A Report On The Subtitle Translation Of WatchMojo Videos From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Thanks to the development of modern technology,streaming media(including audio,video,animation,multimedia,etc.)is becoming an important window for people to be exposed to foreign cultures,broaden their horizons and increase their knowledge.As time goes by,the Western culture in the new century also presents new characteristics in terms of its streaming media works.The YouTube channel WatchMojo,featuring the “Top-Ten Lists”,has become a well-known streaming media organization in the West.Therefore,to some extent,its works can be viewed as the epitome of Western culture in the new era.Based on its videos series as practical materials,and the author's part-time work experience of its Chinese partner(Easub subtitle group),the thesis analyzes the text types and stylistic features of subtitles in the new era.Guided by Adaptation Theory,the author analyzes how to apply the adaptation of the structural factors and adaptation of context-related factors into practice.Through this practice,the author shows that the preparation is very important in the actual translation process,and mainly focuses on three aspects:(1)analysis of the source text features,namely,frequent usage of slangs and idioms,preference for pop and nerd cultures,and complex sentences;(2)customer requirements on both format and quality;(3)assistant tools,including posted videos,relevant films,TV series,online and paper dictionaries.Special skills and methods need to be followed in film and television translation.At the level of lexical adaptation,the translator should conform to Chinese language habits of four-character proverbs by using conversion and literal translation;in terms of syntactic adaptation,the translator should use repetition,amplification,omission,division and inversion to keep the fixed word order and parataxis of Chinese;when it comes to adaptation to the mental world,the mental activities of speakers and listeners should be considered,thus negation and free translation are often used;in terms of the adaptation to the social world,the translator should understand the different cultures and customs of China and Western countries,in that domestication and extension are often adopted.As is shown in the practice,adaptation theory can effectively guide translators to transform lexical,syntax,mental and social factors during the switch from English to Chinese,so that one can produce a better translation.In addition,Adaptation Theory can serve as an indicator of significant differences between English and Chinese,and inspire translators in streaming media field.