A Comparative Study Of The Official Translation And Online Translation For Man In Black3Subtitle From The Perspective Of Translation Variation Theory

The "translation variation theory" is proposed by Huang Zhonglian, who advocates that translators should make adaption to the original text according to the needs of the reader.English films are expanding market share and attracting a wide range of audience. Since few film viewers are competent English speakers, they have a strong dependency on Chinese subtitles. However, there are no strict criteria in China for translating films. Jia Xiuyan, one of the new generation of young film translators hired by distributors, sparked heated discussions among netizens with her unconventional translation methods with catchwords and free adaptation.In this thesis, the author introduces translation variation theory by comparing "translation variation" with "full translation", and analyzes its mechanism and structure with diagrams and tables. Seven variation techniques and eleven specific approaches are presented. Then the author analyzes the three key players in translation variation system,"the subject","the object" and "the medium" in the specific case of subtitle translating for Man in Black3and proposes standards and three strategies for translation variation, including "adding","deleting&condensing" and "paraphrasing&recomposing". Then a few examples are taken from the film to illustrate the application of the strategies and Jia’s translation is compared with that made by an online translation group, YYETS. Then the author summarizes the main differences between the two versions, and forms a hypothesis explaining the possible causes. In the end, the author proposes three conclusions. Firstly, translation variation theory is very useful to literary and pragmatic translation. Secondly, the translator should keep the translation conformed to the film style and disposition of the character while seeking to be concise in subtitle translation. Thirdly, YYET’s translation of MIB3subtitle is more faithful to the original text, while Jia Xiuyan chooses more flexible translation strategies, but sometimes uses over-domestication improperly.This thesis seeks to contribute to the application of translation variation theory to film subtitle translation by attracting more attention from related scholars, thus improving the quality of future film subtitle translation.