电影字幕的英汉翻译研究.pdf

廣剞 性 声明 本 人 声 明 所 呈 交 的学位 论 文 是本人 在 导师指 导 下进 行 的研 究 工作及 取得 的研 究成果 尽 我所 知 除 了论文 中特 别加 以标注和致 谢 的地 方外 论文 中不包 含 其他人 已经发表或撰 写过 的研 究成 果 也不 包含 为获得 中南大 学或其 他单位 的学位 或证 书而 使用过 的材料 与我 共 同工作 的 同志对 本研 究所 作 的贡献均 己在 论文 中作 了明确 的说 明 作者签名 日期 劝丨 1 年 il 月巧 日 学 隹 论 丈敕 权 使 用提 权 书 本 人 了解 中南 大 学有 关保 留 使用 学位 论 文 的规 定 即 学校 有 权保 留学位 论文 并根据 国家 或湖 南省有 关 部 门规 定送 交 学位 论 文 允许 学位论文被查 阅和借 阅 学校可 以公布 学位论文 的全部或部分 内 容 可 以采用复 印 缩 印或其它手段保存 学位论文 同时授权 中国科 学 技术信 息研 究所将本 学位 论文收录到 中 国学位 论文 全文 数据库 并通 过 网络 向社会 公众 提供信 息服 务 作 者 签 名 沟备岭 导 师 签 名曰 期 0 1 年丨 丨 月 l S 曰 电影 自其诞 生之 日起 就肩 负起 了传递信 息 传 播 文化 的使命 全球 化 的发展 不仅促进 了电影 工业 的繁荣 也逐渐 促使 电影走 上 了 世 界 的舞 台 因此 影视翻 译 在 中外跨 文化 交流 中扮 演着 越 来越 重要 的角色 但 是 影视翻译现状令人不满 这 与 电影市场 的繁 荣形成 了 鲜 明 的对 照 一 方面 影视 翻 译 仍 是一 个 相 对 新 的领 域 由于 缺 少足 够 的重视 现 有研 究不够 系统化 尽 管大 多数学者对 字幕翻 译 策 略进 行 了探索 但 是 没有 合适 的指 导原 则 很难对 其翻译 质 量进 行评 估 另一 方面 现 实 目睹 了当下字 幕翻 译 的质 量 良莠不齐 甚 至 拙 劣者亦 不鲜 见 字幕翻译者 的能力遭 受质 疑 鉴 于此 字 幕翻译 急 需相 关 的 理 论和 原 则给 予指 导 本 文在奈达 功 能对 能理论 的指 导下进行 电影字幕翻 译研 究 与 以 往 的传 统翻译 理论不 同 功 能对 等理 论把 接 受者 的反应 作 为最 高检测 标准 而 在 电影翻译 中 观众 的反应对 电影字幕 翻 译亦 是起 着 重要作 用 这 与功 能对等理论是 一致 的 另外 文 章也对 影 响字幕 翻译 的其 他 因素进行 了探讨 在微观 方面 作者 详细地 分析 了字 幕翻 译 的特 征 限制条 件及 功 能 这些特 性 向字幕翻 译 者提 出了更 多 的挑 战 在 以上宏观和 微观研 究 的基础 上 本 文提 出 了指导 电影 字幕 翻译 的五项 原则 当这 些 原则不 能 同时兼顾 时 作者也提 出 了一 些 建 议 以确保 字幕翻译 的成 功 同时 这些 原则也可 以用 作翻译 质 量 的评 估 标准 其 中 观众的反应一致原则是决定字幕翻译行为的最高准则 另外 本文也对英汉字幕翻译者提 出了几项特殊 的要求 以此来规范 字 幕 翻译 行 为 关键 词 字幕翻译 功 能对等 原则 要求 A b stra ct F ilm si nce its creati on has shouldered the m ission of delivering i nform ation and spreadi ng cul ture G lobalization triggers the boom ing of the fil m industry and m akes film s gradually flourish on the w orld stage A s a resu lt of that au diovisu al translation becom es m ore and m ore signifi cant in the course of intercul tural com m unication betw een C hina and foreign countries H ow ever the current situation of the fi lm translation is quite unsatisfactory w hich is in sharp contrast w ith the prosperity of film m arket O n the one hand audi ovisual translation is relativel y a new area R elevant researches are far from bei ng system atic for the short of adequate attention E ven though m ost scholars have turned thei r eyes on the subtitl e translation strategies it is hard to evaluate the quality of subtitle translation w ithout proper pri nci ples as guidance O n the other hand reality w itnesses m any inaccurate unprofessional and even aw kw ard translated texts of film subtitles A nd som e translators com petence is questioned T herefore theories and principles are urgently needed to guide the subtitle translation T his thesis conducts a study on film subtitle translation guided by N ida s functional equivalence theory D ifferent from the traditional translation theories functional equivalence theory regards the receptor s reaction as the highest evaluation criteria A nd in film translation the target audience s reaction to the target text is very im portant for the judgm ent of a film translation w hich has the sam e value w ith that of the functional equivalence theory B esides m any other factors infl uencing the subtitle translations have been discussed on the basis of this theory T he author also m akes a detailed analysis of the m icro aspects of subti tle translation i ncluding its features constraints and functions T hese aspects provide m ore challenges for subti tle translation G uided by the studies on both the m acro level and the m icro level this thesis put forw ard fi ve princi ples for subti tle translation B esides the author also m akes som e suggestions w hen these pri nci ples cannot m eet at th e sam e tim e in o rd er to m ak e su re o f a su cc e ssfu l tran slatio n o f film subtitles M eanw hile these pri nciples can also serve as the evaluation cri teria for the subti tle translation T he pri nci ple of the audience s response should be regarded as the suprem e overriding pri nci ple W hat s m ore som e special requirem ents for E nglish C hinese subti tlers have also been presented to regulate the subti tle translation practice K ey w ords Subti tling Functional E quivalence Principles R equirem ents C o n ten ts 摘要 A b stra c t In tro d u ctio n C hapter 1 Subtitle T ranslation as a Studying O bject 1 1 A B rief Introduction to Subtitli ng 1 1 1 D efi ni tions of Subti tle and Subtitli ng 1 1 2 C lassifications of Subtitling 1 1 3 C om parisons B etw een Subtitling and D ubbing 1 2 P rev io u s S tu d ie s B o th at H o m e an d A b ro ad 1 2 1 S tu d ie s A b ro a d 1 2 2 S tu d ie s at H o m e 1 3 Sum m ary C hapter 2 T heoretical C onsiderations 2 1 Subtitle T ranslation and E qui valence 2 2 Subti tle T ranslation and Style 2 3 S u b title T ran slatio n an d C u ltu re 2 4 Subtitle T ranslation and R eceptors C h apter 3 A D etailed A nal ysis of Subtitle T ranslation 3 1 Subti tling A Special G enre of L iterary translation 40 3 2 F eatu res o f S u b title T ran slation 4 1 3 2 1 Populari ty 42 3 2 2 Instantaneity 43 3 2 3 H arm ony 43 3 2 4 Space L im itations 44 3 3 C o n strain ts o f S u b title T ran slatio n 4 5 3 3 1 T ech n ical C o n stra in ts 4 5 3 3 2 T ex tu a l C o n stra in ts 4 8 3 3 3 L inguistic C onstraints 48 3 4 F u n ctio n s o f S u b title T ran slatio n 4 9 3 4 1 D eliveri ng Inform ation 49 3 4 2 Spreadi ng C ulture 50 3 4 3 A esthetic E njoym ent 50 3 4 4 R ealizi ng C om m ercial V al ue 51 C hapter 4 P rinciples and R equirem ents for Subtitle T ranslation 53 4 1 Principles for Subti tle Translation 53 4 1 1 Principle of Faithfulness and C onciseness 54 4 1 2 Principle of N aturalness 57 4 1 3 Principle of R em aini ng the O riginal Style 59 4 1 4 Pri nciple of C ul tural A djustm ent 62 4 1 5 Principle of Sim ilar R esponse B etw een Target and Source A u d ien ce6 5 4 2 Special R equirem ents for A Q ualified E C F il m Subtitlers 67 4 2 1 A esthetic A ppreciation 68 4 2 2 L inguistic C om petence 70 4 2 3 C u ltu ral A w aren ess 7 1 4 2 4 Sense of R esponsibili ty 73 C o n c lu sio n 7 7 B ibliography 80 N o tes 8 5 A cknow ledgem ents 攻读 学位 期 间主要 的研 究成果 目录 M A T h esis In tro d u ctio n In tr o d u ctio n P eople m ay not know w hen a new book w ill be on list but t hey w ill never m iss the inform ation about w hen a new m ovie m akes its prem ier F ilm is one of the m ost popular form s of m ass entertainm ent as w ell as a com prehensi ve artistic form skillfull y integrated w i th li terature dram a painting m usic dancing and photography It is w idely accepted by people of different ages social status cultural and educational backgrounds F or m any people fil m is a good w ay for entertainm ent for som e others film is an im portant channel to know m ore about the outside w orld In a w ord fil m plays a crucial par t in our dail y life In 1929 the first sound m ovie L i ght s of N ew York cam e into being in A m erica Since then people tried various w ays to assist their language transfer to overcom e language and cul tural barriers w hich interfere thei r understanding of the foreign fil m s T hus began a new area of translation nam ely audiovisual translation A V T W i th the developm ent of technology and the em ergence of Internet people can enjoy film s and T V show s through various w ays either i n front of a com puter or a big screen T he policies of reform and opening up to the outside w orld m arked a rapid increase of the i nter cul tural com m unications betw een C hina and other countries A s an im portant 1 M A Thesi s I nt roduct i on form of cul tural exchange great attention has been paid to the audiovisual cul ture and a great num ber of foreign fil m s and T V plays are floodi ng into C hina M eanw hile som e excellent C hi nese m ovies have gradually appeared on the w orld stage In this circum stance audiovisual translation has been needed i n a large scale and becom es indispensable in the process of cul tural exchange H ow ever the status quo of the translation of film s hasn t caught up w ith the prosperi ty of film m arket and audiovisual translation is relati vel y a new area A l though fil m transl ati on plays a cruci al part i n the field of translation scholars didn t m ake enough efforts on the audiovisual translation studies com pared w i th w hat they have done in the literary translation A nd studies on audiovisual translation get less attention both at hom e and abroad T he follow ing reasons can account for this discrepancy F irstl y scholars w ould rather devote their energy to the developm ent of an abstract translation theory than m ake the em pirical study of actual translation let alone the translation of film s Secondly cult ural prestige is the basic consideration of m any scholars and t ranslation theorists for selecting thei r studyi ng objects A nd i t is thought m ore prestigious to study literary w orks than to study popular li terature such as film translation D irk D elabasti ta 1990 Fortunatel y great changes have been view ed due to the econom ic and social developm ent and audiovisual translation begi ns to attract som e experts attention w i th 2 M A T h esis In tro d u ctio n people s graduall y i ncreasi ng dem ands Som e i nsti tutions and scholars start to focus on i t and m ake great accom plishm ent i n the studies of audiovisual translation A nd audiovisual translation graduall y gets its proper place A udiovisual translation can be divided i nto tw o m ain categories subti tling and dubbi ng T he form er one is visual relati ng to the presentation of w ri tten texts on the film screen The latter is oral W i th the consideration of thei r respective populari ties costs and com plexi ties this thesis m ainly focuses on the study of subtitle translation T his does not indicate that dubbing isn t w orthy of studying In fact m ost of the audiovisual translation studies in the past decades place thei r em phasis on dubbi ng T herefore studies on subtitle translation still have a lot of v acan cies to b e filled in A s for the status quo of subtitling m ovie fans are aw are of that there are only a few w ebsites w hich offers film subti tles by som e professional translation groups but these sites grant som e perm ission to subm it subti tles by m ovie fans i n a free w ay A s a resul t one can find various versions of subti tles for a fil m Som e of the target versions are com pleted onl y in a few hours thus qualities of thei r translations cannot be guaranteed W hat s m ore the L ondon Tim es has ever reported that som e E uropean film com panies sent their m ovies to India and M alaysia ei ther 3 M A Thesi s I nt roducti on for subti tli ng or dubbi ng i n recent years only for the sake of saving the costs of those film s B ut varied translation standards evidentl y degraded the film s quali ty and had som e i nfl uence on the audience w hich in turn lead to a substantial loss for the com panies B eyond that D eborah C han w ho specializes in translating C hinese m o v ie s m ak e s a rem ark th at th ere are so m e rid icu lo u s erro rs in film subtitles m aking both the audience and the film m akers suffer a lot T hese phenom ena are no exceptions reflecting the chaos of international audiovisual translation m arket T hus a lot of im provem ents should be carried forw ard am ong w hich som e theories are urgentl y needed to guide the process of subtitling A lthough there w ere som e traditional researches on film subti tling m ost of them are m ade on the basis of the scholars experiences In C hi na studies on audiovisual translation w i th few system atic theories as guidelines lag rather behind that of som e w estern countries let alone on film subtitling A nd relevant articles and w orks are rarel y presented w ing to such a back drop i t is very necessary but crucial to m ake a further study in this field so as to break the bottleneck for the film subti tling 4 M A T hesi s Subti tle T ransl ation as a Studyi ng O bject C hapter 1 Subtitle T ranslation as a Studying O bject N ow adays high technology and globalization boosts the developm ent of fi lm industr y O n this account subtitle translation studies have draw n an i ncreasing attention from scholars and translators B ut the status quo about subtitle translation is far from satisfactory for the shortage of system atic theories as guidance In order to construct an adequate fram ew ork general studies about the subti tle translation should b e started as a b asis 1 1 A B rief Introduction to Subtitling B efore m aki ng a further study on subti tle translation w e should firstly have a clear understandi ng of the defini tions of subti tle and subtitle tran slatio n 1 1 1 D efinitions of Su btitle an d S ubtitling A ccordi ng to W ebst er s Thi rd N ew Internati onal D ictionary a subtitle is a pri nted translation of foreign language dialogue appearing near the bottom of the screen of a m otion picture or a pri nted statem ent or fragm ent of dialogue appearing betw een the scenes of a silent m otion picture Philip 1986 5 M A Thesi s Subti tle T ranslati on as a Studying O bject For the m ajori ty subtitles are regarded as the w ords printed on a film screen ei ther i n a native or a foreign language i n the hope of helping the audience to understand w hat is being said in the film In reali ty subtitles are just supplem ents i nstead of being the m ain focus of the view ers w hich can hel p the view ers to get the i nform ation and appreci ate w hat w e cannot get from the phonetic dialogue and visual picture A s for subti tle translation i e subtitli ng i t is a m ethod or technique of providing subti tles A ccordi ng to D ictionary of Transl ati on Studies Shuttlew orth 1 subti tli ng of dom estic program s for the deaf and hard of heari ng 2 subtitling of foreign language program s for language learners In the process of intrali ngual subti tling the subti tle translators only take dow n w hat is spoken i n the fil m and present them on the screen N o other languages are in v o lv e d Interlingual subti tli ng is not the case at all In this subti tling 7 M A Thesi s Subt i tl e Transl ati on as a St udyi ng O bject practice the subti tler should cross over from speech in one language to w riting i n another G ottlieb 1994 247 T hus both the form and the languages are changed A nother distinction can be draw n in term s of technical process of subti tling a O pen subti tling not optional It i ncl udes 1 cinem a subti tles w hich are ei ther a physical part of the film as in film s for public view ing or transm i tted separately for exam ple at festival screeni ngs 2 interlingual television subtitles transm i tted terrestriall y and broadcast as part of the television picture b C losed subti tling optional transm i tted as teletext T his type includes 1 television subti tles for the deaf and hard of heari ng selected by the individual view er on a rem ote control unit and generated by a decoder in the television set 2 interli ngual television subti tles transm itted by satelli te allow ing different speech com m unities to receive different versions of the sam e program sim ul taneously Ibid In this thesis the author confines her discussion to i nterlingual open subti tling w ith specific reference to C hinese subtitling appearing sim ultaneously i n E nglish film s 1 1 3 C om parisons B etw een Subtitling and D ubbing A s is know n to all audi ovisual translati on can be m ai nl y categorized 8 M A T hesi s Subti tle T ranslation as a Studyi ng O bject into tw o form s subti tling and dubbi ng Subti tli ng relates to the w ritten text onto the fil m screen D ubbing involves the using of the acoustic channel in screen translation N ow adays subtitling has gai ned m ore and m ore populari ty especiall y am ong the young generations T he follow ing reasons can account for this phenom enon To begin w ith subtitling com pared w ith dubbing is relatively c o st effectiv e in b o th lab o r fo rce s an d fin an cial reso u rc es T o su b title a film onl y one person is needed to translate the dialogues i nto the target language T hen the translated version is checked and easily transferred onto the film by professionals H ow ever to dub a film is not the case at all for the process of dubbing is far m ore com plicated In the fi rst place th e tran slator should offer the literal translations of the source text an d then the target versions of translations shall be com posed i nto dialogues by the adapters In this process lip synch should be taken into consideration N ext som e professional dubbing actors w ill be asked to revoice the dialogues L ast but not the least it is very necessary to have the dubbed versions revised and edited by the professional technicians O bviousl y the w hole dubbi ng process is very com plex as w ell as costl y W hat is m ore subtitling can m aintain the origi nal flavor of the foreign film s to the utm ost T he audience can receive the film inform ation as w ell as enjoy the foreign language w hich are also conducive to foreign language learners listeni ng and speaki ng abilities as the original voice is 9 M A Thesi s Subti tl e Transl ati on as a Studyi ng Object m aintained O n the fli p side dubbi ng w ill lose fidelity to som e extent T he dubbed voice som etim es sounds so queered that the audience w ill lose their interest in those audiovisual products T herefore subti tled film s are preferred by m ost people especiall y the youngsters H ow ever w e cannot draw a conclusion that dubbi ng is i nferior to subti tling as dubbing also has its advantages W hen w atchi ng a dubbed film audience s education background w ill never be a barrier W hether you are literate or not you can alw ays enjoy the film In addi tion the audience can pay m ore attenti on to the m ovi ng scenes rather than change their si ght from pictures to subti tl es w hich w ill pose som e hi ndrance to the audience s appreciati ng process O f course this cannot deny the fact that subtitle translation is becom ing an inevi table trend in both people s life and the audiovisual m arket B eyond