Research On The Compensation For Cultural Default In Subtitle Translation From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

With the extremely fast development of Chinese film industry, China has exported substantial Chinese films and imported a great number of English films. This opens a completely new way for the exchange of culture. Subtitle translation has gradually attracted more and more attention in the translation field since it is the reappearance of film content as well as cultural knowledge. To make domestic audiences have a better understanding of the foreign culture, subtitle translation has been put more stresses on than any other period in the history.Relevance Theory has long been used in the field of translation and now it is automatically applied to subtitle translation. From the perspective of Relevance Theory, translation is a changing referential process which is on the basis of the dynamic context. This thesis takes a deep study on subtitle translation by analyzing several imported films such as Gone with the Wind, Kong Fu Panda II and Lincoln. These films are the representatives of films in different genres. And they all hit the box office in both western countries and China.There are three findings in this research. Firstly, Relevance Theory, which has always been considered as a cognitive theory, has a close relation with the cognition and communication process of human beings. The aim of Relevance Theory is to reach optimal relevance during human communication. To put it in other words, the audiences tend to search for maximal contextual effects while using the least processing efforts. Secondly, when it comes to subtitle translation, translators should match the original contextual assumptions with the contextual environment as much as possible, present subtitles by considering limits like time and space, and take the cognitive environment of the audiences into consideration to meet the prospects of both the original and target audiences. Finally, cultural default, the deficiency of cultural background information probably shared by the speakers and the audiences in communication, is in accordance with optimal relevance. Governed by Relevance Theory, translators should choose direct or indirect translation strategies, such as literary translation, liberal translation, naturalization of idioms or two-part allegorical saying and explanation, to pursue optimal relevance.The study of this thesis, attempting to offer theoretical and methodological basis for subtitle translation, may provide references for researchers who will study similar topics later on. The summary of the translation strategies will also contribute to facilitating the cultural exchange between different countries.