英语电影字幕翻译中的文化因素及翻译策略.docx

英语电影字幕翻译中的文化因素及翻译策略.docx

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英语电影字幕翻译中的文化因素及翻译策略

CulturalElementsinEnglishFilmSubtitlingandTranslationStrategies

英语电影字幕翻译中的文化因素及翻译策略

Abstract

Withtherapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,cross-culturalcommunicationhasbecomeincreasinglyprevalent.Agrowingnumberofpeopleareeagertoacquireknowledgeaboutforeigncountries,becauseofthedifferencesinlanguagesandcultures,translationhasbecomeindispensableintheprocessofcultureexchange.SinceChina’sentryintotheWTO,lotsofforeignfilmshavepouredintoourcountryandbecameincreasinglyprosperousinChina.However,thisprosperityisinsharpcontrastwiththecurrentsituationofthetranslationoffilms.

SothispaperwillpresentthestudyofEnglishfilmsubtitletranslation.ThefocusofthepaperistodiscusshowtodealwithculturalelementsinEnglishfilmdialogueswhiletranslating.Throughstudyingtheguidingprinciplesandstrategiesforfilmsubtitletranslation,wecanhaveadeeperunderstandingofforeigncultureanditslanguages.

Keywords:

Englishfilmsubtitletranslation;culturalelements;functionalequivalence

Contents

Abstract

摘要

I.Introduction1

II.LiteratureReview1

A.PreviousStudiesonFilmSubtitleTranslation2

1.DevelopmentofForeignFilmsinChina2

2.FilmSubtitleTranslationStudiesBothatHomeandAbroad2

B.SummaryofPastStudiesonFilmSubtitleTranslation3

III.CulturalElementsinSubtitleTranslation3

A.TheNotionofCulture4

B.CulturalElementsinFilmSubtitleTranslation4

1.WordSetsandCulturalConnotations5

2.Cultural-SpecificWords5

3.CulturalImagesfromLiteraryWorksandDailyLife6

IV.StrategiesforTranslatingCulturalElementsinFilmSubtitleTranslation7

A.ProblemsinFilmSubtitleTranslation8

1.ProblemsConcerningTranslators8

2.ProblemsConcerningCulturallyLoadedWordsandExpressions8

3.ProblemsConcerningFilmPicturesandSubtitles9

B.PrinciplesforFilmSubtitleTranslation10

1.PrincipleofAccuracy10

2.PrincipleofConciseness10

3.PrincipleofAchievingEquivalence11

C.StrategiesforTranslatingCulturalElementsinFilmSubtitleTranslation12

1.Transliteration12

2.LiteralTranslation12

3.Paraphrasing13

4.Replacement13

V.Conclusion14

WorksCited16

.Introduction

Withtherapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnologyandtheadventofinformationage,cross-culturalcommunicationsbecomeincreasinglyimportant.Film,asakindofpopularentertainment,isa“reflector”ofthecultureofitssociety.Importedfilmsnotonlyentertainviewers,butalsoeducatethemandbroadentheiroutlookonlifebyshowingthemexoticcultures.Watchingforeignfilmsisafastandeasywaytogetknowledgeaboutforeignlanguagesandcultures.Filmtranslationisincreasinglydrawingattentionfromaudience.Filmhasbecomeanindispensablepartofpeople’slivesandexertedstronginfluenceontheformationofpeople’slanguage,livingpatternsandevenvalues.Filmtranslationisundoubtedlyoneofthecommonestformsoftranslationencounteredindailylifeinmodernsociety.

Thispaperhasfourchapters.Firstly,thepaperpresentspreviousstudiesonthisfieldbothathomeandabroadwhichcangiveusageneralideaaboutfilmsubtitletranslation.Thenitdealswithcultureandfilmsubtitletranslation.Tosumup,thispapercomestotheconclusionthattheguidingprinciplesforfilmsubtitletranslationshouldbeconciseness,accuracyandprincipleofachievingequivalence.Filmsubtitletranslationisdifferentfromotherkindsoftranslation.Translatorsmaybefacedwithmanyproblems.Tosolvetheseproblems,translatorsshouldfollowtheseprinciplesandadoptsomestrategiestoproducehigh-qualifiedversion.Therefore,thechapterfourpresentsstrategiestodealwithculturalelements.

II.LiteratureReview

Subtitletranslationcanbeseenasthebestwaytointroducethetargetlanguageandculture,forChinese,itmainlyreferstoEnglishanditsculture.Asaresult,someofthescholarshavenoticedtheimportanceandurgencyoffilmsubtitletranslationandtheyhavedonesomeresearchesonit.Therefore,itisimportanttohavealiteraturereviewaboutfilmsubtitletranslation.

A.PreviousStudiesonFilmSubtitleTranslation

Filmtranslationhasarathercomplexhistoryoftheoriesandpractices.Itisbornwiththeappearanceoftalkies,whichalsocanbecalledassoundedmovies.Comparedwithotherformsoftranslation,thehistoryofthisnewtypeoftranslationisrathershort,nottosaysystematicandtheoreticalstudyconcerningit.It’sreallyapitythatfilmtranslationhasbeenlargelyignoredbytranslationstudiesforalongtime.However,untilnow,ithasbeengainingmoreandmoreattentionsandinterestsfromscholarsandtheorists.

1.DevelopmentofForeignFilmsinChina

ThispapermakesitsfocusontranslatingfilmdialoguesfromEnglishtoChinese.Therefore,thedevelopmentofforeignfilms,EnglishfilmsespeciallyinChinashouldfirstbepresented.

ForeignfilmmadeitsfirstappearanceinlateQingDynasty.Atthattime,onlytheroyaltyhavethechancestoseefilms.Mostoftheseimportedfilmsaresilent,therefore,itissafetosaybeforeliberation,Chinavirtuallyhasnofilmtranslation.Inearly1949,theChangchunFilmStudioofNortheastChinawasfoundedandfromthenon,filmdubbingstarted.AfterChinaopeneditselftotheoutsideworldin1978,therebeganaboomoffilmtranslationasaresultofloosercontrolovertheimportofforeignfilms（Qian89）.Alsotherewasachangefromdubbingtosubtitletranslation.“AccordingtoonepollcarriedbySinawebsitein2000,about70.87%peopleprefertowatchsubtitledfilm.”（Duan45）.ThisfigureindicatesthatatpresentinChina,subtitledfilmenjoysmorepopularitythandubbedone.

2.FilmSubtitleTranslationStudiesBothatHomeandAbroad

Thesubtitletranslationstudiesbeganwiththedevelopmentoffilmindustry,hightechnologyandglobalization.Thefilmindustryisunquestionablybetterdevelopedinthewesternworld,especiallyinEuropeandtheUnitedStates.Therefore,theamountofthefilmishugeinEurope,andEuropescholarshavealsodonealotofresearches.

Chinaalsohasalonghistoryoffilmtranslation.Before1949,China’sfilmindustry,basedinShanghai,wasoverwhelmedbyAmericanandBritishproducts.Mostoftheimportedfilmsweresilent,sothetranslationoffilmswasnotwelldeveloped.Since1949,Chinahaskeptonintroducingagreatnumberoffilmsfromforeigncountries,sofilmtranslationdevelopedaccordingly.Subtitletranslationwasthemaintranslationpatternatthattime.However,comparedwiththeresearchesinforeigncountries,therelatedinvestigationsinChinaarefarfromsatisfaction.Notasingleworkcanbefoundthatfar.Onlysomelimitedarticlesarepublishedinsomejournals.

B.SummaryofPastStudiesonFilmSubtitleTranslation

SubtitletranslationisadominantformoffilmtranslationinourcountryanditenjoysgreatpopularityamongChinesepeople.However,theresearchonEnglishfilmsubtitletranslationisstillnotmature.ThougharelativelygreatnumberofarticlescanbefoundinChina,fewofthemaredonesystematically.Mostofthestudiesaretoogeneraltogivespecificstrategiesforsubtitletranslation.Astoculturalelementsinfilmtranslation,somescholarshavenoticedtheimportanceofcultureintranslationprocess,buttheirstudiesaredonewithouttheoreticalbasis,nottomentionthesystematicanalysis.ThestudyofculturalelementsinEnglishfilmsubtitletranslationstillhasalongwaytogo.

III.CulturalElementsinSubtitleTranslation

Cultureisessentialfortranslators.Translatorsshouldnotonlybebilingualismbutalsobebiculturalism.Astothecultureelementsinthispaper,itmainlyreferstowordsets,suchasanimalwords,colorwords,wordsofpersonsorplaces;culture-specificwords,mainlyreferstoidiomsandculturalimagesfromliteraryworksanddailylife.

A.TheNotionofCulture

Cultureisanotionthatistoobroadtomakesatisfactorydefinitions.Thefollowingaresometypicaldefinitions.

TheContemporaryChineseDictionaryprovidessuchexplanationsforculture:

1）Intermsofcivilizationandculture:

sumtotalofthematerialwealthandculturalwealthcreatedbymaninthecourseofthehistoricaldevelopmentofsociety,culturalwealthinparticular,suchasliterature,arts,education,andscience,etc.

2）（Ofarchaeology）comprehensivebodyofsitesandruinsleftbehind,whichareindependentoftheirlocations,inagivenhistoricalperiod.Theidenticaltools,implements,andmanufacturingskillsarethecharacteristicsofthesameculture,astheYangshaoculture,andtheLongshanculture.

3）Intermsofeducation,culture,schoolingandliteracy.

OnedefinitiongenerallyacceptedasthemostclassicisprovidedbyEnglishanthropologistEdwardTaylor,inhisbookPrimitiveCulturepublishedin1871.Hedefinescultureas“…thatcompletewholewhichincludesknowledge,beliefs,art,morals,law,customandanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbyamanasamemberofsociety”（58）.

Tosumup,cultureisacomplicatedconcept,whichhasboththebroadandnarrowsense,thecultureofnarrowsenselaysemphasisonspirit,dealingwiththesocialsuperstructureandcustomsandhabits;andthecultureofbroadsensedealswithdifferentaspectsofthesociety,includingthematerialculture,thecultureofthesocialsystemandconventionandthespiritualculture.

B.CulturalElementsinFilmSubtitleTranslation

Filmisaparticularkindofculturalproduct.Itcarriesandreflectsthecultureasawhole.Throughvoiceandimages,wefeelandaccepttheforeignculture