Application of the Functional Equivalence Theory in Movie Subtitle Translation—Exemplified by Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,Missouri

In recent years,foreign films have been introduced into China,which have a tremendous impact on people’s social life.As a major tool for obtaining information and enjoying entertainment,film subtitle translation is becoming increasingly important.Meanwhile,the English level and appreciation ability of domestic audience is continuously improving with the change of the times,and their demand and requirement for subtitle translation are also improving.Nowadays,there are still many immature parts in sub?title translation,and the theory in China is relatively deficient.Therefore,the subtitle translation level of film needs to be rose.The translator constantly improves the translation ability by using translation theories and skills.Based on the theory of functional equiv?alence,this thesis translates the subtitle of the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,Missouri.Firstly,this paper briefly introduces the development of the film subtitle translation and the film.Secondly,it introduces the translation theories and skills applied in translation practice,making a particular analysis in combination with specific practical cases.Finally,the translator makes a sum?mary for the translation process.The translator hopes that through the translation practice,some attempts can be made for future re?search in subtitle translation.     

On Translation Equivalence

Controversial as it is ,the abstract concept of traslation equivalence is of effective use in translation studies as it makes the analyses of translation more specific and more accessible. This essay attempts to present a few in -depth reflections on translatin equivalence, in which three categories of equivalence are put forward according to the understanding on the part of this writer, viz, equivalence before translating. equivalence in translating and equivalence after translating, This narration, in the final analysis, identifies and verifies the theoretical importance and significance of the term ＂translation equivalence＂ in translation studies.     

The Analysis of Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory

Eugene A. Nida is an influential translation theoretician with great research achievements. The functional equivalence theory which is the core of his translation theories lays a solid foundation for the modern translation. However, there also exist some limitations in it. It should be dialectically analyzed to find its contributions and limitations.     

Application of Relevance Theory in Subtitle Translation—A Case Study of The Big Bang Theory

Audiovisual production,as social media,plays a considerable role in cultural exchanges around the world,for it is one of the ways for people to know more about exotic cultures.At the same time,due to language barriers,the importance of subtitle trans?lation is gradually recognized.The subtitle translation can go beyond the limits of time and space to faithfully reproduce the story plot and skillfully convey the feelings.From the perspective of relevance theory,the subtitle translation of The Big Bang Theory is chosen as a case in this paper to analyze the inferential process in the following three relevant aspects:relevance in context,rele?vance in culture,and relevance in the audience.     

The Study of Semantic Functional Equivalence of Predicates in Xi Youji and Its English Version Journey to the West—From the Perspective of Transitivity Theory

Equivalence in translation was first put forward by Firth. It has been the nuclear topic of translation studies in western countries."Functional equivalence", Eugene Nida’s key notion of translation theories, advocated the receptor-oriented translation standard. Through the contrastive study between Xi Youji and its English version Journey to the West, the content focuses on the translation of the verbal predicates and aims at studying the application of transitivity theory into Chinese-English translation and finding out the improved translations of Chinese and English examples of different processes. Due to limited article, this paper only discusses three of six processes in the concrete context and provides new translations for the questioned ones. Finally, the last part summarizes that the functional equivalence can be achieved when verbs referring to process of action share the same semantic attribute with the Chinese originals, so the English version of Xi Youji should be further perfected according to transitivity theory.     

On the Relationship between the Original and the Translated Version——The Interpretation of Benjamin's Three Metaphors

This paper explores the relationship between the original and its translation by interpreting Benjamin’s three metaphors from his The Translator’s Task. The exploration starts with the metaphor of“the tangent of a circle”,where it is interpreted that although the translated version should be faithful to its original in terms of meaning,yet it is a deviation due to different internal and external factors. Then,in the metaphor of“afterlife”,the discussion demonstrates that the translated version proceeds from the original,but the original depends on it for its survival and afterlife in different eras. Later,based on the metaphor of“fragments of a vessel”,the author states that the original and its translation are equal and complementary,just like the fragments of a vessel,responsible for the development and renewal of each other through translation. Finally,it is concluded that a better understanding of their relationship can offer us a new perspective in translation studies and practice.     

A Study on Translation of Tourism Literature-from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

Tourism literature is a window for foreigners to know China and a medium for publicizing Chinese culture.Increasing the quality of translation of tourism literature is of great significance in promoting Chinese tourisms’ further development.This paper explores the strategies to deal with the translation of tourism literature,taking Skopos Theory as the theoretical base.     

The Comparison and Contrast of Skopostheorie and Baker’s Equivalence Translation Approach

Equivalence can be said to be the central issue in translation although its different approaches have caused heated controversy.However,as early as the 1970s,the Skopostheorie emerged in Germany,and it seemed to challenge the equivalence theories.Although Nida and some linguistics raised some negative problems of this theory,it still rapidly became famous around the world,This article will mainly compare and analyse Skopostheorie and Baker’s translation equivalence approach.First,it will give a simple overview of these two approaches.Second,it will discuss the relevant strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches in relation to their usage.Finally,it will discuss combining these two approaches in the same translation.     

On Implicit Information Translation of Shakespeare’ s Works from the Perspective of Relevance Theory:In the Case of Zhu’ s Translation and Liang’ s Translation

The Relevance Theory put forward by Sperber and Wilson not only gives rise to a new research on pragmatics, but also provides a new theoretic foundation for other disciplines. Gutt applies the theory to translation and gives a relevance-theoretic account of translation. The relevance-theoretic communicative model provides rational explanation for existence of the implicit information. The appropri ate treatment of the implicit information is consistent with readers’ cognitive environment and expectation. Human communication de pends on not only the text, but also the inferential context. The adequate contextual effect is derived from the correct judgment and infer ence of the implicit information in communication. Therefore, the translator should match the original author’ s intention with target text readers’ expectation to make sure that they yield adequate contextual effects with appropriate processing efforts. Implicitness is one of the features of Shakespeare’ s works. It is more demanding for the translators to catch and transfer to the target readers the implicit information. Zhu Shenghao and Liang Shiqiu, the two famous translators adopt different translation strategies to deal with the implicit information in the works.     

Blended Literal Communication in Translation

There is a natural tension between Literal and Communication translation methods and has been going on now for two millenniums. We must be faithful to the original meaning of the source language (SL) and accurate in our translation but flexible enough to communicate naturally to the target language (TL) readers. While it may seem hopeless to truly communicate with all languages and cultures, with the growing global economy and the more interdependent we become, it is even more important that we continue to try to blend our thoughts and hearts together. So with foolish confidence and wise trepidation, this paper will wade into the age long discussion on the practice of translation and teaching, attempting to reconcile the theories of literal or semantic and free or communication translation theories.     

Dialectical Translation

With the rapid development of science and technology,the principles and methods of translation are advancing by leaps and bounds.The dialectical translation advocates that no method is the sole and best one to abide by.In a word,the adoption of translation methods depends on the actual situation.They are indispensable and supplementary to each other.Thus,the research of translation theory and practice can strive for perfection.     

Classification and Translation of Chinese Abbreviations

Chinese abbreviation,containing fewer words and delivering a wealth of information,is a vital component of Chinese language.But the tremendous differences between Chinese and English make it an arduous task to translate Chinese abbreviations into English.Based on the analyses of the structure and patterns of word–formation of Chinese abbreviations,it makes a classification of Chinese abbreviations,summarize the translation methods,and point out some attention points in translation.A systematic analysis on the structure and classification of Chinese abbreviations will be beneficial to reduce the mistakes in its translation.     

The Influence of Cultural Differences on Translation

In the field of translation studies, scholars’ understanding of translation in its traditional sense; has shifted along with the popularity and prosperous development of cultural studies in the recent years. Translation is no longer regarded as merely a cross-linguistic activity but essentially cross-cultural communication. Cultural factors begin to gain more and more attention to translators. Nida even claims that"for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism". Therefore, this thesis will focus on analyzing the influence of cultural differences between Chinese and English on the English translation. This thesis firstly discusses embodiments of cultural differences between Chinese and English; after that, it focuses on influences of cultural differences on translation; last but not least, this thesis also suggests some translating techniques.     

Strategies of English Legal Translation

In recent years,China is deepening reform and opening up to the outside world especially after China’s successful accession to the WTO.Sino-foreign communication in the field of law is on the rise day by day along with the rapid development of globalization.As can be seen from the previous legal translation studies both in the western world and in China,scholars or researchers have made much effort to conduct studies of legal translation.In this thesis,the basic features of Strategies in legal translation are introduced with some examples in the legal translation practices.And it is explained how to produce a successful legal translation.     

A Cultural Study of Domestication and Foreignization in English Translation. of Chinese Menus

Economic globalization has brought China into closer contact with the rest of the world. Chinese food, as an important part of Chinese culture, attracts foreigners who come to China. But in a lot of cases, when they look at the menus, they feel stunned and baffled. For the English translations of Chinese menus are often incomprehensible and misleading. However, such awareness has not led to an in-depth study on menu translation. In this paper, the author draws on theories of foreignization and domestication, and recommends foreignization as a main strategy and domestication as a supplementary choice. In conjunction with it, the author suggests a set of techniques for menu translation. It is hoped that this will contribute to the preservation and development of Chinese cuisine culture as a whole.     

Translation of Brand Names Based on Adaptation Theory

This paper,from the perspective of Verschueren’s adaptation theory,explores how a translator should adapt to the properties of products,different language customs,and consumers’psychology during the translation of brand names.First,a gen eral introduction is made on adaptation theory.Then,the application of adaptation theory in brand name translation is illustrated.Finally it is found that adaptation theory is very helpful for the translation of brand names.     

Skopostheorie and the Application to English-Chinese Film Title Translation

This paper aims to explore the film title translation(FTT) from English to Chinese with an attempt to adapt Skoposthoerie as a guiding theory. Although usually short, film titles have a significance influence on box-offices. However, generally in China, FTT lacks a guiding theory. In fact, FTT is a purposeful activity. Among numerous translation theories, Skopostheorie is appropriate for FTT because, unlike previous theories, it enables the translator to employ various translational strategies to realize the main skopos. Its distinctive feature is"The end justifies the means". Generally, the main purpose of FTT is to attract the target audience(the Chinese audience) to watch the movie. This essay mainly classifies FTT into partial and total literal translation and free translation and, under the guidance of Skopstheorie, tries to probe into different strategies for different title types. In the introduction part, research background is presented. ChapterⅡ is devoted to the overview of Skopostheorie. Chapter Ⅲ is an overview of English film titles. As the core of this essay, Chapter Ⅳ focuses on the application of Skopostheorie to FTT. In order to realize vocative function, which is to call upon the audience to watch movies, intratextual coherence should be achieved. And abundant target film titles are adapted to explain that different strategies are employed for different titles. The conclusion is that Skopostheorie can play an active role in guiding FTT and in terms of Skopostheorie, FTT is in essence a process of renaming and recreation with certain strains to realize its vocative function.     

Application of Creative Translation Thought on Exhibition English——A Case of China-ASEAN EXPO

Exhibition English as a commonly used language has a very significant position. However, the translation methods are yet to be improved. The author states the present translation situation of exhibition English and exited problems; then introduces the content of"creative translation thought"and analyzes the methods by means of examples from China-ASEAN EXPO. Finally, it illustrates the advantage of using it to promote the development of exhibition English translation from English to Chinese.