On Subtitle Translation From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Audiovisual translation is not only a transfer between different languages, but also a process of cross-culture communication. Subtitle translation, as the prevailing form of audiovisual translation, deserves much public attention and academic research from scholars. The quality of subtitle translation directly affects the audience's understanding of the source language in the given audiovisual context. In this thesis, relevance theory, proposed by Sperber and Wilson, is adopted as the theoretical support. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the strategies and methods of subtitle translation from the perspective of relevance theory.This thesis is composed of five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction, including the research objective, research sources, theoretical framework and structure of the thesis. The second chapter elaborates the background of audiovisual translation and makes a comparative study of subtitling and dubbing. The third chapter is the most important one, which presents an introduction of relevance theory and its implications for subtitle translation. Subtitle translation strategies and methods are also put forward from the perspective of relevance theory. The forth chapter introduces a case study, analyzing the application of subtitle translation strategies and methods in Gossip Girl. The fifth chapter is a conclusion, reviewing the main ideas of this thesis and pointing out its limitations and prospective study in this field.Research shows that relevance theory contributes a lot to the study of subtitle translation. It helps find the strategies and methods of subtitle translation and improve the quality of subtitles and even of the whole audiovisual translation.