Subtitling Of In The Heat Of The Sun: Relevance Theory Explained

This paper examines English subtitling of In the Heat of the Sun as an attempt to study subtitling strategies from Chinese to English. The author is inspired by Sperber & Wilson's relevance theory. Relevance theory centers on communication and cognition, which are the key issues in film viewing and film subtitling. This paper aims to reveal how relevance is at play in subtitling.This thesis comprises of both theoretical discussions and close textual analysis. First the author reviews the literature on subtitling studies, incorporating studies from linguistic, cultural as well as the interdisciplinary perspectives. Then the author introduces the theoretical framework, with relevance as the key concept. In the Heat of the Sun is used as a case study. The author establishes that relevance is the key factor which determines subtitling strategies. Sample subtitles are provided to illustrate how relevance affects decision-making in subtitling. The effects of such decisions are also discussed in this paper.This paper aims to address Chinese-English subtitling issues with a communicative approach. It is the sincere hope of the author that more researches can be done in this area.