功能对等理论视角下的《破产姐妹》

1、题目：功能对等理论视角下的破产姐妹中言语幽默的翻译研究毕业论文OntheVerbalHumorTranslationinTwoBrokeGirlsfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalenceTheoryDissertationinpartfulfillmentofthedegreeofBachelorofArtsbyWEIXixiSupervisor:Prof.QINYonshengSpecialty:EnglishSubInstitution:SchoolofPolytechnicsHebeiUniversityofScienceandTechnolog

2、yJune,2015破产姐妹因其突出的个性和言语幽默受到越来越多观众的喜爱，是一部成功的情景喜剧。其成功依赖于创造性、艺术魅力和对幽默的喜爱。此外，其成功也离不开良好的翻译。通过其翻译，可以发现一些引导言语幽默翻译的因素，同时还有利于我国落后的幽默翻译状况。目前，还没有一套完整的理论或标准来指导或评判言语幽默翻译。本论文将从功能对等理论的角度出发，总结出一套言语幽默翻译的策略，为言语幽默翻译提供理论方向和技术支持。关键词：功能对等理论；情景喜剧；破产姐妹；言语幽默翻译AbstractTwoBrokeGirlsattractsmoreandmoreaudiencesbyprominentchar

3、acteristicsandverbalhumor,itisasuccessfulsituationcomedy.Ontheonehand,thesuccessreliesoncreationandartisticcharm.Itdependsonthelovetowardshumor.Besides,thesuccessisrelatedtothegoodtranslation.Itispossibletofindsomecluestoguidetheverbalhumortranslationanditisbenefitforthebadconditionofverbalhumortran

4、slationinourcountry.Atpresent,theverbalhumortranslationhavenotbeenvaluedandthereisnotacompletetheoryorstandardtoguideormeasurethetranslation.Thisdissertationwillanalyzethestrategiesofverbalhumortranslationfromtheperspectiveoffunctionalequivaleneetoconcludeasetoftheory.Itwillprovideatheoreticaldirect

5、ionandtechnicalsupportfortheverbalhumortranslation.Keywords:functionalequivaleneetheory;situationcomedy;TwoBrokeGirls;verbalhumortranslationThisworkisoriginalandhasnotbeensubmittedinsupportanydegreequalificationorcourse.DATEOFSUBMISSION:04/06/2013SIGNATURE:AcknowledgementIwouldliketoexpressmygratitu

6、detoallthosewhohelpedmeduringthewritingofthisthesis.MydeepestgratitudegoesfirstandforemosttoProfessorQinYongsheng,mysupervisor,forhisconstantencouragementandguidance.Hehaswalkedmethroughallthestagesofthewritingofthisthesis.Withouthisconsistentandilluminatinginstruction,thisthesiscouldnothavereachedi

7、tspresentform.IalsooweaspecialdebtofgratitudetoalltheprofessorsinForeignLanguagesInstitute,fromwhosedevotedteachingandenlighteninglecturesIhavebenefitedalotandacademicallypreparedforthethesis.Letmythankswouldgotomybelovedfamilyfortheirlovingconsiderationsandgreatconfidenceinmeallthroughtheseyears.Ia

8、lsoowemysinceregratitudetomyfriendsandmyfellowclassmateswhogavemetheirhelpandtimeinlisteningtomeandhelpingmeworkoutmyproblemsduringthedifficultcourseofthethesis.ContentsAbstractnChinese)iiiAbstractnEnglish)ivIntroduction1ChapterILiteratureReviewDefinitionofHumor22.StudiesonHumor53.StudiesontheTransl

9、ationofVerbalHumor6ChapterIIFunctionalEquivalenceTheoryDEnlightenmentofFunctionalEquivalenceGuidingVerbalHumorTranslation8ChapterIIITheFeasibilityofFunctionalEquivaleneeTheoryinVerbalHumorTOC o 1-5 h zTranslationinTwoBrokeGirls9I.ABriefIntroductionaboutTwoBrokeGirls10FeaturesofLanguageinTwoBrokeGirl

10、s11CategoriesofVerbalHumorTranslationinTwoBrokeGirls12Conclusion15References17IntroductionWiththeincreasingoftheinterculturalcommunication,thehumortranslationdeservestobeanintegralpartofculturalcommunicationbecausehumoritselfimpliesculture.Humortranslationisundoubtedlyplaysanextremelyimportantroleto

11、makedifferentcountryspeopleunderstandothercountryshumor.However,duetomuchhumorisunique,translatingsuchhumorbringsthetranslatordifficultieswhichisnoteasiertoconquer.Reviewingofthepreviousresearchonhumortranslation,theauthorfindstheuntranslatabilityofhumoroccupiesthedominantplaceinthisfield.Throughman

12、ytranslatorscontinuouslyexplorationandtranslationtheoriesdevelopment,functionalequivalencetheoryisusedonthehumortranslation.Comparingwiththetraditionaltheories,itprovidesanewwaytotranslatehumorinsitcom.Thisdissertationwillanalyzethesubtitletranslationtoexplorethestrategiesoftranslatingtheverbalhumor

13、takingEugeneNidasfunctionalequivalencetheoryasthefoundationonthecasestudyofTwoBrokeGirls.ThisdissertationalsomakeseffortstoletChineseaudiencesunderstandtheAmericanverbalhumorandenjoythesamelaughterandexperiencewiththeAmericanaudiences.Thisdissertationiscomposedoffourparts.Thefirstpartintroducesthere

14、searchbackgroundandmeaning.Thesecondpartisareviewofresearchonhumortranslationandfunctionalequivalencetheory.Thethirdpartistoconeludethecategoriesofthehumortranslationtakingthesitcom:TwoBrokeGirlsasanexample.Itwillanalyzethesubtitlefromtheviewoffunctionalequivalencetheory,asaresult,theauthorcaneonclu

15、dedifferentstrategiesofdifferentkindsofverbalhumor.Thelastpartisaconclusionofthewholepassageanditwillproposethedirectionofstudyingthehumortranslation.ChapterILiteratureReviewI.DefinitionofHumorHumoristhetendencyofparticularcognitiveexperiencestoprovokelaughterandprovideamusement,Thetermderivesfromth

16、ehumoralmedicineoftheancientGreeks,whichtaughtthatthebalaneeoffluidsinthehumanbody,knowashumours(Latin:humor,“bodyfluid),controlledhumanhealthandemotion.Peopleofallagesandculturerespondtohumor.Mostpeopleareabletoexperiencehumor.,tobeamused,tosmileorlaughatsomethingfunnyandthusisconsideredtohaveasens

17、eofhumor.Thoughultimatelydecidedbypersonaltaste,theextenttowhichapersonfindssomethinghumorousdependsonahostofvariables,includinggeographicallocation,culture,maturity,levelofeducation,intelligenceandcontext.Forexample,youngchildrenmayfavorslapsticksuchasPunchandJudypuppetshowsorcartoonssuchasTomandJe

18、rry,whosepurelyphysicalnaturemakesitmoreaccessibletothem.Bycontrast,moresophisticatedformsofhumorsuchassatirerequireanunderstandingofitssocialmeaningandcontext,andthustendtoappealtomorematureaudiences.12.StudiesonHumorLeadingbythetraditionaltheory:Superiority,ReliefandIncongruity,theresearchonhumorh

19、asbecomeamultidisciplinaryresearcharea.Especiallysincethelate1960sand1970s,therapiddevelopmentofpragmaticsandsemanticsattractssomedisciplinesstarttostudyonhumorandmakesalotofachievements,suchas:anthropology,linguistics,psychology,sociology,etc.Attardo(1990)explainedthehumorsproductionfromtheperspect

20、iveofbreakingGricescooperativeprinciple.Ritehiestudiedhumorfromthepointofcomputer.Hnahcer(1980)putforwardtheSpeechActtheorytoexplainthehumor.Raskin(1985)studiedthehumorfromtheScripttheory.Aiatrdo&Raskin(1991)turnedtheSemanticScriptTheoryofhumorintoGeneralTheoryofverbalhumor,thistheorycanexplainthelo

21、ngerhumorouspassages.Norrick(1986),Coulson(2001)studiedhumorfromthewayofframe-shifting.Jodlowiec(1991),Curco(1995),Larkin(2000)andYus(2003)explainedthehumorbytheRelevaneetheory.Giora(1991)introducedthehumorusingmarkedinformationrequirementandoptimalinnovationhypothesis.2Linguistics,sociologyandpsych

22、ologyhavefocusedonthestudyofhumorforalongtimeinChina.HuFanchousHumorLinguistics(1987)isthefirstbooktostudytheverbalsystematically.Therearethreebooksstudyinghumorfromtheproduction,understandingandfunctionofhumor,theyareSunShaozhensTheBasicPrincipleofHumor(1990),GuaTiansTheOperationoftheHumorLanguagea

23、ndGongWeicaisTheArtoftheHumorLanguage.Besides,ChenChunhua(1999)studiedtheproductionofhumorfromtheviewofverbalinferenee;NanZuomin(2000)studiedtheeffectofhumorfromthelanguageelementsvariationskills;LiuNaishiandXiongXueliang(2003)explainedhumorwiththeFacetheoryandthePolitenessPrinciples.33.Studiesonthe

24、TranslationofVerbalHumorHumorisalwaysahottopicdiscussedbyscholarsoveralongperiodbothathomeandabroad.Buntranslatabilityofhumorisdebatedbyscholarsformanyyears.3.1HumorTranslationAbroadSinceAristotelianandPlatonicage,humorhasbeenstudiedtheoreticallyinthewest.ManyWesternscholars,suchasKant,FreudandHobbe

25、shavepresentedtheirhumortheories.Foralongtime,thetranslatabilityofhumorhasbeenadisputeintranslationcircle,thustheresearchpaceisrelativelyslowcomparedwithothertranslationstudies,whichhasbeenexplicitlypointedoutbyJeroenVandaele.4HenriBergsondrewthedistinctionbetweenthehumorexpressedbylanguageandthecre

26、atedbylanguage.Hence,thelinehedrewbetweentranslatableanduntranslatablecontributedgreatlytothefollowingresearch.In1989,thecollectionofpapers,“HumoretTraduction(HumorandTranslation)”，presentedfocusingonthetechniquesoftranslatinghumor.Themaincontributorswereteachersandtranslatorsinuniversities.Itisalla

27、cknowledgedthatthepurposeofhumoroustextsistoelicitlaughter.Humortranslationshouldachievetheequivalenceofeffectsasmuchaspossible.NeubertandShreveemphasizetheequivalenceofeffect.5Fromtheirpointofview,equivaleneeismoreliketherelationshipbetweentextualeffectandcommunicativevalue.Despitethedifficultyofve

28、rbalhumortranslation,itstillcanbetranslatedfunctionallybypeoplewhohavethecapability.3.2HumorTranslationatHomeAlthoughalotofstudieshavedoneintheaspectofhumortranslation,mostofthemfocusonsomespecificcases.LiuMiqing,inhisbookStyleandTranslationholdsthathumorandpunarehardlytranslatable,duetocomplicatedn

29、atureoflanguage,whichhasuniquelanguagebackground,suchashistory,psychologyandculture.HealsoclaimsthathumorcausedbyrhymesishardtointerpretbygivingtheexampleofMarkTwainsfamoussentence-itwasasplendidpopulationforalltheslow,sleepy,sluggish-brainedslothstayedathome.6MaoRongguiclaimsthatthereexistthreediff

30、icultiesofsituation-dependenthumortranslation.7First,humorresultsfromthephonologicalormorphologicalswitchfromtheoriginallanguage.Second,humorproductioninvolvesculturalbackground.Last,humorproductionderivesfromthedifferencesinexpressionandappreciation.Fromabove,weknowthatbothLiuandMaoholdthathumorisu

31、ntranslatable.However,manyotherresearchersdisagreewiththem.OuyangLifengisoneofthesepeople.Accordingtohim,thepurposeofhumortranslationistoproducehumorouseffects,insteadofprovidingtheinformationaloflanguage.Thusintheprocessoftranslation,thetranslatorsshouldbefaithfultothewritersintention.Withregardtot

32、hedifficultiesinhumortranslation,heclaimsthatthefunctionaltranslationanddomesticationshouldbetheonlywaystotacklethedifficulties.8WhileSunYifengclaimsthathumortranslationshouldnotonlyconsiderthereceptorsculture,butthepsychologicalexpectationofTLreadersaswell.Andappropriatestrategyshouldbedefinedaccor

33、dingtoclearjudgementofTLreadersvaluesystems,culturalorientationandevenaesthetictendency.9Withalltheseconsiderations,humorcanbeproduced.ZhangGuangmingconcludestheobstaclesininterpretinghumordifferentsenseofhumor,thatis,comparingtothewestequivalent,Chineseislesshumorous;culturaldifferencesandtheinterp

34、retersnonproficiencyfortheSL(sourcelanguage).10ChapterIIFunctionalEquivalenceTheoryDItisuniversallyacknowledgedthatDr.EugeneA.Nidamakesgreatcontributionsforstudyoftranslationpracticeandtheory.Heresearchestranslationinscientificmannerandhisaccomplishesspecializingtranslationtheorycountingremarkablyin

35、moderntranslationstudies.Nidainitiatedfunctionalequivaleneetheoryinhismasterpieceinwhichfunctionalequivaleneehadbeentreatedintermsoftheclosestnaturalequivalenee.”Theconcept“dynamicequivalenttranslation”wasfirstputforwardbyNidainTowardaScienceofTranslation.“Insuchatranslationoneisnotsoconcernedwithma

36、tchingthereceptor-languagemessagewiththesource-languagemessage,butwiththedynamicrelationship,thattherelationshipbetweenreceptorandmessageshouldbesubstantiallythesameaswhichexistedbetweentheoriginalreceptorsandthemessage”.11Nidadefines“dynamicequivalenee”as“intermsofthedegreetowhichthereceptorsofthem

37、essageinthereceptorlanguagerespondtoitinsubstantiallythesamemannerasthereceptorsinthesourcelanguage”.12Theconcept“dynamicequivalenee”issupersededby“functionalequivaleneeinFromOneLanguagetoAnother.Thefunctionalequivaleneehasnoessentialdifferencesfrom“dynamicequivalenee”andNidamakesthissubstitutionjus

38、tforemphasizingtheconceptoffunction.InLanguage,CultureandTranslating,Nidacategorizes“functionalequivalenee”intotwolevels:theminimallevelandthemaximallevel.Itisimpossibletofindtwoleavesthatareabsolutelysameinthewholeworld.Completeequivaleneetranslationisunattainable.Nidastressesthatequivalenee”should

39、becomprehendedintermsofproximityinaccordancewiththedegreesofexactnesstofunctionalidentityinsteadofinitsmathematicalmeaningofidentity.AccordingtoNida,“functionalequivalenee”isaconceptthatrangesfromminimaltomaximaleffectiveness.Aminimal,realisticstateoffunctionalequivalence,couldbestatedas“Thereaderso

40、fatranslatedtextshouldbeabletocomprehendittothetextmusthaveunderstoodandappreciatedit.”13andamaximal,idealstateoffunctionalequivalence,couldbestatedas“Thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletounderstandandappreciateitinessentiallythesamemannerastheoriginalreadersdid.”14Thesearethedefinitionanddevelo

41、pmentoffunctionalequivalencetheory.EnlightenmentofFunctionalEquivalenceGuidingVerbalHumorTranslationVerbalhumortranslationisaspecialkindofsubtitletranslation.Itisachallengefortranslatorsbecausethedifficultyisfunctionalequivalenee.Thehumoreffectshouldbereservedaftertranslation,butinfact,itisverydiffi

42、culttoreservetheoriginalhumorduringtheprocessoftranslationduetothegreatdifferencesbetweendifferentlanguagesandcultures.Comparingwiththestandardtraditionaltranslationtheory,Nidasfunctionalequivaleneehastheplaceofinnovationandbreakthrough.Thetraditionaltranslationtheoryputstheemphasisonthemanifestatio

43、noflanguage,butNidapaysmoreattentiontothetargetlanguagereceiversresponse.ThegoodtranslationisthenaturalequivaleneebetweensourcelanguageandtargetIanguage,thatistosay,theresponseoftargetlanguagereceiverisequaltotheresponseofsourceIanguagereceiver.Therefore,thefunctionalequivaleneeisregardedastheimport

44、anttheoreticalbasisandevaluationstandardofsubtitletranslation.Thespecificimplicationoffunctionalequivalenceisusingthemostclosestandnaturalequivaleneetoreappeartheinformationofsourcelanguage.Themostimportantismeaning,nextisliteraryform.Functionalequivalencenotonlyfocusesonoriginallanguageortargetlang

45、uage,itfocusthetargetlanguagereceiversmore一thecomprehensionandresponseofreceivers.Inotherwords,functionalequivalencetheorymakereceptorsistotargetlansourcelanguageandtargetlanguageshouldbeidenticalmaximallywithsourcelanguageinaspectsoflanguageform,significance,styleandculturalconnotation.The“equivale

46、nee”infunctionalequivalencetheoryisarelativeconcept,notabsoluteequivalent.Influeneedbydifferentfactors,suchasideology,culturebackground,situationcontext,vocabulary,grammar,translatorsandtargetreceptors,itisimpossibletoachieveabsoluteequivalence.Thesubtitletranslatorsmustadoptflexiblemethodstoachieve

47、equivalence.Translationshouldmakereceptorshavethesamefeelingwiththeoriginalreceptorswhentheyareenjoyingtheplays.ChapterIIITheFeasibilityofFunctionalEquivaleneeTheoryinVerbalHumorTranslationinTwoBrokeGirlsI.ABrieflntroductionaboutTwoBrokeGirlsTwoBrokeGirlsisanAmericantelevisionsituationcomedycreatedb

48、yWarnerBros.TelevisionbyMichaelPatrickKingandWhitneyCummings.ItpremieredonCBSinAmericainSeptember,2011.ItsplotlinefollowsthemisadventuresoftheroommatesMaxBlackandCarolineChanning,whoarebothpoorandmaketheireffortstostartacupcakebusiness.Theserieshasreceivedamixedresponsefromcriticssinceitsdebut.Itsth

49、emesincludefriendship,povertyandentrepreneurialencouragementforthepublic.Itwasnominatedforthree2012EmmyAwards,winningforArtDirection.MaxisablackhairgirlworksinalowgraderestaurantinBrooklinofNewYork,shecanalwayssurpriseotherswithhersharpwords.ThenewwaitressCarolineisafashionableblondegirlwhoisinharmo

50、niouswiththelowgradeworkplace.OccasionallyMaxknowsthatCarolineusedtobearealladyinrichfamilyandhastoworkasawaitressafterherfatherbroke.Maxissharpinspeaking,butkind-heartedinside,shetakesCaroline,thentheybecomefriends.Althoughtheyareinthepoorenvironment,Carolineneverforgetstostartacareer.Accidently,sh

51、efindsthatMaxisgoodatmakingcupcakesandsheencourageshertostartacupcakebusinesstogether.However,startingthecupcakestoreneeds250000dollarsascareerfund,itischallengingforthem,thereforetheydevelopaseriousactionsaimatmakingtheirdreamcometrue.2.FeaturesofLanguageinTwoBrokeGirls2.1PopularSpokenEnglishTheser

52、iesissetintheWilliamsburgneighborhoodoftheNewYorkCityboroughofBrooklynanditchroniclesthelivesoftwowaitressesintheirmidtwenties.Inthisenvironment,thewords,phrasesandslangstheytalkrepresentthetrendofcontemporaryEnglishthatpopularizedincurrentreallifeespeciallyamongyoungpeople.ToChinesetranslators,thes

53、enewexpressionandcreativesentencestructuresinTwoBrokeGirlsarefarfromfamiliarcomparedtowhatweusuallylearnandreadinliteratureworksortextbooks.SothefirstjobsforChinesetranslatorsistoavoidmisunderstandingaboutthosepopularwaysofspeakingEnglishthatnevercanbelearnedfromanytextbooksinChinaandalsoneverbeoccu

54、rredtoChineseEnglish-learnersunlesstheyreallyknowaboutthemeaningofthemfromforeignmoviesandtelevisionseriesornativespeakers.ThefollowinglinesinTwoBrokeGirlsbothersometranslatorswhentheyheardthematthefirsttime.2.2DistinctandSharpIndividualizationOneoftheelementsleadingtoTwoBrokeGirlsgreatsuccessisthat

55、itisdistinctlyandsharplyindividualized.Everycharacterhastheirownuniquepersonalitycharacteristicswhichshouldbegraspedbytranslatorsforeffectivetranslation.CategoriesofVerbalHumorTranslationinTwoBrokeGirls3.1TheUniversalHumorToputitsimply,theuniversalhumormeansthatpeoplecanknowitunderanyculturalbackgro

56、und,inotherwords,itistheglobalmutualhumo匚Itcomestruenotfromthewayofprocessingthewords,butasmartcontraventionofpopularthingsorcommonsense.Besides,itisnotrestrictedfromtime,region,country,economy,background,genderorrace.Forexample,translatingtheChinesecrosstalkintoEnglishalsocanmakeforeignerslaugh;Chi

57、nesepeoplecanenjoythehumorfromtheGeorgeBernardShawsclassicwords.Thiskindofhumoroccupiesahugeproportioninsituationcomedyhumor.Thereisnoneedtoassociateonespecificculturalbackgroundorbreaktheheadovertheparonomasia,theaudiencescanenjoythehumoreasily.Theuniversalverbalhumorisarelativelysimpletocomprehend

58、ortranslatebecauseitalwaysexpressesthehumoreffectthroughexaggeratingthefacts,violatingthecommonsense,distortingthefactsorunexpectedmethods.ItcontainseveryaspectofdailylifewhichhassimilaritybetweenChinaandAmerica,sothereiscommoncognitionamongthem.Underthefunctionalequivaleneetheory,thetranslatorneeds

59、toreappeartheexaggeratedfactsorsomethingelsesimplyandhonestly,itisenoughtounderstandforthetargetreceptors.Theuniversalverbalhumorcanbereappearedfromthewayofliteraltranslation.Thepurposeofsituationcomedyisforentertainment,soduringtheprocessoftranslating,thetargetlanguagemustbeaccordwiththecharacteris

60、ticsofsourcelanguageandpursuesconcisionandfunny.TherearemanyuniversalverbalhumorinTwoBrokeGirls,theChineseversionreservesthehumoreffecttoalargeextentandachievesthefunctionalequivalenee.3.2TheLinguisticHumorThelinguistichumoristomakeamusementbasedonthecharacteristicsofIanguageitself.Punisoneofthemost