Creativity in Subtitling Film Translation from English to Chinese

In recent decades， as the planet earth is becoming a global village， cross-cultural exchange of information is more frequent than ever before. Currently， international entertainment market is dominated by English-speaking countries such as the USA and UK. In China， Chinese people started to experience foreign cultures from imported films and videos. English films are very popular as a cultural information carrier， showcasing exotic cultural divergences to many Chinese people， especially to college students， who are English literal. However， in the majority of cases， people rely on translated subtitles of films and thus subtitling translation is a mainstream job. China is still under development in subtitling translation as compared with the West since the approved films are rather limited in numbers each year. With the advent of various state-of-the-art technologies， film industry and movie translation flourish across the globe. Whilst in China， there is still significant room for improvement， due to the lack of theoretical frameworks and methodological tools.

This paper is concerned with the creativity in subtitling film translation from English to Chinese. In this work， various research methods have been applied， including the descriptive-explanatory method and applicability of Skopo theory. Subtitling translation will be checked and verified during the detailed illustration and analysis.

1. Concepts and characteristics of subtitling

Subtitling has been researched under the topics of constraints. Although research in the audiovisual field may date back to 1932 （Orero， 2004）， it is only extensively studied from the translation perspective in the 1980s. In the literature， various versions have been discussed. One of the commonly persuasive definitions is developed by Gottlieb， a leading authority on subtitling， and whose definition of subtitling may be the most complete one in the eye of the writer.

Subtitling can be defined as a 1） written， 2） additive （e.g. new verbal material is added in the form of subtitles）， 3） immediate， 4） synchronous， and 5） poly-medial （e.g. at least two channels are employed） form of translation.

Gottlieb （1992：162）

While Baker’s view is that subtitles can be defined as ‘transcriptions of film or TV dialogue， presented simultaneously on the screen’. This can be divided into two categories： intralingual and interlingual subtitling. Intralingual subtitling is mainly available for the deaf or hard of hearing， which means subtitlers changing mode， but not language. While interlingual subtitling， on the other hand， deals with the work from one language to another language. During this process， mode transmission between words and image happens frequently. In this essay， interlingual subtitling is focused.

Clearly， subtitling helps audience’s comprehension of films in a different language， especially for those monolingual audience. The subtitling translation in China， however， suffered from ill-quality initially but gradually improving. Nowadays， in addition to basic language translation， creativity is becoming a demand from the audience.

Subtitles， in my viewpoints， have three main characteristics： synchronisation， contextualisation， and combination of inter-linguistics and inter-semiotics.

First， synchronisation defines that the subtitling must keep pace with the constant proceeding of films. If the text work is not presented with close interaction between visual information and audio information， the audience will easily lose the interconnection between them and may become disengaged. Unlike words in books that can be rechecked by readers at any time， subtitles are words flashing onto the screen and disappear immediately.

Secondly， while contextualisation requires that subtitling translation to respond to the emotion of the moment， that is， they can be altered along with the characters， environment， events factors in a movie. At the same time， the subtitling translation should be contextualised by the linguistic choices， such as the character’s educational levels， language habits， the use of vocabulary are all critical factors in relation to translating the characters’ expressions. In addition， contextualization requires that the font size and color， ways of entrance and exit and background， should be coordinated with the contents， rhythm of the scenes. Take documentary films for example. In order to attract attention from audience， subtitlers should be aware of the appearance style which should be gentle with slow motions. In contrast， for some comedy types of films， in order to create a happy and dynamic atmosphere， the subtitling speed can be set fast to match audience’s excitement.

Thirdly， subtitling translation is also a combination of inter-linguistics and inter-semiotics. For English to Chinese （E-C） films， subtitling is associated with all inter-linguistics because it mainly focuses on drawing a close relationship between source text language （STL） and that of the target text language （TTL）. As Dollerup （1974：198） states： \"Long and careful study of both languages is required and， more particularly， of the literature， history， and culture of the country concerned.” In the case of films， Baker （Baker， 1998） indicated， “Film is a semiotic composition of mainly four channels： verbal auditory channel （e.g. dialogue and background voices）； non-verbal auditory channel （e.g. natural sounds， sound effects and music）； verbal visual channel （e.g. subtitles and the writing within）； non-verbal visual channel （images， camera positions movement， and editing etc.）”. The role of languages in a film contributes to “its co-occurrence with signs from other codes in shaping cultural images and， consequently， audience reception.” （Gottlieb， 2001）， which means that subtitling is more than inter-lingual， which can also be regarded as inter-semiotic process.

All in all， everything that is appeared on screen is not necessarily fully translated due to the constraint factors of subtitling. Translators have to learn how to condensate large volume of sentences to shorter ones to achieve the similar effect with the original version.

2. Strategies to achieve creativity

The communicative purpose can be achieved by comedic effect， informative and artistic application in subtitling. Languages have their own genius； so do translators （Lefevere， 1992）. How to effectively achieve creativity in subtitling translation is of critical significance in subtitling research. Practical strategies will be introduced as follows.

2.1 Culture-based strategies

Cultural considerations are important when creatively translating subtitles. As for a famous American movie “Top Gun”， if translated literally， this can be translated as the “the most powerful gun”. As a matter of fact， taking American cultural factors into consideration， translators should be aware that this is a training code of the U.S. Navy F-14 fleet. The movie intends to reflect it on the quality of soldiers’ strong willpower， spirit of unity and cooperation in this military training school. So it is translated into Chinese as “壯志凌云”， which not only highlights the theme， but also catches the audience’s imagination. However， in another case， the movie “American Beauty” is translated as “美國麗人” is totally a failure due to an absence of cultural consideration in this translation. In this movie， the beauty refers to the generation of the declined American middle class. It shows a distinct divergence in class levels. This translation clearly failed to bring this out and greatly misled Chinese audience in the sense.

2.2 Condensation

In order to achieve an effective impact on the audience， condensation is a method used when there is little relation， but frequently repetition， weak relevance between subtitling and the movie， while omission is the most frequently-used method in condensation. According to Gottlieb， omission is merely considered as a way to rethink “what is padding and what is vital information” （Gottlieb 2001：119）. Omission is a legitimate translation strategy， and it is perhaps used in subtitling than in any other form of translation， due to the restrictions of the medium” （Pedersen， 2008， p.104）. For instance， “She lived in a house that was so old as Alabama”， a sentence in the movie Forrest Gan （‘阿甘正傳’， pronounced as ‘agan zhengzhuan’）， is translated as “她住在一個古老的房子里” （‘She lived in an old house’ pronounced as ‘ta zhuzai yige gulao de fangzili’）. ‘Alabama’ is omitted appropriately here， for the reason that the audience only need to know she lived in a pretty old house. To what degree the house is old does not necessarily concern the audience. This not only achieves the space-economy effect， but also avoids distracting the audience. In order to capture the interplay of textual and visual features， the subtitling in the source movie has to be properly tailored. For subtitling translators， knowing how to strike a balance between omission and reservation is essential but this is about pinch control.

2.3 Graphic design

Research on linguistic levels of the audience does not lead to achieving creativity， which needs a new dimension. Graphic design of subtitles is crucial in a movie subtitle， which includes the arrangement of images， shapes， colours and font types. The process of translation is reproduction， to carry the translation work out of boundaries of original culture. In a movie， if the whole feeling the filmmaker intends to present is melancholy， subtitling translators cannot change the font colour， which will ruin the key emotional effect with inappropriate colour variations. Another point is that the essential role for a translator to play is the inter-media worker， who bridges the gap between the audience and movie-makers to achieve a harmonious reflection. While the communicative effect and the quality of comprehension are greatly dependent on translators’ flexibility， the ability to switch between two languages， as well as appropriately design graphics. It is also an interesting thing to witness subtitling jump from a higher position to a lower one， or from left to right to follow the flow of dialogues between characters.

Ideally， the charm of a film is a perfect combination of pictures and sound. Subtitles come after the two. The premise of its existence is that it should not affect the overall visual effect of the screen. Subtitle typography， therefore， must also need to meet the aesthetic standards. In the subtitling practice， translators also recognised that there are criteria of uniformity for subtitling appearance. Subtitling fonts cannot be too large to affect the normal picturesque， nor too small to cause readability issues. If it is shown in TVs， there is a minimal size for TV programmes. Moreover， the length of each sentence subtitles has to be restricted. Since the screen flashes quickly， subtitles can only present for a short time， often two or three seconds. Therefore， subtitles need to be concise but effective. Similarly， it is also needed to consider whether or not to include the punctuation in the subtitles.

The design of graphics plays such a critical role. Unlike the conventional subtitling which appears in the bottom of the screen， the motion typography seems to change its position in line with the dialogues and characters in the movie. For example， in the BBC episode Sherlock， with the application of motional visual subtitling on screen， the audience are quite immersed in this lively atmosphere. It suggests that currently they are detectives to investigate into the crimes. At the same time， the application of motion typology shows that the levels of artistic merit can be realised through artistic subtitles. For instance， semi-transparent typography has been attempted in some movies so as to create an imaginary and mysterious effect.

3. Conclusion

Based on some previous translation theories， this essay has attempted to provide a tool for promoting creativity in subtitling translation， in the context of English to Chinese film translation. Subtitling translation is challenging and an artistic work. As the subtitles carry own features， language expressions are involved in background knowledge of the source culture and society， translators need specialist expertise and translation strategies. Currently the academic research of subtitle translation has not enjoyed adequate attention. A cross-disciplinary approach for creative subtitling translation is required to develop which involves graphic design， film studies and translation. Along with the development of science and technology， new advanced digital technologies and audiovisual facilities are being invented. As a result， the entertainment industry could take advantage of those technologies to improve the audience experience， with an aid of creative thinking for subtitles.

Bibliographies：

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[2]Gottlieb， H. （1992） \"Subtitling： Diagonal Translation.\" In Perspectives： Studies in Translatology， Volume 2， Number 1， pp. 101-121.

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[5]Nornes， Abe Mark. （2004） Cinema Babel. Minneapolis： University of Minnesota Press.

[6]Oittinen， Riitta （2006） “No Innocent Act： On the Ethics of Translating for Children.” In Coillie， Jan Van and Verschueren， Walter P. （eds） Children’s Literature in Translation. Manchester： St. Jerome Publishing， 35-45.

[7]Orero， P （2004） Topics in Audiovisual Translation. Amsterdam： John Benjamins. 225pp.

[8]Pedersen， J. （2008） High felicity： A speech act approach to quality assessment in subtitling. In Delia Chiaro， Christine Heiss， Chiara Bucaria， Between Text and Image， Updating research in screen translation （p.104）.

[9]Reiss， K. H. J. Vermeer （1984） Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie， Tübiingen： Niemeyer.

作者簡介：Jie Wang， 26，Henan， PhD Candidate in Translator Training and Translator Competence in China， Teaching Assistant， Queen's University Belfast， UK， BT7 1NN. Email： jwang13@qub.ac.uk.王杰，26歲，河南人，英國女王大學助教，博士在讀，研究方向為中國的譯者培訓和能力素質教育，英國女王大學，英國。郵編：BT7 1NN。郵箱：jwang13@qub.ac.uk.