Analysis of the Subtitle Translation of The Shawshank Redemption from the Perspective of the Skopos Theory

Translation is an important communication skill between different languages.In modern society,audiovisual products are distributed to worldwide areas as a popular means of mass media.As the globalization of economy and culture is advancing in the new century,audiovisual subtitle translation plays an increasingly important part.Good subtitles can enhance the audience’s experience of appreciating foreign films and make cultural communication more effective.This thesis conducts a brief survey on the strategies for film subtitle translation using the case study of the famous film The Shawshank Redemption.In this paper,based on Skopos theory,the author made a comprehensive analysis of subtitling activities and pointed out that subtitling,as a specialized area of translation,is not only guided by translation studies but also under the constraints of film properties.The Skopos theory of film subtitle translation is to provide,within the constraints of time and space,a well-translated subtitle that can contribute to a good understanding of what is happening on the screen.In short,the end justifies the means.Therefore,during the process of subtitle translation,the subtitler should take all the factors into consideration to identify the translation purpose,and then adopt corresponding translation strategies.From this perspective,the author takes the Skopos theory as instruction and applies the reduction and addition method to analyze the film subtitle translation.In the age of globalization,foreign films are increasingly entering people’s lives.Watching foreign films is a popular and effective way to understand foreign cultures.However,in China,subtitle translation has not attracted as much academic attention as it deserves and few theories could be appropriately applied to subtitle translation.Therefore,the author hopes that subtitle translation could be paid more attention in terms of cross-cultural communication.

电影《肖申克的救赎》的片名翻译——文化预设视角下的比较研究

电影片名所蕴含的丰富的文化预设在影视翻译和跨文化传播中有着重要的价值。译者在对片名进行翻译的过程中,可根据电影文化传播目的和对象的不同而采取灵活的方式对影片片名的文化预设进行处理,从而达到使不同语言的人们之间精神的沟通,而这种精神的沟通,主要是通过文化层面的交流获得的。因此,文化预设对电影片名翻译具有借鉴的价值和较强的解释力。ShawShank Redemption的中文译名成功地实现了语言层面的转换,而在强调以交际有效性为首要原则的文化预设视角下,此片名的中译还有提高的空间。