3.1 Literal Translation and Free Translation 8

3.2 Domestication and Foreignization 11

3.3 Reduction 13

4 Conclusion 14

References 16

On the Sitcom Subtitle Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory-A Case Study on Two Broke Girls

1 Introduction

Sitcoms, as one type of the TV plays, enjoy rampant popularity in contemporary society. They not only create happiness, but also provide a special way of communication for us. In recent years, a considerable number of sitcoms from the western countries have sprung up into the Chinese market. Therefore, subtitle translation plays a vital role in enabling audience to be aware of the cultures and social customs embedded in the sitcoms. When compared with other types of translation, subtitle translation, a new emerging field, has its own characteristics and restraints.

1.1 A Brief Introduction to Subtitle Translation

There is no doubt that subtitle translation is an indispensable component of modern era. Functioning as a bridge of cross-cultural communication, subtitle translation has become accessible to almost every household. However, a large number of scholars of translation, both domestic and abroad, have a split of opinions about the definition of subtitle translation.

Studies on subtitle translation originated from the West, where movies and TV series gained a rapid development. The concept of subtitle translation was initially introduced by Titford in his paper Subtitling: Constrained Translation (1982), in which he pointed that there exists a certain constraint in subtitle translation due to the particularity of coordinating the film and subtitle. After that, Gottlieb, a well-known Denmark scholar, defined subtitle translation in a more exhaustive way. In On Subtitles in Television Programmes (1974), he claimed that subtitling is “a written, additive, immediate, synchronous, poly-medial translation.”

1.1.1 The Features of Subtitle Translation

The forms and functions of subtitles vary from those of other texts, and there are some distinctive features in subtitle translation. Subtitle translation does not totally belong to a written type of translation, for that the content, actions and expressions of different characters have to be taken into consideration.