Translating Film Subtitles into Chinese: A Multimodal Study

178 Pages·2019·5.481 MB·English

by  Yuping Chen

Yuping Chen
Translating
Film Subtitles
into Chinese
A Multimodal Study
Translating Film Subtitles into Chinese
Yuping Chen
Translating Film Subtitles
into Chinese
A Multimodal Study
123
YupingChen
ChinaAgricultural University
Beijing,China
ISBN978-981-13-6107-4 ISBN978-981-13-6108-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6108-1
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018967426
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To my dear husband Qiang and my lovely
daughter Xinyu
Foreword
This book is based on the author’s Ph.D. thesis that analyses Chinese subtitle
translationinEnglishlanguagefilmsfromamultimodalityperspective.Againstthe
backdrop of increased attention to audiovisual translation in contemporary trans-
lation studies, this book offers a convincing and timely investigation in Chinese
subtitle translation which highlights the semiotic interactions between visual and
verbalmodesbydrawingontheoriesinsemiotictranslationandsystemicfunctional
linguistics (SFL)—informed multimodality.
Thisbookwasinitiallyinspiredbythesystemicfunctionallinguisticapproachto
multimodal analysis of the meaning-making process in print texts, such as picture
books, magazine stories and newspaper articles with pictorial illustrations, fore-
grounding the semiotic interplay between visual and verbal modes. By lending a
Chinese perspective to a research field that is largely built on research in English
andotherEuropeanlanguages,theauthordeftlyconstructsaconceptualframework
to analyse the Chinese subtitle translation in a multimodal setting. Drawing on the
theories in SFL-informed multimodality and semiotic translation, this book pro-
vides a systematic qualitative study that examines the Chinese subtitles of ten
Hollywood blockbusters at three metafunctional levels: (1) representational, which
focuses on the analysis of the semiotic interplay between subtitles and images in
shot, in which the camera movement is unedited/uncut; (2) compositional, which
addresses how visual and verbal modes interact across scenes (that include more
than one shot in one time-space), sequences (which comprises a range of con-
tiguous scenes) and stages (which are elements telling us where we are in the
overall filmic text, generally including beginnings, middles and endings); and
(3) interactive, which looks at potential interaction between the film’s apparatus
(which includes verbal and non-verbal devices) and the viewers.
To address the representational meanings, the author employs theories in
semiotic translation (cf. Jakobson 1971) and the triadic relationship among
Representamen,ObjectandInterpretant(cf.CP2.230)toanalysetheinterrelations,
functions and the effects of intersemiotic relations when the subtitling unit is shot.
vii
viii Foreword
In examination of the compositional meanings, the author expands the original
linguisticconceptsofco-referentiality,co-classificationandco-extensiontoidentify
the types of interrelations between visual and verbal modes in subtitle translation.
While applying the concept of anaphoric and cataphoric associations to analyse
larger filmic units, the author highlights the significance of the holistic entity of
audiovisual text in subtitled films. In addition, the author has creatively developed
new terms, such as identity-entitled-cohesion and logic-entitled-cohesion (see
details on p. 62 and 63), to examine how the subtle relations between visual and
verbal modes have exerted impacts on the linguistic elements in subtitles.
Whenitcomestotheexaminationoftheinteractivemeanings,theauthoraimsto
explore the potential interaction between the film’s apparatus, including both the
verbal and non-verbal devices, and the film viewers. To that end, she further
develops Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) model for image analysis in print text
and uses it to explore how contact, distance and attitude are presented in subtitle
translation. In the framework that the author develops to analyse the interactive
meaninginsubtitledfilms,therearefourtypesofsemioticrelations.Thefirstisthe
relations of relay, in which the image and the verbal language have a comple-
mentary relation; the second is redundancy that indicates the visual mode and the
subtitlesdelivermoreorlessthesameinformation;thethirdisanchorage,inwhich
the verbal mode further defines the visual information; the fourth type of semiotic
relations that the author identifies is moorage, in which the visual mode further
defines the source verbal language. These four relations have covered all the pos-
sible semiotic relations as to how contact is realized and presented in subtitling.
This book has focused on examining three semiotic relations, including relay,
redundancy and moorage, while the analysis of anchorage that concerns how the
verbal mode further defines the visual information has been excluded.
In addition, the author initiates the concepts of direct addressing and indirect
addressingtoexaminethedistancebetweenthefilm’ssemioticdevicesandthefilm
viewers. With a view to investigating how the linguistic parts of subtitles are
influenced by attitude, the author has identified two types of attitudes, namely
participant-oriented attitude and information-oriented attitude. Participant-oriented
attitude highlights the involvement of verbalized visual participants in subtitles,
while information-oriented attitude stresses the transmission of information.
Basedontheanalyticalframeworkillustratedabove,thisbookhasmadequitea
fewoforiginalfindingsregardingtheChinesesubtitletranslationinEnglishlanguage
filmsandcontributedsignificantlytoourunderstandingofthissubtitlingprocess.
The analysis of the representational meanings reveals that verbalized-image con-
siderably outnumbers non-verbalized-imageat a ratio of 2:1. The formeris primarily
employed to maintain narrative flow, whereas the latter is chiefly used to overcome
technicalconstraints.Also,thelexisinsubtitlesismoreheavilyinfluencedratherthan
the clause/sentence. The examination of the compositional meanings shows that
anaphoric deduction greatly outnumbers cataphoric deduction at a ratio of approxi-
mately 5:2. The predominant cohesive relation governing intersemiotic relation
between source verbal language and subtitle is co-extension, which is employed to
maintain narrative flow. Lexical element is also the more heavily influenced part in
Foreword ix
subtitle no matter it shows identity-entitled-cohesion or logic-entitled-cohesion in
subtitles. The investigation of the interactive meanings demonstrates that
visual-redundancy-verbal relation is the most commonly presented one between
subtitlesandvisualimageswhen“contact”isconcerned.Whenitcomesto“distance”,
itismuchmorecommonforindirectaddressingtobeconvertedintodirectaddressing
in subtitling than vice versa and the close distance between films and viewers is
created accordingly. In the area of “attitude”, it is found that the participant-oriented
attitude is more prevalent than the information-oriented attitude.
These original and insightful findings contribute to the research of subtitle
translation in at least three ways. First, this book expands the boundaries of the
discipline by looking beyond the correspondence between text in stills, and sheds
lightonprocessesthatoccuracrosslargerfilmicunits,includingscenes,sequences
and stages. The subtitling units are thus expanded from the conventionally recog-
nizedshotstothosebeyond.Second,thisbookarguesthatthesubtitletranslationis
a viewer-oriented activity, foregrounding those translation strategies that could
facilitate and maximizethe film viewers’comprehension ofthesubtitles and,thus,
the films produced in foreign languages. Third, this book also highlights that
subtitling is a narrative structural translation activity, and to maintain the narrative
flow in subtitled films has always been one of the key functions of the semiotic
interplay between subtitles and other semiotic modes. In English–Chinese subtitle
translation,thevisual-redundancy-subtitlerelationisthemostdominantlypresented
semiotic relation. Subtitles should always have their own sequential structure to
rebuildthenarrativeflow for film viewers who cannot,orcannot fully,understand
the source verbal messages.
Thediscoveriesanddiscussionsinthisbookprovidecriticalinsightsintosubtitle
translation, particularly the complex semiotic interactions between different modes
in the subtitling process. These insights and the innovative analytical frameworks
developed by the author will surely be of interest to academics and postgraduate
students in the fields of translation studies, discourse analysis and the research of
multimodality. It is also surely a wonderful theoretical guide for the subtitle
translators’ professional development.
Sydney, Australia Wei Wang
References
Jakobson,R.(1971).SelectedwritingII:Wordsandlanguages.TheHague:Mouton.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge (In-text references are to CP, followed by volume and
paragraphnumbers).
Kress,G.,&vanLeeuwen,T.(2006).Readingimages:Thegrammarofvisualdesign(2nded.).
London/NewYork:Routledge.
Peirce,C.S.(1934).CollectedPapersofCharlesSandersPeirce.C.Hartshorne&P.Weiss(Eds.).
8vols.Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress(In-textreferencesaretoCP,followedbyvolumeand
paragraphnumbers).
Acknowledgements
ThisbookisbasedonmyPh.D.thesisonmultimodalanalysisofChinesesubtitles
in English language films, which was completed at the University of Sydney in
2017.IoweadeepgratitudetomyPh.D.supervisorDr.WeiWangforhissupport
and guidance during the writing of the thesis. His critical opinions and inspiration
contributed significantly to this project.
IwouldalsoliketooffermysinceregratitudetomyassociatesupervisorsAssoc.
Prof.ChristineJiandDr.XiaohuanZhaofortheirencouragementandconstructive
suggestions, and other colleagues at the University of Sydney for their kind com-
ments on this project: Prof. Bonnie S. McDougall, Prof. Mable Lee, Prof. Jocelyn
Chey, Prof. Yingjie Guo and Assoc. Prof. Linda Tsung.
I extend my special thanks to my colleague and friend Samantha Xu, who is
always the person I can turn to for help in Sydney.
Finally, but most of all, my thanks go to my dear husband Qiang and lovely
daughter Xinyu, whose love and support have always meant so much to me.
xi
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Research Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Essential Features in Subtitle Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 How to Address Subtitle Translation Theoretically . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.1 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.2 Theoretical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4 Writing Trajectory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Theoretical Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Four Main Schools of Theories Concerning Subtitle
Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1 Lexis-Centred Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.2 Audience-Focused Studies on Subtitle Translation. . . . . . . 17
2.1.3 Norm-Specified Studies on Subtitle Translation . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.4 Semiotic-Oriented Studies on Subtitle Translation . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Main Issues and Theoretical Foundations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2.1 Main Issues in Subtitle Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2.2 Theoretical Foundations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3 Research Methodology and Detailed Analytical Methods . . . . . . . . . 51
3.1 Research Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.2 Conceptual Framework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.3 Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.4 Detailed Analytical Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.4.1 The Representational Meanings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
xiii