On The Audio-visual Subtitle Translation Of "Prison Break" From Skopostheorie Perspective

As traditional equivalence-oriented translation can't meet the special needs of current translations, German scholar Hans Vermeer's "Skopostheorie" has opened a new perspective for audiovisual translation. As a new mode of translation, audiovisual translation increasingly demonstrates its importance with its unique charm. It isn't only one of entertainment ways, but it is an important medium of intercultural communication. The ultimate purpose of subtitle translation is to enable the target audience with minimal effort to understand the original film and its culture. Subtitle translation is an extremely complex and dynamic process, thus translators should take all relevant factors into account. Translated text, including: filmic dialogues, characters and music, etc, which is actually a film with subtitles, the ultimate appearance should comply with the inter-textual coherence.In my thesis, case analysis and descriptive method are adopted. Taking "Prison Break" as a case, selecting the dialogues associated with typical lines and cultural elements, and then carefully analyzing and parsing the subtitles through repeated viewing, then determining the specific research ideas and direction according to characters and contextual features.Why this serial is so popular among audiences worldwide? What are the gains and losses of this play? According to 'top-down' translational process of 'Skopostheorie', translators choose specific translational strategies based on lots of factors, such as: intentions of directors and producers, screen images and performance styles, temporal and spatial constraints, target audiences characteristics and structural features of the language, etc. Meanwhile, subtitlers should grasp the overall situation and take every detail into account, and they should also convey the related original messages most effectively to the audiences with a specific cultural context.Finally, I come to my own point of views: theory must be combined with practice, practice demonstrates and serves theory. Simultaneously, subtitle quality can't be ignored. Sound, images and dialogues should be coherent both inter-textually and intra-textually. Audiences enjoy films by subtitles and they place themselves in the original contexts. They teach the real English, which can help cultivate their interest in English study and improve their listening, spoken English and their translation standard. Subtitle study based on 'Skopostheorie' has a great value for language practical use, cross-cultural communication and audiences' recreational quality.