功能对等理论视角下的电影字幕汉译研究.doc

吉 林 农 业 大 学学 士 学 位 论 文题目名称：功能对等理论视角下的电影字幕汉译研究 学生姓名： - 专业年级： 英语专业08级 指导教师： - 职 称： 讲师 2012 年 05 月 25 日ContentsTitleIAbstract and KeywordsII Introduction1I Literature Review12.1 Definitions of Functional Equivalence12.2 Features of Functional Equivalence22.3 Development of Functional Equivalence Theory22.4 Contributions of Functional Equivalence Theory4III Film Subtitling53.1 Definitions of Film Subtitling53.2 Classification of Film Subtitling53.3 Features of Film Subtitling6IV E-C Film Subtitling Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory64.1 Functional Equivalence at the Morphological Level74.1.1 Coversion74.1.2 Amplification84.1.3 Omission84.1.4 Negation84.2 Functional Equivalence at the Syntactical Level94.2.1 Sentence Pattern94.2.2 Sentence Order94.3 Functional Equivalence at the Pragmatical Level104.4 Functional Equivalence at the Cultural Level104.5 Functional Equivalence at the Stylistic Level11V Conclusion12References13Acknowledgements15 On E-C Film Subtitling Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence TheoryName: Major: EnglishTutor: Abstract: With the process of globalization and the development of the internet, there are booming markets for the film and film translation. Recently, translation researchers and translators begin to focus on the subtitling translation. However, as a new branch of translation, film subtitling translation is still in its stage of exploration, and its practice has not obtained a systematic and theoretical guidance. There are a lot of wrong translations turning up in the internet. Eugene A. Nidas Functional Equivalence Theory, one of the most important translation theories, has been widely adopted by many translators since it was born. It is aimed that the translator should produce the same effect on his target readers as the source language author produced on the original readers. The theory can improve subtitling translation scientifically. This thesis attempts to do some research on E-C film subtitling translation from the perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory. With two films of Inception and Kung Fu Panda as examples, equivalence should be realized at the morphological, the syntactical, the pragmatical, the cultural and the stylistic level.Keywords: Functional Equivalence；subtitling；E-C translation 功能对等理论视角下的电影字幕汉译研究学生姓名：-专 业：英 语指导教师：-摘要：随着全球化的进程和计算机网络的发展,国外影视作品越来越多地出现在人们的生活中，而影视翻译的需求也不断加大,字幕翻译近年来逐渐受到学者和译者的关注。但作为一个新兴的翻译方向，目前电影翻译的发展还较缓慢，其翻译实践仍缺乏有效的指导和监督。而影视翻译的繁荣和错误百出的网络译文，迫切需要系统而成熟的理论指导。作为翻译理论中最重要的理论之一，尤金奈达的等值理论自产生之日起就受到译者的广泛采用，并取得了成功，它的目的是使译文在译语读者中产生的反应应该等效于原文在原语读者中引起的反应。这种理论可以科学的指导字幕翻译，从而改变字幕翻译良莠不齐的现状。本文旨在以此理论研究电影的字幕翻译，以功夫熊猫和盗梦空间为语料，提出字幕翻译应该在词法、句法、语用、文化和文体等方面进行对等。关键词：功能对等；字幕；汉译III IntroductionIn recent years, with globalization going on, the international communication and cooperation are developing rapidly. More and more people have come to realize the importance of cultural integration.Foreign films, one of the most influential media, are accepted by more and more Chinese audience. For most people, imported films are the most common way to have access to foreign culture and life styles. Therefore, the translation of imported films has been developed so rapidly and the importance of film subtitling translation becomes increasingly clear. However, the study on screen translation has seldom been carried out with appropriate theoretical frames. In view of this, this paper aims to carry out some research on film subtitling translation, from the perspective of Nidas Functional Equivalence Theory, with two films Inception and Kung Fu Panda, hoping to help to promote our film subtitling translations theoretical and pragmatic study. The thesis consists of five chapters: Chapter I serves as the introduction, briefly analyzing the background, purpose and layout of this thesis. Chapter II is the literature review of Functional Equivalence Theory, which discusses definitions, features, development and contributions of Functional Equivalence Theory. Chapter III is a general survey of film subtitling, including definitions, classification and features of film subtitling. Chapter IV takes two films of Inception and Kung Fu Panda as examples to study film subtitling translation at five levels: the morphological level, the syntactical level, the pragmatical level, the cultural level and the stylistic level within the framework of the theories discussed in the previous chapter. Chapter V is the conclusion of the thesis. Literature Review 2.1 Definitions of Functional Equivalence Functional Equivalence, also called Dynamic Equivalence, is a general principle that professional translators are supposed to follow. There are quite a few of translators and scholars who have contributed to the research and development of Functional Equivale- nce.Early in 1790, Alexander Fraser Tytler, in his book “Essay on the Principles of Transl- ation ”pointed out that “equivalence translation theory is that the merit of the original work is so completely transferred into another language, as to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt, by a native of the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who speak the language of the original work. ”(Tytler, 2007: 8) Eugene A.Nida proposes the “Dynamic Equivalence” and defined it as follows: “in such a translation, one is not so concerned with matching the receptor-language message with the source-language message, but with the dynamic relationship, that the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message.”(Nida, 1964:159) Later, he uses the “Functional Equivalence” to replace “Dynamic Equivalence”. Which means “The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it.” (Nida, 1986: 118)2.2 Features of Functional Equivalence Nida(Nida,1964：66)figures out the features of Functional Equivalence translation, which consist of “ equivalent, natural and closet”.1. Equivalent, which points toward the source-language message.“Equivalent” aims at representing the meaning of the original text message. The best translation tries to convey the original meaning through target language.2. Natural, which points toward the receptor language.For the purpose of similarity of response, the translation must be natural instead of “foreign”in terms of meaning and styles.3. Closest, which binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of approximation. (Nida, 1964:166)“Closest”indicates that equivalence in translation doesnt mean absolutely identity but means a kind of approximation. Equivalence between the Source Text (ST) and the Target Text (TT) on various degrees or in different aspects should be established.2.3 Development of Functional Equivalence TheoryEquivalence Theory has been developed for a long period. Early in1890, Tytler indicated the equivalent effect of translation. He proposed his famous three principles of translation and pointed out the goal of translation. In 1953 Emile Victor Rieu proposed Equivalent effect, which means“A translation which attempts to produce a dynamic rather than a formal equivalence is based upon the principle of equivalent effect”. (Rieu and Phillips, 1954: 754).Roman Jakobsons study of equivalence promotes the theoretical study of translation since he introduced the notion of “equivalence in difference” in 1959. In 1992, Mona Baker extended the concept of equivalence to cover similarity in the information flow of ST and TT, and the equivalence between ST and TT at different levels. Eugene A. Nida makes a great contribution to the modern linguistics and translation theory. Eugene A. Nida, an American linguist as well as a translation theorist, makes the distinction between Formal Equivalence and Functional Equivalence which is put forward in his masterpiece Toward a Science of Translating .Formal Equivalence translation is to make source language and target language correspondence as much as possible on form and content. That is to say, it focuses on these parts including: (1) grammatical units, (2) consistency in word usage, and (3) meanings in terms of the source context. The reproduction of grammatical units may consist in: (a) translation nouns by nouns, verbs by verbs, etc.(b) keeping all phrases and sentences intact (i.e. not splitting up and readjusting the units); and (c) preserving all formal indicators e.g. marks of punctuation, paragraph breaks, and poetic indentation. (Nida, 1964:20)However, it is hard to achieve fully Formal Equivalence in translation, especially concerning the culture elements, and sometimes it would distort the grammatical and stylistic patterns of the target language. In 1986, Nida proposed his Functional Equivalence Theory on the grounds of Chomskys TG grammar to replace the term“ Dynamic Equivalence” in the book From One Language to Another，Nida proposed that there are two kinds of definitions of Functional Equivalence: the maximal and minimal definitions. A maximal, ideal definition of Functional Equivalence could be stated as: “the readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers did.”(Nida, 2004:118) A minimal, realistic definition of Functional Equivalence could be stated as: “the readers of translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it.”（Nida,2004:118）Nidas Equivalence Theory has made great contribution to the modern translation studies.In China, the Functional Equivalence Theory is originated from Yanfu. His triple principle for translation, namely, faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance, which implies the equivalence between ST and TT, is very popular and influential. After Yanfu, Mao Dun once said: “Literary translation conveys the artistic conception of the original work in another language and enables the reader to be enlightened, moved and to undergo aesthetic experience in the process of reading the version just like he reads the original.” (Wang Bingqin, 2004:221) His idea is similar to Nidas Equivalence Theory. Qu Qiubai gave a more comprehensive statement in 1931: “A translation should introduce correctly the original meaning to the Chinese readers in a completely adequate way, and enable them to get concepts equivalent to those the readers of Great Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany and France extract from the original.” (Jin Di, 2000: 14)2.4 Contributions of Functional Equivalence TheoryEquivalence Theory has made great contributions to translation both in theory and in practice as follows:1. Avoid the possibility of misunderstanding and confusion which is caused by literal translation.2. The concept of “closest equivalence” means that there are differences between languages and cultures and it is impossible to achieve absolute equivalence. The equivalence in translation cannot be achieved in its mathematical meaning of identity but only in terms of proximity.3. Functional Equivalence provides a new way to evaluate the efficiency or adequacy of translation, i.e. from the response of the receptors. Nida initially proposes to evaluate the equivalence of translation by judging the responses of receptors. In 1980s, Functional Equivalence Theory was introduced into China and much favored by Chinese scholars in the academic field over the next ten years. The theory brings about the first booming modern translation thoughts period in China. Functional Equivalence Theory is so widespread and significant that translators apply it to different fields in translation practice. III Film Subtitling3.1 Definitions of Film SubtitlingFilm Subtitling is the words printed over a film in a foreign language to translate what is being said by the actors. The translated text usually appears in two lines at the foot of the screen simultaneously with the dialogue or narration going on in the source language. Merriam Webster defined subtitling as“A subtitle is a printed statement or fragment of dialogue appearing on the screen between the scenes of a silent motion picture or appearing as a translation at the bottom of the screen during the scenes of a motion picture or television show in a foreign language.”(Merriam Webster, 2008:872)And there are quite a few scholars who have given definitions to subtitling. Birgit Nedergaard-Larsen defined subtitling as“a special type of language transfer: a written, condensed translation of a predominantly spoken original language.” (Nedergaard-Larsen, 1993:212) Henrik Gottlieb defined subtitling as “the translation of the spoken (or written) source text of an audiovisual product into a written target text which is added onto the images of the original product, usually at the bottom of the screen.” (Gottlieb, 1994:104)In Dictionary of Translation Studies, Mark Shuttleworth and Nick Cowie described subtitling as“the process of providing synchronized captions for film and television dialogue.” (Shuttleworth and Cowie, 1997:161)3.2 Classification of Film SubtitlingAccording to different standards, subtitling can be divided into different categories .From the perspective of position, subtitling can be categorized into three types.1. Open credit titles which appears at the beginning of the film, includes the film title, director, leading actors or actresses, and major production members.2. End credit titles which appears after the main feature film, includes detailed cast, production members, sponsors and many other production information.3. Main subtitles which cover the main feature film.From a linguistic viewpoint, Gottlieb distinguished two types of subtitling: “intra-lingual subtitling” and “inter-lingual subtitling.”(Baker, 2004: 247)1. Intra-lingual subtitling is to convert the words of the film into the text and do not need to translate one language into another language, and this kind of subtitle is to serve the hearing-impaired spectators.2. Inter-lingual subtitling is the subtitling crosses over from speech in one language to writing in another, thus changing mode and language, and the subtitles are placed at the bottom of the screen, either centered or left-aligned.3.3 Features of Film SubtitlingAs Henrik Gottlieb, a leading authority on subtitling says that:” subtitling is visual, involving the superimposition of written text onto the screen.” (Baker, 2004: 74)Subtitling is a unique form of translation and has special characteristics: 1.written, 2.additive, 3.immediate, 4.synchronous and 5.polymedia. 1. Written is opposed to the spoken-nature, which is different from other kinds of screen translation.2. Additive means that in subtitling, verbal material is added to the original, in order to maintain the source language discourse.3. Immediate refers to the fact that in filmic media all discourse is presented in a flowing manner, which listeners, viewers, or readers cant control.4. Synchronous refers to the fact that the original film and the translated dialog are presented at the same time.5. Polymedial states the fact that at least two parallel channels are used to convey the total message of the original. (Gottlieb, 1992: 162)IV E-C Film Subtitling Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory According to the Functional Equivalence Theory and the discussion in the previous chapter, good translation ought to transfer the message into another language as faithfully and thoroughly as possible, so that the reader of the target language is able to have the same clear understanding and same strong feeling for the message as the reader of the original work. It is also the case with subtitling. The aim of subtitling is to transfer the message of the movies original language into subtitles of the target language so that the audience will completely understand and appreciate the movie.In translation, the Functional Equivalence should be carried out at the morphological, the syntactical, the pragmatical, the cultural and the stylistic level.In the following part, the two movies of Inception and Kung Fu Panda are used as examples to analyze the E-C film subtitling translation from the perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory.4.1 Functional Equivalence at the Morphological Level4.1.1 Coversion In the subtitling translation, we should abandon the form of peer-to-peer, i.e. give up word class equivalence and convert them into its corresponding word class, to seek Functional Equivalence.1. Verb to Noun (v.-n.)Example 1: We can train (v.) your subconscious to defend itself from even the most skilled extractor.我们提供潜意识防卫训练(n.)，能够抵御最高超的意念盗窃。（Inception）2. Noun to Verb (n.-v.)Example 2: It is a necessary risk (n.)有必要去冒这个险(v.)。(Inception)3. Adjective to Verb (adj.-v.)Example 3: It was never enough (adj.) for Tai Lung泰狼永远也不知足(v.)。(Kung Fu Panda)4. Adverb to Verb (adv.-v.)Example 4: But when Oogway said otherwise (adv.), what did you do?但当乌龟拒绝(v.)我的时候，你都干了什么？(Kung Fu Panda)5. Noun to Adjective (n.-adj.)Example 5: How can I ever acquire enough detail to make them think that its reality (n.)?梦境要设计的多详细，才能让他们感觉那是真的(adj.)?(Inception)These are just some examples of word class conversion and there are other types of conversion in actual subtitling translation. The translator should be aware of the importance of word class conversion in order to achieve the maximal equivalence of the subtitling translation.4.1.2 Amp