On The Translation Of Documentary Subtitles From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

As China further carries out its “going out” policy, the cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries keep increasing. As a medium form connecting diverse cultures, documentaries play a major role in enhancing mutual understanding between different cultures. Due to the enormous differences between languages, subtitle translation becomes a key step in the spread of documentaries. Although many domestic documentaries have been translated into English, the number of translated documentaries about people is still limited. Owing to the translator’s poor understanding of the features of subtitle translation and improper use of strategies, many errors exist in some translation versions and the real meaning of the original text is even distorted. Therefore, the quality of subtitle translation directly affects the value of documentaries.In fact,as a means of cross-cultural communication, subtitle translation of documentaries aims at conveying messages to target audiences from different cultural backgrounds. Because the translator serves as the link between the author of the original text and the readers of the translation, choosing a scientific translation theory is of realistic significance. In the late 1980 s, Vermeer formulated the functionalist skopos theory and pointed out that the key factor determining the translation process is the purpose of the whole translation action and that one of the most important factors determining the translation purpose is the target audience. Therefore, documentaries and skopos theory share the same purpose.Under the guidance of Vermeer’s skopos theory, this thesis makes a case study of Feng Zikai, an excellent program of Dragon TV documentary series Master. Based on the three rules of skopos theory(the skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule), this thesis explores some subtitle translation strategies such as literal translation, amplification,deduction, sentence restructuring, negation, etc. It is hoped that this translation project can provide some useful reference to the practice and research of subtitle translation of documentaries about Chinese people.