How Ideology Manipulates Chinese-Foreign Translation—A Comparative Study On The English And French Subtitles Of The Grandmaster

The movie The Grandmaster,directed by Wong Kar-wai,received generally favorable reviews from critics in China and abroad.This thesis uses the manipulation theory to compare the French and English versions of the Chinese lines of The Grandmaster and tries to discuss differences between the extent of manipulation and the ideological reasons behind them.This thesis chooses the recent study the manipulation theory advanced by Andre Lefevre and Susan Bassnett in the late 1990s.This theory broke up the agreed translation theory of faith/betray and provided a brand-new perspective for translation studies.Through the analysis of this thesis,we hope to help translation lovers know more about the theory and encourage them to apply it.Meanwhile,we also use this theory to show the cultural and ideological differences between English and French worlds,thus contributing to cultural diversities and communications.This thesis has four chapters.The first chapter introduces the background,the objective and the significance of the research.In the second chapter,the theory framework states Andre Lefevre and Susan Bassnett's contribution to the manipulation theory and influence of the theory;the literature review collects and analyzes the researching results of the manipulation theory and the movie subtitles of previous work,as well as the innovation of the thesis.The third chapter is example analysis.By analyzing how the translator handles the three main culture elements of the lines,this chapter explains the reasons behind the different manipulation extent from three ideological perspectives:social stereotypes,commercial objectives and mass media.The fourth chapter is the conclusion.This chapter concludes the findings of the thesis,its weakness and how to improve it.It also provides suggestions for future studies on subtitle translation.How English and French translations manipulate the Chinese version respectively is reflected in three aspects:Kungfu terms,slang and folk adage,metaphor.In terms of Kunfu terms,the French translation manipulates more than the English one due to different attitudes of the French world and English world towards Kunfu.As to slang and folk adage,the French translation also manipulates more,which is caused by the different mass media environment where the English and French translators live.Lastly,the reason behind different manipulation extent on metaphor is that the director acts as a patronage to intervene translators' work.In conclusion,it is the three aspects of ideology—social concept,mass media and commercial objective that exert their influence on the translation process and cause different manipulation on the English and French subtitles.