A Study Of Subtitle Translation In Lost Under Relevance Theory

The American TV serials are prevailing in China nowadays. They function as achannel through which to know about American culture and customs as well as aneffective way of learning English. Therefore, the subtitle translation of TV serials isgaining more and more attention. Due to the constraints of time and space, subtitletranslators have to confront greater challenges. They are required not only to transferthe semantic meaning of the actor’s lines but also to ensure that the target-languageaudience can understand plots without difficulty.In the light of Relevance Theory, subtitle translation is a distinctive mode ofcommunication. To achieve success in subtitle translation, the subtitle translator mustguarantee that both the informative and communicative purposes in the original TVserials are delivered to the target-language audience. Only in this way can the audiencerealize optimal relevance with the least efforts and appreciate similar or the samedramatic effects as the original audience.This thesis attempts to prove the explanatory significance of Relevance Theoryto subtitle translation and provide guidance to the practice of subtitle translation. Atthe beginning, the thesis introduces subtitles and subtitle translation in a detailed way.Then, it expounds the applicability of Relevance Theory to translation activities. Afterthat, the thesis adopts a Relevance theoretical approach to subtitle translation,explaining the dual role of subtitle translator in this special mode of communication,analyzing target-language audience’s cognitive environment as well as expectationsand proposing the principle of “ostensive over inferential”. Finally, the thesis analyzesexamples extracted from the subtitle translation of the popular American TV serialLost and summarizes four translation strategies: condensation, omission,supplementation and recreation with comments on the effectiveness of these methodsunder Relevance Theory.