Information Reconstruction In Sitcom Subtitle Translation

With an increasing number of English learners and English movie followers and a great number of foreign movies and videos coming to China, the need of subtitle translation of original videos is also increased. Thus the research of subtitle translation should be given more attention.Based on the foreignization and domestication theory of Venuti Lawrence and the characteristics of subtitle translation, this paper explores some translation methods in sitcom subtitle translation. Venuti’s domestication theory targets on the reader’s complete intelligibility to the source text. Based on Schleiermacher’s idea of translation ethics, Venuti defined foreignization as an attitude of respecting foreign text and culture, domestication as the disrespectful attitude toward foreign text and culture. Sitcom subtitle translation can be classified into literature translation, therefore, the recasting of cultural and comic effects is the difficult and heavy points in subtitling translation. And the characteristics of subtitling is also a heavy point that need to be considered.The source text of this E-C translation practice is chosen from an American sitcom I Love Lucy produced by CBS in the 1950s, which has more than 10,000 English words. In the light of language and culture recasting, some certain translation methods are brought out with examples. The translation of homophone, modal particle, English names and places, English spelling and incorrect words are treated with the methods like amplification, conversion, omission, paraphrasing and captioning, so as to explore the possibility of applying Venuti’s theory to subtitle translation and to bring out a guiding translation theory and some translation methods toward American sitcom subtitle translation.