摘 要

随着互联网技术的迅速普及以及经济全球化，文化全球化的加速发展，美剧越来越受到国内观众们的喜爱。由于美剧在人们的文化生活中扮演着越来越重要的角色，美剧字幕翻译逐渐引起翻译工作者们的注意。该论文以德国功能派翻译学家汉斯·弗米尔的功能翻译理论为基础，分析并结合由于两种语言所产生的历史背景、社会制度、文化习俗不同等因素形成的英文和中文各自在情感表达上的语言特点。本研究重点阐述功能翻译理论中最重要的目的论，即翻译是一项有目的的人类活动，翻译的目的决定翻译的方法。该论文还具体介绍了四种具体的字幕翻译方法并加以实例进行阐述。最后，以四种具体情感为例，结合相关美剧并着重分析其在原文中的表达方式以及在字幕翻译中的表达方式，最后将剧中字幕原文同其翻译作对比。

关键词：美剧字幕；情感表达；功能翻译理论；字幕翻译

Contents

1. Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------1

1.1 Research background--------------------------------------------------------------1

1.2 Research aim-----------------------------------------------------------------------1

2. Literature review---------------------------------------------------------------------2

2.1 External research-------------------------------------------------------------------2

2.2 Domestic research------------------------------------------------------------------3

3. Demonstration-----------------------------------------------------------------------4

3.1 Hans Vermeer’s functional translation theory------------------------------------4

3.1.1 Main contents of functional translation theory--------------------------------4

3.1.2 Applications of functional translation theory----------------------------------5

3.2 Expressions of emotion in English and Chinese---------------------------------6

3.2.1 Characteristics of emotional expressions in English--------------------------6

3.2.2 Characteristics of emotional expressions in Chinese-------------------------7

3.2.3 Principles of subtitle translation under the guidance of functional translation theory----------------------------------------------------------------------------------8

3.2.3.1 Domestication and foreignization------------------------------------------9

3.2.3.2 Popularization---------------------------------------------------------------10

3.2.3.3 Simplicity strategy----------------------------------------------------------11

3.2.3.4 Flexibility strategy-----------------------------------------------------------12

3.3 Translation of emotional expressions in American series subtitles--------------12

3.3.1 Emotional expressions about happiness—illustrated by the case of The Big Bang Theory------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13

3.3.2 Emotional expressions about sadness—illustrated by the case of Desperate Housewives--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14

3.3.3 Emotional expressions about anger—illustrated by the case of The Originals ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16

3.3.4 Emotional expressions about terror—illustrated by the case of Revenge-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17

4. Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------18

Bibliography ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------19

On Translation of Emotional Expressions in American Series Subtitles from the Perspective of Functional Translation Theory

1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

Subtitle translation has attracted more attention than before for several reasons. However, only a few people had knowledge of American TV series decades ago. Since the reform and opening in the 1970s, foreign films and TV plays have been greatly introduced into China and TV sets have been popularized among most families. Hence, domestic viewers have sprung up throughout China, ranging from children to the senile, illiterates to scholars, students to office workers. American series has become an indispensable part of some people’s everyday life. It is an observable fact that the number of viewers of dubbed American TV series is far larger than readers of translated literature works. The influence that audio-visual translation has on society is no way beneath that of literary translation. However, it is an irony that much less importance is attached to audio-visual translation than literary translation (Qian, 2003).

Playing the role of a kind of popular cultures which comes into vogue gradually, American TV series is conducive to Sino-western cultural interaction and transmission. The majority of Chinese viewers prefer to watch American TV plays with the original sounds, but they must rely on Chinese subtitles to understand and appreciate the plots. What’s more, lines of American TV series represent an effective means to communicate thoughts, emotions with viewers. Consequently, translation of American subtitles has received increasing attention in translation field.

1.2 Research aim

Language and culture are closely interrelated. One of the most fascinating aspects of films (TV plays)—apart from the fact that they can be wonderful entertainment—is that they offer unique scope for getting acquainted with other cultures (Birgit, 2010). Language, with no doubt, is a portion of culture and it can reflect a country’s national cultures. Translation is a transcultural exchange in essence. Therefore, translation and culture are auxiliary to each other and the connection between them is inseparable.