英美电影字幕翻译中的中国文化因素及翻译策略

Abstract

Nowadays，in the age of globalization, a great number of foreign films have been introduced into our country,especially,the English films which won the popularity.Film, as a kind of popular entertainment, is a “reflector”of the culture  of its society. Therefore,watching English films is an excellent choice,on the one hand,it can relax people who had a tough day of work or study,on the other hand,people can learn more from films than they ever thought they could be,including getting the knowledge about foreign languages and cultures.However,because of the difference of the languages and cultures,the number of people who don’t understand English well is large,and that is the reason why the English film subtitle translation becomes necessary in this process of information exchange.Some English films that were translated into Chinese are professional enough for people to understand the meaning of the movies and learn about foreign culture while others are not.

This paper firstly examines the definitions and unique features of film subtitle translation to have some general idea about subtitle translation.Only with better understanding of these constraints,can a translation have the possibility to be successful.Then the author discusses the cultural elements in film subtitle translation 

,and the last part of this paper talks about the translation strategies.

Keywords　English film subtitle translation;cultural elements; translation strategies

Contents

Abstract I

Contents I

Introduction 2

1. The Definition Characteristic of Subtitle 3

1.1 The Definition of Subtitle Translation 3

1.2 Linguistic Characteristic of Subtitle 3

1.2.1 The Sense of Brevity 3

1.2.2 The Sense of Colloquialism 4

1.2.3 The Sense of Character 4

1.3 Constraints of Film Subtitle Translation 5

1.3.1 Spatial Constraints 5

1.3.2 Temporal Constraints 6

2. Cultural Elements in Film Subtitle Translation 6

2.1 Word Sets and Cultural Connotations 6

2.2 Cultural-Specific Words 7

3. Strategies for Translating Cultural Elements in Film Subtitle Translation     7

3.1 Develop Translators’ Cultural Awareness 8

3.2 Solve the Problem of Constraints in Space and Time 8

3.3 Translate Cultural Elements in Film Subtitle Translation 9

3.3.1 Transliteration 9

3.3.2 Literal Translation 10

3.3.3 Paraphrasing 11

4. Conclusion 12

References 13