On Audio-visual Subtitle Translation From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

The Pursuit of Happyness (purposefully misspelled by the author of the novel)firstly released in Chinese mainland in1998was loved by the audience. During theseyears, it has been shown in many different countries throughout the world. Clearly, ithas been regarded as a valuable text for academic study by the scholars. However, theauthor found it difficult to find academic materials concerning film The Pursuit ofHappyness. Thus, it’s of creative significance to study the film under the guidance ofSkopostheorie.Translation is an especially important communicative tool among differentlanguages and cultures. As a cultural carrier, film also needs the involvement oftranslation. Nowadays, with the development of economics and culture, more andmore foreign films, especially English and American films have flocked into Chinaand are welcomed by the masses. As an important tool of gaining information andenjoying entertainment, film subtitle translation plays an increasingly significant role.Only good subtitle translation can make the foreign audience better appreciate theoriginal films. Good film subtitle translation can provide the crowning touch toforeign films and can attract more audience thus enhancing the audience’s experienceof appreciating films and playing an important role in different cultural exchange. Thegreat achievements that the film subtitle translation has received can not be ignored;however, in theory, normative film subtitle translation theories are far from beingmature and perfect. In practice, there is much room to improve the quality of filmsubtitle translation.The thesis concentrates a study on film subtitle translation from the perspectiveof Skopostheorie. In order to make the audience better appreciate the original films,under the particular temporal and spacial constraints, directly and effectivelyconveying relative information to the audience is the main purpose of film subtitle translation, which will attract more viewers to go to the cinema and to earn the highestbox-office. To fulfill the purpose, translator should follow certain principles andstrategies and besides, special attention should be paid to the cultural phenomenon inthe process of translation.This thesis attempts to study Chinese translation of the subtitles of English filmsfrom the perspective of Skopostheorie. This study mainly focuses on the principlesand strategies of film subtitle translation. For film subtitle translation, this thesis is atentative study, and it is expected that this study will deepen our understanding oftranslation theories and finally improve the practical level of film subtitle translation.This thesis is consisted of six chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces theresearch background, research purpose and research methods. The second chaptermainly deals with the literature review. The third chapter concentrates on thedefinition, classification, characteristics and constraints of film subtitle translation.The fourth chapter focuses on the theoretical framework. The fifth chapter gives adetailed case study of The Pursuit of Happyness under the guidance of Skopostheorie,which is the main body of the thesis. The sixth chapter gives the conclusion of thethesis, presenting the findings and limitations of the thesis and some suggestions forfurther researches.