A Study Of English To Chinese Subtitle Translation Of White Collar From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

As network grows and cross-cultural communication improves, more and more American dramas through network come into people’s leisure life. The American dramas on the Internet are popular with people such as company employees and college teachers and students who posse high quality of appreciating the American dramas and good English background. But as for the common people who haven’t learned English, it is impossible for them to appreciate the American drama without the help of subtitle. Therefore, the quality of subtitle translation will directly affect the mood of the audience. So the subtitles are central to the American drama fans and English learners and therefore subtitle translation becomes more the more important and works as an essential bridge connecting Chinese audience with American dramas. Subtitle translation provides an effective way for the audience to appreciate the dramas, facilitates to the acceptance of American culture and English learning as well. However, as the non-mainstream in the translation field, subtitle translation is currently undervalued by most of scholars and experts. Although some achievements have been made in this field, the subtitle translation is now still in the state of immaturity in China. There are lacks of certain theoretical base and reasonable guidance and also a systematical study. Most of the subtitle translation has been done just by amateurish English lovers, which leads to diverse formation of the staff and uneven quality of subtitle translation. Therefore it is necessary to further improve the quality of subtitle translation via studying. This thesis studies the subtitle translation from the perspective of Skopos theory.The author selects Skopos theory as the starting point to study subtitle translation of the American dramas for two reasons:Firstly, the previous studies on subtitle translation were mostly based on functional translation theory, which was too broad, while the Skopos theory is well-directed and strong instructive because of its superiority. Secondly, the subtitle translation itself is a kind of purposeful translation activity. Taking Skopos theory as the starting point will be beneficial for the option of translation strategy, and thus can reach the expected purpose easily.This thesis chooses the American drama White Collar as a case to study the subtitle translation from the perspective of Skopos theory. This thesis attempts to answer the questions of what are the advantages of Skopos theory in subtitle translation, what factors need to be considered during subtitle translation, what principles should be abided by and what are the detailed translation strategies applied in this area. Through the descriptive analysis, the subtitle translation deals with the features and limiting factors and the rules of Skopos theory so as to focus on researching subtitle strategies. The purpose of the study is certainly to improve the qualifications of subtitle translators and eventually to improve the quality of subtitle translation and to ensure the high appreciation and feasibility of subtitle translation, in return the cultural exchanges can be achieved successfully.This thesis consists of five parts. The first chapter introduces the research background, objective, significance, methodology, and the thesis structure. The second chapter is the literature review, including two sections:the first section is the brief introduction to subtitle translation, including definition, features, limiting factors, current situation of subtitle translation, and E-C subtitle translators; the second section states previous studies on E-C subtitle translation. The third chapter is the theoretical framework of the thesis, respectively presenting Skopos theory and the feasibility of Skopos theory applied to E-C subtitle translation. The introduction of Skopos theory consists of five aspects:historical development, definition, three rules, translation brief and superiority of the Skopos theory. The fourth chapter is the main part of the thesis, the case study of E-C subtitle translation in White Collar from the perspective of Skopos theory. This chapter falls into six parts, the first part is the introduction to White Collar, including the outline, and the features of subtitle translation of White Collar, the second part states the purpose of E-C subtitle translation of White Collar, the third part analyzes translation brief of E-C subtitle translation of White Collar, the fourth part introduces the three rules applied to E-C subtitle translation of White Collar, the fifth part describes the principles of E-C subtitle translation of White Collar, the last part deals with the strategies of E-C subtitle translation of White Collar with specific examples. The fifth chapter is the conclusion, summarizing the findings of this thesis, pointing out the limitations, and making suggestions for future research.