Abstract

In an increasingly globalized world, film and television products have made a great contribution to the global cultural exchange. Friends, a famous American sitcom, is very popular in China. However, because of the huge differences between the source and target languages and cultures, its translation is not an easy job.

In this paper, the author evaluates the translations of subtitles from the Skopostheorie. The three rules are applied to analyze the effects of the Chinese subtitles of Friends. According to the “Skopos Rule”, the purpose is to make the target audience understand and acquire the original information and then gain the same spiritual experience as the source audience does. And the “Coherence Rule” means the translator should consider the feelings of the target audience and insure the target text is consistent with their language and culture. The “Fidelity Rule” required that the target text should be loyal to the source text as much as possible, but the degree and form of fidelity to the original text depends on the purpose of the translation.

By illustrating and analyzing, we can conclude that Skopos theory is quite instructive for the subtitle translation of Friends. Translators should remember the functions and purposes of the translation, and take different cultures and the target audience into consideration in translating the subtitles.

Key Words: Skopostheorie; Friends; subtitle translation

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature Review-1

3 Skopos Theory-2

3.1 Basic Concepts of Skopostheorie-2

3.2 Main Rules in Skopostheorie-2

3.2.1 The Skopos Rule-2

3.2.2 The Coherent Rule-3

3.2.3 The Fidelity Rule-4

3.3 Functions of Skopos Theory in Translation-4

3.3.1 Guidance-5

3.3.2 Evaluation-5

4 General Introduction to Friends and its Subtitles-6

4.1 A Brief Introduction to Friends-6

4.2 Features of the Subtitles in Friends-6

4.2.1 Brevity-6

4.2.2 Colloquialism-7

4.2.3 Humor-7

4.3 Translation Problems in the Subtitle Translation of Friends-8

4.3.1 Linguistic Problems-8

4.3.2 Cultural Problems-9

4.3.3 Pragmatic Problems-10

5 Application of the Three Rules in Subtitle Translation of Friends-11

5.1 Subtitle Translation as a Purposeful Activity-11

5.2 Applying the Three Rules of Skopostheorie to Subtitle Translation-11

5.2.1 The Skopos Rule-11

5.2.2 The Coherent Rule-12

5.2.3 The Fidelity Rule-12

6 Conclusion-13

References-15