Abstract:

With the rapid development of science and technology, foreign films and television works have poured into our daily life by many means of transmission. Watching American drama has also become one of the important ways to improve our English. In order to help the Chinese viewers better appreciate American drama, it is particularly important to improve the quality of the translation of the subtitles. In the past, translation of subtitles followed the traditional way, particularly focusing on grammar and meaning of the original texts. Now, the theory of skopostheorie emphasizes that in the process of translation, translators should regard the expected functions of the translation as a starting point, and choose the best processing method according to various contextual factors. This paper will study the translation work of the subtitles for The Big Bang Theory from the perspective of translation skopostheorie.

Keywords: American drama; translation skopostheorie; subtitle; translation; The Big Bang Theory

摘要：

随着科学技术的日新月异，外国影视作品从多种传播途径涌入到我们的日常生活。观美剧，学英语成为提高英语水平的重要途径之一。而对于英语水平有限的观众来说，为了使其能够更好地欣赏美剧，美剧的字幕翻译就显得尤为重要。在过去，其翻译遵循传统翻译之道，主要侧重于原文的语法和意思。而今，翻译目的论强调译者在翻译过程中以译文的预期功能为出发点，根据各种语境因素，选择最佳处理方法。本篇论文将从翻译目的论角度出发，浅析《生活大爆炸》中字幕的灵活翻译。

关键词:美剧；翻译目的论；字幕；翻译；《生活大爆炸》

1  Introduction
1.1  The Significance and Background of the Study
Along with the social progress, cultural exchange is becoming more and more frequent among the different countries of the world, which can be reflected in literature, movies, TV shows and so on.
With the development of science and technology, owing to the popularity of the network and education, American drama is prevalent and fashionable all over China. In order to help the modern Chinese viewers better appreciate American drama, it seems particularly important to produce high-quality translation of the subtitles. But it is by no means easy for Chinese translators to translate the subtitles accurately. The limitation of space and time, the director’s purpose and the audience’s needs give many unique features to the translation of the subtitles. Besides, a scientific translation theory stressing purpose, practicality, and utility, is the basis for the translation practice. Skopostheorie is a branch of functionalism theory. It emphasizes that in the translation process, translators should regard the expected functions of the translation as a starting point, and choose the best processing method, in accordance with various contextual factors of different kinds.
This paper will study the translation of the subtitles of The Big Bang Theory from the perspective of Skopostheorie.