A Study On Humor In "INVISIBLE" Subtitle Translation Of THE BIG BANG THEORY

In recent years, the role of subtitle translation in China stands out owing to enthusiasmfor American TV dramas and its popularity. In China, Subtitle translation, as anewly-emerging and particular translation genre, is becoming an integral part of translationfield because it begins to shoulder an essential role of bridging original American TV dramasand the target Chinese audiences, which provides convenience for Chinese audiencesappreciating original American TV dramas. Given this, it is indispensably necessary to makesystematic and theoretical exploration of subtitle translation. This thesis aims to make ananalysis of THE BIG BANG THEORY—one of favorites of American sitcom at home andabroad, based on Vermeer’s Skopos theory.The translating process, ranging from its materials to be rendered, methods adopted andwords chosen, every bit of which comes down to a variety of selecting factors be fixed.According to Skopos theory, every bit of choice made in translation depends on its purpose,that is “the ends justifies the means”， and one of the most important factors determiningtranslational purpose is the target audiences who have their own cultural backgroundknowledge, their expectation upon the translation and their communication needs. Subtitletranslation of American TV dramas is a type of behavior or activity with its specific and clearaim or purpose, that is, to make Chinese audiences get the same or similar at least effects likeAmerican audiences when appreciating in order to achieve amusement purpose. Besides whatkind of translation strategies or methods adopted.—domestication or foreignizaiton alsoreveals its purpose of translation. Owing to its temporal and spatial constraints, plus, hugecultural and language differences, it is important to fulfill this kind of amusement purpose inorder to make Chinese audiences understand humor in it and get amusement as possible as itshome audiences, influence and “invisible” subtitles would be effective to achieve theamusement purpose since THE BIG BANG THEORY is a TV comedy with humorous effects.In a word, skopos theory is a breakthrough in translation theory research with a startingpoint from the target audiences which poses an important effect on choosing translationmethods. Hence, in subtitle translation genre, subtitles should center on the target audiences todetermine translation methods following the skopos rule in combination with other relatedfactors so as to make subtitles achieve its mission.