On Subtitle Translation Of Red Cliff From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

With the influence of globalization and the development of the world films, audiovisual products at home and aboard have played an indispensable role in intercultural communication, in which film subtitle translation is a decisive factor and attracts more and more attention. With the film Red Cliff directed by John Woo as a case study, this thesis explores the main factors involved in subtitle translation and the strategies employed correspondingly from the perspective of Skopostheorie based on the achievements of previous study.According to Skopostheorie, subtitle translation is a purposeful activity. The Skopos of subtitle translation is determined by the intention of the director as initiator and the expectation of audience as target text receivers. Besides, in terms of the three rules in Skopostheorie, intertextual coherence illustrates the relationship between source text and target text, intratextual coherence demands coherence within the target text as well as its target situation. Intertextual coherence is subordinate to intratextual coherence, and both of them are subordinate to the Skopos rule.Applying Skopostheorie to the subtitle translation of Red Cliff, it can be concluded that its director John Woo does not intend to reflect profound Chinese culture, but to show the spirits of unity and benevolence. Furthermore, as a commercial film, its top Skopos is to gain box office. Meanwhile, the western audiences pay more attention to the image rather than the plot. The intention of John Woo and the expectation of audience determine that the target subtitle of Red Cliff should be concise and easy to understand, its primary function should be the informative function, and its acceptability is prior to fidelity. Thus the subtitle translator of Red Cliff mainly adopts the strategies of reduction, domestication, literal translation and transliteration so as to achieve its Skopos.