Abstract

With the development of science and technology, the intercultural exchange between China and western countries has become increasingly frequent in recent years. Empresses in the Palace as a palace drama which is characterized by Chinese traditional rites has been translated into several different languages and gained remarkable popularity among western countries. This drama fully displays Chinese culture and history from the perspective of its background music, architecture, actor’s lines, and palace costumes, providing the audience with a visual feast. Empresses in the Palace is an excellent work that is devoted to intercultural communication.

  To help foreigners better understand the exotic culture and customs, we must first remove the barriers to language. This paper aims to analyze both the merits and demerits of the present translation from the perspectives of foreignization and domestication and invite foreign audience to comment on the translation so as to help them achieve the same feeling as our domestic audience. With the guidance of this paper, the later translators can draw lessons and employ these translation strategies more appropriately.

 Key words: Empresses in the Palace; Domestication and Foreignization; translation of subtitles; translation strategies

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1 Introduction-1

1.1 Research background-2

1.2 The Purpose of research-3

1.3 Research methodology-4

1.4 The outline of this thesis-4

2.Literature review-4

2.1General introduction to subtitling-5

2.1.1 Definition of subtitling-5

2.1.2 Characteristics of subtitling-6

2.1.3 Constraints of subtitling-6

2.1.4 Classification of subtitling-7

2.2 Analysis on domestication and foreignization-7

2.2.1 Definition of domestication and foreignization-7

3. Analysis on subtitles translation-8

3.1Main  plot-8

3. 2The employment of domestication in the subtitles translation-9

3.2.1 Liberal translation-9

3.2.2 Deletion-11

3.2.3 Condensation-11

3.3.4 Addition-11

3.3 The employment of foreignization in Empresses in the Palace-13

3.3.1 Literal translation-13

3.3.2 Liberal translation-14

3.3.4 Addition-14

4.Merits and demerits in the Translation-14

4.1Merits in the subtitle translation-14

4.2 Demerits in the subtitle translation-14

5. Overseas Audience's opinions on the subtitle translation-15

5.1 Positive comments-15

5.2 Advice on the present subtitles-15

6. Conclusion-15

6.1 Major findings of this thesis-15

6.2 Limitations of this thesis-16

References