An Equivalence-based Approach to the Translation of Subtitles in Zootopia从功能对等视角解读《疯狂动物城》的字幕翻译文献综述

 2021-11-04 20:58:53

毕业论文课题相关文献综述

1.Introduction1.1Research backgroundThe term equivalence was first put forward by A. F. Tytler in 1790, who pointed out in a brief introduction to the principles of translation that a good translation is to transfer the merits of the source text to the target text. That is to say, a good translation should produce the same effect between the two texts. German Translator Paul Cauer (1896) called it comparable effect in his Translation Art. Nida is one of the most famous representatives of translation theory in western linguistics, proficient in many languages. He has been engaged in linguistics, semantics, anthropology, communication engineering and other research, as well as Bible translation. The core concept of Nida's theory is functional equivalence, which means that translation does not require the rigid correspondence on the surface of the text, but achieves the equivalence between the two languages.Zootopia, a 3D animation produced by Disney film industry in 2016, was codirected by Rich Moore, Byrne Howard and Gerard bush. Jennifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Shakira, Alan Tudek, Idris Alba, J. K. Simmons and others joined in the dubbing. The film was released in North America on March 4, 2016 in mainland China. The film tells the story of Judy rabbit, who works hard to fulfill his childhood dream and becomes an animal policeman in an animal city where all animals live peacefully. The film is popular with audiences of all ages for its humor, and its positive film style has achieved high box office and public praise in China. The reason why the film enjoys much popularity in China is that it is well produced and subtitled. First of all, the humorous plot attracts the audience. Second, it constructs the animal world with the human society, which reflects profound themes such as the pursuit of dreams and the desire for freedom and equality. There are two Chinese versions of Zootopia up to now. The 2016 version entitled Fengkuangdongwucheng（疯狂动物城; hereafter referred to as FKDWC）by Mainland Disney Company is famous for its humorous language and literal translation of the subtitlesconsidering its context. The other version Dongwufangchengshi (动物方城市) was produced in 2017 by Taiwan Animal Square City and has been enjoying much popularity among many audience for its taking into account people's mentality, cultural factors, religious beliefs, etc. This thesis attempts to elaborate from the perspective of Nidas functional equivalence the translation of subtitles in Zootopia by presenting a case study of FKDWC.1.2Literature review1.2.1 Previous studies on the Chinese translations of ZootopiaAs far as the author of this thesis can find, there is little research on the subtitle translation in FKDWC in the international field; however, it has become a hot topic in China. Ling (2017) analyzes the communicator, media and content, the interaction of communication elements in the subtitle translation under framework of the communication theory. She believes that the translation process is a communication process, and translators should choose appropriate translation strategies and methods such as omission. Yang (2017) also analyzes the subtitle translation methods and strategies from the perspectives of synthetic theory on multimodal discourse. She integrates sound, language, image reasonably to present the complete meanings of the TT, suggesting that TL should break the principles of traditional subtitle translation, and that translators should take into account the social and cultural factors of the TL culture in the process of subtitle translation. Liu (2018) interprets the subtitle translation from the perspective of adaptation theory, suggesting that translation should meet Chinese audiences language habits and psychological needs. Jiang (2018) compares the two Chinese versions within the framework of Lefeveres rewriting theory, stressing that translation undertakes the mission of not only transferring one language into another but also conveying culture-and-value-oriented information.As to the problems concerning the previous studies, on one hand, scholars focus too much attention on the translation strategies and methods in the subtitle translation of FKDWC. On the other hand, they fail to interpret why FKDWC is an excellent version if examined from the perspective of functional equivalence. Therefore, this thesis will discuss the subtitle translation of FKDWC in three aspects: semantic equivalence, linguistic equivalence and stylistic equivalence, and analyze the relevant characteristics and translation strategies so as to help readers have a thorough comprehension of functional equivalence and appreciate the charm of the subtitle translation of Zootopia . As to the need of the study, the study of appropriate translation strategies and methods can on one hand provide referential value for the re-translation of Zootopia; on the other, the study of the characteristics in subtitle translation can help the audience understand FKDWC better.2.Nidas Theory on Functional Equivalence2.1 Origin and Development The theory on Functional equivalence, emerging in Germany in the 1970s, has been introduced into China for over 50 years. As an important breakthrough of traditional translation theories, it has attracted increasing attention in recent years. The term equivalent in translation initially appeared in J. R. Firths writing, that is, the so-called translation equivalent between two languages has never really been equal. Then, the concept of Dynamic Equivalence, proposed by Eugene Nida in The Theory and Practice of Translation, changed the landscape of translation practice and studies. Generally speaking, the development of dynamic equivalence theory goes through three stages. In the first stage, from 1959 to 1964, Nida proposed two types of equivalence in Translation: dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence. In the second stage, Nida put forward a new concept of translation. It points out that the new focus of translation has shifted from "the form of information" to "the response of the receiver". In the third stage, Nida replaced it with functional equivalence. In the mid-1980s, "dynamic equivalence" was replaced by functional equivalence. It is divided into two levels: the highest and the lowest. The former requires readers to understand the translation, and how they can understand the ST. The latter shows that the translator can understand and appreciate it as well as the SL readers (Nida, 1993:124). For the past fifty years, R. Jakobson, J. C. Catford, and M. Baker have focused on studying equivalence, thereby providing a useful theoretical and pragmatic foundation for the translation studies. In 1982, W. Wilss stated that the concept equivalence not only played an essential role in translation theory over the last 18 years, but also influenced the modern translation studies to great extent. Some other scholars favor functional equivalence as well, believing that translators opt to find functional equivalence which preserve the context-sensitive communicative value.2.2 Definition and Types According to Nida (1984), functional equivalence means that translation reproduces the information of the ST in the most appropriate, natural language, including the representation from vocabulary to style.Nida (1984) divides functional equivalence into vocabulary equivalence, semantic equivalence, textual equivalence and stylistic equivalence. Vocabulary equivalence aims to make the TL (target language) readers feel the same as the SL (source language) readers. Vocabulary equivalence can be the exact or perfect correspondence of words such as rendering太阳into the sun; incomplete correspondence of words such as舅舅 and 叔叔into uncle according to specific readers, in the specific context and for specific purposes; imperfect correspondence of words such as the transliteration of sofa into沙发; correspondence of untranslatable words in one language whose meaning does not exist in another language such as in我爱麦克translated from the same sentence pattern "I like Mike" or "I lick Mike". In short, to realize word equivalence, we should grasp the relationship between words and their associative images, and convey their associative meanings.Semantic equivalence refers to the equivalence of the components of a sentence and the order in which they are arranged. For example, the semantic form of So come into McDonalds and enjoy big Mac Sandwich is equivalent to that of走进麦当劳，享受大三明治by using an imperative sentence. To achieve semantic equivalence, the translator should consider the structure, background information and cultural factors of both TL and SL. Second, he should take into account the gender, number, other grammatical markers, and the consistency of tenses in adjusting the sentence structure. Finally, if it is an attributive clause, he should consider its order and reorganization.Textual equivalence (also called linguistic equivalence) means a number of sentences and sentence groups are combined for certain purposes and specific meanings; in a definite context, the adjustment of the ST structure enables the TT to convey the same implications. It can on one hand maintain cohesion and coherence between the ST and the TT, and on the other, retain some features of the SL and respect the language habits of the TL. Therefore, we should not only analyze the language but also see how it reflects the meaning and function in a specific context. Stylistic equivalence is defined as the equivalence between ST and TT to achieve the semantic consistency and invariance in the same sense. It involves preserving both the ST semantic content and expressive characteristics, whose stylistic analysis can be conducted in aspects of vocabulary, syntax, rhetoric, narrative perspective, etc. Semantic translation requires that the TT be similar to the ST in form, structure and word order, which requires the translator to reorganize the language structure and make the TT authentic. Therefore, when dealing with stylistic equivalence, we should consider not only the SL but also the TT cultural implications and differences. Second, we should analyze the ST stylistic features, the wording and sentence construction in succession.2.3 Principles of achieving functional equivalence and function A number of relevant principles govern the kinds and degrees of adjustments which may be necessary in order to produce a satisfactory functional equivalence in the TT, the following principles can be helpful for producing the closest natural equivalence:(1)If the translation is close to the original form and the audience causes misunderstanding in the sense of reference, then it is necessary to mediate the translation or add footnotes to the reference that causes misunderstanding.(2)If the translation is changed unless the original has the characteristics of intentionally difficult to understand, and footnote is added.(3)If the translation is close to the original form, but the audience misunderstands its connotation, or the style changes the original form, or the characteristics of the original are damaged, then the translation needs to be changed.As to the functions of Nida's functional equivalence, first, the concepts like part of speech, core sentence patterns and isomorphism can provide theoretical support for the translation. Second, functional equivalence points out the way for translation practice, especially for the translation of long and difficult sentences. Third, functional equivalence makes the conversion between the source language and the target language have a standard and reduce their differences by reproducing equivalence semantically and stylistically. Last, functional equivalence carries out communication by finding translation equivalents and reorganizing the formal and semantic structure of information in the TT. ReferencesBaker, M. (2000). In other words: A coursebook on translation. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.Baker, M. (2004). Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Bassnett, S. (1988). Translation studies (revised ed.). New York: Methuuen Co. Ltd.Catford, J. C. (1965). A linguistic theory of translation. London: Oxford University Press.Darmoni, S., Renard, J. (2016). A categorization algorithm. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 29, 45-53.Dirk, D. (2011) Translation and the mass media. London: Routledge.Dollerup, C. (2001). Basics of translation studies. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Jakobson, R. (1959). On translation: On linguistic aspects of translation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Katan, D. (2004). Translation cultures. An introduction for translators, interpreters and Mediators, 12(4), 123-128.Newmark, P. (2001). Approaches to translation. Shanghai: Foreign Language Education Press.Nida, E. A. (1986). From one language to another: Functional equivalence in bible translation. Nelson: Nelson University Press.Nida, E. A. (2004). Language culture and translation. Shanghai: Foreign Language Education Press.Oliveir, D. H. (1988). Construction and test of a mini computerized tomograph. Psychology, 35(2), 45-48.Simon, D. (2019). The psychological record. Journal of psychology, 22(3), 66-69.Taylor, C. (2001). 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