A Study Of The Subtitle Translation In American TV Series Friends From The Perspective Of Contextual Correlates Of Adaptability

With the vigorous development of the world’s film and television industry and the continuous deepening cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries,communication over excellent film and television works becomes more and more frequent.The introduction of these works helps a lot in deepening the understanding of the Chinese audience about culture,customs,lifestyle and other aspects of western countries.As a result,subtitle translation of film and television works attracts the attention of both domestic and international academia,among which the subtitle translation is treated as a serious research topic.A scholar has once said that “good” subtitles cannot save a terrible movie,but “improper” subtitles will destroy one,which shows the importance of subtitle translation.As one of the most classic pieces of works in the development history of the American TV series,Friends is so renowned that people around the world know it well.In China,it is also enjoyed by the majority of English fans,which is included in the Must List for English learning.However,most of the existing subtitle translation versions were completed by freelancers or fans of American TV series.Through the screening of these subtitle translations,the author has found out that there are random or careless translations,incorrect translations and other problems among these subtitle translations.Translation is a process of turning from one language into another.As a special form of translation,subtitle translation is not just a simple conversion of two different languages.Faced with various possibilities of choice-making,the translator needs to make proper linguistic choices according to the specific context so as to convey the intended information in the source text faithfully,and this process is exactly the core concept of adaptation theory.Under the guidance of adaptation theory,this thesis aims to conduct a specific analysis of subtitle translations in Friends with the version of “Sohu Video” from the perspective of contextual correlates of adaptability.Each factor that affects the choice-making of language will be considered during the analysis process.And inappropriate translation will be modified and improved accordingly.At the same time,the thesis will also analyze the influences of factors that are contained in the contextual correlates of adaptability on subtitle translation,and further demonstrate the importance of realizing adaptation in both communicative context and linguistic context to the improvement of translation quality when making linguistic choices,which will provide a new perspective for the study of subtitle translation.Verschueren argues that the use of language is a process of making choices continuously,which is carried out at different levels of consciousness to achieve certain communicative purpose.The reasons why language users can make all kinds of choices are mainly the features of the language: variability,negotiability and adaptability.The description and interpretation of the adaptability of the translation process are explained from four perspectives,which are manifested in contextual correlates of adaptability,structural objects of adaptability,dynamics of adaptability and the salience of the adaptation process.This thesis will mainly focus on the perspective of contextual correlates of adaptability and analyze the influences of communicative context and linguistic context exerted on the translator’s choice-making.This thesis consists of the following five parts: The first part is the introduction,mainly introducing the background,purpose and significance as well as the method of this study.Then a brief summary of the basic framework of this thesis is introduced.The second part is the literature review,which mainly summarizes the current situation of existing relevant researches on subtitle translation at home and abroad and literature researches of the adaptation theory as well as its application in the field of translation.Besides,a summary of academic studies over subtitles translations in Friends is made with the necessity and significance analysis of this study.The third part is the theoretical framework of the thesis.Firstly,it briefly introduces the characteristics of the subtitle and basic principles of its translation.Then a generalization of related concepts of the adaptation theory is made,which focuses on each influential factor contained in the contextual correlates of adaptability.The influences of these factors on the choice-making of language during the process of subtitle translation are also analyzed.Besides,the dynamic feature of the adaptation process is described as well.In the end,the thesis specifically analyzes the relationship between subtitle translation and adaptation theory and the applicability of the adaptation theory in subtitle translation.The fourth part is the main part of this thesis.By referring to a large number of examples from Friends and combing the characteristics of subtitle and its translation principles,the subtitle translations in this American TV series are analyzed in depth and in detail from the aspects of communicative context and linguistic context.Inappropriate Original translations are pointed out and a better version of the translation is explored and suggested through analysis.The communicative context includes the mental world,the social world and the physical world,while the linguistic context includes contextual cohesion,intertextuality and sequencing.The fifth part is the conclusion of this thesis.Through the study of typical subtitle translations in the classic American TV series,it proves that the adaptation theory can provide a new perspective for subtitle translation research.At the same time,it also plays an important role in giving guidance to the subtitle translation activities,which is conducive to help the translators to get a better understanding in the essence of subtitle translation so as to let them select appropriate translation strategies and methods to improve its quality.At the end of the thesis,the author points out the limitations of this study and puts forward some suggestions for future researches in the field of subtitle translation under the guidance of the adaptation theory.