On Subtitle Translation Of A Bite Of China From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

A Bite of China, a seven-episode documentary produced by CCTV, is not only a splendid display of various C hinese cuisines but also a thorough introduction to C hinese culture on food and customs. Ever since it was first aired on CCTV, it has attracted numerous audience and enjoyed great reputation and has been translated into multiple languages like English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The previous studies on the subtitle translation of A Bite of China are mainly conducted on the basis of domestication, foreignization and skopos theory, but few guidelines have ever been put forward. N ida’s functional equivalence theory focuses on “readers’ response”, which means a thought- for-thought translation as opposed to a word-for-word translation. It tries to emphasize that the reader in the receptor language should understand and appreciate the translated text in essentially the same manner and to the same degree as the reader in the source language does. A Bite of China has been a big hit overseas, which is inseparable with the appropriate translation principle of “functional equivalence ”. Therefore, the exploration in this area from the perspective of functional equivalence is of certain theoretical and practical significance. The combination of functional equivalence theory and subtitle translation is a new attempt and exploration in the area of pragmatic translation.In this thesis, the author tries to explain how functional equivalence theory can influence the adoption of translation strategies, which in turn affect the translated text. The author also attempts to explore some general principles of subtitle translation after ample analyses at the linguistic level and the cultural level and how to reproduce the style of the source language text by means of proper translation strategies in the translation process. This study has yielded the following findings: Firstly, it is feasible to translate subtitles under the guidance of functional equivalence, and since the translated text is target-oriented, some proper translation strategies like addition, omission and reversion should be adopted. Secondly, from the analyses of the English version of A Bite of China, three proper principles can be drawn, namely focusing on receptors’ response, being faithful to the source text and employing adaptation translation strategies. It is hoped that this study can play some role and promote further research in the field of subtitle translation.