whenan
TVshowand
translation,itisnecessarytomakeadjustment
use
translation。Of
course
thatisnottosaytranslators
can
make
adjustments
obstacles
atwill,tO
Adjustmentsaleaudience’S
necessaryonly
whenthetranslation
brings
the
fullunderstanding.Beforethetranslatordecideswhatshouldbe
or
adjusted
inthesubtitles,he
shemust
analyze
the
original
show
andsum
across
upthelinguistic
andculturaldifferences
textor
betweenthem.Sometimes
wecome
a
unnaturalo^ginal
grammatical
ale
gi'rors
whiletranslatingsubtitles.In
TVshow,ablackwoman
theonlyform
said,‘"Jesus,he
polite.’’Poorly
educated,thiswomanuses‘‘ale'’as
is
no
oftheverb‘'be”.IntheChinesethe
language,theresuchdistinction.Accordingto
requirement
offunctional
equivalence,this
a
sentence
Wastranslated丛“噢上帝,他
真是衫衫有礼.…'Polite”has
Chinese
equivalence“彬彬有礼”and“彬彬”is
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
sometimespronouncedas“衫衫”bysomepoorly-educatedChinese.Thesubtitlestranslationachievesfunctionalequivalencewell.
2.2.2TheCulturePerspective
Newmarkbelievedthatcultureis‘‘thewayoflifeanditsmanifestationsthatarepeculiartoacommunitythatUSeSaparticularlanguageasitsmeansofexpression.’’(1988:94)Regionalandinternationallanguagesbothhavecloserelationstotheirowncultures.Sincelanguageandculturearesocloselyconnectedandinterdependenttoeachother,translation,asanimportantwayofinterculturalcommunication,issuretohavecloserelationtoculture.Themostdifficultproblemintranslation,toacertainextent,isnotlinguisticdifferencebutculturaldiscrepancy.Everynation’Sculturehasitsowndistinctivefeaturesbecameofdistinctivedevelopmentinhistoryandtradition.ButthisdoesnotdenythefactthattheyCansharesomecommoncoresincultures.Linguistshavediscoveredthatwhatunitesmankindismuchgreaterthanwhatdivides,andthereisabasisforcommunicationinverydisparatelanguagesandcultures.Thesesimilaritiesorcom/lloncoresprovidethepossibilityfortranslatorstofindfunctionalequivalentsbetweendifferentcultures.Sincetherealefunctionalequivalentsindifferentlanguagesandcultures,itisquitepossibletoproducefunctional?equivalencetranslation.
Aslanguageisthecarrierofculture,therenderingofmeaningCannotavoidtheinfluenceoftheunderlyingculturalfactors.CulturephenomenonisveryobviousinTVshows.InCaseofsubtitlestranslation,culturalfactorsinboththetargetandthesourcelanguageplayakeyrole.SomeforeigntranceretainedinthetranslationwillrenderdifficultyfortargetlanguagereceptorstograsPitsappropriatemeaning.Ifwetranslatethephrase“goDutch”into“按荷兰人的规矩来办”,Chineseaudiencewillbepuzzled.Ifwemakesomeadjustmentsandtranslateitinto“AA制”,functionalequivalencewillbeachievedbecauseChineseaudiencerespondandactinthesamewayastheoriginalaudiencedo.Thatistosay,anaturaltranslationisinlinewiththeculturalfactorsinvolvedinthesourcetext.InanAmericanmovie,“drugstore’’
MAnesis
frequently
Occurs
andthe
translation“药店”is
Chinese
actuallymistaken.InAmerican
people
Call
English,“drug'’isthe
a
equivalenceofthe
character“药”and
call
goto
drugstoretogetsomemedicine.However,actuallypeople
a
getfarmorethan
medicinein
drugstoreandin
a
drugstorein
a
commumtyCanfunctionas“小卖部”or
butitismisleading.
“杂货店”does
The
China.Here“药店”istheformalequivalence
translation“小卖部”or“杂货店”callprovide
theexactsameinformationasthe
originalfilmdoesforthetargetaudience.
Therefore,in
ordertoachievefunctional
equivalence,itisnecessaryforsubtitles
translatorstounderstandbothculturesand
findthemosteffectiveexpressionduring
a
theprocessofsubtitling.Translatorsneedfactors
comprehensiveunderstandingofallthe
involved
inthe
source
material.Subtitles
source
translators
shouldalsomakeeffortto
payattentiontotheimpactofthe
textuponthesourcereceptors
on
and
tryto
render
should
a
subtitlethatwillproducesimilarimpact
thetargetaudience.Sotranslators
ones。
takeall
thefactorsintoaccount,especiallycultural
2.2.3
TheReceptors’Perspective
as
Peopleusuallyregardtranslationtranslationisusuallytheresultofonlythetranslator
or
a
more
or
less
a
sin舀eact.Actually,‘‘a
numberofyears’work,duringwhichtimenot
translators,butalsothepeopleforwhomthe
translation
isbeingresultof
prepared,havecontributedtheirown
extensively
tothe
form
ofthe
translationasthe
experiences'’.(Nida1964:239)In
attached
Nida’S
functionalequivalence,all
textanditsreaders.In
unprecedentedimportanceWasorderto
tothetarget
language
accompliSh
itsfunctionofcommunication,translatedtextmustbe“closeand
natural”.Asfarassubtitlestranslationisconcerned,exceptthattheoriginalisnotsmoothsmooth
or
language
as
naturalforparticularpurposestoachieve,subtitlesshouldbc
and
a
naturalasthe
original
text.
For
longperiodoftimeithasbeenexistinginthereadersin
consideredasreasonabletoeducation,Soeiallabeled
as
ignorethe
differences
terms
of
status,valuesystems
etc.Toomuchattentionpaidtothe
readers
is
superfluous
and
criticized
severelybymanytheorists.Nida,however,tookthetargettextreceptorsasanimportantpartintheprocessoftranslating.Hearguedthatdifferentreaderswouldrespondtothesamematerialindifferentwaysduetothedifferencesintheircapabilityandwayofcomprehension.Assomeoneoncesaid,thereareonethousandHamletsinonethousandreaders’minds.Differencesineducationbackground,career,personality,etc.Callaccountforpeople’Scomprehensiondifferences.SincethedifferencesexistinnearlyeverycultureinanyhistoricalperiodSOtheycouldn’tbeleftuntouchedinthetranslationstudies.Forexample,thenameofthefilm‘'Hamlet’’wastranslatedas“哈姆雷特”and“王子复仇记”.Thefilmwiththename??哈姆雷特”willbenotattractivetothosewhoarenotfamiliarwithwesternliterature.舢S0thistranslationappearstoaveragepeoplewhoarenotfamiliarwithwesternliteraturelikesomethingaboutscience.Thetranslationisnotattractivetothem.However,“王子复仇记”isabetterchoicebecauseitisexcitingtheaveragepeoplegettoknowwhatthemovieisaboutfromthetitle.Ofcoursetheotherversion“哈姆雷特”willbeagoodchoicewhenthismovieisforcollegestudentsandprofessors,foreignliteratureenthusiasts,etc.
Audiencesindifferentculturesarehumanbeingsandhaveverysimilarexperiences.Theyallhavetoeat,sleepandwork;theysharethesamefeelingsofsadness,happiness,loveandhate.Peopleallovertheworldhavetheirownspecialwaystodescribethesesimilarexperiencesandfeelings.Fromthispoint,thesespecialwaysofexpressionsarefunctionallyequivalenttoeachOther.Throughpersonalfeelingsandexperiences,translatorsaresuretoworkoutsatisfactoryexpressionstoconveycorrespondinginformation.Asaresult,audiences’similarlifeexperiencesofferanotherpossibilityforfunctional—equivalencetranslationinsubtitlestranslation.Therefore,toachieveequivalenceintranslatingsubtitles,translatorsneedtobeequippedwithacomprehensiveknowledgeofculturalbackgroundofthereceptorlanguage.Inevaluatingsubtitles,theaudience’Sresponsetothetranslationshouldoccupyamoreimportantplacethanotherfactors,includingtheformofthesourcelanguagesorthatofthetargetlanguage.Tosomeextent,subtitlestranslatorsneedtocatertothetargetaudienceSOheorshecouldconsidertheculturaldifferences27
MAnesis
be觚eenthesourceandtargettexts,especiallytheculturalawarenessofthetargetaudience.
Accordingtotheaboveanalyses,webelievethatfunctionalequivalenceisapplicabletosubtitlestranslation.Becauseofthedissimilarityofphonetics,pragrnatics,morphemeandrhetoricindifferentlanguages,therearealwayscertainlossanddeviationinlanguagecommunication.SometimesthetranslationishardtoarOtlSethesenseofcultureawarenessliketheoriginalwordtotheoriginalaudience.Therefore,asfarassubtitlestranslationisconcemed,thetranslatorshouldtakefullconsiderationofthepurposeandeffectoftheoriginalshow,togetherwiththespecificsituationofthetargetaudience,makingarecreationbasedontheoriginalscriptSOthatthesubtitlesCallbetheclosetnaturalequivalentasmuchaspossible.Thatistosay,theeffectofthesubtitledTVshowtothetargetaudienceissimilartothatoftheaudienceinthesourcelanguage.
Tosumup,inordertoachievethefunctionalequivalenceinsubtitlestranslation,itisnecessarytotakeeffectivestrategiesinthetranslation.Inthefollowingchapter,translationstrategiestogetherwithexampleswillbediscussedintranslatingsubtitles.
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
ChapterThree
TranslationStrategiesofSubtitlesoftheSitcom
FriendsunderthePrincipleofFunctional
Equivalence
Inthischapter,wewillprobeintotranslationstrategiesofthesubtitlesofFriends
bytheprincipleoffunctionalequivalence.Afterabriefintroductionof
strategiesofsubtitlestranslationareproposed.Then,wewillgotoan
discussionofcorrespondingspecificstrategiesofsubtitlestranslationunder
‘
principleoffunctionalequivalence.
Nowadayssitcomisverypopularintheworld.ItinitiallycomesfromtheWest.Sitcomisactuallythecompoundwordforsituationcomedy.Itisalwaysfunnyand
watchsitcomforfunandentertainment.Subtitlestranslation,
amajorkindofcommunicationforthetargetaudiencewhowatchforeign
FriendshasbeenoneofthetopAmericanTVsitcomssinceitdebutedin1995.Itbeennominatedfor‘‘AmericanComedyReward'’manytimesandwononeinbecauseofitsextremepopularity.ItisregardedasanoutstandingachievementcomedyinAmerica.Itisthemostpopularshowinthehistoryoftelevision,
elsecomesclose.Friendsisawonderfulshowwithcreativewriting,humor,
900dacting,andsometimesmorals,Itlastedfortenyears,whichisundoubtedlythe
ofitspopularity.Theseriesfocusesonthefriendshipofsixyoungpeoplewho
gatheratMonica'sapartmentor0nthesofaofacoffeehouse.Theyareon
ownandstruggletosurviveintherealworld.Theyfindthecompanionship,
andsupportfromeachothertobethebestsolutionstothepressureoflife.GellerisachefwholivesinallapartmentinGreenwichVillagewithherguidedFriends,theelaboratethehumorous.Peopletherefore,issitcoms.has2000fornotingprooffrequentlytheircomfortMonica
MAThesis
friendfromhi曲school,RachelGreen,aspoiled舀rlstartingherlifeOVerindependently.ChandlerBing,acomputerprogrammerwithadrywit,livesacrossthehallwith】0唧Tribbiani,anot-so—intelligentactor.PhobeBuffayisamasseuseandwasMonica’Sformerroommate.Ross,Monica’Sbrother,isapaleontologistwhosewifeleRhimforanotherwoman.Thegroupalwayshangsouttogether,andgetsentangledinhumorouseverydayscenarios.Thejokesareverysmartandfunny,andeachofthecharactershashisorherownspecialfeatures.
TheTVsitcomthisthesisdiscussesisthelasttwoseasons,namelyseason9andseason10.Sinceitisasituationcomedy,itisnodoubtveryfunnyandhumorous.Besidessheeramusement,thesitcomprovidesfoodforthoughtonlove,friendshipandlife.Thedialoguesaresarcastic,ironicalandsometimesphilosophical,andofcoursemostlyhumorous.
Fromthepreviousstudy,wehaveknownthatsubtitlestranslationisdifferentfromthatofessays,novels,poems,etc.duetothefeatureofirreversibilityandtheconstraintsoftimeandspace.Theserequiresubtitlestobelucidandbrief.Thus,manypunditsinsubtitlestranslationhaveproposedthatthemaintranslationstrategyshouldbereduction.
Subtitlestranslatorsarealwaysconfrontedwiththeneedofaubiquitousreductionoforiginalinformation.Thereductioncallbepartial(condensation)ortotal(elimination)andshouldalwaysabidebytheprincipleoffunctionalequivalence,thatis,makingsurethattheessentialandmajormeaningisnotalteredordeletedandthereceptorsCanalwaysgetthesensewhichissimilartotheoriginalaudience.
Asfarassubtitlestranslationisconcerned,MrLiYunxingoncestatedinhisthesisthatsubtitlestranslatorsoftenneedtoadoptreductionstrategy雒subtitlestranslationhastimeandspatialconstraints.Hethensubcategoriesitintocondensation,reductiveparaphrasinganddeletion(李运兴2001,39),,Itisforsurethatreductionisbynomeanstheonlyoptionofasubtitlestranslator.
Itistobebasedontheprincipleoffunctionalequivalenceintheaspectofcontextualeffectsandalsotheprocessingeffortontheaudience’Spart.Inordertomakethesubtitleseasierforhisorheraudiencetounderstand,thetranslatorshouldcondenseor
even
deletetheinformationthatininessentialandchoose
a
closeandnaturalword
or
sentenceintargetlanguagetoachievetheclosestfunction.
3.1Reduction
as
the
MajorStrategy
Theinstantaneousnessofsubtitlesrequiresthatthetranslatedsubtitlescouldbeunderstoodbytheaudience’S
audience
for
just
one
time.Itisnotacceptabletoignorethe
receptionwhiletranslating
subtitles.The
functionalequivalenceputthe
to
audience
to
thecenterthatallsubtitlestranslators’focusis
as
make
a
natural
and
close
counterpart
much弱possible.
one
Subtitlestranslationhasitsduality.Onthe
hand
itisconstrainedbythespace
andtimeofmultimedia;ontheotherhand,itis
compensatedbythe
company
of
motionpicturesandwithpictures,music
sound.The
or
audience
Can
appreciatesubtitlesincombination
togain
characters’intonationatthesametime
some
extra
informationwhichmaynotbeshownfromthesubtitles.SotheyCancomplement
one
anotherand
cases
be
interdependent.Itis,sometimeseasiertoovercomesomedifficult
not
which
Can
be
translated
a
intime.Therefore,inthe
and
case
ofsubtitles
translationofsitcom,reductionis
Reduction
frequentnecessarymethod.
makes
atext
shorter,whichmeansthesubtitlestranslatorselectsthe
morecondensedtranslationaloption.Inthefirstchapter,wehavediscussedthat
reductionmaybe
asa
resultoftheselectivecriteriafeatureof
use
subtitles.such
aS
the
needfortextcompressionduetothe
all
of2linesof30characters
each,exposedfor
supposedtohelp
averageof4-6seconds.Anotherfactoristhatsubtitlesare
understandimages
instantly,andreductionmaybehelpfulfortheaudiencetoread
notfocus
fluently.This虹ndofsubtitlesdoestheattentionoftheaudience
whicharenot
Oil
them
andare
expectedtoruleout
informativeelements
intentionalofthe
discourseofthecharacters.
3.1.1
Condensation
keepbothmeaningandmost
ofthestylisticfeatureof
Condensationrefersto
MAThesis
subtitles.(李运兴2001:39)Thetransferfromspokentowrittenlanguageleaveoutsomeoftheredundanciesautomaticallyandtherebyenhancescoherencefortheaudience.Whenthedialogueisfastandfullofcomplicatedinformation,orsometimeswithoutorder,condensationshouldbeadopted.
(1)Monica:Wow,isn’titironicthatDavidwouldshowuponthesamedaythatyouandMikeexchangekeys?
Phoebe:Yeall…youknow.Andgivenmylifelongsearchforirony,you一..canimaginehowhappyIam..
(episode9木06)
莫尼卡:大卫出现在你跟麦克交换钥匙的同一天…这真是很讽刺啊!Phoebeusedtolike
Nowshe’sdatingMikeascientistDavid,buthewenttoRussiaforhisresearch.andreallylikeshim.Heevengiveshiskeytohisapartmentto
ofDavidstirsPhoebePhoebe,SOdoesshe.However,the
liesthatshehasnosuddenappearanceandsheboyfriend.Monicaisexpressingtheveryironyandcoincidenceofthesituation.TheaudienceCangetwhatPhoebefeelsfromthesimplebutsarcastictranslation.Hence,thestrategyofcondensationissupposedtobeused.
a(2)Joey:Rossbruiseslikepeach.Hebruiseslikeapeach.
(episode9*02)
乔伊:打成烂桃,打成烂桃。
WeallknowthatoneofJoey’sthingsistoeat.HereJoeyisabouttoorderwhenRosscomes.Heisveryupsetandmurmursthisreallyloud.Itisunnecessarytotranslatethewordsliterallyas“罗斯像桃子一样容易受伤,他像桃子一样容易受
andalsovery
a伤”.ThecondensedaudienceCan’tevenversioniseasiertoreadaunderstandable.Theandatfeellikereadingline,whichisinfactgoodtranslation
thesametimethefunctionalequivalenceisachieved.
isPrecious?I.sshea(3)Phoebe:Hernamepurebredordidyoupickherup32
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFuncfionMEquivalence
.atthepound7.
(episode10宰01)
菲比:她叫珍贵?缠弛数还是狍拦基笪?
HerePhoebeisjustmakingfunofthenameofMike’Snewgirlfriend.Thecondensationalsoindicateshertoneofindifference.ThecondensedtranslationiSsimpleandthetargetaudiencehavenoproblemtogetasimilarresponse.TheyknowPhoebeismakingfunofthegirl’Snameandwilllaugh.WeCallsaythatbycondensation,thefunctionalequivalenceisrealizedwellhere.
3.1.2ReductiveParaphrasing
LiYunxingbelievedthatreductiveparaphrasingreferstothetranslationofthemeaningoftheoriginalscriptbyparaphrasingwiththesubtitlestranslator’Sownwords.(李运兴2001:39)Itisusedwhenthere’Salargespeechvolumebecauseoffastspeechpaceandtoomuchinformationcannotbetranslatedatthebottomofthescreen.Thisstrategyischaracterizedbyusingabridgedexpressionsandareductionincontent.ThemessageisconveyedwiththeheIpofsoundandvision.
(4)Phoebe:OhIdunno,Idunno,youknowImean,IlikehimbutanlIreadytotakemygrade-Aloinsoffthemeat?
(episode9?12)
菲比:我不知道,但是我现在还没有准备好逞出选塑。
HereRossisaskingifPhoebeisseriousabouthernewboyfriendandifshe’Sreadytosettle.Phoebesaysthesentencetoshowheruncertainty.Ifitistranslatedas“莫非现在就要我对外宣布此甲级小腰肉撤市禁售?”,thetargetaudiencewillfeelconfusedandmcirresponsewillnotbethesametotheoriginalaudience.Herethereductiveparaphraseisagoodadoptionandmakesitafunctionalequivalent.
(5)Rachel:1wasjustgoingtosaythatIleftmykeys.
Ross:Oh,holymoly,堡垒竖星i卫垒卫i曼k!曼娶Q盟.
(episode9*05)33
MAThesis
瑞秋:我正要说我把钥匙放在房里了。
HereRossshowshisexclamationandregret.Thetranslationisshorterandeasier
tounderstand
than“我们现在在腌菜坛里了”.The
as
targetaudience
call
easilygetthe
pointandfeelbothsorryandfunny
theoriginalaudiencedo.
3.1.3
Deletion
or
Deletionreferstotheomissionofsomewords
sentences.Itismainlyusedto
Carl
dealwithlion—verbalcontent.Repetitionsandtagquestionslossofinformationtotheaudience.Sometimes
even
beomittedwithout
sentencesale
omittedtosavethe
spaceandtimebecauseitisobviouslyeasytounderstandthesituationbythepictures
Or
backgroundinformation.However,itmaysometimesaffectthesemantic
Or
stylisticcontent.
Somefillerwordswith
‘'well”,‘‘Imean"’,“you
110
substantialmeaning
call
beleftoutsuchas“look'’,
tothesituation.
know”‘、m”,“ah”,“oh'’,‘‘ugh’’,according
ale
Theydon’taddanymeaningtowhatpeoplehappenwhenpeople
are
saying,they
just
fillthepausesthat
talking
Call
Or
giving
a
speech.Soit’soktodeletethetranslation
ofthemandtheaudience
stillunderstandthesubtitleswellenough.
Or
Sometimesthespeakerwantstoemphasizerepeatingwords
Or
a
hesitateinhis
Or
herspeechby
word
Or
phase.Ifthishappens,itisnotnecessarytotranslatetherepeated
phrases.
(6)Ross:This…thisisexactlywhatI'mtalking
about.What
kindof
a
guy
makes…—mak—es…delicate
manlycookies
Frenchcookies,huh?They’renoteven…butch,
wi廿l…with…YQ坠蛔Q鲨型i尘。型i尘chunks.
don’tknowwhatto
Rachel:巡,I…youknow,.!二M
thoughtofyou
asa
say…I堡星堑,Inever
guywhoneededhismentobemen.Youknow,,‘cause
IgottatellyouRoss,itnotlikejustcameinfrombrandingcattle.
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
(episode9?06)
罗斯:这就正是我在说的。什么样的男人会做精致的法式饼干呢?看
起来根本不像是男性化,雄赳赳的饼干,有那种…大块咬的快感!
瑞秋:我不知道能说什么。我从没想过你是那种需要男人是真正男人
的人。我必须告诉你罗斯,你也不像是会烙印牛只的西部牛仔。
Hereinthisexample,thereareafewrepetitionsofwordssuchas‘'makes”,‘'with'’,‘T’andfillerwordssuchas‘'huh'’,‘'well’'’‘'youknow'’,‘‘Imean'’.Theyarejustpauseswhichindicatethecharactersarethinkingaboutwhattheyaregoingtosay.Soeventheyarenottranslated,theaudiencecanstillmastertheessenceofthedialogue.
SomeshortsentencesCanalsobedeletedwhenmcydon’tapplyadditionalmeaning.AslongastheaudienceCallgetwhattheshortresponseslike‘'Yes'’,“Yeah’’,‘'No”“Ok”mean,theycanbeeliminatedinthetranslation.Inmostcases,theaudienceCanunderstandthemfromthescreenactionofthecharacters.
(7)Ross:巡,wegottadosomething,ok?
Nannieslikeherdon’tgrowontrees.(pause)
Chandler:Picturingthattree?
Ross:地,yes.
(episode9幸12)
罗斯:我们得要做点什么。
像她那样的保姆是不会凭空长在树上的。
钱德勒:在想象那棵树吗?
罗斯:没错。
Rosshasfoundabeautifulnannyforhisbabygirl.Sheisveryhotandpopular.ButRossisworriedthathisgoodfriendJoe弘theplayboy,maychaseherandthen35
MAThesis
dumpherasusual,whichmeanshewilllosethenanny.Sohe’StalkingaboutsomewaystokeepJoeyawayfromthenanny.Heretheword‘%veil’’isusedtodrawChandler’Sattention.AsfortheddetedresponseofRoss’S‘‘Iam’'’thesubtitles
cantranslatoromitsitandmakestheflowoftalkingsmoother.Thetargetaudience
definitelygetthemeaningbyRoss’Sfacialexpression.ThevolumeoftheUReranCeisreduced,yetthemeaningisstillpreservedandthusachievesthesamefunction嬲well.
(8)Gavin:Man,Ireallybugyou,—don—'tI?
(episode9木12)
盖文:天啊,我真的惹你厌吧?
Herethetranslatordeletethetagquestion,however,thetranslationisbriefandproper,whichconveystheideaofthedialogue.Itdoesn’thampertheaudience’Sunderstandingintheslightest.WeCansayit
translatorsmayisafunctional?equivalencetranslation.Inaddition,subtitles
itleavesomeinformationoutiftheyconsiderirrelevanttotheaudienceduetotheconstraintsofspace
kindlargelyandtimeofsubtitles.Thedeletionofthis
expectancyofthedependsonthecontextandtheassumptionandtranslatortotheaudience.
3.2AdditionastheSecondStrategy
translation,thestrategyofreductionisquiteAlthoughinsubtitles
doesnotexcludetheuseimportant,itofothertranslationstrategiesWeshouldapply.Allthereductions
totakethearemadebecauseoftheconstraintsofTVshowsbuttranslatorsalsohaveofthesitcomintoconsiderationratherconsistency
usethanspoilit.Insomemakeupsomecases,translators
information.othertranslationstrategies,suchasaddition,to
(9)Erica:Reverend,Can
adoption?
Monica:ItIask?Doesthebiblesayanythingaboutsays::旦Q贮!Andbeholdshedidadoptuntothemababy.
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
Anditwasgood.
爱瑞卡:牧师,圣经上有写什么关于领养的吗?
。她让他们领养了一个婴孩,此乃善举。
(episode10木09)
HereMonica
aishavingameetingaboutadoptionwiththemotherwhomistakesborrowstheMonicaasreverend.MonicasentencestructureintheBible,attempting
toconvinceEricaandevokehersympathy.Thetranslatorherewonderfullyfulfillshis
aretaskbyadoptingtheadditionstrategy,SOtheformandtheeffectofthisparody
wellpreserved.Whatisbeingsoughtwiththiswittytranslationisthecognitionoftheaudience,whowillprobablyrecognizethesimilaritybetweenthesentenceandtheBiblescripture,andwillhavefunwiththisrendering.Thetranslatedversionthusfunctionsinthesimilarwayasintheoriginaltext.
(10)Joey:Man,thatkidisgoingtotown。
(episode9"01)
乔伊:嘿!这孩子亟得真起劲啊!
HereJoeyaccidentallyseesRachel’snewbabysuckingherbreastreallyhard.Heblursoutthesentencewithoutrealizingit’simpropertostare
feeding.“Goingtowhenawomanisbreastortown'’isallidiomwhichmeansdoingsomethingwellperformingwell.Inthetranslation,theadditionof“吸”makeitclearthatJoeyisstaringatthebabyhavingitsmealeventhoughtheepisodedoesnotactuallyshowthescenetotheaudience.
(11)Chandler:Imessed
Monica:Sowhat?Don’t
Chandler:Willup,itwasameeting.EverybodyWassmoking.youhaveanywillpower.'?power?I'vewatchedhomemoviesofyoueating
(episode9*05)
37
MAThesis
钱德勒:意志力?我看过你家的录像。你吃叮咚糖鱼盈连锡纸都吞了。
WhenMonica
havefindsoutChandlercavesinsmokingagain,shescoldshimnottoanywillpower.ButChandlerfightsbackbysaying
aMonicausedtobeweak-eagernesswilledtoo.Theadditionof“急得”isveryvividdescriptionofMonica’S
toeatastheaudienceallknowthatMonicausedtobeoverweightandhavesweet
haveateeth.Therefore,theaudienceCan
theoriginal
Inverysimilarresponsecomparedtothatofaudience.chapter,wehavediscussedonethismajorstrategyinsubtitlestranslation—reduction.Because
isaofthelimitoftimeandspaceinTVshows,reductionpracticalwayinsubtitlestranslation.Withregardtoreduction,wehavetalkedaboutthreekinds:condensation,reductiveparaphrasing
resorttoanddeletion.Andwecanalsoanotherstrategy‘‘addition'’whentheinformationchannelisbiggerforthe
examplesfromtheninthandtenthtargetreceptorsthantheoriginal
seasonreceptors.WithseeofFriends,wecanclearlytheyareadoptableundertheguidanceoffunctionalequivalence.Nomatterwhichstrategiessubtitlestranslatorsemploy,theirgoalistohelpthetargetaudienceunderstandtheshow
strategies
anditsinthefullofsubtitlesextentandachieveatranslation,westillwilldiscussfunctionalequivalence.Inadditiontosheerhavetodealwithsomecultural
inthefollowingchapter.informationtranslationwhichwe
38
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
ChapterFour
SubtitlesTranslationofCulturalInformationofFunctionalequivalenceofsubtitlestranslationputsthetargetaudience’Sresponseinthefirstplacethustheycangetwhattheprogramreallyshows,notonlyinthe
ameaningbutalsointheculturalsense.TVsitcomsact弱areflectorofthecultureof
societyorcountry.Thuswhentheycometothepointofsubtitles,translatorshaveto
languageemployproperthatculturalinformationissufficientlytransmitted.
Translatorsneedtobearinmindthatwhatdifferentpeoplesintheworldhaveincommonismuchgreaterthanwhatseparates
culturesarethemfromeachother.Languagesbecomesandnottoodivergent.Itisbecauseofthesethattranslation
acrosspossible.InFriends,translatorsmayfrequentlycome
sourcecommonthingswhichboththelanguageandthetargetlanguageshareorwhicharerelativelyeasyforthe
cantargetlanguageaudiencetounderstand.Insuchcases,translators
ausuallyretaintheculturalflavorbyrenderingtheminmoreorlessliteralway.
Theprincipleoffunctionalequivalencerequiressubtitlestobefaithfulandfunctionaltotheoverallculturalatmosphereandimageoftheoriginal,thatistosay,translatorshave
renderthetotrytoretaintheoriginalimagesandtheirforeignfeatures,andtopreventtheculturalcolorfrom
notculturalmessagetothemaximumtodimming.However,functionalequivalencemustgobeyondthelimitofthe
audience’Sacceptance.Translatorsshouldavoidover-subtitlingandunder-subtitlingofculturalphenomena.111ey
ofthehavetofocusthisonthefunctionalequivalenceandtheacceptabilityaudience.Onlyin
appreciationbewaywillthebesteffectofculturalexchangeandliteraryachieved.
translatorhastobenotonlyTosuccessfullydealwithculturalinformation,a
bilingualbutalsobicultural.Therearetwomainmethodswhilecopingwithcultural
theyaleinformationandknown勰“domestication’’and“foreignization”.(Munday39
MAlllesis
2001:146)Bydomestication,thetranslationisinitiatedinthedomesticculture.Byforeignization,thetranslationtakesthereaderovertotheforeignculture,makinghimorherseetheculturaldifferences.0Vlunday2001:147)
before,subtitlestranslationof"IVshowsisAsmentionedmore
intoaudience.oriented.Itisnecessarythattranslatorsalwaystakethetargetaudience
theirconsideration.Subtitlesshouldbehigmycommunicable.Inliterarytranslation,whenonecomesacrosswordsorexpressionsthatheisnotfamiliarwith,hecarlgobackandstudyitcarefullytofigureouttheexactmeaning.However,insubtitlesof"IVshows,itisnotthecase.Sometimesthereisnocultureoverlapbetweentwolanguagesorthediversityofthetwoculturesappearsinsurmountablethatitismissionimpossibleforsubtitlestranslators
shouldemploydomesticationtotoaccomplishthetask.Ifso,thetranslatorrendertheculturalinformation.Thenitisunnecessaryfortheaudiencetoputtoomuchprocessingefforttounderstandthe
InFriends,theaudienceisalsooftenimmersedintheforeignculturebyconstanthumors,culture—specificwords,swearwords,taboowordsandwordplay.Wearegoingtodiscussthetranslationofthemasfollows.
4.1TranslationofHumors
hlTVsitcom,humorisacrucialfactor,a
another.Naturally,thetranslation
onmotorthatpropelsofaudiencefromoneepisodetohumorplaysasignificantisaroleinspecificcreatingtheoveralleffect
genre.Thusthethetargetaudience.Sitcomasentertainmenttowarditasaudiencehascertainexpectations
orwellasthetranslation.Whenaviewerchoosestowatchit,hesheexpectstoseeaprogramwithfunny
situation,wherehumorissignedfortheviewerwithcannedlaughter.Theobjectiveof
functionoftranslatingTVcomediesistofulfillthehumor
amaximallyinthetargetlanguage.Onlywhenthetranslationfunctions
asawellasclosesthumorousaelementtocriteriontothetargetaudiencedoesitsucceedgoodtranslation.Thisisalso
ormeasurewhetherthetranslationiSeffectivenot.AsforthehumorsinFriends,
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
sometimesevensomenativeviewersfindithard
atofigureoutthemeaning.Inthiscase,itisundoubtedlygoodwaytostudytheculturalinformationbystudyingthe
translationofitshumors.
(1)Rachel:Hey,Ineed
Monica:Well,now’satotellyousomething.ongoodtime..I'mmywaytohavemyearscutoff..
(Episode9"01)
莫尼卡:有话快说!
ThedialoguehappenswhenMonicaisjustcomingbackfromthetalkshehadwithherdadaboutconceivingababy.Sheisallgrossedoutanddoesn’twanttohearanythingelse.SowhenRacheltellshersheneedstotellhersomething,itislike‘'Alright,hurryupandtellmebeforeIgoandcutmyearsoff.I'veheardenough.’’Withthe
thetalkbetweenMonicaandherfather,itisnotdifficulttoguessthemeaningofanddialogue.Theforeignizingtranslation“我正要去把耳朵切掉”isvividaccurate,thusachievesthesamefunctionoffun.
(2)Ross:NoI'm
careserious.Imeanshewantstodatepeople?Fine!Idon’tbut...atleastshecouldhavetoldme.YouknowI...I'vebeenputting
holdmylife
outonandjustconcentratingonEmmabutifshewantstogotherekissingguysshebarelyknows,then墨Q型i!!!!(Chandlersmiles.)Veryfunny!Rossisgay!Ah!Ah!.
(Episode9}13)
罗斯:我是认真的。我是说她想跟别人约会?好呀!我不在乎…但至少应该先告诉我。你知道的,我一直搁置我的生活而把所有的精力放在艾玛身上。但如果她想和根本不熟的男人在阳台上亲热,
Inthisdialogue,RossisverymadatRachelbecausehesawRachelkissingsomeguYinMonica’Sbalcony.HeisexpressinghisangertoChandler.AlthoughRachelis41
MAThesis
110longerRoss’Sgirlfriend,ashisbaby’SmotherhethinksRachelshouldhavethecourtesytotellhimifshewantstomoveon.Herethefunnylineisthatheblursout“SOwillr’,whichseemsthathewillalsokisssomerandomguytogetbackatRachel.Butfromthecontext,theaudienceissaletoknowhedoesn’tmeanthatthusinduces
effectthehumor.Thetranslatorhereadoptsfomignizationand
well.rendersthehumorous
(3)Chandler:Oh,because
actuallytodeath,that’Swelovekids.Love‘锄todeath.Well,notjustafigureofspeech---welovekidstheappropriateamount...asallowedbylaw.
(Episode10木07)
钱德勒:我们爱小孩,爱得要死。不是要孩子“死”,只是修辞手法。我们爱孩子,不多不少,符合法律法规。
HereChandlerisnervousaboutthehomestudybythesocialworkeroftheadoptioncenter.HetriestoshowwhatgoodparemsheandMonica
hewillbe,butheisalsoafraidthatwhathesaysmightbemisleading.So
makesitkeepstalking,whichonlywore.TheforeignizingtranslationisjustlikewhatChandler’Stoneandhisridiculousdictation.Togetherwithhisfacialexpressionandfunnygesture,thesubtitleissureaverycloseequivalentandthehumorous
aleeffectisalsoachieved.(4)Ross:…andwhiletherecertainlyvastdifferencesbetweenthese
MesozoicfossilsandexampleofHomoerectus...
(Rachellaughs)
Joey:—Erec—tus?
Rachel:—H——o—m——一o.
(Episode9木23—24)
罗斯:中生代的化石同直立猿人的标本之间有很多明显的不同…42
乔伊:直童?瑞秋:担匝。
Theaboveexamplerepresents
a
veryclassicalformof
humor--pun.The
humor
arisesfromthephoneticandformalresemblance
of‘‘electus'’and‘‘elect'’.And
same(asand
in
‘'homo”as
a
prefix
Call
refertobothhumanbeingsandthe
on
homosexual).
Rosshereisaboutit,and
giving
a
speechpaleontology,whileJoey
Rachelknownothing
sexual
associate‘'homo’’,‘‘electus’’with‘'homosexual’’and‘‘erect’’.The
overtoneissuppressedhereand
thetranslationmaypuzzlemostaudience.However,
a
theoriginalmeaningissomewhatlostbecausewhatJoeyandRachelfigureis
total
differentword.Wemightchange
it
into“勃起”,“同性恋”,thus
wetransferthe
originalmeaning.Still,theChineseaudiencewillfindithardtoconnectthemwiththe
precedentsentence.Maybe
we
call
addsomeexplanationbehind
it“勃起(音近直
立)’'’“同性恋(音近相同)”,however,even
thetargetaudiencegetthepoint,the
humorous
When
effectisnotthesameduetothedifferencesbetween
thetwolanguages.It
istrulydifficulttotranslate
the
sentence
well.Thehumoris
in
a
somewhatlost.
toconsider
subtitles
translatorstranslatehumors
sitcom,theyhave
the
targetaudience’S
understanding
capabilities.Tomaintaintheculturecolorof
humors,
may
f.0rei鲥zation
cause
withparaphraseispreferable.Ifthemethodis
notapplicableand
misunderstandingoftheaudience,thendomesticationshouldbeemployed.
a
However,itisalwayspitythatsometimes
humors
areimpossibletotranslate.
somewhatlost
TranslatorsCan
only
translatethemeaning
andthe
humoris
andeven
minimalequivalenceishardtoachieveatthispoint.
4.2
TranslationofCulture-?specific
TVseries
or
Words
receptorsof
script
other
sitcomis
one
kindofcultureexchangeto
countries
or
cultures.Therearevariances
on
between
oftwo
the
original
andtheculture's.script.
translated
subtitles
account
ofthedifferences
or
languagesandtwo
Thedifferences
willleadtosome
changelossofthemeaningofthe
original
However,aslongasthesubtitlesconveythe
43
attempt
andfunctionofthe
original
MAThesis
scriptonthewhole,itcanbesaidtobeasuccessfultranslation.Thatistosay,translatorsshouldtrytheirbesttofindamostnaturalandclosestcounterpartoftheoriginalscripttorealizethefunctionalequivalence.
‘
Althoughmoreandmoreconceptsaresharedandunderstoodbetweendifferentcultures,therealestillmanytermsandexpressionsthatreflectthemoralsandvaluesofaparticularcultureandthereisnotrueequivalentinthetargetlanguage.Todealwiththeseculturaltermssuccessfully,asubtitlestranslatorhastobenotonlybilingualbutalsobicultural.Translatorsarerequiredtohaveaverygoodcommandofbothlanguagesaswellasthecultures.Theyhavetounderstandtheoriginalscriptwellenoughthattheycouldthoroughlyrenderthemeaningandconveythespiritoftheoriginal.Meanwhile,theyshouldalsotaketheculture,customsandhabitsofthetargetaudienceintoconsiderationandadoptrespectivestrategiestotranslatethoselines.
TheclassicalsitcomFriendsisheavilyloadedwithculturespecifictermsandtheyareallofgreatimportanceinunderstandingtheshow.
(5)Ross:Unbelievable,myclassmatesaregonnathinkI'mdead,myprofessor,my…myparentsaregoonagetphonecalls.You’remessingwimpeople’Sfeelinghere.
Chandler:Youwannatalkaboutpeople’Sfeeling?YoushouldhaveheardhowhurtprofessorStemwasyesterdaywhenItoldhim1wouldn’tbeabletogowithhimtoKeyWest!
(episode9?17)
A:钱德勒:还跟我谈感受?你该去听听昨天斯特恩教授有多伤心,只因为我拒绝陪他去::酉礁::(回丝变云堂2。
B:钱德勒:你要谈大家的情感是吗?你应该要知道当我告诉斯特思教授不能跟他一起去度假时,他直垒鬓笾!
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalenceHerethetworenditions
translationsarewellshowthetranslators’translationmethod.Bothacceptable.VersionAtranslatestheplace“西礁”withsomeadditionalparaphraseinthebracket,whichisforeignizationandconveystheoriginalculturalcolor.ItshowsthegaycultureinAmerica.VersionBisdomesticationwherethetranslatoromitsthenameofthevacationplace.Of
thecourseitwon’tobstructtheaudience’Sunderstandingofsubtitle.However,theculturalinformationis
exactmeaningofKeysomewhatlostandtheaudiencedoesn’tknowthe
maywonder.WecallWestandsaytheaudiencecanunderstandbothtranslationsandbothtranslationsachievefunctionalequivalenceofthetargetaudience.
(6)Rachel:That’S
Gavin:I'mnotaright.You’reverycheekyforatemp.temp.IWastransferredherefromanotherdepartment.Rachel:Ohyeall,whatdepartmentWasthat7.Thejerkdepartment7.Gavin:Oh,theydidn’ttellmeaboutyourquickwit.
Rachel:Didtheymentionthat.I'mrubberandyou'reglue?
(episode9掌11)
瑞秋:好了,你不过是个不要脸的临时工。
盖文:我不是临时工。我从其他部门调来的。
瑞秋:什Agf-J?逭帐部[]堕!
盖文:他们没告诉我你有如此急智。
瑞秋:他们没有说,瑟燕扛堡倒委堕?
It’S
isveryagoodexampleofcombinationofforeignizationanddomestication.RachelangryaboutthisGavinguytakingherjobwhilesheishavinghermaternityleave.Sheactsaggressivelyhere.Sotheliteraltranslation“混帐部门”for‘'jerk
sentence“I'mrubberdepartment'’unveilsheranger
glue”isactuallyawell.Asforthelastandyou’resentenceusedwhenkidsare丘曲ting,whichmeans
youtoo.Theifyoudosomethingbadtoanother,allthebadthingscomebackatdomestication45
MAT11esis
ismuchbetterthantheliteral
Callone“我是橡皮擦,你是胶水.”Andthetargetaudiencegetabetterpictureandsmile.
didyougetthem?(7)Rachel:Oh,oh!Wow,Ilovethose!When
Phoebe:IboughtthemoffEbay!Theyusedtobelongtothe...1..a..t..e.....S...h....a..n...i.—a.Rachel:Phoebe,ShaniaTwainiSstillalive!
Phoebe:Oh...thenIoverpaid.
(episode9"21)
瑞秋:哇!我喜欢这双鞋!你去哪买的?
菲比:我从拍卖网站上买的,这本来属于垦过世鳆题王的。瑞秋:菲比,顺子还活着。
菲比:喔,那我被坑了。
Inanotherversionofthedialogue,thetranslatorjusttransliteratesthenameoftheperson.Thetargetaudiencemaygetconfusedwhatthepemonis.Herethe
r
translatorobviouslyadoptsdomesticationwhichisclosetotheaudience’Sculture.It’Struethatthetranslationhelpstheaudienceunderstandthatthispersonhereislikethemiddle—agedsinger顺子fromTaiwanthattheyoungChinese
aalefamiliarwithandshe’Sstillalive.Inthiskindofsituation,domesticationis
someaudiencemaywonderhowPhoebebetterchoice.It’SjustgetstoknowtheChinesepopsingerHowever,it’Salmostimpossibletomatchthekindofculturallosshere.
(8)Mike:ThatisSOwrongandontopofthathe’Sa.gluesniffer..…Mike:Andyoudon’thavetoworryabout.gluesniffingwithme.AlthoughIdosmelltheoccasionalmagicmarker,yeah,ahanyway,Ijustthink,ICanmakeyouhappy.
(episode9,04)46
A:麦克:这实在太糟了,而且他还
……你不必担心我会吸强力胶,虽然有时我会
B:麦克:那也太离谱了,而且他还是个
……你至少不用担心我会吸毒,虽然我偶尔
When
peoplewatchthispart,the
a
audience
who
sees
versionAmaygetconfused
andthinksit’S
terribleliteraltranslation.Soisthewriterofthethesiswhilefirst
a
studyingthesubtitle.However,whenthewriterconsultsitwithrealizesthatVersionAisnot
a
NewYorker,she
completeincorrecttranslationAs
a
matteroffact,most
peopleinChinadon’thavethesameculturalbackground.InAmerica,somepeople
Call’taffordtobuy
drugs
or
or
don’t
wantto
use
drugs,insteadtheysniffstuffwith
VersionA
a
strongsmelllikeglue
magicmarkertoget
hi曲.Ifwechange
littlebit:
“而且他还通过吸强力胶来变兴奋’’,then
original
itisdomesticationwithlittlelossofme
not
message.But
Chinese
audiencesare
familiarwiththecultural
phenomenonand
mayfeel
to
strange.Theunderstand
completedomesticationofversionBismuch
easierfortheaudience
English
thecontext.Peoplewithsomeknowledgeof
may
tmlll【glueandmarkerherearemetaphors
representingsome
kindof
drugs.VersionBisthereforemore
acceptableand
functionallyequivalent.
(9)Rachel:ICan’t
watch.It’Slike
firing—Elm—o.
(episode9搴06)
A:瑞秋:我没办法看,这就像开除墨麈一样。B:瑞秋:我看不下去,态毯圣工。
Here
is
a
typical
example
withtwo
translationmethods.Version
may
Ais
foreignizationwhileversionBisdomestication.TheaudienceunderstandversionAbecausemost
Chinese
findithardto
audienceare
a
not
familiar
withthe
AmericanhouseholdcartooncharacterElmo
versionBdoesn’thavetheculturalcolor
whois
verycutelittlepuppet.However,
and
lossthecomparison
between
firingthe
malenannySandyandfuSngtheintothe
cutelittle
puppet.We
couldeither
change“爱摩”
cuteChinesehouseholdcartoon
character“蓝猫”,oraddsomeexplanatory
47
MAlrhesis
wordsas“小可爱爱摩”.In
asthisway,thelossofculturalinformational'ecanbetheaminimalamount.Asfarthetargetaudienceconcerned,VersionBisofcourse
abetterchoiceforthemtOunderstandtheshowandis
achieved.similarequivalencecallbe
(1O)Amy:Itookyouradvice.IleftMyron.Rachel:Oh,goodforyou!
Rachel:Yes,youare!Iamsoproudofyou!Amy:Thankyou!So,CarlIstaywithyou?Rachel:—Bu—tEri—n—B——rockovichhadherownhouse.
(episode10幸05)
A:艾米:我听了你的建议,离开了迈伦。
瑞秋:太好了。
艾米:恩,堡厶当自强。
B:艾米:我听了你的话,我跟迈伦分手了。
瑞秋:太好了。
Herethetwo
translatethesubtitlesarebothacceptable.Bothtranslatorsdon’tliteratelyname.Therealewoman’sstillsubtledifferencesbetweenthetwo
guesssubtitles.FromthedomesticatingtranslationVerSion八thetargetaudienceCall
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
AmythinksherselfbeingstrongandtoughbytheChinesetranslation“伊人当自强”.However,fromVersionB,thetargetaudiencemayeithergetthisimpressionorthatAmyhasgotadramaticlifelikeallactressinamovie.Inthisway,VersionAisclosertotheoriginalmeaningwithlittlelossofculturalinformation.ActuallyErinBrockovichis
veryanAmericanmoviethattheprotagonisthasthesamename.Sheisastrong,independentand
atoughsinglemotherwhosuccessfullywonthecaseagainstbigfactoryaboutpollutionaftermuchhardwork.Even
aleifweliterallywithittranslatethenameofthewoman,theChineseaudiencenotfamiliarand
mayfeelstrange.Sowemayadoptthedomesticationandtheadditionstrategytomakeitclear:我是自强的电影女主角.Thentheculturalinformationisbetterpreserved.
(11)Chandler:Wow!Aren’t
Phoebe:Idon’tyougonnabecold?care.一I'lbemyselfblue.
(episode10木12)
A:钱德勒:哇!你不会冷吗?
B:钱德勒:哇,你不觉得冷吗?
WhentheaudiencecomeacrossVersion八theywillfeel
OllpuzzlediftheyalenotfamiliarwiththeAmericanweddingculture.Usuallytheweddingdaythebride
wears“somethingold,somethingnew,somethingborrowedandsomethingblue”.“Somethingblue”representspurity,loyaltyandlove.Phoebedoesn’twantfancywedding
gettingmarriedabigandandthesuddenonheavysnowhelpsherrealizeherdream.Andjustwearssheisatheopenstreet.Inthefreezingweather,shethinwedding
thecoldgownsoactuallywhatshemeansisthatherskinwillturnbluebecauseofanditcanjustbesomethingblue.TheliteraltranslationofVersionAsoundsawkward.However,eveniftheaudiencedon’thavetheculturalbackground,theyCan49
MAllhesis
understandVersionBaccordingtothesituation.TheblueisdomesticatedastheChineseequivalent“冷得发紫”becausethereisnosuchexpressionof“冷得发蓝”.Theadditionof“成为新娘的蓝色吉祥物”canfillupthegapofculturelossof“somethingblue'’.Additionistheexplanationrequiredbythecultural—specificreferenceoflanguage.HereVersionBconveystheoriginalmeaningwellandtheaudiencecanfullyunderstandthesentencewimthehelpofmultimediainformation.
Fromtheaboveexamples,weCallknowthatwhencultural—specificwordisdiscussedinsubtitlestranslation,thegeneralruleisthatwe’dbetterkeepthecultureflavoraSmuchaspossibleandofferthetargetaudienceaclearandclosetranslation.Theuseofforeignizationwithsomeadditionalexplanationtoremaintheculturalflavorofthemessagecallbeadopted.However,ifforeignizationinterruptstheunderstandingofthetargetaudiencetothesitcom,translatorsthenhavetomakeadjustments.Intranslatingaculture—loadedtermwhichishardtobeunderstoodbythetargetaudience,additionanddomesticationisbetterused.Inthisway,thetargetaudiencemayhaveasimilarresponseandagoodunderstandingoftheshow,andthusfunctionalequivalenceCanbeachieved.
4.3TranslationofSwearwordsandTabooWords
SwearwordsaredefinedbytheOxfordAdvancedLearner'sDictionaryofCurrentEnglishwithChineseTranslation(1988:1169)asobscenewordsusedtoinsult,orforemphasis.Taboowordsal'edefinedasthosewhichconventionavoidsorprohibit.(1988:1176)Swearwordsandtaboowordsareusuallyregardedasrudeandimpolite.However,inreallifeitisverycommonespeciallyinmoviesand"IVshowstoshowpeople’Sdifferentfeelingsandemotions.Theyhavealwaysposedaproblemfortranslation.Sometimesitisjusthardtoshowthespecificemotioninthesituation.Butitisinevitabletotranslatecertainswearwordsortaboowordswhiletranslatingsubtitles.ItiStrue廿1atinAmericanmoviesorTVshows。therearealotofsuchwords.SoiSthecaseinFriends.Asamatteroffact,thesewordspreventtheCCTVfromdubbingFriendsintoChinese.Theproperwaytotranslatethesewordsisquiteimportant.
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
Therefore,itisofsomesignificancetostudysometypicalexamples.
To
some
extent,swearwords
andtaboowords
are
thedirect
products
of
unconcealedemotion.Englishperson.Andmostswearwords
swearwordsare
oftendirectlypointedto
as
thecursed
tohell,etc.
are
relatedwiththereligion
or
goddamnit,go
Thetranslationofsuchswearwordseffectwhichtheshowaudience’Smind.
dirtywordsiscloselyrelatedwiththecontextual
intends
to
makeandthedegreeofequivalenceproducedinthe
Figure4.1
Swearwords
swearwords
andvulgarwords(fromSeason9)
Translated
Translation
methods
and
words
vulgarFrequen-cy82
Source
language
subtitles
God(Gees,gosh)
Damnit(damn)
Oh,myGodlHedidit?天啊,他做Domestication了?
139
Danlnit!
Onereallydoeshavetostick
up
one’S
ass,
妈的。需要这样唧唧歪歪的吗?
请看我的屁股吧!
Domestication
Ass(jackass)
doesn’tone?
PleaselookatmyasS.
Domestication
BitchBastard
53
Sonofabitch!狗娘养的!
over
Domestication
That
me!
bastardtaped那混蛋录了别人在我带子上。
Domestication
Holy
2
Holymoly,areWeinpicklenow.
a
老天,这下我们可惨
了!
Domestication
Crap
3
Man,thosehorses
crap.
can
那些马还真
会便便!
Foreignization
MAT1lesis
Suck.3Breakingupsucks.Oh,
Ireallymiss去他妈的分手!我很想DomesticationMike.
麦克!
PooplYouknow,kindalike
Santa,except
doesn’tpoopSantaon有点像圣诞老人,不过圣诞老人不
会在饼盘里
大号。Domesticationtheplateofcookies.
Pee3Naaa…Hestillkills没有,他还
mee.Lastnighthehad
melaughing.SOhard.I
swear...a
.c...a...m......e....o....u...t...littleDee是让我蕉堕太篡。我发誓,昨晚他Domestication让我笑到真
的有点尿跑Foreignization
出塞!
FriendstellsstoriesofsixfriendsandtheirlifeinNewY.0rkCity,SOⅡleirlanguageisclosetothelifeofAmericaninreality.Aswecallseefromtheaboveexampleswhicharepickedupfromtheninth
aseasonoftheshow,swearwordshavebecomemostlypartoftheirexpressionsinlife.The
one’Smajorityoftheswearwordsnofunctionforemphasizingopinionandasexclamation.InFriends,there’S
‘‘fuck'’or‘‘shit'’wordappearingintheirtalking.Instead,suchwordslike‘‘crap’’,‘'poop’’,‘'damn'’andthelikeareusedmorefi-equently.Themostfrequentlyusedwordsare“god’''whichshowsthedeeprootedChristianbeliefintheUnitedStates.SincethecultureexchangesofChina
inmostcasesweandAmericahavebecomemoreandmoreopen,canfindasimilarequivalentinChinesetoshowthesameemotion.Fromtheexamplesinthefigureabove,itmaybeclearthatpeopleusuallytakethoseswearwordsforfunorexclamation,withnocursingimplicationata11.Andbecause52
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
suchswearwordshavebecomecommonexpressionsinlife,theycarrynospecialcontextualeffectsinmostcases.ItissuitabletomainlyadoptdomesticationasitiseasytofindasimilarwordorsentencewhichfunctionthesameinChinese.
Besidesswearwords,therearealsoeroticdescriptionsinFriends.Weallknowthatwesternersaremoreopen—mindedaboutSeX.Sotheymaytalkaboutsexcandidly,orevendescribeitindetailwithoutablush.111eyfeelcomfortabletalkingaboutit.
Figure4.2Sexrelatedandtaboowords(fromSeason9)
SexrelatedFrequenSourcelanguageTranslatedTranslationandtabooeysubtitlesmethodswords
Beforetoday,Inever在今天之前我
Havesex20thoughtofyoutwo从未想过你们Foreignization
havingsexata11.会做爱。
Orgasm1Butpleasureis但是快感是很
important,andit重要的,而且如
helpsifthewoman果女人有高潮Foreignizationhasallorgasm.是会很有帮助
的。
Makelove1wantyou.Ineed我想要你,我需Foreignization
you.Letmemake要你,让我跟你
lovetoyou.做爱。
Screw3Screwyou,the去你们的,票是Domestication
ticketsareours.我们的!
Well,Ican’tsay我总不能在一
‘'hump’’or‘‘screw’’in个娃娃面前说
frontoftheB.A.B.Y做爱或上床吧。
Havealloff1Maybeyouwere也许当时正是Domesticationnight.havinganoffnight.你不灵的一晚。53
MAThesis
Turnon3
Reallysexy,couldIbemoreturneAon?
真性感,我还能比现在更兴奋吗?
Domestication
Penis(wiener,jollies,willi,dangleO
7Notifhe
gets
his
不代表他对鲨鱼感‘‘性’’趣!当那玩意的模
Domestication
jolliestojaws.
Apenismodel.
特!
祝你们玩得愉快!
Domestication
Hump
2
Happyhumping!
Erection
1
I
just
lost
my
我没性趣了。
Foreignization
erection!
Sleep、加tll。
3
He
sleptwith
never
youandcalled
他和你上床,之后再也没打过你电话。
Domestication
thenyou.
Make
ababy.
2
ShouldWegomakebabybefore
rightyou
a
该不该在你改变主意之前赶快去造人?
Foreignization
nOWchange
yourmind?
Sperm
3
Apparentlyyouonlyget
很明显地,他们只有在采精子
样本时才给你看色情书刊。
Foreignization
pore
a
if
you’re
sperm
givingsample.
Vagina
l
Well
pushed
unless
a
you
除非你把桌子
从私处挤出去,否则那可是不同的事。
Domestication
deskoutof
yourvagina,notthe
samething,
examples
The
presentedaboveallinvolve
sexor
wordsindicating
to
men
or
women’sprivateparts.‘'Penis’’,‘‘dangler'’,‘'boob’’,‘'vagina'’refer
men’s
or
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFriendsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence
women’Sgenitalo玛ansorbodypartsrespectively.‘'Turnon'’,‘'makeababy'’,‘'orgasm’’,‘‘screw’’,‘'hump’’,‘‘erection'’areallwordsabouthavingtranslationsheredependonSeX.Thethesituation,ifitissuitableandnecessary,wordslike‘'makeababy'’canbeforeignizationas“造人”astheyarequiteacceptableforChinesenow.However,mostChineseviewersaremoreconservativethanwesterners.
easeMaybe
manynowadaysChinesetendtobemoreopenbutstillmeyarenotattoseesex-relatedwordsinthewrittenformsespeciallythosewordsrelatedtothesex
Thesex?related
segnlwordsandexpressionsmaysoundrudeandnastyinoralspeeches.Theymorevulgar,offensiveandunacceptablewhenshowninthe
wordsseemmorewrittenformthanthe
concreteand
tonespokenform.Chapmenoralstatedthatwrittenhardtodenythanutterances.(2004:137)Insomecases,translatorstodownorsometimesomitthesewordsmakethetranslationeuphemistical.Fromtheaboveexamples,wordsas‘'hump’’,‘‘erection’''‘'penis’''‘'jollies’’areunderstatementsas“玩”,“性趣”,“那玩意”“感性趣”and
Actually,domesticationwith
forChineseandtheyaredomesticated.properunderstatementinoursomecallsexrelatedwordsseemsaccordswithcustom.Weseefromtheabovestatisticfigure
sexthatthereismoredomesticationthanforeignizationasrelatedwordsareusedin
Friends.Asthefunctionalequivalentistoputthe
insubtitlesreceptor’Sresponseinthefirstplace,translation,translatorshavetopresumethetargetaudience’Sresponseto
SOsuchwords.Ifforeignizationisnotoffensiveandvulgar,theyCanadoptthis
notmethod.IfthetranslatorthinkthetranslationoffensiveandtheaudienceCan
acceptforeignizationandmayfindthetranslationawkwardandimproper,heorshe
useshouldtonedown
tothewordsandfindsomeothersimilarthetargetunderstatementordomesticationmakeaudiencefeeleasytounderstandtheshowandnotat
thesametimefeeloffended.Theaimandfunctionofthesubtitlesistoarousethesimilarresponseintheaudience’Smindandbetter
we’vcunderstandtheshowpromptly.AsmentionedbeforethatmostaudiencesofFriendsrangefromteenagersto40something,they’requiteopen—mindedandeducated,SOit’Spossiblethattheycallacceptsomeforeignizationtogetclosertothe
55AmericancultureandwhatAmerican’S
MAThesis
dailylanguageis
like.When
itmay
arouse
offensiveand
negative
reSponse,
domesticationiSthemainmethod.
4.4
TranslationofWordplay
Itisalwayswithgreatdifficultyfor
translators
todeal
withwordplay
or
punfor
thefundamentalofthetwoneedtobecreativeandfind
languages
a
isdifferentinforms.Sosubtitlestranslators
thesimilar
closewordinthetargetlanguage
toevoke
imageandresponseinthetargetaudience.
(12)Monica:I
supposethat
Chandlerwill
have—thesmok—ed
duck.
Chandler:IsupposethatMonicawillhave,the...manipulated
shrew..
(episode9掌05)
莫尼卡:我想钱德勒应该想要点“钱德勒:而我想莫尼卡想点
Thecreative
translation
successfullyrevealsboⅡ1Monica
ismadat
and
Chandler’S
anger
andtheirblametoeach
other.Monica
Chandler’Ssmoking
Chandler
againbutshe
sex
wantsto
have
a
baby
SO
shehidesherfeelingsandtalksintohaving
with
her.Afterthatshestartstoscold
Chandler
and
Chandler
feelsusedandgetsallupset.
Sowhentheygettothe
restaurantand
orderthedish,theysmartlyexpresstheiranger
expressive.Here
toeachother.TheChinesetranslationof“烟”and“诈”iswittyand
dishesisveryvivid
thedomesticationofthe
two
andadequate
SO
theChinesetarget
audiencereceivethewholemessage
andfunctional
equivalenceisthusgained.
(13)Chandler:What’S
withthe
word巡You
know,just…twothat,beCanseif
words,
just...pushedtogether…Are
whystop
weallallowedtodo
SO,Isay
there?You
know,yournewpoodlecouldbefli——c—ke—n.
you
noodle.And
—frie—dchick—en—?Couldbe
(episode9宰06)
56
钱德勒:‘4箜垒’到底是什么字呢?只不过是“你们”跟“全部”加
在一起。我们可以那样做吗?因为如果可以,还有很多字可以这样玩。你的“新狮子狗”可以变成你的‘理蕴塑J巫’’,“油炸鸡块”可以变成‘乙lj三迭”。ThisdialogueisatypicalChandler’Sstyle,heistheonewholikestomakefunwiththewordandmakeupsomenewphrases.ItshowsexactlywhatChandlerisdoinganditiswithnodifficultyfortheaudiencetogetthepointofthewordplayTheforeignizationof‘'noodle”and“fi-icken”into“新狮”and“炸块”helpsthe
audience.audienceachievethesimilarresponsecomparedtothatofthenative
(14)Mike:Youreadytogo?
Monica:Don’tyoumean旦xoomy?
(episode9宰16)
麦克:准备走了吗?
菲比:当然了,室友!
莫尼卡:你是说…堑皇暄hE?
Hereintheoriginalscript,thewordplayliesintherhymeofbothwords‘'roomy'’and“groomy'’.Monica
mayleadthem
usesaysgroomytoindicatePhoebeandMike’Smovingtogethertotheredcarpet.Asforthenativeaudience,theyfeelfunnyabouttheofwordplayinEnglish.ThetargetaudienceCanhearthesimilarsoundinthetwo
aswords,butitisimpossibleforChinesewordworkinthesame
counterpartdoes.ThentheChinesetranslation
theforeignizationcanwayitsEnglishCannothavethesamefunction.Heretranslateandonlytellsthemeaning,therhymepartishardtothiskindoflossissomewhatinevitable.
(15)Chandler:No,no!Ijustlovethewayyoulook…Iamwarmfor—your
(episode9宰16)
57
MA111esis
钱德勒:不,我只是喜欢你现在的样子,
Aswediscussedintheformerexample,hereisanothertranslatetheofthe
case
thatwe
Callnot
rhyme.Wecall
onlyadoptdomesticationtorenderthemeaninginstead
Call
form.Thus,theminimumfunctionalequivalence
stillbe
achieved.
However,the
rhymepartis
lost.Ifthesubtitlestranslatoriscreativeenough,wemay
~
trytorenderitthisway:你的身材实在精彩。Here
a
in
Chinese,材and彩has
targetaudiencethen
the
carl
samerhymeanditisgoodrhetoricChinese
sentence.Theenjoy
fullyunderstandtheshowverygoodtranslation
andatthesametime
thegoodtranslation.Thisis
a
andfunctional
equivalenceiswellachieved.
toassociate
Sometimesthetargetaudience’slanguagecompetenceisn’tperfect
wordplay.Wordplay
thewittywords
subtitles
are
isalwaystoplaywiththeformandsoundoftheword.Someof
not
smoothifliterallytranslated.Whenwearedealingwith
translation
inwordplay,mostlythemethodofdomesticationis
a
adopted.
ImaginationandcreativityisHowever,sometimeswe
Call
necessityof
a
translatorintranslatingwordplay.
thewitislosttosome
oreven
only
translate
the
meaning,and
extent.WeCan
onlyachievetheminimalfunctional
equivalence
a
sometimes
failtodoSO.TodealwitIl
wordplay,translators
aresometimesindilemma.
ThetargetaudienceofFriendsinChinausuallyhasbomgoodEnglish
command
of
and
Chinese.Forthisreason,whattheyaremoredesperateforistheoriginal
styleoftheshow,which
meansthatretainingtheculturalflavoriswhatmeydemand.
Withregard
tothe
translation
a
ofculture
information
inFriends,in
some
cases
foreignizationis
consideredas
feasiblemethod.Ifforeignizationisused,notonly
show
call
theoriginalflavoroftheoriginal
bebeRer
retained,butalsothetarget
since
audienceCanunderstandandacceptthem.ComprehensibilityCanbeguaranteed
thetargetaudiencemay
understandthetranslationwellwiththeir
language
abilityand
reliance
on
thecontextinthemultimediaculture,ithas
environment.Howeverforthetextwithless
recognized
been
seen
that
instead
oftranslatingthoselinesliterally,the
translatoradoptsdomesticationtoavoidtoomuchconfusionand
alienation.Tobetter
tohelpthe
achievethefunctionalequivalence,wecansaythatifforeignizationfails
target
audience
understandthe
subtitledshow
58
andretainthe
original
semantic
meaningandstyle,andthendomesticationmaybebetterusedconflictsSOastoavoidculturalandcomprehensibledifficulties.Tosumup,whatevermethodisadopted,the
atranslator’Smainpurposeistomaketheaudiencehavethroughunderstandingofthe
messageandaboveall,toachievefunctionalequivalence.59
OnSubtitlesTranslationoftheSitcomFrien出fromthePerspectiveofFunctionaIEauivalenee
Conclusion
TVprogramsaleanindispensablepartofmodempeople’Sdailylife.Asakindofmassmedia,Tvsitcomsfunction弱atransmitterofcultureandinformationtothemassessinceitsfirstappearance.InsubtitlestranslationofaTVsitcom,translatorshavetoconveytheoriginalcontentsandmakethetargetaudiencerealizetheessenceoftheoriginalshow.Itdependsontheproperreproductionoftheoriginallinesintheshow.
Thethesisadoptsthetheoryoffunctionalequivalence嬲thetheoreticalbasisinsubtitlestranslationof"IVshows.DuetothespecialfeaturesofTVshowsanddifferencesinlanguagesandcultures,sometimestheformoflanguagemustbesacrificedinordertoconveytheactualmeaningoftheoriginalTVshow嬲muchaspossible.Itisanidealsituationtoreproduceacompletelyequivalenttranslationoftheon#hal,butagoodandsuccessfultranslationwhichfunctionssimilarlywiththeoriginalshowandstirsanalmostequivalentresponseofthetargetreceptorsispossible.
Becauseofthetimeandspaceconstraints,averypracticalwayofsubtitlestranslationisreduction.Itisseenthatbycondensation,reductiveparaphraseanddeletion,reductioniswellapplicableinsubtitlestranslation.Thereductionfreestheaudiencefromtoomuchreadingandprocessingwork.However,ifthemessagechannelismorethanwhatthereceptorCanreceive,additionisanecessaryandimportantstrategyfortheaudiencetogainenoughmessagetoachievethefunctionalequivalence.
Functionalequivalencepaysmoreattentiontoreceptors’responseindifferentculturesratherthanlanguageforms.Thegoalofitistomakethetargetaudience’Sresponsetothetargettextbeessentiallythesamecomparedtotheoriginalaudience’Sresponsetotheoriginaltext.AfterthediscussionofspecificsubtitlestranslationofcultureinformationinFriends,wecanconcludethatifthemeaningandformCancoexist,thenthebestwaytorenderthesubtitlesisforeignizationSO嬲toretainthe
MAlrhesis
originalcultureflavor.However,ifforeignization
causes
confusionandpuzzlement,
domesticationisbetterusedtoachievefunctionalequivalence.Subtitlesshouldnotbeobstructivetotheunderstandingofthetargetaudience.Instead,ifthetargetdon’tpaytoomuchattentionand
audience
a
even
sometimesignorethesubtitles,itis
good
translation.We
shouldfirstbearinmindtoreproducetheoriginalmeaningand
notrenderitliterally,wehaveto
a
messageofthescript,ifwecanmakeadjustments
andCan
translateitintobe
anaudience-acceptableversion.In
word,functionalequivalence
used
asa
theoreticalguidanceinthepracticeofsubtitlestransition.Everyshouldmakeeffortstogettheclosestnatural
subtitles
translator
equivalent.
source
Asfunctional
equivalencetheory
is
on
thebasisofreaders’responsefrom
on
andtargetcultures,alotoftheoristshaveputforwardquestionsofthetwokindsof
thecomparability
source
responses(targetreceptors’responseanddifficult
todistinguishthe
receptors’
regard
to
response)because
itis
tworesponses.With
subtitlestranslmion,itisofmorewatching
difficulty
to
makethecomparison.Asthefashionof
call
American
showsis
on
therise,Chineseaudience
almostwatchthem
simultaneouslythroughthe
intemet.Therefore,translators
havelittletimeandfew
channelstoknoworiginal
Infact,there
a
are
receptors’response.
manyfactorsaffectreceptors’appreciationandunderstandingof
TVshow,whichincludestheplot,pictures,soundeffects,actingskills
andcostumes.
Allthesewillinevitablyimposesubtitles
different
responsetothe
sameshow.Asfaras
translationofsitcomis
concerned,there
aremorefactors
influencing
the
audience’S
responsethantraditionalwrittenones.Becauseofthepeculiarityof
audiovisualshows,itisfor
sure
thatreceptors’responsevariesgreatlyThereforewe
mayaskwhichresponseshouldbe
chosen
a
to
make
thecomparison.Sometimes,itis
almostdifficult
receptors
or
impossible
to
make
comparisonofthewayinwhichtheoriginal
understoodandappreciated
showunderstandthe
a
theshowandthewayinwhichreceptorsofthe
subtitledsubtitled
show.Therefore,it
isnoteasy
or
always
applicabletoproduce
functional
equivalencewhiletranslatingsubtitles.
Allinall,ifitishardtocomparetheresponsesof
two
groupsofreceptors,it
is
thetranslator’Sjobtomastertheaudiences’customandcultureandwhatthesocial
62
impactcanbeontheaudience.AnditisessentialforthemtounderstandandpredictthepossibleemotionsandresponsesofthetargetaudienceSOastogetacloseandnaturalrenditionoftheshow.Thatistosay,translatorsplayaveryimportantroleinmakinggoodsubtitlestranslationandhelptheaudienceachievefunctionalequivalence.
Therefore,Nida’Sfunctional—equivalencetheorycanprovideadifferentsightinthepracticeofsubtitlestranslation.However,itdoesnotmeanthatfunctionalequivalenceisomnipotentinsubtitlestranslation.Insomecases,thelossbetweenthetwolanguagesandculturesisjustinevitable.Besidestheeffortsoftranslators,itisalsoofgreatimportancefortheaudiencetoendeavortogetasmuchinformation鹤possiblefromothermultimediachannelsof"IVsuch勰intonation,music,gesturesandacting.
Forfuturestudies,westillneedgreateffortsinfurtheranddeeperresearchtoestablishmatureandsystematictheoriesonsubtitlestranslation.Thisthesistentativelyanalysesthefunctional—equivalencetheoryinthestrategiesandmethodsemployedinthesubtitlestranslationofFriends.Itiscertainthatothertranslationtheoriesareapplicableandworthexploring.Ontheotherhand,舔thisresearchisrestrictedtoonlytwoseasonsofFriends,itsgeneralizationisfarfrombeingadequate.Iftimeandspacepermitted,moreseasonsaretobestudied.AndsomesubtitleSmistakescouldbediscussed.Moreworkconcerningthisfield,especiallyempiricalstudiesforthesubtitlestranslationcouldbedone.What’Smore,somethoughtsarejustthewriter’Sownideas,SOanyfurtherdiscussioniswelcome.AssubtitledTVshowsalsoplayamajorroleinstrengtheninglanguagecompetence,itishopedthatmoreexchangeswillbemadeamongpeoplefromdifferentdisciplinesofstudy.Itisalsohopedthatmoreattentioncallbepaidtosubtitlestranslationinthefuture.
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Acknowledgements
1wouldliketotakethisopportunitytoexpressmygratitudetoa11whohaveofferedmehelpandencouragementduringmypreparationandwritingprocessofthethesis.
IamgratefultomysupervisorProfessorHuangZhendingforhisinvaluableinstruction,preciousadvice,consistentencouragementandcarefulrevisionofthisthesis.
1wouldliketothankallmyclassmatesfortheirhelpwiththematerialwhichI
myspecialthankstomygoodfriendMabelforherinformationandhelp.Finally,myveryspecialthanksgotomybelovedfamily.Theirencouragernentandlovearewhatkeepmegoingforward.71need.And
从功能对等看情景喜剧《老友记》的字幕翻译作者:
学位授予单位:潘琛湖南师范大学
本文链接:http://d..cn/Thesis_Y1309780.aspx
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