A Report On The Subtitle Translation Of Ancient Chinese Architecture

In recent years,with the strategy of Chinese culture “going global” and “bringing in” put forward,an increasing number of foreign movies and television shows have been introduced into China,becoming quite popular among people,and the need to introduce Chinese films and television shows abroad is increasing as well,so the subtitle translation has aroused much attention.This report chooses the subtitles of the first four episodes of the CCTV documentary series Ancient Chinese Architecture as the translation materials,which has been aired on CCTV in 2012 and has widely attracted interests.Featuring historical architectural designs and fascinating audiovisual subtitles,the documentary series present the world the profound Chinese culture embodied in ancient architecture.At present,most documentary subtitle translations in China are about culture,travel and food,while only a few concern about ancient Chinese architecture.So the translation practice is a bold attempt.The translation materials are focused on the introduction of various ancient buildings in different dynasties.The source texts are quite informative,which involve many architectural terms,historical and cultural background.Naturally,many difficulties were encountered in the translation practice,for instance,translation of the words and phrases with Chinese characteristics,the four-word structures and comparing the syntactic differences between Chinese and English,etc.Therefore,under the guidance of the Skopos Theory,and considering the features of the subtitle translation,some corresponding translation strategies have been adopted.Due to the time restriction of subtitle translation,the translator adds annotation to the vocabularies with Chinese cultural characteristics,and chooses literal translation of architectural terms.To cope with space restriction,translation strategies of omission of redundant information and free translation of the four-word structure are employed.Besides,as the synchronization of subtitle translation is taken into consideration,rhetorical techniques are retained,and syntactic structure is adjusted.These translation strategies are in line with the three rules of the Skopos Theory.Based on many cases,the translation methods have been illustrated and analyzed in detail.Although there are some inadequacies in the translation,in general,the translation is a meaningful try.The translation of the documentary about ancient Chinese architecture is of great significance,which can help promote the Chinese culture to the world.It also enriches the research of subtitle translation and provides reference for the related subjects in the future.