Research On The Translation And Dubbing Of Arias In "Porgy And Bess"

The opera "Porgy and Bess" was composed by George Gershwin in 1935,liyrics by Ella Gershwin and Hayward.This opera is admittedly regarded as the first American opera.“Porgy and Bess” combines the blues music of Black culture with the serious music of European culture,performed on a professional opera stage.Many of the classic arias separated from the opera are so popular,being sung so far.Musicians keep on studying these arias and inspirit themselves to create better pop music.Opera Aria Dubbing means translators first translate the original lyrics of the opera arias and then make them match with the original arias and be suitable for singing.It is necessary to be translated with accurate meaning,helping the singers to express their emotions and tell the plots.The rhythm,groove and style of the arias with translated lyrics have to coincide with original arias,so that the translated arias can be performed in consonance.As a masterpiece of American national operas,“Porgy and Bess” has not yet been dubbed by Chinese.In order for normal audiences to understand and appreciate the opera better and to perceive African-American music and culture,Aria Dubbing is essential for “Porgy and Bess”.There are nineteen arias in the Porgy and Bess,of which eleven are chorus or other forms with chorus.Blue notes are used in almost all arias,maintaining the coincidence of the opera style.I have completed Aria Dubbing of this opera,used them as examples to explore the theory of Opera Aria Dubbing and summarized the steps for guiding the translating practice.In addition to the introduction,this paper is divided into three chapters:Chapter One: The Necessity and Translatability of Aria Dubbing for “Porgy and Bess”.This chapter analyzes the necessity of Aria Dubbing of the Porgy and Bess according to the demands of an infinite succession of generations,of Aria Dubbing’s current situation and of the translation reference to other types of songs.Then it cites the instances of the Opera Aria Dubbing in the history to illustrate.Chapter Two: The Influencing Factors of Aria Dubbing of “Porgy and Bess”.There are several influential factors mentioned in this chapter: the requirements of different groups under the translation theory by Yuanchong Xu;the linguistic differences caused by the cultural differences of the opera roles;the elements of Aria Dubbing.The third chapter: The Application and Practice of the Theory about Aria Dubbing of “Porgy and Bess”.This chapter analyzes the layout of the 19 arias in the opera,and chooses the most representative five arias to translate by the proposed steps and demonstrate the whole process of translation.