A Study On Film Subtitle Translation From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

With the increase of cultural communication among countries in the world, moreand more Chinese movies are entering into the international market and foreignmovies of high quality are being introduced into China as well. In such a context, theimportance of subtitle translation cannot be stressed enough. The adoption of propertheories in the study of subtitle translation becomes an important issue. The presentresearch is just a study that centers on ways to achieve functional equivalence insubtitle translation from the perspective of Nida’s functional equivalence theory.In order to make the study more informative and convincing, the author usesmany examples taken from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Avatar,Mural, etc., to illustrate her theory. Results show that it’s a fruitful trial to realizeNida’s functional equivalence theory to the study of subtitle translation. In order toproduce similar feelings and response on the part of the target audience, the translatorshould strive to obtain functional equivalence at the linguistic, cultural, pragmatic andaesthetic levels. At the linguistic level, strategies such as reduction of linguisticelements, deleting of figures of speech and linguistic transformation are usuallyadopted as a result of the differences between the two languages and the time-spacerestrictions on subtitle translation. Meanwhile, addition of linguistic elements can alsocontribute to the understanding of the movie as well as the creation of similar responseon the premise of not violating the requirement of conciseness; at the cultural level,there are strategies of deletion and transformation of cultural elements resulting fromthe cultural differences between China and the west. An interesting phenomenon isthat in translating film titles (which are also within the field of subtitle translation), thetranslator usually tries to add some cultural flavor to the translated titles in order tohelp the target audience form proper expectations and become interested in the film.At the pragmatic level, the translator needs to identify the pragmatic meaning of theoriginal dialogue in order to convey the message effectively. Meanwhile, as moviesare a kind of art, subtitle translation also needs to take the aesthetic information of theoriginal, especially when there are poems, songs, etc., into consideration.There are five chapters in this thesis.In the first chapter, the author introduces her objective of study in the beginning. The theoretical foundation, the study method used, and the main structure of the thesisare also presented here.The second chapter presents the reader a systematic review of the relevant studieson subtitle translation home and abroad. Provided by the author here are definitions ofsubtitles and subtitle translation. Moreover, the main features of subtitle translation arealso discussed.The next chapter, chapter three, serves as the theoretical foundation for the wholethesis. Here Nida’s dynamic equivalence theory and its later form---functionalequivalence theory are explained in detail. And it is pointed out that the similaritybetween the aim of subtitle translation and the requirement of dynamic equivalencemake the combination of the two in our study feasible.Chapter four, as the most important part of the thesis, includes the translatingstrategies and the analysis of concrete examples. In the perspective of functionalequivalence, it is thought that subtitle translation should achieve functionalequivalence at least at the following levels---linguistic level, cultural level, pragmaticlevel and aesthetic level. Translating strategies often adopted include reduction,addition, transformation, and transmission, etc. Detailed definition is provided foreach strategy.In the last chapter, a summary of the whole thesis is presented in which the mainfindings and values of the study are contemplated. Also discussed is the point that mayneed further study in the future.Subtitle translation remains a new field in our country at present and we admitthat there are still subjects worth exploring and studying due to the limitation of timeand space here.