A Relevance Theoretic Approach To Film Subtitle Translation

The Relevance Theory, proposed by D. Sperber and D. Wilson (1986), suggests that human verbal communication is a process of inference in nature, with context as its basis and relevance as its principle. Inspired by this theory, E. A. Gutt (1991) introduces the concept of relevance into the study of translation and points out that, as a kind of verbal communication, translation is also governed by the principle of relevance, in the course of the original text interpretation as well as the target text composition. This thesis is an attempt to study film subtitle translation with a relevance theoretic approach.As a form of multimedia information, film subtitle translation is a kind of literary translation. Film subtitling follows some particular principle and method due to its specific nature and constraints. It is argued in this thesis that the Relevance Theory provides a completely novel approach to film subtitle study from the perspective of human cognition. The Relevance Theory suggests two key concepts, that is, contextual effects and processing effort, and formulates two preliminary conditions:â‘ an assumption is relevant in a context to the extent that its contextual effects in this context are large;â‘¡an assumption is relevant to the extent that the effort required to process it in this context is small. As far as translation is concerned, the Relevance Theory dictates that the translator should try his best to establish optimal relevance between the communicative intension of the original communicator and the expectation of the target receptor so as to accomplish his goal. As a result, the Relevance Theory provides not only general guidance in film subtitling but also hints and cues in specific translation strategy decision. What's more, it serves as a criterion for its communicative effects as well. It is believed that only the subtitle which adheres to the principle of relevance can faithfully transfer to the target audience the true intention of the original film with equivalent communicative effects and hence help the audience better appreciate the film. In conclusion, the Relevance Theory offers a powerful means. Its application in subtitling is not only sound and reasonable but also efficient and fruitful.This thesis starts itself with some essential concepts in the relevance theory that are relevant to film subtitling. It then explores the feasibility of applying the Relevance Theory in subtitling. Given the above theoretical foundation, it goes on to analyze some examples from John Wu's film, Red Cliff, with the aim to offer some practical solutions to subtitling from the perspective of technical constraints and cultural image transfer. Finally, the thesis rounds up itself by restating the power of the Relevance Theory as guidance and aid to translators.