Humor Translation Of Sitcom Film Subtitles From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory ——A Case Study Of Yes,Prime Minister

This thesis examines the translation of humor in Yes,Prime Minister from the perspective of Jef Verschueren’s adaptation theory.The descriptive analysis combined with case studies is carried on in translating humor on the linguistic level and cultural level.Some of the subtitles are revised to achieve better humorous effects.The thesis aims to help translators handle humor on the linguistic level and cultural level more efficiently in practice.The two seasons of Yes,Prime Minister with 12 humor on the linguistic level and 11 on the cultural level,constitute the subject of the thesis.A descriptive method combined with case studies based on the subtitles of Rag Bear subtitling interest group is applied in this study.On the linguistic level,puns and rhymes are the major language phenomena.The frequency distribution of strategy dealing with puns in Yes,Prime Minister in descending order is EDITORIAL TECHNIQUES,PUN ST=PUN TT,PUN→RELATED RHETORICAL DEVICE,PUN→ZERO and PUN→PUN.In dealing with rhyme,the thesis proposes Chinese characters featuring similar rhyme patterns with ST to preserve the humor.On the cultural level,there are two types of cultural phenomena to be identified:intertextuality and cultural default.Four strategies are applied in dealing with cultural humor:the literal translation takes up the majority of the strategy with explication,annotation,and substitution followed.