This thesis attempts to briefly analyze the application of the three principles of Skopos Theory in the subtitle translation of Big Bang Theory。 All the subtitles mentioned in this thesis are from the YYeTs RenRen film fansub group, which is composed spontaneously of a group of American TV series fans。 In this thesis, the analysis suggests that due to the restriction of time and space, subtitle translation should properly use reduction method; provided that literal translation does not affect the expressing of the original text information and meets the norms of target language, translators should use literal translation as far as possible; when literal translation cannot express the original meaning, translators can flexibly adopt the free translation so as to transmit the source information accurately。 What’s more, the employment of buzzwords is also based on the purpose of achieving a good cross-cultural communication。 Buzzwords will make the translation more vivid。

2。 Literature Review

2。1 Previous study on subtitle translation

In the past decade, several people have carried on the research on the subtitle translation of film and literature works。 

In 2001, Professor Li Yunxing analyzed the features of subtitle translation and put forward the corresponding translation strategies that should be adopted。 He said subtitle translation is transient, so in order to let the audience quickly get the information, the translation should be simple and common。 And the criterion of evaluating subtitle translation lies in whether it can provide the most effective information in the limited time and space。 

In the same year, Professor Qian Shaochang called for the translators to pay attention to the translation of film and television。 He pointed out that the language of film and television is different from the literary language。 Basing on the characteristics of film and television language, he believed that in film translation, “expressiveness” is the most important in the three principles of “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance”。

In 2004, Professor Zhang Jinlan said the skopos principle is the most important one in functional translation theory。 The particular translation method is always related to the specific translation purpose。 In other words, what purpose translators want to achieve will decide what corresponding translation methods to choose。 Regardless of domestication and foreignization, what translators should do is to achieve the purpose。

Coincidentally, Professor Zhu Zhiyu put forward that the translation methods are distinguished because of the limitation of content and form。 The choice of methods depends on the specific application of translation。 

In 2005, Professor Zhao Ning held that for television works, the main purpose is to entertain the public, so the ultimate goal of subtitle translation is to provide the public with the necessary information and to infect the audience。 

In 2007, Professor Jia Wenbo thought translators are required to determine the use of translation strategy, the selection of the source text information, and the forms of target text according to the purpose of translation so as to achieve the cultural communication。 文献综述

2。2 Characteristics of subtitle translation 

In Dictionary of Translation Studies, Shuttleworth and Cowie defined subtitle as “the process of providing synchronized captions for films and television dialogues” (Shuttleworth and Cowie 211)。 Put it another way, subtitle refers to the text appearing at the bottom of the screen synchronically with the dialogue of the film retained。 Subtitle translation is the bridge between spoken language and the written text, which means that in the field of film and television, the function of subtitle translation is to let the audience understand the meaning of the original language in a different cultural environment。 However, as the carrier of cultural exchanges, film and television works contain rich cultural elements, such as slangs, idioms, puns, etc, which makes the subtitle translation have its own uniqueness。