This paper will study subtitle translation of films on the basis of Skopos Theory。 The movie Zootopia will be taken as the case。 Author will analyze the translation strategies and skills, which are applied to the film, and conclude a series of principles that can be used in practice。 The subtitle translation has been ignored by scholars for a long time。 It does not get much attention as literary translation, so author hopes that more studies can be made in this field, which can make the film subtitle translation reach a new height。

This paper includes five Chapters。 Chapter one is the research background of present study and explains its issues。 Chapter two starts with the definition, features and constraints of subtitle translation and also looks back on previous studies in subtitle translation both at home and abroad。 Chapter three mainly analyzes the Skopos Theory。 Chapter four is the most important part of the paper。 It takes the film Zootopia as an example for case study。 Chapter five is the summary of the whole paper。   

2。 Literature Review

2。1 The definition of subtitle translation来自优W尔Y论W文C网WWw.YoueRw.com 加QQ7520,18766

First of all, what is subtitle translation? In terms of New Oxford Dictionary of English, it is captions displayed at the bottom of a film or TV screen that translate or transcribe the dialogue or narrative。 However, many scholars have different definitions of subtitle translation。 According to Jacobson, “Subtitle translation is interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other languages” (Jacobson 233)。 Shuttleworth and Cowie describe it as “the process of providing synchronized captions for film and TV dialogue” (Shuttleworth& Cowie 161)。 Some other scholars describe it as the words printed on a film in a foreign language to translate what is being said on the original sound track。

Among all these definitions of subtitle translation, the definition of Henrik Gottlieb, who was a famous person in the field of translation, may be the most recognized one。 According to his opinion, “Subtitle translation is a kind of written, additive, immediate, synchronous, and poly medial translation”。 (Gottlieb 162)

2。2 Features of subtitle translation

2。2。1 Instantaneousness

The nature of films and TV programs determines the language of subtitle translation must be instantaneous。 Not like literary works that readers can read it word by word over and over again, such as novel or prose whose language is presented on paper, subtitle translation can not be in screen for a long time because of the feature of instantaneity。 If they have some difficulties in understanding the context or the language, they will spend time thinking about the questions, so the following story will be ignored。 Not influencing audiences to enjoy the plot, subtitle translation can not be too long or too short, which means it should leave enough time for audiences to skim through, so translators should try their best to let audiences understand the movie in a short time。

2。2。2 Colloquialism

Film language is made up of dialogues and it reflects the daily life of people, so film language must be close to common life。 Most of the audiences can enjoy the film without difficulty。 However, sometimes the language of dialogue tends to be profound, and then translators must use vivid and informal words as many as possible in order to express the characters of verbal statements。

2。2。3 Popularity论文网

Compared with literary works, film and TV programs are closer to the ordinary people and common life。 As popular works, the target of them is to face the public, so subtitle translation should take cultural level and appreciation level of audiences into account。 Thus translators need to use the most concise text to convey the meaning of the original text to target audiences with different language backgrounds。 If subtitle translation is too elegant or obscure, it will only bring wounds to the original works and affect the viewing effects。 As a result, only popular languages can be accepted by the public。