Translation of Movie Subtitles---A Perspective of Relevance Theory
Translation of Movie Subtitles---A Perspective of Relevance Theory
Abstract: With the development of movie cultures, translation of movie subtitles becomes more and more important. This paper attempts to introduce the basic ideas of Relevance Theory, and apply relevance principles to account for subtitle translation through cases study of two movies Forrest Gump and Gone with the Wind. The conclusion is made that subtitle translators should always be guided by the optimal relevance principle as to produce the most relevant information and make the audience get the greatest contextual effect with the least efforts.
Key words: Relevance Theory; subtitle translation; Forrest Gump; Gone with the Wind
1. Introduction
With the development of social economy and high technology, movies nowadays play an important role in our life. More and more English movies flow into domestic market. For many of us, the English movies are the easier way to know about foreign cultures and life style. However, there are some problems to be solved. On the one hand, due to the language barrier and different cultures, ordinary audiences need the help of subtitle translation to gain a great deal of information. On the other hand, nowadays the number of movie audience is much larger than the readers of literary works, but in our nation experts pay more attention to translation of literary works than to translation of subtitles.[1](P61) And because of the short history of English movie subtitle translation, subtitle translation lacks of systematic and theoretical study. Since the foundation of Relevance Theory, it has arisen lots of experts’ praises, and disputes.[2](P45)To a great extent, this theory has different study perspectives towards the process of communicative recognition, the process of inference and human beings’ communicative features.[3](P90)This paper tries to study the English movie subtitle translation in the perspective of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson's Relevance Theory, hoping to look into this translation in a new perspective.
2．Basic Notions of Relevance Theory
In the book Relevance: Communication and Cognition, Sperber and Wilson bring forth a cognitive theory of human communication—Relevance Theory, which comes from the basics of present cognitive theory, language philosophy and paraxiology.
2.1Relevance
Sperber and Wilson interpret the definition of relevance in the book as follows:
An assumption is relevant in a context if and only if it has contextual effects in that context. [4](P122)
However, they further express their two extended conditions, that is, an assumption is relevant in a context to the extent that its contextual effects in this context are large and the effort required to process in this context is small. [4](P155)
2.2Ostensive-inferential Communication
Relevance Theory is a cognitive pragmatics, which considers communication as an ostensive-inferential process. And the successful communication is determined by two basic conditions: one is mutual manifestness; the other is the optimal cognitive mode, i.e. relevance. [5](P115)
It is manifest that an act if ostensive communication can not achieve its effect unless the audience pays attention to the ostensive stimulus.[4](P156)This process includes two intentions: ''First the informative intention, to make manifest to her audience a set of assumptions; and second, the communicative intention, to make her informative intention mutually manifest." (ibid: 163) In other words, this process requires the efforts of the translator to achieve the mutual manifestness.
2.3Optimal Relevance
A successful communication requires the pursuit of optimal relevance on both sides of the communicator and the receptor. Sperber and Wilson define "optimal relevance "as follows:
a) The set of assumptions which the communicator intends to make manifest to the addressee is relevant enough to make it worth for the addressee to process the ostensive stimulus.
b) The ostensive stimulus is the most relevance one the communicator could have used to communicate. [4](P158)
Gutt in his book Translation and Relevance points out that the pursuit of optimal relevance should be the guideline of the translator. It includes two specific points: one is the translated version should be efficiently relevant with or provides efficient contextual effects to the audience; the other is the expression of the translated version should avoid the audience using too much unnecessary efforts.[6](P107) Besides, when translating the English versions into Chinese, the translator should change the implicature information into explicature one in order to achieve optimal relevance, because the Chinese people pay more attention in specific information while the Western people in abstractive information.[7](P298) Gutt’s direct translation theory originated from Sperber & Wilson’s theory, and direct translation does not disobey the optimal relevance, instead, it’s a complementary to optimal relevance.[8](P46) In fact, direct translation is to avoid gratuitous processing effort. If the reader’s gains overweigh far more than their excess efforts, then the excess efforts is worthwhile. [9](P148)
In this case, with the pursuit of optimal relevance, the audience can gain adequate contextual effects without putting too much unnecessary efforts.
2.4 Context and Cognitive Environment
Obviously, the background or the context of the audience is very important. The cognitive environment of a person means "a set of facts that are manifest to an individual"[4](P39)According to this definition, information or assumptions stored in the reader’s brain constitute the cognitive environment in which new information can be processed. Gutt notes that "In Relevance Theory context does not refer to some part of the external environment of the communication partners, be it the text preceding or following an utterance, situational circumstances, cultural factors, etc; it rather refers to part of their assumptions about the world or cognitive environment, as it is called". [6](P27) Research of movie translation under the western context must include the following factors: economics, culture, etc.[10](P15) Context, to some extent, refers to not only the differences between Western culture and Chinese culture, but also the situational circumstances that the two communicators are involved in. Besides, in order to better understand a specific context, the translator should consider the above factors as a whole.
3. Definition of Subtitle and Features of Subtitle Translation
3. 1. The Definition of Subtitles
According to Random House Dictionary, subtitles mean:
1) A secondary or subordinate title of a literary work, usually of explanatory character.
2) A repetition of the leading works in the full title of the head of the first page of text.
3) Motion Pictures, Television.
a) The text of dialogue, speeches, operas, etc, translated into another language and projected on the lower part of the screen.
b) (In silent motion pictures) A title or caption.
(http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0677857.html)[11]
In this paper, subtitle refers to the third meaning, that is: the text of dialogue, speeches, operas, etc, translated into another language and projected on the lower part of the screen. Therefore, movie subtitles can be interpreted as the written languages displayed at the bottom of the movie screen that translate the dialogues or narrations of the movie. In order not to cause the "visual split" for the movie viewers, successful translation of subtitles will help the audiences gain more information in a faster and more convenient way and receive better appreciation about the movie.
3. 2 Features of Subtitle Translation
Features of subtitle translation can be classified as follows:
Firstly, subtitles involve the communication mode from audio to visual. Because of the limited screen space for subtitles, and the specific contents, subtitles should be brief and concise.[12](P7) Secondly, subtitles can be interpreted in two levels. One is from sound to the written language form; the other is from the source language to the target language. [13](P8) Thirdly, the readers only have a short time to view the subtitle screen, because the screen space is limited and the movie pictures sometimes changed very fast.[14](P88-89)
In the next section the translation of subtitle will be discussed from the perspective of Relevance Theory by way of examples from the movie of Forrest Gump and Gone with the Wind.
4. Relevance-Theoretic Account for Subtitle Translation
4.1 Principle of Relevance Theory for Subtitle Translation
As the basics of Relevance Theory discussed above, the principle for a successful subtitle translation can be described as:
Firstly, the translation of movie subtitles acts as inferential communication. English movie subtitle translation is both an interlingual and intercultural communication.[15](P129) It involves two languages, Chinese and English, and in other words, two cultures. The purpose of inferential communication is, in fact, in paradigmatically, finishing the process of conveying the interlingual and intercultural information to the readers. The process of inference communication can be clearly understood by the following diagram. [16](P289)
Ostension1 Ostension2
Inference1 Inference2
The first stage The second stage
Secondly, according to the diagram, two ostensive-inferential processes and three parties are involved: source author, translator and target receptor. In the first process, the translator perceives the source author’s (or communicator’s) intention and makes inferences; in the second process, the translator plays the role of communicator, conveying the source author’s intention to the receptor and the receptor makes inferences. During these two processes, the principle of relevance should be applied with.[17](P59)After that, by achieving optimal relevance, the communicator must choose the appropriate expressions to transfer the original author’s intension to the target readers. If these processes are successful, the target language which has been translated will be successful. [18](P13)
4.2 Relevance-Theoretic Account for Subtitle Translation
Forrest Gump and Gone with the Wind are both classic movies in the Hollywood. They can be considered to be well translated by the subtitle translator in the sense that they have explicitly conveyed original intention and meaning to the target language viewers.[13](P20) This section will analyze the subtitle translation of the two movies by way of examples.
Examples in Forrest Gump:
Example1.
Forrest Gump：My Momma always said life was a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to eat.
阿甘：我妈常说，人生像一盒巧克力，你无法预知会吃到什么口味。
Analysis: This is a famous saying in Forrest Gump which uses simile. It compares life to a chocolate, and we don't know what flavor we will taste in life. The different kinds of flavor in the box refers to various things that are going to happen in Forrest's life. This sentence creates a contextual effect that Forrest Gump's mother loves him so much that she wants Forrest to live bravely through life no matter what happens in his life. Here the Chinese version with the words “预知” has reached the relevance of the original meaning and intention. The words “预知” indicates the uncertainty of life, furthermore it encourages people to live a happy life. The translation of this sentence makes the target viewers' expectation and the original author's intension meet. So, it's a successful example from the perspective of Relevance Theory.
Example2.
Forrest Gump: Can you believe it? I got to college, too.
阿甘：信不信由你，我居然也升上大学。
Analysis: The background is that Forrest goes to college due to his excellent performance in the football team. The original utterance includes a question, which has the intention to express the feeling of surprise and doubt. The translator doesn't translate the sentence into a question mechanically. Instead, he conveys the intended meaning. To some extent, the translated sentence expresses Forrest's unbelievable joy, and thus the readers can achieve contextual effects without putting unnecessary efforts.
Example3.
One day, we were out walking, like always.
有一天，我们跟平常一样巡逻。
And then, just like that, somebody turned off the rain, and the sun came out.
忽然间雨停了，好像有人关掉水龙头，太阳钻了出来
Analysis: When Forrest is in the army, the rain lasts for a long time, and it really cause them some trouble. One day, the rain stops very suddenly and surprisingly with the sun coming out just as the water faucet has been turned off.[13](P27)“Somebody turned off the rain” and “came out” are translated into “有人关掉水龙头”and “钻”,which the translator conveys the original information vividly to the receptor.
Example4.
Congratulations, son! Have you given any thought to your future?
恭喜你孩子，你为前途打算过吗？
Thought?
打算？
Analysis：When Forrest graduates from the college, he is asked whether he has any plan for his future. At that time, he is suggested to join the army. So the intention of this question means that ‘Congratulations on your graduation. You should join the army, and it will be the best career for your future.’ The translation of this utterance is good because it’s concise and to the point. Moreover, translating “thought” into “打算” has produced the context that is relevant enough for the Chinese viewers to understand the intention meaning of this utterance. And under this context the communicative effect has been achieved.
Example5.
What does “normal” mean anyway?
正常的意义是什么？
He might be a bit on the slow side,
他也许迟钝一点，
but my Forrest is going to get the same opportunities as everyone else.
但是我家福斯特要和别人一样有均等的机会，
He’s not going to some special school to learn how to retread tyres.
他不会上智障学校学习拆轮胎。
Analysis: When the principal refuses Forrest to attend the public school and suggests that Forrest should go to a special school, Forrest’s mother argues with him by questioning what the word normal means, and she insists that his son should go to the normal public school instead of some kind of special school for disabled children. In this context, since Forrest’s mother believes strongly that her son has nothing different from other normal children; the quotation of “normal” here must be emphasized to achieve optimal relevance. Thus a better version of “What does ‘normal’ mean anyway?” can be “究竟什么才是‘正常’?” Besides, ‘a bit on the slow side’ is translated into “迟钝一点”, which the translator can’t appropriately convey the strong belief of Forrest’s mother towards her son. If we change this version into “他也许学东西慢一些”, which will be in accordance with the viewers’ menifestness and be more relevant and appropriate.
Example6.
It was like olden times. We were like peas and carrots again.
就像当年一样，我们秤不离砣。
Analysis: Here “like peas and carrots” is a common used expression in English. The translator translates this into “秤不离砣”, which helps the Chinese viewers achieve contextual effects with the least efforts because they are familiar with the Chinese idioms “秤不离砣”. In other words, the translator conveys the source author’s intention to the Chinese viewers and they can easily make the inferences. Thus, the translation of this utterance is successful.
Example7.
The army decided I should be on the All-American Ping-pong Team.
军方要我加入美国乒乓球代表队。
We were the first Americans to visit the land of China in like a million years or something.
我们是第一批访问中国的老美了，
有一百万年没来往了。
Somebody said world peace was in our hands,
有人说世界和平操在我们手里，
but all I did was playing ping-pong.
然而我只是打乒乓球
Analysis: The first line is translated successfully for it is concise and accurate in meaning, meanwhile it has made the original information explicitly stated. Then some humorous effects have been achieved by translating “Americans” into “老美”, and it also conveys the information to the Chinese viewers that Forrest has some sense of humor. The Translation of “Somebody said world peace was in our hands” into “有人说世界和平操在我们手里” is correct in meaning but lacks of vivid image and clear presentation, however, if we change it into “有人说我们手握和平之剑”, which will convey the intention meaning that Forrest’s playing Ping-pong has something connected with diplomatic relation and will produce a vivid image.
Examples in Gone with the Wind
Example1．
Ashley：Well，isn’t it enough that you gathered every other man’s heart today? You always had mine．You cut your teeth on it．
阿希礼：今天你取得那么多男人的心，还不够吗?我的心总是你的。
Analysis：‘You cut your teeth on it’ has the same meaning with “you always had mine”, but it’s just that the later is more imaginary and more lively. Due to the limitation of screen space, twenty Chinese words at most can be showed in two subtitle lines, so the later sentence has been omitted, as to make it easier to understand for the readers.
Example2．
Rhett：if I tried drawing a draft，the Yankees would be on me like a duck Oil a Juneau．So you see，my dear，you’ve based yourself to no purpose.
瑞德：我一动那一笔钱，北老就会闻着味追上来。亲爱的，你这次真得让自己白白蒙受屈辱了。
Analysis：According to the readers’ cognitive ability , information which is less relevant or even irrelevant should be omitted or shortened, in order to strengthen the relevant information[19](P39). “be Oil me like a duck，Oil a Juneau” is a slang，translating it directly will causes misunderstanding，in this case omission will be more appropriate. So the translator omits this part to take the target reader’s cognitive ability into full account.
Example3.
Char1es：He is afraid to fight．
Ashley：Not quite that Charles，he just don’t want to take advantage of you．
查尔斯：他不敢接受我的挑战。
阿希礼：并非如此，他不过不想占你的便宜。
Analysis: Another translation is :查尔斯：他拒绝去打仗。阿希礼：不是那样，他只是不想利用你。Here according to the context, the fight doesn’t stands for the civil war, but personal fight. Therefore，the former one is more correct by searching for optimal relevance according to the cognitive environment as to reduce the audience’s effort to achieve the fastest and easiest understanding.
Example4.
Rhett：You can drop the moonlight and magnolia，Scarlet．
瑞德：你能把月亮都说圆了，斯嘉丽。
Analysis：In example 4, the implicature information is translated into explicature one in order to make it understood easily. There are cultural differences between English and Chinese, because the Western people and the Chinese people have different cognitive environment from the perspective of Relevance Theory. If the translator conveyed it directly, the implicit intention of the original information would be hard to understand. Since the Chinese audience isn’t familiar with moonlight and magnolia. The implicit intention of the original is that Rhett knows that Scarlet is lying, so the translation of “drop the moonlight and magnolia” into“把月亮说圆”is more vivid. The explicature information will help the audience have a better understanding of the movie.
Example5.
Scarlet: That man looking at us and smiling. A nasty dog.
斯嘉丽：那个笑着看我们的人，真是个丑八怪！
Analysis: The use of metaphor here can convey emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, however, out of the culture differences，Chinese readers can hardly understand the information.[20](P9)Thus, “A nasty dog” is translated into“丑八怪”，which the emotions of Scarlet’s detestation of the man can be easily accepted by the Chinese readers.
Example6.
Scarlet: Why don’t you say it, you coward? You’re afraid to marry me.
斯嘉丽：你这个胆小鬼，不敢娶我。
You’d rather live with that silly little fool who can’t open her mouth except to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ ,and raise a houseful of mealy—mouthed brats just like her!
你宁可娶那个听话的傻瓜，
然后生群傻孩子。
Analysis: When Scarlett was in the Twelve Oaks, she expresses her love to Ashley. But Ashley doesn’t receive her love. After that, Scarlett gets very angry and says these words quickly because of her strong anger towards Ashley. In this case, in order not to cause the “visual split” to the Chinese viewers, the translator omits translating “Why don’t you say it”, which makes the sentence more briefly. Translating “that silly little fool who can’t open her mouth except to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’” and “raise a houseful of mealy—mouthed brats just like her!” into “那个听话的傻瓜”and “生群傻孩子”respectively helps both achieve the optimal relevance and avoid “visual split”.
Example7.
Scarlet: I couldn’t let you do anything like that, and anyway, it’s done now.
斯嘉丽：我不会让你做那种事，无论如何，木已成舟。
Ashley: Yes. It’s done now. You wouldn’t let me do anything dishonorable yet you’d sell yourself in marriage to a man you didn’t love.
阿希礼：是的，木已成舟，你不让我做不荣誉的事情，自己却卖给不爱的婚姻。
Analysis: In order to save the land-- Tara, Scarlet should pay the tax of $300.After she has managed to protect Tara by marrying a man she doesn’t love, Ashley rejects her way of solving the problem. However, Scarlet states that it’s done now. So the original information the author wants to convey should be “No matter what Scarlett does, Tara is safe now”. In this case, translating “it is done now.” into“木已成舟。”will make the Chinese viewers misunderstand the original information. Thus, changing “it’s done now.” into “德园的事情已经解决了。” will successfully convey the original information to the Chinese viewers.
5. Conclusion
The above cases study of subtitle translation from English to Chinese with the movies Forrest Gump and Gone with the Wind have been conducted with some examples taken right from the movie screen from the perspective of Relevance Theory. According to Relevance Theory, the translated subtitles should yield optimal contextual effects at minimal processing efforts to guarantee high quality and acceptance of the subtitle translation of a movie.
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关联理论视角下的电影字幕翻译
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【摘要】 随着影视文化的发展，电影字幕翻译愈来愈显得重要。本文介绍了Sperber 和Wilson的关联理论，运用这一理论，对经典影片《阿甘正传》和《乱世佳人》进行个案分析。为了实现英文电影预期的交际效果，字幕翻译应该以最佳关联原则为指导，让观众用最小的努力，获得最大的语境效果。
【关键词】 关联理论；字幕翻译；《阿甘正传》；《乱世佳人》
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, associate Prof. Cai Ruizhen, for her invaluable guidance, constant encouragement and angelic patience during the development of the present thesis. She has guided me how to outline a reasonable structure of the paper and has walked me through all the stages of writing the thesis. Without her guidance and help, the paper could not have been accomplished. I feel fortunate to have such a devoted advisor. Secondly, special thanks are due to my friends and families for their support and encouragement while the paper was being written.
