Functional Equivalence Theoretic Approach to the Analysis of the Translation Strategies of the Subtitles——A Case Study of La La Land_英语论文

摘要

本文试图从功能对等理论的角度研究翻译策略.随着经济的快速发展以及改革开放政策的实施，中国引进了包括英文小说和电影在内的大量的外国文化艺术作品。同时，为了使本国观众能够理解英文电影，电影字幕的翻译受到越来越多翻译理论家和实践家的关注。然而，以前的研究要么是在缺乏理论基础的情况下进行语言选择，要么是采用功能对等却未能有效地体现电影字幕正确的英汉翻译策略的使用。因此，本文在功能对等理论和定性研究的基础上，试图分析词汇、语篇和句法层面的翻译对等是如何影响译者采取这三种有代表性的翻译策略（直译、归化、增译），帮助中国观众更好地理解和欣赏英语电影。

本研究强调了两方面的含义：一方面，在功能对等的理论框架内，我们运用新的理论深入了解评价英语电影字幕翻译质量; 另一方面，通过将功能对等理论应用于电影字幕翻译，我们可以鼓励未来比如对于电影名称，电视连续剧的字幕，英文小说和新闻报道等不同文本翻译来进行更加深入的研究，从一个新的视角促进功能对等理论的发展。

关键词：字幕翻译  翻译策略  功能对等  爱乐之城

Abstract

This paper attempts to study the translation strategies from Functional Equivalence theoretic approach. With the rapid development of economy and the enforcement of the opening-up and reform policy, China has introduced many foreign cultural and artistic works including English novels and movies. Meanwhile, in order for the domestic audience to understand English movies, the translation of film subtitles has attracted an increasing attention from translation theorists and practitioners. However, previous studies either focus on linguistic choices without a theoretical basis, or are backed up by some equivalent translation theories, failing to effectively manifest the use of proper strategies of E-C translation of film subtitles. Hence, guided by the theory of functional equivalence and with a qualitative methodology, this paper endeavors to analyze how the equivalence in lexicon, discourse and syntax, affect the choice of three representative translation strategies (literal translation, domestication, addition), which enables Chinese audiences better understand and appreciate English movies. 

The present study highlights two implications: On the one hand, within the theoretical framework of Functional Equivalence, we take advantage of a new theory to assess the quality of subtitle translation of English movies; on the other hand, we can develop the Functional Equivalence from a new angle by applying it to film subtitle translations, which inspires further researches on other texts, like film titles, subtitles of TV serials, English novels or news reports etc.

Key words: subtitle translation  translation strategy  functional equivalence La La Land  

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction 1

1.1  Research Background 1

1.2  Objective of the Present Study and Research Question 2

1.3  Research Methodology 2

1.4  Structure of the Thesis 3

Chapter Two  Literature Review 4

2.1  Introduction 4

2.2  Previous Studies on Translation Strategies 4

2.3  Previous Investigations on Subtitle Translation of English Films 6

2.4  Overview 7

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework 8

3.1  Introduction 8

3.2  Brief Introduction to Functional Equivalence Theory 8

3.3  Basic Concepts of Functional Equivalence Theory 9

3.4  Three Levels of Functional Equivalence Theory 10

3.4.1 The Lexical Level 10

3.4.2 The Discourse Level 11

3.4.3 The Syntactic Level 11

Chapter Four  A Case Study of E-C Translation Strategies of Subtitles in La La Land from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory 12

4.1  Introduction 12

4.2  Brief Introduction to the Film La La Land 12

4.3  Application of Three Levels to the Analysis of Three Translation Strategies in the Subtitles of the Film of La La Land 13

4.3.1 Application of Lexical Level to the Choice of Literal Translation 13

4.3.2 Application of Discourse Level to the Choice of Domestication 15

4.3.3 Application of Syntactic Level to the Choice of Addition 17

Chapter Five  Conclusion 20

Bibliography

Acknowledgements