Abstract:Nowadays, the increasing foreign film and television works, especially network American TV shows flock into China. These TV shows not only entertain us but also contribute to our understanding of foreign culture. Because of the barriers in their languages, most audience often relies on Chinese subtitles to get relevant information. As a result, American TV shows subtitle translation shows a very important role in this cultural exchange. For now, the subtitle translation is usually done by some English amateurs, and some of them established Fansub group, but the quality of the subtitle translation needs to be improved. In this way, subtitle translators need some proper translation theory to guide their work. This paper will explore the related factors as well as strategies of subtitle translation on the basis of functionalist skopos theory through the case studies of the American TV show House M.D. Specific lines and their translations from different Fansub groups will be picked out and discussed.

Keywords: American TV show, subtitle translation, functionalist theory, translation techniques, skopos theory

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter 1 Introduction-1

Chapter 2 Subtitle-3

2.1 Definition of Subtitle-3

2.2 Types of Subtitle-3

2.3 Characteristic of Subtitle-3

2.3.1 The Sense of Brevity-4

2.3.2 The Sense of Colloquialism-4

2.3.3 The Sense of Character-4

2.3.4 The Sense of Synchronization-4

2.4 Constraints of Subtitle-5

Chapter 3 Skopos Theory-7

3.1 The Development of Skopos Theory-7

3.1.1 Reiss’s Text Typology and Translation Criticism-7

3.1.2 Vemeer’s Skopos Theory-7

3.1.3 Manttari’s Theory of Translation Action-7

3.1.4 Nord’s Text Analysis in Translation and Function Plus Loyalty-8

3.2 Rules of Skopos Theory-8

3.2.1 Skopos Rule-8

3.2.2 Coherence Rule-8

3.2.3 Fidelity Rule-9

3.3 Loyalty Principle-9

Chapter 4 Case Study-11

4.1 A Brief Review of the American TV Show House M.D-11

4.2 Analysis of Subtitle Translation of House-11

4.2.1 Conciseness-12

4.2.2 Individuality of the Character-12

4.3 Strategies of Subtitle Translation in House-13

4.3.1 Deletion-13

4.3.2 Adaptation-13

4.3.3 Literal Translation-15

4.3.4 Expansion-15

Chapter 5 Conclusion-17

References-19

Acknowledgments-20