Abstract

With the increasing importing of foreign audiovisual products into Chinese domestic market, the researches on audiovisual works increase. Among these researches, subtitle translation occupies an indispensable position. Domestic subtitle translation, however, hasn’t gained enough attention and researches on subtitle translation have not formed a relatively complete theoretical system. Now domestic practices are almost done by subtitle translation lovers. Without theoretical guidance, the quality of these subtitle translation, therefore, cannot be promised and yet does not reach a high level. Subtitle translation of low quality affects audiences’ understanding and enjoyment of the audiovisual products and impedes the cultural communication. Thus an appropriate theory is much more needed to be used in guiding the researches on subtitle translation, which makes contributions to the development of subtitle translation.

This thesis chooses German skopos theory of translation as a theoretical framework to study American TV series. According to the skopos theory, translation is a purposeful activity. Thus in the process of translation, different translation methods are used according to different translation purposes.When studying subtitle translation of American TV series under the guidance of the skopos theory of translation, this thesis chooses the subtitle translation in a relatively popular situation comedy, How I Met Your Mother, as the research material. This thesis studies the concrete principles translators should follow and the choosing of translation methods during the process of subtitle translation. Combining some examples from How I Met Your Mother, this thesis concludes that to transmit the information accurately and effectively, subtitle translation should follow some concrete principles such as brevity, characterization and cultural features and use some methods, such as addition, deduction, explanatory notes and four-character expressions. On this basis, conclusion has been drawn that the skopos theory can be used in subtitle translation of sitcoms and will function greatly.

Key words: subtitle translation     the skopos theory     translation principles     translation methods

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One  Introduction-1

1.1 Research Background-1

1.2 The Significance of the Research-2

1.3 The Structure of the Research-3

Chapter Two  Literature Review-4

2.1 An Overview of Subtitle Translation-4

2.1.1 Overview of Subtitle-4

2.1.2 Subtitle Translation-4

2.2 The Studies on Subtitle Translation Abroad-6

2.3The Studies on Subtitle Translation in China-8

2.4 Summary-10

Chapter Three Theoretical Framework-12

3.1 The Introduction of the Skopos Theory-12

3.1.1 The Origin and development of the Skopos Theory-12

3.1.2 The Rules of Skopos Theory-14

3. 2 Feasibility of the Skopos Theory Applied to E-C Subtitle Translation-16

3.3 Summary-17

Chapter Four A Case Study of Subtitle Translation in How I Met Your Mother-18

4.1 Principles of E-C Subtitle Translation in How I Met Your Mother-18

4.1.1 Brevity-18

4.1.2 Characterization-19

4.1.3 Culture Feature-22

4.2 Methods applied in Subtitle Translation of How I Met Your Mother-23

4.2.1 Addition-23

4.2.2 Reduction-25

4.2.3 Explanatory Note-27

4.2.4 Four-character Expression-28

4.3 Discussion-30

Chapter Five Conclusion-32

5.1 Major Findings of the Research-32

5.2 Limitations of the Research-32

5.3 Suggestions for Future Research-33

References-35