A Contrastive Study On Description Strategies For Facial Expressions And Gestures In Chinese And English Audio Descriptions

Within in the field of Translation Studies,audio description is studied as audiovisual translation.Through showing the visual verbally,audio description is effectively used for making theatre,films and TV programs accessible to the blind and partially sighted people.Film language consists of verbal and nonverbal information.As a part of nonverbal information,gestures and facial expressions are widely distributed in films,which are important supports to shape characters and promote plot development.Therefore,the description of gestures and facial expressions in audio description can help the blind and partially sighted group grasp the movie characters and understand the overall plot.In this thesis,the author chose four feature films audio-described both in English andChinese as the research object,including The Shaw shank Redemption(1994),Becoming Jane(2008),The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)and The King’s Speech(2010).The contrastive method was adopted to explore the differences between Chinese and English audio description texts in describing facial expressions and gestures and further analyze the reasons behind these differences,based on the classification and description strategies of facial expressions and gestures proposed by Iwona Mazur.Firstly,the author collected facial expressions and gestures in the four movies.Then these facial expressions and gestures were classified into three categories:discourse-filling ones,discourse-supporting ones,and discourse-conflicting ones.Secondly,the author tried to explore the differences in strategies chosen by different describers.Finally,the possible reasons for these differences were investigated.The thesis finds that there are huge differences in the choice of strategies for facial expressions and gestures in Chinese and English audio descriptions.The main difference between their choice of strategies is literalness vs.explicitation.The English audio description is more standardized and objective,whereas the Chinese audio description is more interpretive and subjective.Specifically,for discourse-filling gestures and facial expressions,English describers mainly used literalness strategy(44.95%),explicitation strategy(24.77%)and the combination of strategy(17.59%),while Chinese describers mainly chose explicitation strategy(53.21%),omission strategy(20.18%),and literalness strategy(16.51%).For discourse-supporting gestures and facial expressions,English describers frequently used literalness strategy(45.28%)and omission strategy(33.96%),while Chinese describers frequently chose explicitation strategy(54.71%)and omission strategy(28.30%).For discourse-conflicting gestures and facial expressions,English describers mainly adopted literalness strategy(56.25%)and the combination of strategy(25.00%),while Chinese describers frequently used omission strategy(50.00%)and explicitation strategy(31.25%).There are two possible reasons for the differences.The first is the dissimilarity between thinking modes.Chinese think more emotionally,focusing on feeling,comprehension,and intention.Comparatively,the West thinks more rationally,focusing on reasoning,analysis,and argumentation.Reflected in audio description,Chinese is embodied in general statements and casual interpretation;The West is embodied in precise analysis and objective description.The second is the difference between the age and education level of the blind and partially sighted group.At present,53.24%of the blind and partially sighted people in China are over 60 years old,and 72%of the visually disabled only have a high school degree or less.The use of explicitation and omission strategies can reduce their cognitive load and help them better understand and enjoy movies.