A Functionalist Approach Toward E-C Audiovisual Translation A Case Study Of Desperate Housewives

Literary translation experienced a considerable development recent years in the field of translation study. However, the study of audiovisual translation has not drawn enough attention. Some scholars tentatively propose to apply some translation theories to audiovisual translation to analyze the possibilities and necessities of the application. The focus of study lies in the problems that we often come across during the audiovisual translation process, that is, how to make a wise choice between dubbing and subtitling, how to decide translation strategies, domestication or foreignization, and how to solve the conflicts among the soundtrack, image and subtitle and so forth.Within the framework of Skopostheorie, translation is regarded as a purposeful action. In the course of translation, translators make a selective transfer from the multi-information embedded in the source text in line with the Skopos and specialties of the audiences according to the demands of initiator or commissioner. Actions must take place in a cultural loaded place and different cultures share various customs and values; thus, audiovisual translation can be considered as an overall multicultural communication in text, image and sound through the media of screen. The initiator defines the purpose of translation and specifies the translation brief while the intention of other relative person or agent influences the translator's choice of strategies as well. The final audiovisual products are also affected by the knowledge and expectation of the initiator to the intended audience of the target text and the translator's language capability.The hit show of Desperate Housewives got the top record of the TV share rate in US within a decade. "Overseas TV play Time" of CCTV imported the sitcom and aired it on CCTV-8 channel but it turns out to be out of the top ten in light of CSM data. Critics come out around the dubbing effect and the reduction of some racy images. In the opposite, the sitcom enjoys a great popularity on internet and the subtitling is approved by the audiences. It is not common that CCTV brought an American TV series to the Chinese small screen at such a high speed. Thus, the case is of great research value. This paper studies four Chinese versions of the series within the framework of functionalism, discusses various factors which influence or constrains the selection of translation strategies, and analyzes the language transfer methods and translation strategies applied in Desperate Housewives and the gains and losses. In a word, the purpose of the initiator and the intended audience of the target text have a direct impact on the translation of audiovisual works; a successful one can be produced only under the standardization of translation strategies, translation process and quality control.