Abstract：With the rapid development of science and technology since the 21st century, computers have been introduced to every family and the emergence of the Internet has enriched our entertaining life. In recent years, American TV plays are increasingly popular in domestic market, deeply affecting Chinese people, especially the younger generation. For the English learners and fans, American TV play is undoubtedly an important way to help possess knowledge of western culture and local customs and improve their English communication ability. The quality of translating would directly influence the visual perception of the audience. Hence, the subtitle translation is paid more and more attention. However, there lacks a guiding theory for the subtitle translation of American TV plays, which is bad for the development of this career. This paper intends to explore the guiding theory of German functionalism theory---Skopos Theory, which instructs subtitle translation of American TV Plays. This theory points out that the key factor of translation process is the skopos of the whole translating activity. When translating, the translators determine a clear skopos according to the given content and then adopt specific means of translation. The three principles of skopos theory are: the skopos rule, the coherence and fidelity rule and the loyal rule. It also illuminates that the relationship between translation and the source text are absolutely not only a one-to-one “equivalence”.  

Keywords: American TV plays; subtitles; translation; skill

CONTENTS

摘要

Abstract

1 Introduction-- 1 -

1.1 Introduction of American TV plays-- 1 -

1.1.1 Brief introduction of American TV plays-- 1 -

1.1.2 The importance of subtitle translation of American TV plays-- 1 -

1.2 Introduction of the skopos theory-- 2 -

1.2.1 Brief introduction of skopos theory-- 2 -

1.2.2 The relationship between skopos theory and the translation of subtitles of American TV plays-- 2 -

1.3 Significance of the study-- 4 -

2 Skopos theory and the translation skills-- 6 -

2.1 The overall description of skopos theory-- 6 -

2.1.1 The formation and development of skopos theory-- 6 -

2.1.2 The fundamental contents of skopos theory-- 8 -

2.1.3 The evaluation standard of the skopos theory-- 8 -

2.2 The features of subtitle translation of American TV plays-- 8 -

2.2.1 Instantaneity and Conditionality-- 8 -

2.2.2 Colloquial and Diversified-- 9 -

2.2.4 Professional Terms-- 10 -

2.3 The normal skills of translating American TV plays-- 11 -

2.3.1 Domesticating Method-- 11 -

2.3.2 Literal translation-- 13 -

2.3.3 Free translation-- 13 -

2.4.4 Notes Adding-- 14 -

3 The skills of subtitles itranslation from the perspective of skopos theory-- 16 -

3.1 Translation under the guidance of the skopos rule-- 16 -

3.2.1 Translation under the guidance of the coherence and fidelity rule-- 17 -

3.3 Translation under the guidance of the loyalty principal-- 19 -

Conclusion-- 20 -

References-- 21 -

Acknowledgement-- 22 -