The Application of Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theory and Semantic Translation Theory in English Subtitle Translation

王玉琛

Abstract：With the continuous improvement of the world economic level， people set higher requirements for their life quality. Various forms of entertainments are emerging one after another. As the most popular form of entertainment， film is constantly absorbing foreign excellent works in order to meet the growing cultural needs of people. At the same time， subtitle translation has become an indispensable part. The translation of film and television subtitles needs to meet certain standards and follow certain principles. This article combines the theory of communicative translation and the theory of semantic translation proposed by Newmark， and discusses specifically the two translation theories of Newmark in the Harry Potter films so as to summarize the translation methods and to find more suitable subtitle translation methods.

KEY WORDS：video subtitle translation；communicative translation

0 Introduction

0.1 A Brief Introduction of previous literature

From Yan Fus “Xin Da Ya”， Fu Leis “Expression Theory” Zhong Shus “Transformation Theory” to Western “Literal Translation and Free Translation”， Tytlers “Three Principles”， Nidas “Formal Equivalence” With dynamic equivalence， Venutis “naturalization and alienation”， etc.， scholars try to find an idealized translation strategy， or try to apply their ideas formed in a field of translation practice to translation practice in other fields. From a practical perspective， there is no uniformed translation strategy or standard. By its nature， translation refers to a kind of transference between linguistic forms， or process of putting it “in other words” as Mona Baker （2000， p. 53） pictured it for the translation of different texts， according to the characteristics of the specific text to distinguish the appropriate translation strategy. British translation theorist Peter Newmark combines the theory of linguistic function with translation studies， innovatively studies translation from the perspective of textual type， and proposes the concepts of “semantic translation” and “communicative translation”， which has had a major impact on the translation community. Professor Wang Zuoliang， a famous scholar in China， once pointed out the relationship between culture and translation： “Translators deal with individual words， and he faces two major cultures. （Bai Jingyu， 2013： 4）”

0.2 Essence of translation

Generally， translation in a narrow sense is taken as interlingual transference from one language into another， while in a broad sense can be inter-symbol transference from one form whether linguistic or nonlinguistic into another （Wang Zhengying， 2009： 109）. This article further explains how to use the communicative translation theory and semantic translation theory to translate the subtitles of the films and interprets the three different types of texts proposed by Newmark ， as well as the characteristics and requirements of subtitle translation. Then it explains what skills are required to complete the film subtitle translation process and demonstrate comprehensively my own opinions.

1 Chapter 1 Translation Practice under the Guidance of Text-Type Translation

1.1 Semantic and communicative translation

For different types of original text， the translator should adopt different corresponding translation strategy. In view of this， Newmark proposes the concepts of semantic translation and communicative translation. It eased the tension of the dispute between literal translation and free translation and enriched the translation strategy. It provides an effective solution for the translation of different texts， known as the Newmark text-type translation theory. Semantic translation refers to “translating the contextual meaning of the original text as accurately as possible under the premise of the semantic and syntactic structure of the target language.” The communicative translation means that “the effect of the translation produced on the target reader should be as much as possible to that produced on the original reader” （Peter Newmark， 1998）. Semantic translation focuses on maintaining the unique language expressions and the characteristics of the original text； while communicative translation focuses on conveying the content of the original text in a more smooth language that is apprehensible for target readers.

2 Chapter2 Requirements and characteristics of movie subtitle translation

2.1 Use simple sentences and easy words

Since subtitles are presented on the screen in a very limited time. If the viewer does not grasp the meaning within a limited time， there is no chance to reread it like other literary forms， so the translation of the film has the characteristic of irreversibility.

2.2 Subtitle translation should be geared to the film context target cultural background

“Language is deeply rooted in cultural reality. Language can only be explained by constantly referring to the deeper background of the discourse” （Katan， 2004： 4）.

The characteristics are formed in a unique cultural environment， so that the understanding and expression will be impacted in the course of translation （Liu Miqing， 1999）.

The language used in film and television works is a means of portraying characters. As a written form of character utterance imposed on the screen， subtitles directly convey the emotion of the characters to the audience.

3 Chapter 3 Application of Semantic and Communicative translation in Harry Potter works

3.1 Semantic Translation in Harry Potter Works

Semantic translation pays attention to the original expressions and the authors intention rather than their application in the target language， and it does not adapt the translation into the cultural context of the target language. Since semantic translation deems the words and sentences of the original text as sacred， it sometimes produces inconsistencies， semantic ambiguities， and even erroneous translations due to the lack of background information of the target language. Semantic translation is usually applied in literature， scientific literature， and other textual genres with their language and content equally important.

Semantic Translation in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince， Professor Albus Dumbledore went to the school hospital to visit Ron who was in the curse by dark magic and happened to see Rons girlfriend arguing with Ron， then his girlfriend slammed the door and left angrily. At this time， Professor Albus Dumbledore said “oh， to be young， and to feel loves keens sting.” To translate this movie line， a well-equipped translator should first base the translation on the full comprehension of background knowledge. Comprehension can be classified into a broad one and a narrow one. Broad comprehension is related to the intention of the author， the content of the film and television works， and the reflection of the original readers to the original work while narrow comprehension only cares about the content of film and television works. A complete comprehension of the content is the primary condition for ensuring the correctness of translation. The translation of the movie line is as follows： “哦，年輕真好，還能感受到愛的傷害.” We can see only three English words “to be young” are used in the original text. If we use the literal translation technique， we can only translate it into “年輕的時候”or“作為一名年輕人”， as we mentioned before， if we fully understand the background knowledge， we should know that the message conveyed by this sentence is not only the state of being young but also a compliment praise to young people out of the mouth of an old professor which further contrasts the age gap.

3.2 Communicative translation in Harry Potter works

Communicative translation （or communicative approach） refers to any translation method or approach that treats translation as “the process of communication that takes place in a social context”. The focus of communicative translation is to convey information according to the culture and pragmatics of the target language rather than copy the original text as faithfully as possible.

Communicative Translation in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”Mr. Potter will always be around to save the dead. - Dont worry， I will be”. When Harry was 12 years old， he first accepted the challenge of a Death Eater. Lucius wanted to humiliate Harry. He didnt expect him to be humiliated on the contrary by Harrys courageous affirmation. We found that Harrys answer was very wise. In general， in face of the humiliation of others， we would refute or retreat， but Harry did not - his answer directly ignored the Lucius ‘s “humiliation” in the dialogue， and instead made a trick on Lucius. Based on this scenario， the translation interprets it as “我們希望我們的波特先生總是能夠扭轉乾坤”-”放心吧，我會的！ “ The translation of the dialogue clearly uses the method of communicative translation， we can clearly see when translating the phrase “save the dead”， the translator uses the Chinese idiom “扭轉乾坤” which actually followings the strategy of extension and domestication and is very easy to accept by Chinese audiences.

4 Conclusion

. Subtitle translation not only accurately expresses the movie content， but also considers both culture and context to provide a better viewing experience for the audience （Lu， 2018）. Semantic translation based on the culture of the source language explains the meaning of the original movie and takes the aesthetic value of the original movie into consideration （Peter Newmark， 2001b： 45-46）. Communicative translation focuses more on the target language and emphasizes the accurate expressions of the contextual meaning of the movie. Its content and form are more easily accepted by the target audience （Zhang Meifang， 2006： 76）. In conclusion， we should adopt a method combining communicative translation and semantic translation.

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（作者單位：天津大學外國語言與文學學院）