2。2。4 Synchronism

Subtitle translation should be synchronized with pictures and sounds。 During the conversion from spoken into written language, subtitle translation can increase and decrease correctly to keep pace with original text completely。

2。3 Constraints of subtitle translation

2。3。1 Time and Space

Just as mentioned before, subtitle translation has an obvious feature: instantaneity。 Time refers to how long sounds or pictures last in a movie and the average time for audiences to skim。 Because of different educational backgrounds of audiences, the time they need is different too。 As for space, it means the size of screen and the lines of subtitles translation。 Subtitle translation can only occupy the space of no more than two lines at the lower part of screen。 

2。3。2 Culture Elements

As is known to us, film works can express or convey the core culture of a nation or a country。 By watching and appreciating film works, audiences can understand different habits, customs, and cultures from different countries with the aid of subtitle translation。 However, audiences often misunderstand the dialogue and action of actors or actresses because of  great distinctions of culture。 Culture image is a kind of culture symbol that has special and profound meaning。 As soon as people mention these images, they will understand the meanings of the images at once。 Besides, their thoughts can be communicated easily。 Therefore, translators should fully understand these cultural elements and take them into consideration in order to express the information through subtitle translation。

2。4 Previous studies on subtitle translation

European scholars perform more actively than others in the field of subtitle translation。 Dollerup was the first man and got great achievement by putting forward the importance and status in subtitle and teaching field。 Moreover, he pointed out that watching movie with the help of film subtitle translation is a very effective way to learn foreign languages and they can practice listening and translation skills(Tan 30)。 European Broadcasting Union held a meeting about subtitle translation in Sweden in 1987, and it was the first time that the conference was held in this field。 Influenced by this important conference, there was a series of meetings that accelerated the promotion and spread of programs, which had subtitle translation at the bottom of the screen。 In recent years, European countries have put great attention to film translation, and the international meetings were held successfully。 It’s good to notice that more and more scholars pay attention to the research of subtitle translation。

Compared with Western countries, the translation of subtitles is far behind in China。 In 1998, the leading academic journal about translation held a research on films and TV series。 Scholars gave a general research on subtitle translation of films and TV programs, including languages of films, translation methods and skills。 However, there are still many problems。 Scholars who are engaged in this area are very rare and most of the studies are lacking in systematic research。 

3。 The Skopos Theory

3。1 Brief introduction of Skopos Theory文献综述

The concepts of “faithfulness” and “equivalence” have been dominant in study of theory and practice of translation for a long time。 In order to break the deadlock, Hans Vermeer proposed the Skopos Theory in the 1970s in Germany and became a leader in translation studies。 He stated his opinion “translation should produce a text at a target setting for a target purpose and target addressee in target circumstances” (Liu 20)。 Vermeer thought that translation was an intercultural action。 As a result, he considered Skopos Theory as an approach to translation。 In his approach, translation is a form of action, which is based on source text。 Each action has its own aim, so Skopos Theory is a theory of purposeful action。