A Functionalist Study Of English Subtitles Of Red Sorghum

Following the quickened pace of Chinese culture’s “going out to the world”,Chinese films are also striving to walk toward the world to compete with other countrieson the international stage. Consequently, the subtitling of Chinese films into foreignlanguages has attracted increased scholarly attention in recent years. What role doessubtitling play in promoting Chinese culture exportation? What subtitling strategiesshould be employed to fulfill this aim? The answer to these questions can perhaps befound in a case study of Red Sorghum, the first modern Chinese film to have won aninternational acclaim. Mo Yan’s winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in2012testifiesto this film’s wide popularity among English-speaking viewers and its far-reachingimpact.This thesis aims to examine the strategies employed in the English subtitles of RedSorghum and to analyze why such subtitling strategies as were adopted by the subtitlersare both justified and instrumental in enhancing its warm reception by overseasaudiences. Two theoretical tools are adopted in the present study: one is subtitlingtheories proposed by Gottlieb and developed by Diaz-Cintas and others; the other isVermeer’s skopos theory.The Introduction states the research background, aim, scope and rationale of thisstudy. Chapter Two is a critical review of the relevant literature on the topic. ChapterThree summarizes the main points of Western subtitling theories and skopos theory.Chapter Four tries to describe the general shape and features of the English subtitles ofRed Sorghum in the light of subtitling strategies and constraints. It is found that suchstrategies as transfer, paraphrase, condensation, decimation, deletion, expansion,imitation and resignation are frequently employed by the subtitlers. Yet what is termed“reductive domestication” strategy (R&D strategy) in the present thesis is the basic oneadopted. Chapter Five attempts to explain from a functionalist perspective why thesesubtitling strategies, especially somewhat radical ones like deletion, condensation,rewriting, are justified and why Red Sorghum equipped with such English subtitles was warmly received by Western audiences. The Conclusion discusses the significantimplications of Red Sorghum’s success for Chinese film’s “going abroad”.