| As important channels for entertainment and information, films are essential in modern society. To watch foreign films also facilitates exchanges and communication among various cultures. As a result, recent years have seen a growing demand for film translation. Subtitling is one kind of film translation. Compared with Europe, China lags behind in terms of subtitling practice, subtitling study and subtitling standards. This thesis is an attempt to apply the functionalist theory to subtitling.According to Reiss, text types are classified according to the dominant communicative function as informative text, expressive text and operative text. In informative texts the main function is to inform the reader about objects and phenomena in the real world. In expressive texts the informative aspect is complemented or even over ruled by an aesthetic component (Nord, 2001:37-38). While operative texts is designed to induce the receivers to respond in a particular way (Nord, 2001:42). In addition, Reiss has defined a fourth category, audio-visual text. According to Reiss' Text Typology Theory, we can easily find that the subtitle is a complex with informative text, appellative text and, obviously, audio-visual text. Different texts ask for different strategies of translation. In terms of skopostheorie, subtitling is a purposeful activity. The conventional assignment is to provide, within the constraints of time and space, the relevant information conveying the director's intention in the most efficient way. However the specific skopos are up to each film, which leads to the particular strategy.In the theory of translation action, subtitling is as a form of translational interaction, especially a form of interpersonal interaction. As a result, the director's intention is the center of subtitle translating, which inspires what strategies will be taken in translating a certain film, and consequently influences the final shape of captions and the success of the film.This paper is an attempt to analyze the strategies of subtitling towards a functionalist approach. Getting at the root cause of the strategic choices made and strategies adopted by the film subtitler are the ultimate goal of this descriptive study. Adopting Letter from an Unknown Woman as a case study, this paper scrutinizes on how the translator deals with the C-E translation of subtitle.The paper consists of 3 chapters including both theoretical discussions and a case study. Chapter 1 makes a brief introduction to the subtitling. Chapter 2 serves as an introduction to the research background. It focuses on skopostheorie, text typology, theory of translation action and the differences between Functionalist Translation Theory and Traditional Translation Theory, with a summary of the applicability of this theory to subtitling. Chapter 3 is the focus of our case study. It analyzes the intention of the sender for the case film and the audience's needs and expectations. Furthermore, it centers on the implications of translation strategies.
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