多模态话语视角下分析字幕翻译研究-以《造梦之家》为例

Chapter1IntroductionInaneramarkedbytherapidevolutionofinformationtechnologyandintensifiedglobalinterconnectivity,theroleofculturalproductsinfosteringcross-borderunderstandinghasbecomeincreasinglypivotal.Amongthese,filmsstandoutasauniquemediumthatencapsulatesanation’sculturalidentity,values,andartisticethos.Asamultidimensionalartform,cinemasynthesizestechnology,narrativeartistry,andsocioculturalreflections,servingnotmerelyasentertainmentbutasaconduitforsoftpowerdiplomacy.Againstthisbackdrop,thetranslationoffilmsubtitlesemergesasacriticalyetintricatetask,taskedwithbridginglinguisticgapswhilepreservingtheintegrityofthemultimodalelements—language,imagery,sound,andculturalnuance—thatcollectivelyshapeafilm’sessence.Thissectiondelvesintothesymbioticrelationshipbetweencinematicglobalizationandsubtitletranslation,contextualizingwhysuchtranslationtranscendsliterallanguageconversiontobecomeaculturalactofmediation.1.1BackgroundoftheResearchWiththecontinuousdevelopmentofinformationtechnologyandthedeepeningofeconomicglobalization,exchangesbetweencountriesarebecomingincreasinglycloser.Movies,asoneofthewaysofpeople’smassentertainment,carrythedeepculturalheritageandculturalrootsofvariouscountries,fromthestyleofvariousscenearrangementstothewayofspeakingofthecharacters,theimages,sounds,andwordsofeachscenecancreatefascinatingaudio-visualexperiences,allofwhichshowtheculturalsoftpowerofthecountry.Themovieisakindofcomprehensiveartformintegratingtechnology,art,culture,andsocialinfluence.Theanalysisandresearchofmultimodaldiscourseisnotlimitedtotext,butalsoincludesvarioussocialsymbolsystemssuchassoundandimage,aimingtoguidetheaudiencetounderstandthemeaningofdiscourseandcontextmorecomprehensively.Moviesubtitletranslationneedstodealwithvariouselementssuchaslanguage,sound,music,visualeffects,andactors’performancesinthecontextofthemovie,tobuildacompletemovielanguage,toconveytheemotions,connotations,anddeepcultureofthemovietotheaudiencetoensurethattheaudiencecandeeplyfeeltheemotions,coherentplotsandculturalelementsoftheoriginalmovieindifferentcontexts,topromotetheglobaldisseminationofthemovieandcross-culturalunderstanding.TheFabelmans,asemi-autobiographicaldramafilmdirectedbyrenowneddirectorStevenSpielberg,isaprofoundblendoffamily,dreams,andcinematicart,andhasbeenwidelyacclaimedsinceitsworldwiderelease,triggeringadeepresonancewiththeaudience'sfeelingsaboutpersonalgrowthandfamilyinfluences.TheFabelmanscentersaroundthecoming-of-agestoryofteenagerSam.Growingupinafamilyfullofcreativityandconflict,Samhasanalmostobsessiveloveformovies,alwaysweavinghisdreamworldwithhisfather'soldvideocamerainthebasementofhishome.Thefamilywasn’tperfect,butitwasthiscomplexityanddiversitythatfueledSam'sboundlessimaginationanddedicationtotheartoffilm.Astheyearspass,Samcontinuestoexplorehimselfamidfamilysupportandconflictandeventuallyfindshisvoiceandplaceonthepathofcinema.Thefilmtouchestheheartstringsofcountlessviewerswithitsdelicateportrayalofemotions,masterfulnarrativetechniques,andhomagetothehistoryofcinema,makingitbothaninspiringandthought-provokingmasterpiece.1.2PurposeandSignificanceoftheResearchThisstudyaimstoanalyzethestrategiesandmethodsofsubtitletranslationfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscourse,takingthemovieTheFabelmans,asaspecificresearchobject.Forexample,asubtleexpressionofacharactermayimplydeeperemotionsbehindthelines,andsubtitletranslationneedstocomplementtheimagemodalitywithappropriateexpressions;themusicmodalitycreatesaspecificatmospherethroughmelody,rhythm,andsoundtrackstyle,anditsinteractionwithsubtitletranslationisreflectedinhowtoorganicallycombinetheemotionsandculturalconnotationsconveyedbythemusicwiththelinguisticcontentthroughsubtitles.Multimodaldiscourseanalysisbasedonvisualgrammarcanhelpreadersexplorethedeepmeaningsinimages,whilealsoallowingreaderstobetterappreciatethebeautyofmoviepostersandgainadeeperunderstandingofthethemeofthemovie.Throughadetailedanalysisoftheinteractionbetweenthesemultimodalelementsandsubtitletranslation,thisstudyexpectstorevealhowsubtitletranslationskillfullyrealizestheeffectivetransmissionofinformationandaccuratelyexpressestheculturalconnotationsofafilmacrossculturaldifferencesinamultimodalcontext,andthenexplorethegeneralrulesanduniquefeaturesofsubtitletranslationintheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscourse,toprovidebothtargetedandhighlyoperablesolutionsforthepracticeofsubtitletranslation.Inthisway,thestudyexploresthegeneralrulesanduniquefeaturesofsubtitletranslationfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscourse,providestargetedandhighlyoperableguidanceforthepracticeofsubtitletranslation,andenablestranslatorstomakebettertranslationdecisionsinthefaceofcomplexmultimodalinformation.Intermsoftheoreticalsignificance,thisstudywillgreatlyenrichandexpandtheapplicationscopeofmultimodaldiscourseanalysistheoryinthefieldoftranslationresearch.Inpreviousstudies,althoughtheapplicationofmultimodaldiscourseanalysisinthefieldoftranslationhasbeenexplored,thereisstillagapinthein-depthresearchonthetranslationofsubtitlesforspecificmovies.ThisstudywillfillthisgapbyanalyzingtheexampleofTheFabelmans,exploringindepththeintrinsicconnectionbetweenmultimodalelementsandsubtitletranslation,furtherimprovingthetheoreticalsystemofsubtitletranslation,providingabrand-newwayofthinkingandauniqueresearchparadigmforthesubsequentrelatedstudies,andpromotingthetranslationresearchtobecontinuouslyandprofoundlydevelopedinthemultimodalperspective.Intheactualtranslationprocess,ithelpsthemtofullyconsidermultimodalfactors,suchashowsubtitleinterpreterscansupplementtheculturalbackgroundwithimageinformationwhendealingwithculturallydistinctiveobjectsappearingonthescreen.Throughtheuseofthesestrategies,thequalityofsubtitletranslationcanbeimprovedtopromotecross-culturalfilmandtelevisioncommunication.Atthesametime,high-qualitysubtitletranslationalsohelpstheaudienceunderstandandappreciatethefilmandtelevisionworkmoreaccuratelysothattheaudiencecanbetterintegrateintothesituationcreatedbythefilm,andimprovetheviewingexperienceinallaspects,thuspromotingthefilmandtelevisioncultureindustrytodevelopsteadilyinthedirectionofinternationalization.1.3ResearchContentandMethodologyIntermsofresearchcontent,thefirstfocusisonthein-depthanalysisofthemultimodalelementsofthemovieTheFabelmans.Attheleveloflinguisticmodality,notonlyshouldweanalyzethevocabularyuseofthelines,includingdailyvocabulary,technicalterms,dialectsandslang,etc.,butalsostudythegrammaticalstructureofthelines,suchastheroleofcomplexsentences,ellipses,etc.inexpressingthecharacters'emotionsandpromotingthedevelopmentoftheplot,aswellasthedistinctivelinguisticstylesofthedifferentcharacters,andexplorehowtorealizethepreciseconversionoftheselinguisticfeaturesintheprocessofsubtitletranslation,tomakesurethattheaudienceofthetargetlanguagescanfeelthecharmofthelanguagesimilartothatoftheoriginalmovieaudience.Forimagemodality,carefullyanalyzetheconstructionofvariousscenesonthescreen,andstudyindepththerichemotionsandimplicitmessagesconveyedbythecharacters’bodymovementsandfacialexpressions,andfindouthowthesubtitletranslationcanskillfullymatchtheseimageelementstomaketheaudiencefeelthesamelanguagecharmastheoriginalaudiencethroughthetextandthescreen.Intermsofmusicmodality,westudyhowthemusicsynergizeswiththesubtitletocreatetheuniqueatmosphereofthefilm,forexample,atthekeyplotturningpoints,thesuddenchangeofthemusictempoandthesubtitletranslationechoeachotherintermsoftoneandtempo,andhowtoenhancetheaudience'semotionalresonance.Secondly,thesubtitletranslationstrategyofTheFabelmans,issummarizedindepth.Fromamultimodalperspective,varioustranslationtechniquesemployedbythetranslatorindealingwiththerelationshipbetweenlanguageandothermodalitiesarecomprehensivelyanalyzed.Intermsofaugmentation,whenobjectsorsceneswithspecificculturalconnotationsappearintheimagesandarenotexplicitlystatedinthelines,howcanthetranslatorhelptheaudienceunderstandtheculturalbackgroundbyaddingexplanatorysubtitles?Thesubtitlingskillisreflectedinhowthetranslatorcanreasonablycutdownthesubtitleswhentheinformationonthescreenhasbeenadequatelyconveyedandthelinesarerelativelyredundant,toavoidinformationoverloadandensurethattheaudiencecaneasilykeepupwiththepaceofthemovie.Intermsofconversionskills,itisstudiedhowtranslatorscanconvertthelexicalandsentencestructureoftheoriginaltextaccordingtothecharacteristicsofdifferentmodes,forexample,convertingtheactioninformationshownvisuallyonthescreenintoverbphrasesorsentencestructuresthataremoreinlinewiththeexpressionhabitsofthetargetlanguageinsubtitletranslation,torealizetheeffectivetransmissionofcross-culturalinformation,whilepreservingtheartisticstyleoftheoriginalfilmtothegreatestextentpossible.Intermsofresearchmethodology,wemainlyusethecasestudymethod,takingthefilmTheFabelmans,asthecoreresearchobject,selectingalargenumberofrepresentativeclipsfromthefilm,includingclipsfromdifferentscenesanddifferentstagesofplotdevelopment,andcarryingoutin-depthexcavationanddetailedanalysisfromtheperspectivesofmultimodalandsubtitletranslation,tosummarizetheuniversallyapplicableandrepresentativelawsandstrategiesthroughthestudyoftheserichcases.Inaddition,combingwiththeliteratureresearchmethod,wesystematicallysortouttherelevanttheoriesandresearchresultsinthefieldofmultimodaldiscourseanalysisandsubtitletranslation,notonlycoveringclassicacademicworksandauthoritativejournalarticlesathomeandabroad,butalsopayingattentiontothelatestresearchdynamicsandcutting-edgeideas,toprovideasolidtheoreticalfoundationforthisstudy,andfurtherimprovetheanalyticalframeworkofthestudybyborrowingtheideasandmethodsofthepreviousstudies,toensurethatthestudyachievesahighlevelofscientificityandinnovation.Chapter2LiteratureReviewTheintersectionofmultimodaldiscourseanalysisandaudiovisualtranslationhasgarneredincreasingscholarlyattentioninrecentdecades,reflectingthegrowingrecognitionofcinemaasacomplexinterplayoflinguistic,visual,andauditorymodalities.Tocontextualizethetheoreticalandpracticalcontributionsofthisstudy,itisessentialtosystematicallyexamineexistingresearchtrajectoriesbothdomesticallyandinternationally.Bymappingtheevolutionofmultimodaltranslationtheoriesandtheirapplicationtosubtitlepractices,thischapteraimstoidentifygapsincurrentscholarshipwhilehighlightingtheuniqueopportunitiespresentedbyTheFabelmansasacasestudy.2.1CurrentStatusofDomesticResearchInChina,theresearchonmultimodaldiscourseanalysisandsubtitletranslationhasmaderemarkableprogressinrecentyears.Withtheincreasingfrequencyofcross-culturalcommunicationandtheboomingdevelopmentofthefilmandtelevisionindustry,subtitletranslation,asanimportantbridgeforculturalcommunication,hasreceivedextensiveattentionfrombothacademiaandtheindustry,andmultimodaldiscoursetheoryhasprovidedanewperspectiveforitsresearch.“Thefilmisatypicalandcomplexmultimodaldiscourse,whichcombineslanguage,sounds,andimages.Therefore,itisnecessarytousemultimodaldiscourseanalysistostudythefilm.”Intermsoftheappliedresearchofmultimodaldiscourseanalysistheory,domesticscholarshavewidelyuseditinmanyfields,includingeducation,advertising,film,andtelevision.Inthescopeoffilmandtelevisionresearch,somescholarshavedeeplyanalyzedthesynergisticrelationshipbetweenlinguisticmodalityandothermodalitiessuchasimagesandmusicinmoviesandTVdramas,andexploredhowmultimodalelementscanjointlyconstructmeaningsandenhancetheexpressivenessandinfectiousnessoftheworks.Forexample,LanBo(2024)pointsoutin<CreativeRebellioninEnglishTranslationoftheLinesoftheFilmManJiangHongfromthePerspectiveofMultimodalDiscourseAnalysis>thatthroughthecomprehensiveanalysisofthecolorsofthefilmimages,thecharacter'smovementsandthelines,thethemesandemotionsconveyedinthefilmcanbeunderstoodmorecomprehensively.Inthefieldofsubtitletranslationresearch,domesticscholarshaveexploreditfromvariousangles.Earlystudiesmainlyfocusedonthebasicstrategiesofsubtitletranslation,suchasdirecttranslation,Italiantranslation,naturalization,alienation,etc.,andwerecommittedtosolvingthebasicproblemsintheprocessoflanguageconversion.Withthedeepeningoftheresearch,scholarsgraduallypayattentiontotheculturalfactorsinsubtitletranslation,exploringhowtopreserveandconveytheculturalcharacteristicsofthesourcelanguageintranslationandreduceculturalmisinterpretation.Forexample,LiJie(2024)’s<studyonsubtitletranslationofdocumentariesfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscourseanalysistakingthedocumentaryYunnanasanexample>proposesavarietyofeffectiveculturaltranslationstrategiesbyanalyzingthesubtitletranslationofseveralfilmandtelevisionworkscontainingculturallyloadedwords.Theresearchofcombiningmultimodaldiscourseanalysiswithsubtitletranslationisalsograduallyemerging,andsomescholarshavebeguntoanalyzethemultimodalelementsinsubtitletranslationbyapplyingmultimodaltheoryandstudyingtheirinfluenceonthechoiceofsubtitletranslationstrategies.Forexample,ZhangWei(2023)’s<Researchonsubtitletranslationofanimatedfilmsfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscourseanalysis--TakingFrozenasanExample>analyzesindetailtheinteractionbetweenpicture,music,andsubtitletranslation,andpointsoutthatsubtitletranslationshouldconsidermultimodalcontextstorealizetheeffectivetransmissionofinformation.However,thecurrentdomesticresearchonsubtitletranslationfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscoursestillhascertainlimitations.Ontheonehand,theresearchobjectisrelativelyfocusedonsomeclassicfilmandtelevisionworks,andnotenoughattentionispaidtonewfilmandtelevisionworks;ontheotherhand,althoughtheresearchmethodsaregraduallydiversified,thedepthandbreadthoftheresearchstillneedtobeimproved,especiallyinthequantitativeanalysisofthemultimodalelementsaswellasthecomparativeresearchofcross-linguisticandcross-culturalstudiesneedtobestrengthened.Generallyspeaking,theresearchonmultimodaldiscourseandsubtitletranslationinChinahasachievedcertainresults,buttheresearchonsubtitletranslationfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscourseforspecificfilmssuchasTheFabelmans,isstillweak,andthisstudywillfillthegapandprovidenewempiricalcasesandtheoreticalconsiderationsforthedevelopmentofthisfield.2.2CurrentStatusofForeignResearchInforeigncountries,theresearchonmultimodaldiscourseanalysisandsubtitletranslationstartedearlierandhasbeenfruitful.Withtheaccelerationofglobalizationandthedeepeningofcross-culturalfilmandtelevisioncommunication,theapplicationofmultimodaldiscoursetheoryinsubtitletranslationresearchhasbecomemoreandmoreextensiveandin-depth.Fromtheperspectiveoftheoreticaldevelopment,foreignscholarshavetakentheleadinsystematicallyconstructingandperfectingthemultimodaldiscoursetheory.Forexample,HanZhou(2023)’s<AMultimodalDiscourseAnalysisofEnvironmentalNewsfromChinaDaily>putsforwardthebasicframeworkofmultimodaldiscourseanalysis,whichclarifiesthedifferentrolesandinterrelationshipsoflanguage,image,sound,etc.,intheconstructionofmeaning,andprovidesagoodbasisforthesubsequentsubtitletranslation.Thistheoreticalframeworkhaspromptedscholarstorevisitthesubtitletranslationprocess,nolongerlimitingthemselvestotraditionallinguisticandtextualtransformations,butexpandingtheirvisiontotheentiremultimodalcontext.Itlaysasolidtheoreticalfoundationforsubsequentresearchinthefieldofsubtitletranslation.Intermsofappliedresearch,manyforeignscholarshavecarriedoutrichcasestudiesondifferenttypesoffilmandtelevisionworks.Incertainsceneswithstrongculturalbackgrounds,subtitletranslationneedstoskillfullycombinepictureandsoundelementsandmakeappropriateadjustmentstotheoriginaltexttohelptargetlanguageaudiencescrossculturalbarriersandunderstandthemeaningofthemovie.Inthestudyofmoviesubtitletranslation,ZeqiHe(2024)’s<TheInterpretationofFeminisminFeministMoviePosterfromthePerspectiveofMultimodalDiscourseAnalysis--TakingBarbieasanExample>isacasestudyofthetranslationofsubtitles.TakingBarbieasanExample>analyzesthefilmanddiscussesindetailhowtheimagemodes,suchasscenelayout,characters'facialexpressions,andbodylanguage,aswellasthesoundmodes,suchasbackgroundmusicandambientsoundeffects,cancooperatewiththesubtitletranslation,torealizetheaccuratecommunicationofinformationandtheeffectivedisseminationofculture.InthefieldofTVseriessubtitletranslation,XinyiZhang(2023)’s<AMultimodalDiscourseAnalysisofTVSeriesPoster-Reset>paysattentiontotheinfluenceofthedynamicchangesofmultimodalelementsonsubtitletranslationinconsecutiveepisodes,pointingoutthatTranslatorsneedtodealwithmultimodalinformationflexiblyaccordingtotherhythmofplotdevelopmenttoensurethatsubtitletranslationnotonlyconformstolinguisticconventionsbutalsosynergizeswithothermodes,toenhancetheaudience'sviewingexperience.However,althoughforeignresearchonsubtitletranslationfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscoursehasmaderemarkableachievements,therearestillsomeshortcomings.Somestudiesarenotcomprehensiveenoughintheanalysisofmultimodalelements,oftenfocusingonsomemajormodesandneglectingsomeminormodesthatalsohaveideologicalfunctions,suchascolorsymbolsandpropmetaphorsinthefilm.Tosummarize,foreigncountrieshaveaccumulatedrichexperiencesandachievementsintheresearchofmultimodaldiscourseandsubtitletranslation,butthereisstillarelativelackofin-depthresearchonthespecificfilmTheFabelmansfromtheperspectiveofmultimodaldiscourse.ThisstudyaimstodrawonadvancedforeignresearchideasandmethodstoconductsystematicresearchonTheFabelmans,tocontributenewinsightsandempiricalevidenceforthedevelopmentofthisfield.

Chapter3TheoreticalFrameworkAsamultidimensionalartformthatintertwineslanguage,imagery,sound,andculturalsymbolism,cinemademandsatranslationapproachthattranscendsconventionaltext-centricparadigms.TosystematicallyunravelthecomplexitiesofsubtitletranslationinTheFabelmans—afilmdeeplyrootedinautobiographicalstorytellingandcinematicmetatextuality—thischapterconstructsatheoreticalframeworkanchoredinMultimodalDiscourseAnalysis.Thisframeworkcollectivelyaddressestheinterplaybetweenlinguisticandnon-linguisticmodalities,ensuringthatsubtitletranslationisanalyzednotmerelyasalinguistictransferbutasadynamicnegotiationofmeaningacrosssensoryandculturaldimensions.3.1MultimodalDiscourseAnalysisThetheoryofmultimodaldiscourseanalysisemergedinthe1970sandwasproposedbyKressandVanLeeuwen.“Kress&VanLeeuwen(2001)believedthatimagesaresocialsymbolsandproposed‘visualgrammar.”ThetheoryisabrandnewformofdiscourseanalysisbuiltonHalliday'ssocialsemiotictheory.Thesocialsemiotictheoryisrootedinsystemicfunctionallinguisticsandcoversvisualgrammar,evaluationsystems,anddiscoursedomains.ZhangDelu(2009)pointedoutthatmultimodaldiscoursereferstothephenomenonofusingmultiplesensessuchasauditorysense,visualsense,tactilesense,andsymbolicresourcessuchaslanguage,images,sounds,andactionstocommunicate.“Multimodaldiscoursereferstothephenomenonofusingmultiplesenses,suchashearing,sight,touch,etc.,tocommunicatethroughlanguage,images,sound,movement,andothermeansandsymbolicresources.”Thismarksthedevelopmentofdiscourseanalysisfromthesocial-semioticstudyoflanguagetoanewlevelcoveringmultimodaldiscourse.Thedeepeningoftheresearchhasledtothegradualintegrationofmultimodaldiscourseanalysistheorieswiththetheoriesofotherdisciplines,suchascognitivelinguistics,pragmatics,aesthetics,andsoon,tobuildamultidimensionalandcomprehensiveanalyticalframework.Theseinterdisciplinarytheorieshavenotonlyenrichedthetheoreticalsystemofmultimodaldiscourseanalysisbutalsoexpandeditsresearchfieldandapplicationscope.Unliketraditionaldiscourseanalysis,multimodaldiscourseanalysistheoryregardsnon-verbalsymbols(visualimages,sound,speaker'saction,etc.)assymbolicresourcesforconveyingmeaningaswell.“Multimodaldiscourseanalysisisaninterdisciplinaryresearchperspectivethattranscendstraditionallinguisticsbyintegratingnon-verbalsymbols,thusofferinganovelapproachtolanguageresearchandapplication.”ThestudyofmultimodaldiscourseanalysisinChinabeganatthebeginningofthe21stcentury,withLiZhanzi’sSocialSemioticsAnalysisofMultimodalDiscoursepublishedin2003asoneoftheearliestscholarstointroducemultimodaldiscourseanalysisinChina,“whoarguedthatexploringmultimodaldiscourseanalysiscanhelptobetterunderstandhowlanguageoperatesasasocio-symbolicfeatureandthustohaveaclearerunderstandingoftheemergenceofmultimodaldiscourseanditssignificanceforteachingandlearning.”Subsequently,scholarssuchasHuZhuanglin,ZhuYongsheng,andGuYiguo(2007)conductedin-depthdiscussionsonthetheoreticalbasisandresearchmethodsofmultimodaldiscourseanalysis.AccordingtoHuZhuanglin,“languageisakindofsocialsymbol;thenothersocialsymbolsbesideslanguage,suchashumansenses,humanconsciousness,images,sounds,colors,space,andmanyothermodalitiesshouldbeincludedintheresearchrelatedtoit.”ZhangDelu’stheoreticalframeworkofmultimodaldiscourseanalysis,basedonthetheoryofsystemicfunctionallinguistics,isdividedintofourlevels:(1)culturallevel;(2)contextuallevel;(3)Contentlevel;(4)Expressionlevel.“Accordingtohim,themeaningofamultimodaldiscourseisembodiedbymultiplemodalitiesatthesametime,andeachmodalityrealizesapartoftheoverallmeaningofthediscourse,sothatthemeaningofthediscourseisformedbythecombinationofthemeaningsrealizedbythemultiplemodalities,andtheycanpresentvariousrelations,includingcomplementaryrelations(Royce1998;ZhangDelu2009)andlogicalrelationsaswellasrhetoricalrelations(Matthiessen2007:34).”Inthisstudy,wechooseZhangDelu’scomprehensivetheoreticalframeworkofmultimodaldiscourseanalysistoanalyzethesubtitletranslationofthemovieTheFabelmansfromfouraspects:culture,context,content,andexpression,toprovidemorereferencestosubtitletranslationfromdifferentperspectives.3.2IntroductiontotheFrameworkofMultimodalContextsThetranslationofaudiovisualtextsdemandsaholisticunderstandingofhowsubtitlesoperatewithininterconnectedcontextualdimensions.Multimodalcontextsextendbeyondtheimmediateinterplayoflanguageandimage;theyencompasstheculturalecosystemsthatshapemeaning,thespatiotemporaldynamicsofnarrativeconstruction,thethematicdepthofcontent,andtheexpressivetechniquesthatbridgeartisticintentwithaudiencereception.Todissectthesecomplexities,thissectionproposesafour-dimensionalframework—CulturalDimension,ContextualDimension,ContentDimension,andExpressiveDimension—eachservingasacriticalaxisforanalyzinghowsubtitlesmediatemultimodalcoherenceincross-culturalfilmcommunication.3.2.1TheCulturalDimensionTheroleofcultureistomakeallmembersofthecommunity,ingeneral,thinkintermsofastereotyped,habitual,unconscious,orsubconsciouspatternofthinking.Inthescopeofmultimodaldiscourseanalysistheory,theculturaldimensionoccupiesanextremelycrucialposition,whichcontrolsthesocialnormsofcommunicationandthechoiceofsymbolsystems.“Intheprocessofculturalexchange,duetotheculturaldifferencesbetweenthesourceandthetargetlanguagecountries,someconceptsofthelanguageandcultureofthesourcecountrydonotexistinthetargetlanguagecountry,aphenomenoncalled‘culturaldefault’.”Differentculturesproduceuniquethinkingpatternsandbehavioralhabits,whichmakecommunicators’choiceofdifferentmodalitiessignificantlydifferentwhenconveyingmessages.Themodalitiesmentionedherearenotonlylimitedtotraditionallanguageandwords,butalsoincludenon-verbalmodalitiessuchasrichandvariedimages,emotionalsounds,andexpressivemovements.TakeEasternandWesternculturesasanexample,suchasChineseculture,influencedbytheimplicitandintrovertedqualitiesoftraditionalculture,people,inadditiontotheuseofmoreeuphemisticlanguageincommunication,oftenresorttotherichbodymovementsandimagescontainingdeepmeaningandothernon-verbalmodestoassistexpression.InWesterncultures,peoplemayprefertoexpresstheirviewsdirectlythroughlanguage,an