On Subtitle Translation Of Verbal Humor In The Big Bang Theory From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

Since it was first launched a few years ago, the American sitcom The Big Bang Theoryhas received amazing interest and acclaim from international viewers. Its uniqueperspectives and settings, prominent personalities, as well as hilarious story and humorousdialogues, have also attracted thousands of Chinese audiences, and have helped theprogram to top the list of the best and most popular sitcoms at present. Presumably, whathas made it a huge global hit is, on the one hand, due to its creative and artistic charm ofthe work itself, and on the other, people’s universal love for humor. Also contributing to itssuccess is the translators’ creative capability.It can be said that The Big Bang Theory is another excellent U.S. sitcom successfullyintroduced into China in recent years, following Growing Pains, Everybody LovesRaymond, Seinfeld and Friends. Undoubtedly, to some extent, the subtitle translation ofhumors in this sitcom is masterful. However, as it is known to all, sitcom subtitletranslation has failed to receive sufficient attention in the field of translation studiesworldwide, and currently there is not any well-developed theory available for subtitletranslation in sitcoms.Compared to the West, China’s current study of subtitle translation of verbal humors insitcoms is even more backward and inadequate. To help solve this problem, this papermakes an in-depth example analysis of The Big Bang Theory’s translation strategies fromthe perspective of the functional equivalence theory, aiming to explore a set of relativelyuniversal and feasible principles and strategies to subtitle translation of verbal humors insitcoms, and thereby providing guidance and reference for translators.