Comparative Study On Translation Techniques Of Subtitles In Prison Break

The modern technology has brought TV series of foreign countries to people's daily life. TV series enhance the communication of different cultures when amusing the audiences. Since the language barriers exist, TV series'audiences usually get the information from the subtitles. The translation of subtitles of TV series thus bears the mission of communication, making the foreign culture understood. However, since translation job is usually done by the English amateurs, the quality of the subtitle translation needs to be improved. Certain techniques and the situations where these techniques are adopted need to be named and explained so as to provide some help for the subtitle translators. And also what the translators need is a proper theory to guide them. Relevance theory is just the theory which can offer the best guidance.Relevance theory sheds light on the translation of subtitles, provides guide for the translators and indeed solves lots of problems. TV series'translation is a special type of communication. The translator should ensure that both of the informative and communicative intentions are conveyed to the audiences so as to make the communication successful. The audiences need a translation that requires the minimum processing effort and can help them get the optimal relevance. The translator has to use his own professional knowledge and power of judgement to choose the most suitable translation technique. RT not only provides guide to the translators when they meet difficulties but also serves as a criteria for the translators to examine whether their translation is successful or not.In this thesis, the author examines subtitles from the definition, classification, techniques, constraints, to linguistic features. Based on the previous research and the analysis of the translation techniques of Prison Break, the author lists four usual translation techniques and clarifies the situations where they are applied. Literal translation is still the main technique in the subtitle translation. When literal translation of the original utterances will confuse the target audiences, substitution which can create a similar contextual effect is preferred. Amplification is used when mutual manifestness is missing and it's a way to help the receptor language audience to get the mutual manifestness and decrease their processing effort. Condensation is applied when the speaker speaks at a very fast speed and expresses a lot. When the content of his utterance is not all important, considering the constraints of time and space, condensation is usually preferred. These techniques are elaborated based on the framework of RT. Relevance theory serves as the theoretical base and provides the effective guidance.