目的论视角下的电影字幕翻译以黑衣人三为例

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学校代码：10036硕士学位论文目的论视角下的电影字幕翻译—以《黑衣人》（三）为例培养单位：英语学院专业名称：外国语言学及应用语言学研究方向：翻译学作者：闫佳音指导教师：徐珺论文日期：二〇一四年四月 MAThesisAStudyonSubtitleTranslationfromthePerspectiveofSkopostheory:AContrastiveAnalysisofTwoVersionsofMenInBlackⅢByYanJiayinAdvisor:Pro.XuJunSchoolofInternationalStudiesUniversityofInternationalBusinessandEconomicsApr.2014 学位论文原创性声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。对本文所涉及的研究工作做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律责任由本人承担。特此声明学位论文作者签名：年月日 学位论文版权使用授权书本人完全了解对外经济贸易大学关于收集、保存、使用学位论文的规定，同意如下各项内容：按照学校要求提交学位论文的印刷本和电子版本；学校有权保存学位论文的印刷本和电子版，并采用影印、缩印、扫描、数字化或其它手段保存论文；学校有权提供目录检索以及提供本学位论文全文或部分的阅览服务；学校有权按照有关规定向国家有关部门或者机构送交论文；在以不以赢利为目的的前提下，学校可以适当复制论文的部分或全部内容用于学术活动。保密的学位论文在解密后遵守此规定。学位论文作者签名：年月日导师签名：年月日 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSItismygreatpleasuretohavethisopportunitytogivemythankfulnessonpeoplewhosupportmeandhelpme.Firstly,atthecompletionofthisthesis,Iwouldliketoexpressmythankstomytutor,ProfessorXuofSchoolofInternationalStudiesatUniversityofInternationalBusinessandEconomics.Itisshewhodevotesherprofessionalknowledgeandprecioustimetomythesis.Shehelpsmetolayouttheframeoftheoryandchoosethetopic.Withoutherpatientinstruction,Iwouldnotfinishmythesisinsuchsmoothway.Besides,theprofessionaladviceonmytheory-choosingandanalysisisalsoanimportantfactorthatimprovedthequalityofmythesis.ApartfromProfessorXu,mybelovedschoolmateshavealsoshowedtheirattentionandhelptome.HereIwouldliketoshowmythankfulnesstomyroommateswhogivemeadviceandsupportonmythesis.Iwouldalsoliketogivemythankstomyfriend,YangWenjuan,whoencouragesmetofinishthethesisandbemycompanyintheprocessofwriting.Lastbutnottheleast,theprofessorsandteachersfromSchoolofInternationalStudiesalsoprovidetheirprofessionalknowledgeformeandinspiremetochoosethistopic.SowhenIamattheendofmymaster‟sstudy,Iwouldliketothankallmyteachers,schoolmatesandfriendswhohaveaccompaniedmeinthesetwoyears.YanJiayinApr.2014 摘要近些年来中国经济取得了飞速发展，同时，文化产业也随之搭上经济飞速发展的列车，取得了长足进步，电影产业亦是文化产业不可分割的一部分。随着中国电影产业规模快速发展，无论是从电影引进或是出口方面，都取得了喜人的成就。国内观影需求增大，市场繁荣，从而放宽了引进电影的限制，引进片数量呈增长趋势，国内电影荧幕数量不断增多。同时，北美及全球电影市场不断扩张需要也使得越来越多国外影片被引进中国，由此，一场前所未有的文化融合正在酝酿。正因如此，国内观众对电影的关注已不仅停留在剧情、视效、明星效应等方面，电影字幕翻译的质量也逐渐成为观众评判电影好坏的标准之一。由此，越来越多的影视从业者或学者将其眼光投向电影字幕翻译研究，以期为电影字幕以及电影产业注入新的活力。20世纪70年代伊始，主要以西方学者为主的影视字幕翻译的研究开始兴起。作为一项新兴的研究领域，已经引起越来越多学者的关注。西方学者所关注的包括字幕翻译理论研究、翻译策略、质量控制、字幕标准化等方面，其研究成果促进了电影字幕翻译的规范，同时也为国内研究者提供了理论支持及引导。另一方面，国内学者对于电影字幕翻译的研究虽已起步，但仍旧存在不足之处，例如研究的深度和广度、对于国内电影字幕翻译标准的统一化，仍需提高。个别译者的专业水平缺乏以及行业规范的缺乏都可能造成国内对于此项研究的停滞。本研究以目的论作为理论指导，对电影字幕翻译中的相关问题进行探讨，以期对电影字幕翻译以及中国电影文化的传播做出一点贡献。因为电影字幕翻译是一种根据电影观众需求而进行的一项有目的的翻译活动。笔者试图通过结合目的论的相关翻译理论，对现今电影字幕翻译现状进行回顾，并对影片《黑衣人》（三）的两种不同版本中文字幕翻译以词、语句 和对话为单位进行对比分析，结合译者可能采取的翻译“目的”，初步得出翻译目的的选择对字幕翻译影响甚深，最终会影响翻译质量甚至导致错译的结论。本文由五部分组成。第一章主要介绍了研究意义、背景，对研究此课题的相关回顾以及文章结构。第二部分则是对字幕翻译相关内容进行简要总结。第三章则陈述了功能学派目的论代表学者的相关观点以及目的论的核心内容。第四章通过结合对电影《黑衣人》（三）字幕不同的翻译版本的对比，讨论具体字幕翻译策略的选择以及字幕翻译结果。最后则是对全文进行总结，以期对当今字幕翻译提出合理建议。关键词：电影字幕翻译，目的论，黑衣人(三) ABSTRACTWiththerapiddevelopmentofChina‟seconomy,Chineseculturalindustryhavealsoseenarapidincreaseofallfacets.Asaninseparablepartoftheculturalindustry,movieindustryalsodevelopedveryfastinthepastyears.Nomattermoviesimportingfromothercountriesorexportingtotheworld,theyallgrasppeople‟seyes.InChina,thereisagrowingneedforexcellentfilms,andthemarketnourisheswiththeriseofwholeindustry,wecouldnowenjoymorefilmsandtheamountofbigscreensinmainlandChinaisheadingnorth.Asaresult,anunpredictableculturalexchangeishappening.Onlygorgeouscast,plot,visualeffectscouldnotsatisfythevarioustasteofChineseaudience,atthesametime,thequalityofsubtitletranslationisbecomingapartoftheirstandardtoevaluatethequalityofafilm.Somoreandmorepeople,includingpeopleworkinginmovieindustryandscholarswhostudyonthisfield,starttomakeresearchonmovieindustry,inordertocarryoutsomeimprovementstothewholeindustry.Asfarasstudiesareconcerned,westernscholarsin1970sbegantoshowtheirinterestinsubtitletranslation.Asarisingschool,scholarsfocusonsubtitletranslationtheories,translationstrategies,qualitycontrol,universalstandardsandsoon.Inspiredbywesternscholars,moreandmoreChinesescholarsbegintodotheirresearchesaswell.However,therearestillsomeinadequaciesintheirstudies.Besides,lackingofprofessionaltranslatorsandindustrystandardsmayalsodedicatetothedisadvantageofthisfield.Basedonskopostheory,theauthormakesacomparisonoftwodifferentsubtitleversionsofthemovieMeninBlackⅢinthehopeofproposingaproperwaytoimprovethequalityofsubtitletranslation. Keywords:skopostheory,subtitletranslation,movie ContentsChapterOneINTRODUCTION...................................................................................................11.1NeedfortheStudy..............................................................................................................11.2StructureofThesis..............................................................................................................21.3LiteratureReview................................................................................................................21.3.1StudiesAbroad.............................................................................................................21.3.2StudiesinChina...........................................................................................................3ChapterTwoSUBTITLETRANSLATION.................................................................................52.1BasicConceptsofSubtitleTranslation...............................................................................52.1.1Definition.....................................................................................................................52.1.2TypesofSubtitle..........................................................................................................52.1.3FeaturesofSubtitle......................................................................................................62.1.4RestrictionsofSubtitle................................................................................................82.2InadequaciesinSubtitleTranslation...................................................................................9ChapterThreeAREVIEWOFSKOPOSTHEORY..................................................................113.1IntroductionofSkopostheory............................................................................................113.2RulesofSkopostheory......................................................................................................133.2.1RuleofSkopos...........................................................................................................133.2.2RuleofCoherence.....................................................................................................133.2.3RuleofFidelity..........................................................................................................143.3TranslationalAction..........................................................................................................14ChapterFourACASESTUDYONTWOVERSIONSOFSUBTITLETRANSLATIONINMENINBLACKⅢ......................................................................................................................184.1ABriefIntroductionofMeninBlackⅢ..........................................................................184.2Analysisoftwodifferentsubtitleversionsunderthetheoryoftranslationalaction.........194.2.1JiaXiuyan‟sversion..................................................................................................194.2.2Internetversion..........................................................................................................20 4.3Comparisonbetweentwoversionsofsubtitletranslation.................................................204.3.1Words.........................................................................................................................214.3.2Sentences...................................................................................................................254.3.3Dialogues...................................................................................................................27ChapterFiveCONCLUSION......................................................................................................30REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................32 ChapterOneINTRODUCTION1.1NeedfortheStudyWiththeriseofitsculturalindustry,Chinahasmadegreatprogressinmovieindustry.Forinstance,inmovieimportingandexporting,variouskindsofforeignmoviesaregettingaccepted,amongwhichmoviesfromHollywoodwithsplendidvisualeffectarepopularamongmoviefans.Ontheotherside,Chinesemovies,withitsspecialculturalbackground,aregainingmoreweightintheworld,whichhasstrengthenedculturalexchangesbetweenChinaandtheoutsideworld.Somepeopleexpectthatinthecomingfiveyears,Chineseboxofficewouldhittenbillion,whichequalstotheboxofficeofNorthAmericanow.Thuswecouldfindthatmovies‟rolesharesmoreimportanceinpeople‟sdailylifeandacountry‟sindustry.Inaddition,withthedevelopmentofChineseeducation,moreChinesearegraspingexcellentEnglish.Thus,translation,nomattertitletranslationorsubtitletranslation,isgainingmoreandmoreattentionfromthemoviewatchers.Atthesametime,moreandmoreChineseandforeignresearchershaverealizedtheimportanceofthisfieldandfocusmoreonrelatedstudiesinthisarea.However,therearestillsomeinadequaciesinsubtitletranslations.Forinstance,culturalboundariesmayleadtountranslatabilityandmisunderstanding.Translatorsorsubtitlersdonothavesufficientprofessionalknowledgeandonlytreattranslatingsubtitlesasamethodofmakingmoney,whichcouldcontributetosomemistakesonbasictranslation,andthenmisunderstandingstothewholemoviecouldbeconceivedbythetranslatororsubtitler.Thelackingofuniversalstandardsisanotherproblemexistinginthisfield.Asfortheorystudiesonthisarea,therearestilllackingtheoriesuniquelyproposedforsubtitletranslationandmostscholarsstillusebasictranslationtheoriestostudyit.Besides,sometimesthereisagapbetweenscholarsandtranslators,whichmeanstranslatorsfilledwithexperiencemayhavefewstudyontranslationtheories,andscholarswhodorelatedresearchesmaylackabundanttranslationexercises.1 Sincemorepeoplefocusonthequalityofsubtitletranslation,itismoreimportantfortranslatorsandscholarstoimprovesubtitletranslation‟squalityfromallthepossibleaspectstocontributetoChineseculturalspread.Therefore,thoseproblemsshouldbesolvedthroughtheendeavorofscholarswhopaytheirattentiononthisfield.Thesignificanceofthisthesisliesinofferingmoviefans,subtitlersandscholarsawayofjudgingwhetherasubtitletranslationisproperfromtheperspectiveofskoposthatasubtitlerchooses.1.2StructureofThesisThethesisiscomposedoffivechapters.Thefirstchapteristhepartofintroduction,whichprovidesanoverallsituationincurrentChinesemovieindustry‟sdevelopmentanditstranslation.Theresearchbackground,significanceoftheresearchandliteraturereviewwillalsobegiveninthischapter.Inchaptertwo,theauthorwouldgiveareviewofsubtitletranslation,studiesbothinChinaandabroadwillbediscussedinthispart.Chapterthreeisthereviewofskopostheory.Thissectionwillcoversomebasicviewsfromafewofrepresentativescholarsinthisschool.Chapterfourmainlydealswithcasestudy,aftercomparingthesetwodifferenttranslationversionsofthefilm,sometypicalmistranslationandpropertranslationofthesubtitleswillbediscussedinthischapter.Thelastchapteristheconclusionpart.1.3LiteratureReview1.3.1StudiesAbroadInthebeginningof1950sand60s,anarticlenamedCinémaetTraductionpublishedonBable,whichisthefirstessaytodiscussAudiovisualTranslation(AVT).AccordingtoDries,therearetwocategoriesofsubtitle:“inter-lingualsubtitling”and“intra-lingualsubtitling”(1995).Thesetwocategoriescouldalsobeappliedtosubtitletranslations,thatis:“inter-lingualsubtitletranslation”and“intra-lingualsubtitletranslation”.Asforsubtitletranslation,inhisbookSubtitlingfortheMedia:AHandbookofanArt,JanIvarssongavehisponderingforindividualsinvolvedorinterestedinsubtitletranslation.Thisbookdealswiththestrategiestranslators2 adoptedandthepossiblelimitationsrelatedtothesetranslationmethods(1992).Apartfromtheoreticaldiscussions,analysesofcasesarealsofrequentlycombinedwiththeoreticalstudies.AgnieszkaSzarkowska,afterpresentingthemodeoffilmtranslation,theirworlddistributionandhistory,andananalysisofdubbingandsubtitlingfromtheperspectiveofdomesticationandforeignisation,demonstratedthepoweroffilmtranslation.Amongtheabovementioned,theimportantcontributionofAgnieszkaSzarkowskaisthatshedividedfilmtranslationintotwocategories:dubbingandsubtitling.Ononehand,dubbingmodifiesthesourcetexttoalargeextentandthusmakesitfamiliartothetargetaudiencethroughdomestication.Ontheotherhand,subtitlingistheformthataltersthesourcetexttotheleastpossibleextentandenablesthetargetaudiencetoexperiencetheforeignandbeawareofits'foreignness'atalltimes(Szarkowska,2005).1.3.2StudiesinChinaManyscholarsinChinahaveshowedtheirreflectiononsubtitletranslationswhenfilmindustrygaineditsprosperity.Therearefourpillarsinsubtitletranslationstudies:overallreviewofcurrentstudies,studiesbasedondifferenttranslationtheories,discussionsonsubtitlingstrategiesandtechniques,andcasestudies.LiGuoshunisoneofthefewoneswhointroducethelandscapeofsubtitletranslationstudiesfromtheperspectiveofcollectionsoffilms,criticism,initials,theoreticalbasesandhistorybackground(2008).DongHaiyamadeareviewofthedevelopmentofwesternstudiesandintroduceditsdifferentresearchperspectives(2007).ThiswouldcontributealottoresearchesinChinabutitisdifficulttomakeasystematiccomparisonbetweenwesternandChinesestudies.Onthecontrary,afewscholarsshowedtheirinterestinsummarizingtranslationpracticeofsubtitlers.Strategychoosingisalsoanimportantfocusofsomeresearchers.Strategiesormethodsthatoftenadoptedbytranslatorsareabridgement,elimination,usingdailytalkwordsandcombiningculturalelements.LiYunxingisthefirstprofessorwhodiscussedthestrategiesofsubtitletranslationinChineseTranslatorsJournal.LiYunxingbelievesthattherearethreelevelsinsubtitletranslation,whichareinterlingualexchangeofinformation,condensationordeductionandcolloquialwords3 towrittenlanguage(2001).Someotherfactorssuchastime-spaceconstraints,culture,andinformativefunctionarealsodiscussedandanalyzedinthisarticle.Atthesametime,choosingproperstrategiesfortranslationtasksareillustratedwithexamples.Apartfromthesefourstrategies,therearescholarswhoconcernabouthowtomakesubtitletranslationmoreacceptableundertheguidanceofcertaintranslationtheories,mainlyincludingdomesticationandforeignization,functionalequivalence,relevancetheory,andskopostheory.Inherarticle,HuangXiaoqin,citethetheoryofreceptiveaesthetictogiveheradviceonsubtitletranslation(2010).Shepointsoutthattheaudience‟sreceptionandtheeffectivenessofinformationarekeyfactorsthatdeterminethetranslationstrategysincesubtitletranslationdemandsinformationbeconveyedmosteffectivelyinlimitedtimeandspace.ZhangYifeiandZhaoYuhongintroducedsomecaseswhichuseddomesticationandforeignization,suchasinmovieForrestGump,GhostTownandThePursuitofHappyness(2012).TangYuealsoexpressesherviewontheinteractionbetweenforeignizationandsubtitletranslation(2013).Sincesubtitletranslationisapracticalexercise,itismoreusefulwhenaspecificmovieisanalyzed.FormostofChinesescholars,moviesimportingfromHollywoodarepopulartopics,suchasKongfuPanda,MeninBlack,Inception，moviescontainChineseelementarealsofrequentlychosen,suchasHidenTigerCrouchingDragon,TheFlowersofWar（金陵十三钗）.4 ChapterTwoSUBTITLETRANSLATION2.1BasicConceptsofSubtitleTranslation2.1.1DefinitionAsarapiddevelopedbranchoftranslationstudies,subtitletranslationstudieshasgainedmuchweightinmainlandtranslationresearches.Subtitleisthewrittentranslationofthespokenlanguage(sourcelanguage)ofatelevisionProgramorfilmintothelanguageoftheviewingaudiences(thetargetlanguage).Differentscholarshavedifferentopinionsonthedefinitionofsubtitle.Luykendefinessubtitleas“Subtitlesarecondensedwrittentranslationsoforiginaldialoguewhichappearsaslinesoftext，usuallypositionedtowardsthefoottothescreen．Subtitlesappearanddisappeartocoincideintimewiththecorrespondingportionoftheoriginaldialogueandarealmostalwaysaddedtothescreenimageatalaterdateasapost-productionactivity”(1991,p.31).AccordingtoWebster,subtitleis“aprintedstatementoffragmentofdialogueappearingonthescreenbetweenthescenesofasilentmotionpictureorappearingastranslationatthebottomofthescreenduringthescenesofamotionpictureortelevisionshowinaforeignlanguage”(1997,p.1175).InSzarkows‟sopinion,subtitlesarethewrittenversionofthedialogueinthetargetlanguage,andusuallyappearintwolinesatthefootofthescreensimultaneouslywiththedialogueornarrationinthesourcelanguage.(Szarkows,2005).2.1.2TypesofSubtitleAccordingtodifferentstandards,subtitlescanbecategorizedintodifferenttypes.Firstly,itcouldbedividedintointra-lingualsubtitlesandinter-lingualsubtitles.Intra-lingualsubtitlesrefertothosewhosetargetlanguageisthesameasthelanguageusedinsourceprogrammes.Suchsubtitlesareusuallyusedinhelpingthehearing5 impairedandlanguagelearners.Inter-lingualsubtitlesrefertothosewhosetargetlanguageisdifferentfromthesourcelanguage，andsubtitlersshouldtranslatefromtheoriginallanguagetotargetlanguage.Inter-lingualsubtitlesappearatthebottomofthescreenwiththecorrespondingpictureanddialogue.Atthesametime,itcouldalsobetreatedasintra-culturalsubtitlesandinter-culturalsubtitlesbecausealanguageisusuallyboundwithitsculture.2.1.3FeaturesofSubtitleAsabranchofliterarytranslation,subtitletranslationsharescertainsamebasicfeatureswithliterarytranslation.However,movieisaspecialformofart,itisacombinationoflanguage,voice,soundandsoon.Thepurposeofsubtitletranslationistomaketheaudienceunderstandandacceptthesubtitle,sosubtitletranslationhassomedifferentfeatureswhencomparedwithotherartforms.ColloquialismSubtitleisdifferentwithothertextforms,itservesforthespokenwordsandsentences.Ifthesubtitlesgiveaudiencethefeelingthattheywerereadingnewspapersornovels,itthenfailsitsmissiontohelptheaudienceunderstandthemovieeasily.Sothelanguagechoseninsubtitletranslationmustbecolloquial,easytounderstandandappliedwiththecharacter‟spersonality.Languagesinmoviesareoftenvividandsometimescarryconnotation.Itisveryflexibleforthespeakerstochoosethewordsandmakethesentences．Apartfromthat,sentencesindailytalkareoftenfilledwithexpressions,posturesandemotionalsignals.SubsidiaryAsmentionedbefore,subtitlecouldbedividedintointra-lingualandinter-lingual.Foraudienceswhosharethesamelanguagewiththemovieorwhoarehearingimpaired,subtitlesserveassubsidiaryequipmentforthemtobetterenjoythemovie.Andforthoseaudienceswhospeakanotherlanguage,subtitleisalsoasubsidiarytoolbecauseonlythroughsubtitlesaudienceswhospeakanotherlanguagecouldunderstandthesentences,story,emotionandthenthewholemovie.Itisveryimportanttohavethistoolbecausewithitshelp,moviescouldnotonlybespreadtoanyplaceinthisworld,theculturecarriedbythemoviecouldalsobeacceptedby6 audienceswithotherculture.Inthisway,differentculturescouldemergewitheachotherandpeoplewithdifferentcolours,ethnicscouldalsolearnmoreabouttheworld.CharacterizationCharactersinamovieplayveryimportantroleinamovie‟splot.Characterizationdemandsthatthetranslationcompliedwiththecharacteristicoftherolesinthemovie.Everyroleinamoviehasitssettledcharacteristicandmodeoflanguage,soitorderthattranslatorshouldchooseprecisewordseventonesinordertopreciselyexpresstherole‟sfeelingandideas.Thesubtitlershouldthinkandfeelliketheroleitselftograsptherole‟sdeepthoughtswhichareconsistentwithitsage,background,status，levelsofeducationandsoon.InstantaneousnessandPopularityTheoriginalsoundandvisualcontextarenotreplacedbytheexistenceofsubtitles,picturesandsubtitlesappearinstantaneously.Solackingofconnotationorintonationcouldbemadeupbytheoriginalsoundandvisiononthescreen.Itisthesubtitler‟stasktomakethesubtitleandtheoriginalpictureexistharmoniouslyonthescreen.Onesubtitlerusedtoexpressthatwayofsynchronizinglikethis:duetothelinguisticandculturedifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinese,wesometimeshavedifferentwordordersandevendifferentgesturesforthesamemeaning.Besides,synchronizationbetweensubtitlesandsoundpicture,subtitlersalsomaintainstylisticfeaturesinoriginalutteranceduringsubtitling,andproperlypresentpersonalityofcharacters,intentionandsocio-culturalbackgroundsoffilmthatcharactersbuiltupfromsubtitlescanbeconsistedwiththoseintheoriginal.Popularitymeansthatsubtitlesshouldbeacceptedbymostoftheaudiencewhichdemandsthesubtitleshouldavoidunduewrittenwords.Thusthesubtitlecouldwinmuchacceptanceandwelcome.ComprehensivenessAsacomprehensivepartofamovie,subtitle,couldnotexistwithouttheinteractionofsound,vision,andcharacters‟performance.Theyareknittedintoawholetorelateastoryandrevealatheme.Whensubtitling,subtitlersarerequiredtotakethewholemovieintoconsideration.Thustherequirementofasubtitlerisquite7 high.Thesubtitlershouldgrasptheabilityofdecodingthehiddenthoughtsbetweenthelinesandanalyzethevividfacialexpressiononperformers‟face,theeffectofthesoundtracksorthepropertyappearsinamovie.Inotherwords,anexcellentsubtitlershouldnotonlybeanexpertintranslation,butalsohaveproperpercipienceonallfacetsofmovies.Thus，foursimultaneouspartsshouldbenoticedduringtheprocessofsubtitletranslation,“theverbalauditorypart，includingdialogues，backgroundvoiceetc;thenon-verbalauditorypart，includingmusicandsoundeffects,etc;theverbalvisualpart，includingsuperimposedtitlesandwrittensignsonthescreen;andthenon-verbalvisualpart,thatispicturecompositionandflow”(Baker,2001,p.75).Ifallthesefactorsaretakenintoconsiderationbysubtitletranslators,thevariousmessagesofamoviemaybetransmittedbyanexcellentsubtitlerandmaybeahitamongmoviefansandresearchers.2.1.4RestrictionsofSubtitleThefunctionofsubtitlesistohelptheaudiencebetterunderstandthemovie,andasaspecialformoftranslation,therearesomerestrictionsofsubtitletranslation.AccordingtoTitfort,verbalandvisualchannelaretwoelementsthatcouldaffectthesubtitletranslation(1982).Inotherwords,whenpeoplewatchamoviewithsubtitles,theyareunavoidablydistractedbythesubtitleonthebottomofthescreen,whichcouldseparatetheaudiencefromthepictureordetailsofamovie.Sothesubtitlemustappearsynchronouswithwhatishappeningonthescreen.Thiscouldbecalledtextualorqualitativerestriction.Subtitlesshouldnotserveasahinderofamovie,andshouldnotinterferewithmovie‟seditpoints.Thewordschoseninsubtitlesshouldalsobeconsistentwiththeliterarystyleandpractice.Inaddition,spaceandtimearealsoimportantelementsrestricttheresultofsubititling.Thescreensizeisarestrictiontosubtitlebecauseinlimitedspacethesubtitlermustarrangethewordsperfectly.Generallyspeaking,thereshouldbeamaximumoftwolinesforEnglishandonelineforChineseatatime,sothechoosing,listingandamountofwordsareveryimportantintheprocessoftranslation.Ifsubtitlesonthebottomofscreenaretoolongortaketoomuchspace,theaestheticsandpersonalexperienceoftheaudiencemaybeweakened,andthewatcherscould8 notenjoythefilmastheyplanned.Sothesubtitlingmustbesimple,clear,adequateandconcise.Thesecondmajorrestrictionistime.Karamitroglouhasstatedsomeviewsontime‟srestrictiononsubtitling.Firstly,timereferstothedurationofsubtitlesandtimeofdifferentmoviesvaryfromeachotherbecausedifferentmovieshavedifferentsubtitlerate,speakingspeed,lagging,delayorshortchangesinsubtitles.What‟smore,thedurationofsubtitleisrelatedtotheamountofwords.Basicallyafulltwolinesubtitlecontaining14-16wordsshouldremainonthescreenforamaximumtimeofsomethinglessthan5l/2seconds.Therefore,theaveragetimeofbrowsingsubtitlesshouldalsobecontrolled(Karamitroglou,1998).Besides,Guardinibelievedthatthetimeofthepresentationofsubtitleismainlydeterminedbythedurationoftheutteranceintheoriginalversion,thereadingspeedoftheviewers,thevisualinformationgivenonthescreen,whichalsoneedstobeperceivedclearlybytheviewer,andtheutterancestyleadoptedinthefilm(Guardini,1998).2.2InadequaciesinSubtitleTranslationItisagoodsignalthatmoreandmoremoviesareimportedfromothercountriesandmorepeopleendeavourtoimprovetheindustry,includingthequantityofsubtitlersandthequalityofsubtitletranslation.Besides,theenormousimportedHollywoodfilmsverifyitsresearchvalue.Thesemoviesandprogrammesarethepreciousproductionofthousandsofstaffinmovieindustry,soaresponsibletranslatororsubtitlershouldengagedinre-expressingtheoriginalessenceoftheproductsandmakingtheirownculturewell-knownintheworld.However,therearestillsomeinadequaciesinthisarea.Basicmistakes,suchasmisunderstanding,choosingwrongwordsstilloccasionallyappearinsubtitleswhichhindertheunderstandingoftheaudienceandthenimpedethemovie‟sspread.What‟smore,boththequantityandthequalityofstudiesonfilmsubtitletranslationinChinaarenotsatisfying.Fromtheperspectiveofquantity,studiesonfilmsubtitlesconstituteaverysmallpartofthefilmtranslationstudies.Andfromtheperspectiveofquality,9 fewresearchesarepublishedonCSSCIorSSCIjournals.Apartfromthese,scholars‟focusismainlyontitletranslation,dubbing,andsubtitletranslation.Amongthemtitletranslationgraspsmostattention:abouthalfoftheresearchesconcerningit,andnearlytwentypercentoftheresearchesareaboutsubtitletranslation.Translatorsorsubtitlers‟capabilityplaysaveryimportantroleintheprocessofsubtitletranslation.Aresponsibletranslatorcouldnotonlyconveytheoriginalmeaningofthelines,butalsomakethesubtitlesconsistentwiththesound,picture,person‟scharacteristicofthefilm.Sometimestranslator‟sirresponsibilityandlackingofprofessionalknowledgemayleadtosomewrongtranslationorimpropertranslation.Sometimessometranslatorsareonlypursuingtranslationspeedortheyjusttreattranslationasatoolofmakingmoney,sothequalityofthesubtitletranslationisunavoidablynotsatisfying.Forinstance,insci-fimovieHollowMan‟ssubtitle,thesentence“AndI'llassureyouourpatienceisrunningout”wasoncemistranslated.Theword“patience”wastranslatedinto“patient”bythetranslator,whichdefinitelydistorttheoriginalmeaningofthewordandtheaudiencewouldgetconfused,evenhaveawrongunderstandingofthemovie.Sowecouldseethatalthoughtheimportanceoffilmtranslationisrecognizedbyscholars,thequantityandqualityoftheresearchesofthisfieldarestilltobeimproved.10 ChapterThreeAREVIEWOFSKOPOSTHEORY3.1IntroductionofSkopostheoryIn1970sand1980s,somescholarsinGermanycasttheirglimpseonfunctionalismandcommunicativeapproachtoanalyzetranslation.Atthattimescholarsbegantoshiftfrompredominantlylinguistictranslationtheoriestofunctionalconceptoftranslation.Thisshiftdrewinspirationfromcommunicationtheory,actiontheory,textlinguisticsandtexttheory,aswellasfrommovementsinliterarystudiestowardsreceptiontheories(Baker,2004,p.235).AmongthemKatharinaReiss,Holz-Mänttäri,HansJ.VermeerandChristianeNordaretherepresentativesofthisschool.SkoposistheGreekwordfor„aim‟or„purpose‟andwasintroducedintotranslationtheoryinthe1970sbyHansJ.Vermeerasatechnicaltermforthepurposeofatranslationandoftheactionoftranslating(Jeremy,2001,p.79).Theskopostheoryispartofatheoryoftransaltionalaction.TherepresentativeworkonskopostheoryisGrundlegungeinerallgemeineTransaltions-theorie(GroundworkforaGeneralTheoryofTranslation‟).ThepurposeofthetranslationisthecoreofSkopostheorybecauseitexertsalotofinfluenceonchoosingtranslationmethodsandstrategies.Aproperstrategycouldleadtoafunctionallyadequateresult.InVermeer‟sopinion,translationisnotmerelyandnotevenalinguisticprocess.Translationisanactofhumanbeings,anactwithcertainpurpose,onlylinguisticscouldnotsolvetheproblems.Anyformoftranslationalaction,includingtranslationitself,maybeconceivedasanaction,asthenameimplies(Vermeer,2000).Thus,anyactionhasanaim,apurpose.What‟smore,actioncouldnotexistalone,anactionleadstoaresult,anewsituationorevent,andpossiblytoa“new”object.Foranact11 ofbehaviortobecalledanactionthepersonperformingitmustbeabletoexplainwhyheactsashedoesalthoughhecouldhaveactedotherwise(Vermeer,2000,p.221).Whattheskoposstatesisthatonemusttranslate,consciouslyandconsistently,inaccordancewithsomeprinciplerespectingthetargettext.Thetheorydoesnotgiveadefiniteexplanationonwhattheprincipleis,whichmeansusingwhatprinciplemustbedecidedaccordinglyineachspecificcase.Besides,Vermeerpointsoutthreekindsofpurposesinthefieldoftranslation:thegeneralpurpose,thecommunicativepurposeandthepurposeaimedatbyaparticulartranslationstrategyofprocedure.ApartfromVermeer,ChristianeNordalsogivesherthoughtonthistheory.Accordingtotheculture-boundconceptofwhatatranslationisorshouldbe,people(i.e.initiators,readers,authorsoforiginals)infactexpectparticularrelationshipstoholdbetweensourcetext(ST)andtargettext(TT),whichoftenvaryaccordingtothetexttypeinquestion.Theseexpectationsmustbetakeninaccountbythetranslator.Soitisskopostheorythatfillsthegap.Notonlydiditaccountfordifferentstrategiesindifferenttranslationsituations,inwhichsourcetextsarenottheonlyfactorinvolved.Thisdoesnotmeanthattranslatorsarealwaysobligedtodoexactlywhatthereadersexpect,butthereisamoralresponsibilitynottodeceivethem(Nord,1991,p.94).Atthesametime,skopostheoryispragmatic,culture-oriented,consistent,practical,normative,comprehensiveandexpert.FromNord‟sdescriptionwecouldfindthatinthismovie‟ssubtitletranslation,thetranslatormaybelievethetexttypeisspecialandadoptsomespecificmeasurestotranslatethetranscript.Nordalsosayssomethingabouttheloyalty:IntroducingtheloyaltyprincipleintotheskoposmodelwouldalsosolvethesecondproblemIseein“radical”functionalism.ItconcernstherelationshipbetweentheSTauthorandthetranslator.Normally,authorsarenotexpertsintranslation,andthereforetheyarelikelytoinsistina“faithful”renderingoftheSTsurfacestructures.Onlyiftheybelieveinthetranslator‟sloyalty,willtheyconsenttochangesoradaptationswhichmaybenecessaryinordertomakethattargettext“work”inthetarget-culturesituation.Andthisconfidencewouldagainstrengthenthetranslator‟ssocialprestigeasaresponsibleandtrustworthypartner.Therefore,thefunctionalmodelpresentedhererestsontwopillars:“functioality”and“loyalty”(seeNord1991:28ff.and1993:17ff.)12 3.2RulesofSkopostheoryInReissandVermeer‟swork,theyproposesomebasicrulesofthetheory,aimingatsettingageneralrulefortranslators.Theserulesare:Atranslatum(orTT)isdeterminedbyitsskopos.ATTisanofferofinformationinatargetcultureandtargetlanguage(TL)concerninganofferofinformationinasourcecultureandsourcelanguage(SL).ATTdoesnotinitiateanofferofinformationinaclearlyreversibleway.ATTmustbeinternallycoherent.ATTmustbecoherentwiththeST.Thefiverulesabovestandinhierarchicalorder,withtheskoposrulepredominating(Reiss&Vermeer,1984,p.119).3.2.1RuleofSkoposAccordingtoNord,skopos,ortheTTfunction,isusuallyaffectedbythetranslationassignmentgivenbytheinitiator.Experiencedtranslatorssometimescouldalsodecidetheskoposaccordingtotheirplentyexperienceandthesituationoftheneedofthetranslation.Butforthosewholackexperience,a“translationbrief”isausefulforthemtoextractexpectedTTfunctionsfromthebrief.Thetranslationbriefshouldthereforeatleastcontainthefollowinginformation:thesender‟sintentions;theaddressees;thetimeandplaceoftextreception;themediumoverwhichthetextwillbetransmitted;themotivefortextproductionorreception(Nord,1996).Besides,Vermeerstatesthattheskoposrulecouldbeunderstandinthisway:theruleofskoposdemandsthatthetranslationshouldbeacceptedbypeoplewhowanttouseitandthefunctionofthetranslationcouldbeusedinproperway.3.2.2RuleofCoherenceThecoherencerulestatesthattheTT„mustbeinterpretableascoherentwiththeTTreceiver‟ssituation‟(Reiss&Vermeer,1984).Thatistosay,theTTreceivers‟background,knowledge,custom,andlanguageshouldbeconsideredandthetranslatedsubtitlesshouldbeconsistentwiththesefactors.IntermsofVermeer,thetargettextshouldconformtothestandardof“intratexturalcoherence”whichindicatesthatwhatthetranslatorcandoandshoulddoistoproduceatextthatisatleastlikelytobemeaningfultotarget-culturereceivers(2001,p.32).Asmentionedbefore,differenttranslationtasksmayhave13 differentends,nomatterwhatistheendofatranslationmission,andnomatterwhattheskoposatranslatorchoosesforthetranslationtask,thetexttranslatedshouldbeconsistentwiththetargetcultureandcouldbereceivedbythetargetreaders.3.2.3RuleofFidelityVermeerproposesthe“intratexturalcoherence”andtheruleoffidelitycouldbeseenasderivedfromtheruleofskopos.Fidelitydemandsthatthetranslatedsubtitlesadheretonotonlythesourcetextbutalsotargettextintheprocessoftranslating.Sometranslatorsbelievethatatranslator‟sresponsibilityliesonlyintransferringtheoriginaltextintothereceiver‟slanguagewithoutmakinganymistakes,thus,thefeelingofreceiversisignoredbythem.Theappearanceofskopostheoryhasbroughtreplenishmenttoothertranslationtheoriesanddemandedmorefromthetranslators.However,inNord‟sopinion,fidelitycouldnotbeperceivedas“loyalty”.Shebelievesthatloyaltyisoneofmanyresponsibilitiesthatatranslatorshouldpossess.Althoughloyaltyseeksabalancebetweenthesetwosides:thesourceandthetarget,itdoesnotmeanthatatranslatorshouldbeloyaltobothsourcetextandtargettextwhichshouldbeperceivedasfidelityorfaithfulness.Atranslatorwithloyaltyshouldfocusonthecultural-socialrelationshipbetweendifferentpeople.Itismorelikeaninterpersonalaction.Thethreerulesdiscussedabovecouldbeappliedtothewholeprocessoftranslation,andtheapplyingorderoftheserulescouldnotbebrokensincetheorderisarrangeaccordingtotheirimportance.3.3TranslationalActionBasedonVermeer‟sskopostheory,Holz-Mänttäriputuptheconceptoftranslationalaction.Holz-Mänttärigivesherdefinitionoftranslation,shestatesthattranslationisacomplexactiondesignedtoachieveaparticularpurpose.Shetreatstranslationinstrictsenseisakindoftranslationalactions.Thistheorycomesfromthecombinationofcommunicationtheoryandactiontheorywhichishopedtobeaguidanceanduniversalmodelfortranslationprocess.JustasNordputit,translationalactionistheprocessofproducingamessagetransmitterofacertainkind,designedto14 beemployedinsuperordinateactionsystemsinordertocoordinateactionalandcommunicativecooperation(1997).Translationalactionviewstranslationaspurpose-driven,outcome-message-transmittercompoundsinvolvinginterculturaltransfer:Itisnotabouttranslatingwords,sentencesortextsbutisineverycaseaboutguidingtheintendedcooperationoverculturalbarriersenablingfunctionallyorientedcommunication(Holz-Mänttäri,1984,pp.7-8;translated).Whenwelookatthewholeprocessoftranslationfromtheperspectiveoftranslationalaction,therearesomeimportantrolesandplayers,theyare:TheInitiatorEvidentlytheinitiatormeansthestarterofatranslationtask.Initiatorscouldbeaperson,agroupofpeople,anorganizationorotherswhoneedtranslation.Inmostcases,theinitiatorisapersonandcouldbecalledaclient.Aninitiatorcouldbefromthetargetculturebecauseheneedstheworktobespreadtootherculturalcommunity,sometimestheinitiatorcouldalsofromthesourceculture.Thustranslatorsarecommendedtojudgewhatkindofskoposisandwhatstrategytheyshouldtakeafterconsideringthepossibleintentionoftheinitiator.Asainitiator,heisresponsibleforofferingasmanyasdetailsaspossibleontheend,background,place,time,specialpoints,andthefunctionthetextisintendedtohave.Actuallytheseshouldappearinawellpreparedtranslationbrief.ThecommissionerAcommissioneristhepersonwhokeepsintouchwiththetranslatorandpassesthemassagebetweentheinitiatorandthetranslator.Liketheinitiator,commissionerscouldalsobepersonorcompanyandorganization.Peoplemayhavesomedoubtsabouttheexistenceofcommissioners.Infact,commissioner‟sroleisalsoveryimportant.Commissionerscouldberegardedasthebridgebetweentheinitiatorandthetranslator.Initiatorscouldnotalwayspayattentiontoeverytranslationtaskandthelackofdetailscouldberemediedbytheexistenceofcommissioners.Inaddition,commissionerscouldalsoexerttheirinfluenceonchoosingproperskoposandtranslationstrategies.TheSTproducer15 Sourcetextproduceristhepersonwhoproducesthetextthatistoserveasthesourceforatranslationaction(Nord,2001).Sourcetextproduceristheoriginofthesourcetextsoheorshemaybeanindividualorinacompany.However,thesourcetextproducermaynotnecessarilyalwaysengageintheprocessoftargettextproduction.TheTTproducerThetargettextproduceristhetranslator.Thetranslatorplaysaveryimportantroleinthewholetranslationprocess.Inthewholeprocessthetranslatormayhavecontactswiththeentireroleintranslationalaction.Thetranslatorfirstreceivesthetranslationbrieffromtheinitiator,commissionerorthesourcetextproducer.Thenthetranslatedversionisformedthroughtheprofessionalknowledge.Holz-MänttäristatesthattranslatorialactionfocusesverymuchonproducingaTTthatisafunctionallycommunicativeforthereceiver.Thismeans,forexample,thattheformandgenreoftheTTmustbeguidedbywhatisfunctionallysuitableintheTTculture,ratherthanbymerelycopyingtheSTprofile.Whatisfunctionallysuitablehastobedeterminedbythetranslator,whoistheexpertintranslationalactionandwhoseroleistomakesurethattheinterculturaltransfertakesplacesatisfactorily(Holz-Mänttäri,1984).AccordingtoVermeer,thetranslator‟staskisto:analyzetheacceptabilityandviabilityofthetranslationbriefinlegal，economicorideologicalterms；checkwhetherthetranslationisreallyneeded；specifytheactivitiesrequiredforcarryingoutthebrief；performatranslationalaction，whichmayresultinatargettext，perhapsashortsummaryofthesourcetextor,inspecialcases,inadvisingtheclientnottohavethesourcetexttranslatedbecauseatranslationwouldnotservetheintendedpurpose(Nord,2001,p.21).TheTTuserTargettextuserisusuallythepersonwhousesthetext.Target-textuserisdescribedbyHolz-Mänttäriastheonewhofinallyputittouse,perhapsastrainingmaterialasasourceofinformationorasameansofadvertising(Nord,2001).Thereisawiderangeofoccupationthatcouldhavetargettextuser.For16 instance,sometimesstudentsfromtranslationstudiesmayusethetranslatedmaterialastheirsourceofstudying.Teachersmayusethetranslatedtargettexttohelptheirteaching.Thetargetuserisunavoidablyanotherimportantfactorwhichcouldaffecttheskoposofatranslationcommission.Theage,sex,background,culturalenvironment,statusandsooncouldallbedeterminedfactorsthatcouldaffectthetargettextproducer‟sresultofatranslation.TheTTReceiverThetargetreceiveristhefinalendoftranslationalaction.SomescholarsmaybelievethattheTTusermayoverlaptheTTreceiver,forexample,studentswhousethetranslatedmaterialforstudiesandwouldnotpassthematerialtoothersisatthesametimetheTTreceiver.Ontheotherside,aftertheTTuserusingthetranslation,theymaygivethematerialtootherpeople,thus,theTTreceiverappears.Targettextreceivermaybeareader,ascholar,acompanyoranorganizationandsoon.LiketheTTuser,theTTreceiverisalsoafactorthatatranslatorshouldtakeitintoconsiderationwhendecidingtheskopos,choosingpropertranslationstrategyandputupwithanacceptableresult.17 ChapterFourACASESTUDYONTWOVERSIONSOFSUBTITLETRANSLATIONINMENINBLACKⅢ4.1ABriefIntroductionofMeninBlackⅢMeninblackⅢisthethirdpieceoftheseriesmovies.ItispresentedbyColumbiaPicturesandstarredbyWillSmithandTommyLeeJones.TheboxofficeofMeninBlackⅠ(1997)andMeninBlackⅡ(2002)istotallyaboveonebilliondollarwhichmakesthecharacterinthismovie-JandKclassicfeaturesinmoviehistory.However,thesetwomoviecouldnotbebroughttoChina,sotheChineseaudiencearelookingforwardtothereleaseofMeninBlackⅢ.Finallythemoviethwasreleasedon25May,2012in3-DformatinChinamainland.IttellsastorythatBoris,thevillain,wantstogobacktothepasttokillAgentK,andAgentJ,inordertosaveAgentK,alsogoesbacktothepastandfightswithBoris.SincethefirsttwomoviesofthisseriesarenotreleasedinChina,thethirdmovieweightsalotinfansofthisseries.Definitelythesubtitlegetsalotofattentionbecausemostofthefansfirstconfrontwiththemovieonthescreen.TheversionreleasedincinemasistranslatedbyJiaXiuyan,atranslatorfromAugustFirstFilmStudio,whohastranslatedthesubtitlesofmanyfamousmoviessuchasPacificRim,Lilo&Stitch,andPrometheus.Besides,thesubtitletranslationisinitiatedbyChinaFilmGroupCorporation.Asanexperiencedtranslator,shehastranslatedmanysubtitlesofHollywoodmovies.WhatmakesherbeingdiscussedistheusageofinternetlanguagesorthelatestChineseslang.Thesubtitlestobediscussedinthefollowingpartarechosenfromtwodifferentversions.OneisJiaXiuyan‟stranslatedversionandtheotherisfromtheinternet.18 4.2AnalysisoftwodifferentsubtitleversionsunderthetheoryoftranslationalactionIntranslationalactiontheory,therearesomeimportantroleswhichcouldexertinfluenceontranslationprocess.Theyaretheinitiator,commissioner,STproducer,TTproducer,TTuser,andTTreceiver.4.2.1JiaXiuyan’sversionInJiaXiuyan‟stranslatedversion,theinitiatoristhecompanythatimportsandreleasesthemovie.Afterimportingthemovie,thecompanypursuesthebiggestprofitandtheaudience‟sacceptance,sothecompanywillstartthetranslationaltaskandfindthemostpropertranslator.Inthisprocess,thecompanymaycombineitsownrequestonthetranslationwiththeplotofthemovieandthendemandsthetranslatorofferappropriatetranslation.Thus,thechosentranslatormaybrewsomebasicideasontheskoposofthetask.Thecommissionerofthisversionmaybestafffromthefilmcompany,othercompanieswhichisprofessionalatdoingrelatedjob,evenindividualcouldbethecommissionerinsomecases.AsfortheSTproducer,thescriptwriterofthemovieisplayingthisrole.Infact,therecouldalsobeotherpossibilities.Forinstance,therearenoembeddedsubtitlesinthismovieandothertranslatorswhohavealreadysortedthesubtitleinEnglishwithouttranslatingit,andthenthetranslatorchosenbythecompanyisgoingtotranslateaccordingtotheEnglishsubtitle.TheTTproduceristhetranslatorherself,i.e.JiaXiuyan.Thetranslatorneedstotaketheskopos,translationstrategies,thefeelingsoffansandotherfactorsintoconsiderationsoastoproduceawell-acceptedsubtitletranslation.InChina,animportantprocedurethatcouldnotbeomittediscensorship.Aftertheproductionoftranslation,themovieshouldbedeliveredtoofficesinchargetobecensored.Sointhisprocess,stafffromofficesthatisinchargeofcensoringandfromthefilmcompanywhodeliversthemoviecouldberegardedastheTTuser.ThefinalreceiveristheTTreceiver.Sincemoviesincinemasarefor19 entertainment,theveryreceivermustbetheaudience.Inmostcases,subtitletranslationservesforthem.Sowemaycallthemadeterminantofchoosingskoposoftranslation.Otherslikestudentsorteacherscouldalsobeasubtitletranslation‟sreceiver.4.2.2InternetversionDifferentversionsofsubtitletranslationmayresultfromdifferentfactors.Thesubtitletranslationfromtheinternetalsohasdifferentrolesfromtheperspectiveoftranslationalaction.Firstofall,theTTproducer,orthetranslatoristotallydifferent.Thepurposeofthesetranslatorsmaynotonlybeearningaliving.Sometimestheytranslatejustbecausetheyhavestronginterestintranslatingsubtitles.Sowhenchoosingtheskopos,theymaybenotinfluencedbythetranslationbriefortheideasoffilmcompany.However,wemustadmitthatsomepeoplemaydoubttheirprofessionalknowledgeorexperience,andindeedtherearesometranslatorswhoarenotthatcompetent.Sothetranslationqualityofthewholeindustryshouldbeimproved.Theinitiatorofthisversionisuncertain.Thetranslatorcouldchoosetotranslateamovieoutofinterest,sointhissituation,theinitiatoristhetranslatorhimself;aheadofacompanyororganizationmaytreattranslatingsubtitlesasataskwhichshouldbefinishedbytranslators;teacherscouldalsoassigntheirstudentstodothis.Atthesametime,thecommissionerisuncertainaswell,peoplewhohavecontactswiththeinitiatorandthetranslatorcouldbethecommissioner.TheTTuserandreceiverofthisversioncouldbethesameorbedifferent,dependingontheparticularrolesthesetwokindsofpeoplewanttoplayintheprocess.4.3ComparisonbetweentwoversionsofsubtitletranslationTranslatorsmaychoosedifferentskoposforatranslationtask,sothechoosingwords,translationstrategiesmayvaryaccordingtodifferenttranslators,whichcouldcontributestodifferenttranslationofsentences,paragraphsandeventhewholetext.Thecomparisongoingtobemadeinthefollowingwillconcentrateonthetranslator‟s20 translationfromtheperspectiveofwords,sentences,dialogues.4.3.1WordsThechoosingofcertainwordscouldconveythethoughtofthetranslator,itcouldalsoformthesmallestunitoftranslation.HeretheauthorpickedoneconversationbetweenJandKfromthemovieandthencomparethetwotranslator‟schoiceonChinesewords.4.3.1.1Tooth&Claw&Hoof(Originalsubtitle):J:Seriously,I‟mnotevensurethat‟smeat.IthinkIjustsawatoothinthatthing.Oraclaw,hoof.K:Thanks.Manny.J:Thatdoesnotbelonginapita,itbelongsinacasket.K:Youknow,whatwouldgogoodwiththiswouldbesilence.J:See,hereistheproblem.Youcan‟tsmellitbecauseyournosehasalreadysmellslikethat,butmynosedoesn‟t.K:Silencegoesgoodwithalotofthings.(Jia’sversionofsubtitles):探员J:我说过几遍了，别随便吃路边摊。我真怀疑他们用的是地沟油、瘦肉精。探员K:谢谢。再见。探员J:真的，别吃了，想想都恶心。探员K:别让我倒胃口，我在吃东西。探员J:我是认真的，你闻不到那些臭味，那是因为你老吃，吃的太多，可是我能闻到。探员K:沉默是金难道你不懂吗？(Versionfromtheinternet):特工J:我说过几遍了，别随便吃路边摊。我真怀疑他们用的是地沟油、瘦肉精。特工K:谢谢。再见。21 特工J:真的，别吃了，想想都恶心。特工K:有点眼力价好吗，我在吃东西。特工J:我是认真的，你闻不到那些臭味，那是因为你吃的太多了，但是我闻得到。特工K:沉默是金难道你不懂吗？看你，话痨一个。InJia‟sversion,thetranslationofthefirstlineofJhasarousedmanydebatesbecauseoftheuseof“地沟油”and“瘦肉精”.Ifweexaminethosetranslationswiththestandardof“faith”,thenwecouldfindthereisnowordlike“路边摊”intheoriginaltext,instead,theoriginaltextsays“I‟mnotevensurethatismeat”,andthesentence,iftranslatedliterally,shouldbe“我都不确定那玩意是肉”.What‟smore,theoriginaltext“itistooth,orclaworhoof”istranslatedas“地沟油”and“瘦肉精”,butweallknowthereisnotalittlebitlinkbetweenthosewords,inotherwords,theoriginalsentenceischangedbythetranslator.Accordingtothestandardof“faith”,thismeansthetranslatorbetrayedtheoriginalauthorandbreakstheruleofloyalty.However,intheprevioussection,functionalistsaysthattranslatorsarenotalwaysobligedtodoexactlywhatthereadersexpect,butthereisamoralresponsibilitynottodeceivethem.Soifwelookthetranslationfromtheperspectiveoffunctionalism,itmaynotbesoinappropriate.Astheauthorsaidbefore,thefunctionalistsbelieveifcertaintextsbearsomespecialfunctions,thenthetranslatordoesnothavetotranslateexactlyasthereceptorexpects.Thesubtitlehereservesnotonlyaslanguagetransmitter,butalsotheculturetransmitter,sothetranslatormaythinktranslatingtooth,clawandhoofliterallyintoChinesecouldnotcomplywiththepurposeofapopcornmovie—entertainment.Thatistosay,thetranslatorholdstheviewthattheskoposliesinentertainment,notintranslatingwordbywordbecausepeopleincinemasarenotscholarswhostudyintranslationtheoryortranslationstrategies.Coincidentally,“地沟油”and“瘦肉精”weretalkedbythecrowdsinceaseriesoffoodscandalshadbeenexposedbythemedia,sothetranslatormaybelievethatthosewordscouldnotonlyexpresstheideaofuncleanfood,butalsomakethefilmmoreinterestingandcaterforthetasteofChineseaudience.22 Aswecansee,thetranslatorfromtheinternetalsochooses“地沟油”and“瘦肉精”toreplace“tooth”,“claw”and“hoof”intheoriginalsubtitle.4.3.1.2Hot(Originalsubtitle):Boris:Ratherhotinhere.MindifIopenawindow?(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):鲍里斯：穿这么多很热吧！让我帮你们开窗凉快一下。(Versionfromtheinternet):鲍里斯：很热吧。让我帮你们开窗凉快下。Inthissentence,theword“hot”istranslatedasputtingontoomuchclothebyJiaXiuyan,andtheothertranslatorjusttranslatesitasthetemperatureishigh.Evenweassumethatthemeaningofputtingontoomuchclotheistranslatedunderspecialskopos,itstillcouldnotbeseenasapropertranslation.4.3.1.3TheArcNetTheArcNetinthemovieisadefensesystemdesignedbyAgentKtoprotecttheearthfromtheattackofaliens.HereJiaXiuyantranslateditinto“Ａ网防御系统”,othertranslatorstranslateditas“阿瑞克网防御系统”.Hereboththetranslatedversionscouldnotexpresstheexactmeaningoftheword“acr”.“Arc”meansacurvedshape.SothetranslationofJia‟sversionjustusesthefirstletterofthiswordtorepresentit,theaudiencecouldnotunderstandrealfunctionofthisdefensesystem.Likely,thetranslationof“阿瑞克网防御系统”isjustatransferofpronunciation.4.3.1.4SugarHereisaconversationbetweenJandKafterJaskinghimaboutthepastofBoristheanimalandK.(Originalsubtitle):K:Youknowthemostdestructiveforceintheuniverse?J:Sugar?K:Regret.(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):23 探员K：你知道什么东西可以摧毁整个世界吗？探员J：原子弹。探员K：是悔恨。(Versionfromtheinternet):特工K：你知道什么东西可以摧毁整个世界吗？特工J：糖果？特工K：是悔恨。Thetranslationof“sugar”variesmuchinthesetwoversions.Fromtheworditselfitshouldbetranslatedas“糖果”.However,inJia‟stranslation,itgoeslike“原子弹”.Iftheword“sugar”doesnotcontainspecialculturalbondinthismovie,thenthetranslationof“糖果”mayconfusetheaudiencemore,soundertheskoposofmakingtheaudienceunderstandandacceptthemovie,thetranslationof“原子弹”maybetterservethepurpose.4.3.1.5TimeTravel(Originalsubtitle):AgentO:Timetravel,timetravel.AgentJ:There‟snosuchthingastimetravel.(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):探员O：就是穿越，穿越！探员J：噢，你穿越剧看多了吧。(Versionfromtheinternet):特工O：就是穿越时空！特工J：根本就没有时空穿越这回事。ThisconversationhappenswhenJtalkedaboutthestrangethingshappenedonhimselfandhisoffice.AgentOsaidthatit‟sbecauseJhasbeenthroughtimetravel.ThereactionofJtotimetravelisthathedoesnotbelieveinit.Jiatranslatedit“穿越剧看多了”,whichsoundslikequiteclosetoyoungpeople‟slanguage.Infactthiscouldleadtopopularityamongtheaudienceifevaluatedbytheskoposofaudience-oriented.However,comparewiththeotherversion,theoriginalmeaningoftimetravelhasdistortedanditbetraystheoriginalculture.24 4.3.1.6TimeJumpInthisdialogue,thetranslationoftime-jumpcouldbeseenasagoodtranslation,nomatterfromthepurposeofentertainmentorfromtheangleoftranslating.TheEnglishsubtitlesareasfollows:Jeffrey:Nowtakethis.Itgetsprettywindyonthewaydown.J:Thewaydown?Jeffrey:Witheyestearingup,it‟shardtoreadthedial.Plus,ithelpsyoulooklikearealtimetraveler,whichiscool.J:I‟mnotjumpingoffofthisbuilding.Jeffrey:Time-Jump!(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):杰弗瑞：给，拿着。从这跳下去一路风挺大的。探员J：从这跳下去？杰弗瑞：如果眼睛太疼就看不清数字了，而且戴上这个就更像穿越者了，酷毙了。探员J：我就是死也不要从这跳下去！杰弗瑞：穿要靠“跃”！Firstly,thetranslatorborrowedaChineseword“穿越”intothisversion.Besides,theoriginalEnglishword“jump”istranslatedas“跃”inChinese,and“跃”hasthesamepronunciationwiththeword“越”in“穿越”.Homophonyisperfectlyusedinthisword‟stranslation.Theskoposofthetranslatorcouldalsobeappliedhereappropriately.Sothisversionoftranslationisbetterthanthatfromtheinternet.4.3.2SentencesAsinglesentencecouldsometimesconveythetranslator‟sidea.Likethesentencebelow:(Originalsubtitle):J:Man,Iamgettingtoooldforthis.Icanonlyimaginehowyoufeel.(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):25 探员J：我已经老得受不了这种刺激了。你是怎么扛到现在的?(Versionfromtheinternet):特工J：我已经老得受不了这刺激了。你怎么干到现在的?BothJia‟sversionandversionfromtheinternetchoosetotranslate“Icanonlyimaginehowyoufeel”intothemeaningof“你是怎么干到现在的”,whichsomehowmis-translatetheoriginalsubtitle.Skoposisjustareferencethatguidesthetranslatortoproducethebestsubtitletranslation,itshouldnotaffecteverychoiceofatranslatorwhointendstogettheaudience‟sattentionbymakingamoviecontroversial.Hereisanexampleofover-translation:(Originalsubtitle):K:No.Leaveitalone.It‟saboveyourpaygrade.J:Wehavethesamepaygrade.K:Ithasnothingtodowithyou.Mindyourownbusiness.(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):探员K：不，你别管。你还没到那个级别。探员J：咱俩是搭档，级别一样啊。探员K：各家自扫门前雪，休管他人瓦上霜。(Versionfromtheinternet):特工K：不，你别插手。你级别还不够。特工J：咱们俩的级别一样啊。特工K：这事跟你没关。管好你自己那摊事儿吧。ThecontroversyappearsinK‟slastsentenceinthisconversation.Theyaretwonormalsentencesindailytalk.Sothetranslatorfromtheinternetchosetotranslateitinanormalwayandtriedtokeeptheoriginalmeaning.Itcouldbeeasilyunderstoodbytheaudience.AsforJia‟stranslation,aChineseslangisusedinhertranslation.Foraudienceincinemas,itmaybeafreshexperience,butafterthelaugh,itmakestheaudienceuncomfortableaswell.ItisundeniablethatthissentenceisclosetoChineseaudiencebyusingslang,butthetranslatorignoresanimportantfactor—theaudienceiswatchingaHollywoodfilm.Sotheover-translationherebringsbadeffectontheaudienceexperiencewhichbetraysthepurposeofamovie.26 Thenextexample,asfarastheauthorconcerned,couldnotberegardedasover-translationbutmistranslation.Theconversationgoeslikethis:(Originalsubtitle):J：Howdidyougettobelikeyou?Somethinghappened?K,whathappened?K:YouknowhowIlivesuchahappylife?J:Howyoulivesuchahappylife?K:Idon‟taskquestionsIdon‟twanttoknowtheanswerto.(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):探员J：你怎么会是这种性格？年轻的时候受过什么刺激吗？探员K：我只是活得有原则而已。探员J：你的原则就是沉默是金？探员K：对于我不想知道的答案我从来都不去问。(Versionfromtheinternet):特工J：你怎么会是这种性格？是受过什么刺激吗？特工K：你只是活得有原则而已。特工J：你的原则就是沉默是金？特工K：对于我不想知道的答案我从来都不去问。Firstofall,thesetwoversionsallused“刺激”totranslate“whathappened”whichcouldnotbestexpresstheoriginalmeaning.Besides,thereisnosignthatsomethinghappenedwhenKisyoung.Thenthenextsentence“YouknowhowIlivesuchahappylife?”istranslatedas”我只是活得有原则而已”byJiaXiuyan,whichtotallydeviatestheoriginaltext.AndtherhetoricalquestionofJistranslatedintoadifferenttoneandmeaning,whichcouldmaketheaudiencemoreconfused.Forthistranslation,thetranslatorfailstotranslatethebasicmeaningofasentence,nottomentionspecialskoposofthetranslationtask.4.3.3DialoguesOneofthesentencesfromJia‟stranslationalsoarosealotofcontroversyanddiscussionamongtheaudience.Theoriginalsubtitleislike:O:AgentKisdead.27 J:Well,Ijusttalkedtohimlastnight.O:Youareimagining.J:I‟mnotimagininganything.O:Ineedapsychteamuphererightnow.OtherAgent:Yes.Ma‟m.J:AquaVelvaAftershave.Ididn‟timaginethat.Well,everystakeout,endlesshoursofcowboymusic.Everymorningwithhiscoffee,andhe‟dsay,“Itellyousome,slick.Thiscoffeetastedlikedirt.AndIwassupposedtosay,“Whatdoyouexpect?”“Itwasjustgroundthismorning”.(Jia’sversionofsubtitle):探员O：Ｋ探员已经死了。探员J：我昨天晚上还在和他说话呢。探员O：你出现幻觉了。探员J：我没有。探员O：马上让心理小组上来。其他探员：是，长官。探员J：K喜欢用维尔瓦剃须水。这不是幻觉吧？K每次出去执行任务的时候，永远听着牛仔音乐。每天早上喝咖啡的时候，他都说：“不是我说，为什么要喝咖啡呢，里面有股土味儿”。当你问：“那你还喝？”他就会说：“如人饮水，甘苦自知。”(Versionfromtheinternet):特工O：Ｋ探员已经死了。特工J：我昨晚还跟他说话了呢。特工O：那是你的幻觉。特工J：那不是。特工O：马上让心理小组上来。其他特工：是，长官。28 特工J：刮完胡子后用维尔瓦剃须水。这不是幻觉吧？每次跟他执行任务的时候，没完没了的乡村音乐。每天早上他端着咖啡就会说：“不是我说，这咖啡里面有股土味儿”。当你问：“那还想怎样？”他就会说：“也是，早上才现磨的嘛。”ThisdialogueisbetweenAgentOandJ.JsaidsomehabitsofKtoshowAgentOthatheisK‟spartner.Hementionedthateverymorningwithhiscoffee,KwouldsaythecoffeetastedlikedirtandrepliedJ‟squestionwith“Itwasjustgroundthismorning”.Herethesentenceistranslatedinto“如人饮水，甘苦自知”.Jia‟stranslationofthissentencebringsusnowherebutconfusingbecausethereisnolinkbetweentheimageofcoffeeandtheinsidemeaningofthisChineseslang.InChinese,“如人饮水，甘苦自知”meansthattheindividualexperienceofapersoncouldnotbeimitatedorjudgedbyothers,onlythepersonhimselfcouldknowtherealfeelingofhisownlife.HeretheoriginallineonlyexpressedthecommentKhasmadeonthecoffee.Jia‟stranslationcouldnotmakesenseevenfromtheperspectiveofspecialpurpose.Socomparedwiththeinternet‟sversion,itcouldnotberegardedasaexcellenttranslation.29 ChapterFiveCONCLUSIONItisgoodtoseethatChineseculturecouldserveasaweapontoshowtheworldthepowerofChina,amongwhichmoviesconsumeapartofit.ApartfromChinesemovies,thosefromHollywoodorothercountriescouldalsoberegardedasthemessengeroftheirculture.Therefore,theimprovementofsubtitletranslationqualitygraspsalotofattentionfromscholarsandthemoviefanssincetherearestillsomeinadequaciesinsubtitletranslations.Theimprovingoftranslationqualitiescouldnotbeachievedwithoutthesupportofrelatedtheories.Accordingtoskopostheory,everytranslationalactionhascertainpurposeandthechoosingoftranslationstrategiesandtheresultoftranslationtasksarelargelyinfluencedbytheskoposchosenbythetranslator.Sothisthesisaimsatpointingouttheexistingproblemsinsubtitletranslationundertheframeofskopostheory.Accordingtoskopostheory，subtitletranslationisanactivitywithcertainpurposes．Theskoposofatranslationtaskcouldbeinfluencedbyafewfactors,sowithintherestrictionspaceandtime,subtitlersshoulddecideaproperskoposandchooseacorrecttranslationstrategytofulfillthetask.Amongmanytranslationtexts,subtitleisakindofspecialformbecauseitisrestrictedbytimeandspace,inaddition,sometimesamoviecarriessomeculturalsignals,whichwillexertinfluenceonthechoiceofskoposforsomesubtitlers.Soacomparisonmadebetweentwodifferentsubtitlesofonemoviewouldrevealtherelationbetweenthechoiceofskoposandtheresultoftranslatingsubtitles.ThemovieMeninBlackchosenbytheauthorhasarisenmuchcontroversysinceitsrelease.ThemaindiscussionaboutitliesintheusingofinternetwordsandChineseslang.Somebelieveit‟sinterestingandveryclosetothecurrentsituationin30 China,theinternetlanguagealsobringsnewideasintosubtitletranslation.Othersmaythinkthatthisleadstoover-translationorevenmis-translation.Throughthecasestudy,somefindingscouldbesummarized:firstly,differentinitiatorsmayhavedifferentinfluenceonthechoiceofskopos.TranslatorsfromcertaincompaniesororganizationslikeJiaXiuyanmaybeinfluencedbythepurposeofmakingprofitforthecompany,sotheskopossettledforaHollywoodmoviemaybepopularityandcontroversy.Translatorsserveonlyastheintermediarybetweenmoviefansandoriginalmoviesmayberesponsibleforexpressingtheoriginalideastotheaudience.Secondly,differentskopossettingtheninfluencesthechoosingoftargetlanguage.InJia‟scase,thetendencytotargetlanguageisslangorinternetlanguage.Attheend,thechoiceoftargetlanguagefinallydecidestheacceptanceofamovieamongtheaudience.However,thecasestudyheremadebytheauthorcouldnotcoverallthesubtitlesinthemovieandtheskopostheoryonlyservesasareferenceforstudiesonthissubject.ThemovieMenInBlackⅢhereisonlyastandardproductionofHollywood,itcouldhardlyrepresentallkindsofmoviesandallthesituationsinsubtitletranslation.What‟smore,itisdifficultforallthetranslatorsandscholarstoreachanagreementonuniversalstandardsofanexcellentsubtitletranslation.Asaresult,morestudiesandendeavourshouldbemadeonspecificsubtitletranslationtheoriesanduniversalstandardsfortranslatingsubtitleinordertobringmoreinsightanddevelopmentintothisfield.31 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