On Subtitle Translation Of Kung Fu Panda Ⅱ From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

As an indispensable part of mass communication in modern life, films shoulder themission of delivering information and transmitting culture. Consequently, subtitletranslation has become a new field of translation practice. With the increasingly frequentcultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, foreign films and television areflooding into China. English films are especially popular among Chinese audiences.However, compared with the traditional translation studies, audiovisual subtitle translationstudy is far from systematic and mature. Especially in China, specialized study onaudiovisual subtitle translation has not formed a relatively mature theoretical guidance.Therefore, how to translate English films under the guidance of proper theories and enablethe Chinese audiences to appreciate the foreign film is of great significance.Given the problems of the current subtitle translation, this thesis disserts theapplication of Functional Equivalence Theory. Different from the traditional translationtheories, Functional Equivalence Theory focuses on receptor response, measuringtranslation by whether the receptors of the translated text have equivalent response as theoriginal receptors, and points out that the essence of translation is to reproduce the sourcetext with the closest natural equivalence in the target language. And the success of the filmlies in the audiences’ response and appreciation; thus subtitle translation aims at deliveringinformation, helping the audiences to understand and appreciate the films. Therefore,Functional Equivalence Theory can be applied to subtitle translation.This thesis will make an analysis of the film Kung Fu Panda II, which is well-knownwith Chinese elements, under the guidance of Functional Equivalence Theory. Kung FuPanda II (2011) has a number of Chinese fans, which is the highest-grossing film at thebox office of the year. Undoubtedly, the excellent film subtitles translation plays a veryimportant part in its success.This thesis attempts to research into subtitle translation within the framework ofFunctional Equivalence Theory, with Kung Fu Panda II as a case study. It first analyzes the Chinese elements and linguistic features of the film. Then explore the application ofFunctional Equivalence Theory from the linguistic, stylistic and cultural aspects in the filmwith specific examples. Furthermore, combining with the characteristics and constraints ofsubtitle, this thesis concludes some strategies and techniques in subtitle translation,including domestication, addition, omission, paraphrase, adaptation of cultural images,flexible use of cultural-specific words, etc. thus the thesis draws a conclusion thatFunctional Equivalence Theory offers a new sight for the subtitle translation practice andprovides ways to solve translation problems. By exploring the application of FunctionalEquivalence Theory into subtitle translation, the thesis aims to provide theoretical guidancefor subtitle translation and call for more attention in further study of this rather new field.