On Subtitle Translation From The Perspective Of Multimodal Discourse Analysis

With the accelerating globalization, the film and television works, as an effective approach of cross-cultural communication, play an increasingly prominent role in enriching people’s spiritual life and promoting cultural exchanges. In recent years, the popularity of a large number of TV dramas makes the subtitle translation more and more important. However, subtitle translation is not only words exchange, but involves other complex aspects between the source language and target language. As a helpful tool to acquire information and recreation, subtitles are playing an increasingly important role in Chinese people’s access to foreign movies and television works. However, due to lack of serious attention, the quality of Chinese subtitle translation has been restrained by certain issues, such as the low level of academic research, unqualified translators and insufficient market regulation. Subtitle translation is appropriate or not, which to a large extent relates to the success or failure of cross-cultural communication. Coupled with the time and space restriction of subtitle translation, the translation work is not an easy task.In China, the subtitle translation career just started a few years ago, which is not enough systematic and mature. And in many occasions, there still exists big flaw, mistranslation and disorderly translation that will not promote the cross-cultural communication, instead will mislead the true information of culture. The present article will try to analyze the subtitle translation from the perspective of multimodal discourse analysis. With the help of integrated theoretical framework of the famous Professor Zhang Delu, the following thesis will discuss the subtitle translation of the recent popular American sitcom The Big Bang Theory in cultural level, contextual level, content level and expression level. According to the different contextual factors and the expected functions, the merits of the translators’translation will be investigated. Finally it is concluded that the applying of the multimodal discourse analysis theory in subtitle translation is desirable, and it is expected to provide a newly better approach for the future investigation of China’s subtitle translation.In a word, the Multimodal Discourse Analysis is a breakthrough in the study of subtitle translation. And it is expected that this study approach will receive increasing attention and develop constantly, in the hope of making subtitles a better bridge for the mutual understanding of China and foreign countries.