A Study On The Chinese Subtitling Of The Humorous Puns In Modern Family From The Perspective Of Reader-response Theory

Since the 1990 s,more and more American sitcoms,which are becoming a popular way for Chinese people to entertain themselves,learn English and know the American culture,have been on show in China.The Chinese subtitling plays a very important role in helping the Chinese audiences to watch such sitcoms.Based on the Reader-Response Theory,this thesis is intended to analyze the Chinese subtitling of the humorous puns in the American sitcom Modern Family so as to investigate the feasibility of the theory in the subtitling of the English sitcoms and find out the potential factors that influence the translators? selection of linguistic expressions and subtitling strategies,such as the linguistic features of the original,the audience?s language habits,comprehensive abilities,aesthetic conceptions and expectations.Hopefully this research may be helpful for the related translation researches and activities.This thesis includes three chapters.Chapter One explores the functions of humorous puns in general in the sitcom.Chapter Two analyzes the different subtitling purposes.Chapter Three discusses the different subtitling strategies of the humorous puns.It is found that in the subtitling of the sitcom various subtitling strategies are used,such as literal translation,literal translation with annotation,and free translation with annotation.Such strategies are used to remain the same humorous effects of the original.