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4.1 Lexical Equivalence 13
4.2 Syntactic Equivalence 15
4.3 Cultural Equivalence 16
4.3.1 Internet Buzzword Translation 18
4.3.2 Translation of Wordplay 19
4.3.3 Translation of Cultural-specific Words 21
Ⅴ Conclusion 24
References 27
On Subtitle Translation of the Sitcom The Big Bang Theory from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence
Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Research Background
With the increasing communication between the east and the west, more and more foreign audiovisual products are introduced into China. We, therefore, can get access to foreign culture directly. However, not everyone is a master of a certain foreign language. More often than not, most people have to rely on subtitles to get a better understanding of the video.
Subtitles are texts put to the TV program or the movie to help people understand the content of the program more clearly. Subtitles usually appear at the bottom of the show or the movie with some complementary information at the top occasionally. With subtitles, the audience can overcome the problem of listening and appreciate the show better. Since subtitles are so important, it is beyond doubt that subtitle translation plays an important role in the appreciation of foreign TV programs or movies. However, subtitle translation does not receive enough attention from scholars. It is generally less studied compared with literary translation especially at home. There are still no systematic theories about subtitle translation. The good news is that more and more people have realized this problem as professor Qian mentioned in his
article in 2000 that audiovisual translation was becoming more and more important and the translation circle should attach more importance to it (钱绍昌, 2000, p.61).
The Big Bang Theory, one of the most popular sitcoms in the US, has attracted and is still attracting a lot of fans in China. It is produced by CBS. When the first season was broadcasted in 2007, it was greatly welcomed by the audience. Co-directed by James Buurrows and Mark Sendrowski, the program has updated to the 8th season until now and has achieved a great success. The plot is extended surrounding four talents and a hot girl. Humor happens when these four genius who are privileged in their own fields know little about life commonsense thus leading to awkwardness and embarrassment.
It is certain that the success of the sitcom is attributed to many factors such as the distinct characters of the protagonists and the wonderful performance of the actors. However, one important factor that should be mentioned is the language. Therefore, the study of subtitle translation in The Big Bang Theory is of crucial importance.
1.2 The Significance of the Present Study
As stated in the research background, with more and more foreign audiovisual products introduced into China, the study of subtitle translation is not in proportion to the amount of the imports. The quality of the subtitle translation is far from satisfying with good ones and bad ones intermingled, which will greatly affect the aesthetic values of the programs. Therefore, finding useful ways to provide quality subtitle translation is imperative. This paper, which mainly deals with strategies of subtitle translation, may be of a little help for translators to improve their translations.
The significance of the paper will be realized in two ways. First, the paper will study the application of functional equivalence in subtitle translation. Second, it takes The Big Bang Theory as an example to conclude some strategies and principles of subtitle translation under the guidance of functional equivalence. In addition, some limitations of this study will be stated for further study. By this detailed discussion of subtitle translation in The Big Bang Theory, the author also hopes to arouse interests of the translation circle to pay more attention to subtitle translation.