The Humorous Subtitle Translation

With the extensive application of network, more and more American sitcoms are introduced into China. The humorous and funny dialogues in these sitcoms are widely sought after among young viewers, especially English learners. In recent years, the importance attached to the study of subtitle translation and humor translation has been raised. Yet, the study of humorous subtitle translation especially that of sitcoms is still a minority with comprehensive and mature translation theory in absence. Thus, there is still much space to study. This paper discusses the feasible strategies applied to the translation of humorous lines in sitcoms with hit U.S. sitcom The Big Bang Theory as material and Skopos theory as the theoretical basis.The thesis begins with an introduction which points out the research background, rationale of the research, research methodology and thesis structure. A general review of the studies on subtitle translation and humor translation in China and other countries presented in the next chapter leads to the significance of the research in this thesis. The humorous subtitle translation is then proved to be a daunting task since the translation is supposed to be popular, colloquial, and most of all humorous. In the mean time, the translation is constricted by time, space, linguistic, and cultural factors. Therefore, an effective theoretical framework is introduced—the Skopos theory of German functional approach. Three principles of Skopos theory are illustrated afterwards, namely Skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule.On the principle of Skopos rule, the translation process is determined by the purpose of translation, i.e. the end determines the means. Bearing in mind the target of the translated version, the subtitlers can make evaluations of translation strategies on the basis of coherence rule and fidelity rule. Then a case study of The Big Bang Theory is conducted. As a sitcom, the purpose of TBBT is to evoke laughter. Therefore, the coherence rule requires a coherent understanding of humor among target text receivers and the fidelity rule demands a fidelity to the source text especially concerning humor. Five translation strategies:literal translation, domestication, amplification, omission, and annotation as guided by the principles are elaborated with the analysis of samples extracted from TBBT.The conclusion part starts with a brief review of the major findings in this thesis. Then limitations and suggestions on further studies are pointed out.