On E-C Audiovisual Adaptation: A Perspective Of Power Discourse Theory

Audiovisual translation facilitates the exchanges and communication among various cultures. Excellent imported audiovisual products not only enable people to enjoy the exotic cultures but also exert strong influences on the formation of people's languages, lifestyles and even value systems. However, the academic fields do not pay enough attention to the research of audiovisual translation at present. Under the influence of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors, adaptation is unavoidable at different levels to varying degrees in the process of audiovisual translation. Some experts have explored audiovisual adaptations in linguistic aspects, but adaptations from extra-linguistic aspects are seldom studied. Under the guidance of power discourse theory, the thesis studies adaptations from extra-linguistic aspects.Power discourse theory presented by Michel Foucault, French poststmcturalist, brings a translation revolution, changing the traditional text-oriented translation and providing a new theory as well as a study method for translation studies. Power exists everywhere, and any discourse in the world is influenced by power. According to Foucault, powers can be roughly divided into two categories: the visible powers like law, political institution, prison and the invisible powers like culture, ideology, morality. This web of powers regulates people's behaviors, telling them what should be done or not, and which behaviors can be accepted by a society or not. All powers are realized by discourses, which in turn are the embodiment of powers. Therefore, different audiovisual products are discourses of different powers. When we compare the source text with the target text, we cannot be confined to the linguistic level and we must take its historical, political, cultural and ideological elements into consideration. If we pay attention to the relationship between power discourse theory and translation, it can help us discover the social facts of translation studies and give convincing explanations about some translation phenomena just like audiovisual adaptation.Based on the analyses and comparisons of sufficient English-Chinese audiovisual translation examples, this thesis tentatively applies power discourse theory into audiovisual adaptations to prove that those powers including political power, economic power and cultural power can cause audiovisual adaptations. According to power discourse theory, audiovisual translations cannot take place in vacuum, and they are discourses of extra-linguistic powers. In some cultural situations, audiovisual translators must adhere to requirements of target country. The author hopes the thesis can provide more reference materials for audiovisual translations. Not only audiovisual translators must take all kinds of powers into consideration, adapting E-C audiovisual product appropriately to ensure its acceptability, but also translation critics may evaluate translated works objectively from the macro-text of society and culture to promote prosperous development of E-C audiovisual translation.