吸血鬼日记毕业论文英文

Contents Abstract (in English) I Abstract (in Chinese) II 1. Introduction 1 2. Obstacles of Subtitle Translation 2.1 Language Differences 2.2 Cultural Differences 2.3 Limitation of Time and Space 4 4 7 8 3. Application of CT and ST to Translation of The Vampire Diaries 10 3.1 Translation of Lexical Level 10 3.2 Translation of Rhetorical Level 3.3 Translation of Cultural Level 13 15 4. Conclusion Acknowledgements 17 Works cited       1. Introduction The theory of communicative translation (CT for short) and semantic translation (ST for short) was put forward against the background that the majority of scholars have argued for a long time whether to translate literally or freely. Whereas a well-known British translator and translation theorist, Peter Newmark criticized that the argument was theoretical without taking other important facets of translation: translator’s purpose, the nature of readership and text typology into consideration. So he advanced the theory of CT and ST which represents his main contribution to general translation theory. Peter Newmark discussed, in details, the theory of CT and ST in his book Approaches to Translation,“I have proposed only two methods of translation that are appropriate to any text: (a) communicative translation, where the translator attempts to produce the same effect on the target language (TL for short) readers as was produced by the original on the source language(SL for short ) readers. And (b) semantic translation, where the translator attempts, within the bare syntactic and semantic constraints on the TL, to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the author”. As the definition indicates, CT emphasizes the readers of the TL while ST focuses on semantic content of the SL texts and the context meaning of the author. As two methods of translation, communicative translation and semantic translation have something in common: Firstly, both these translation methods are based on cognitive translation. During the course of translating SL to TL, it is essential that translators should convey the thinking of the original text by reducing figurative elements to plain and literal expressions and be in compliance with grammatical structure of TL and some written features. Secondly, there is no dividing line between CT and ST. It is quite difficult to decide to what extent CT instead of ST should be applied, and vice versa. On the contrary, they are cooperative and complementary in dealing with some specific problems in translation Thirdly, it is essential to give priority to the literal translation in both CT and ST, as long as the original meaning is not impaired and the equivalent-effect is reached. Because literal translation is conducive to preserve not only the original meaning and form, and the original figures of speech, but also the local colors. Despite the fact that they have some similarities, there also exist notable differences between them. Communicative translation, as defined by Newmark, “attempts to provide on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original”, while semantic translation, “attempts to render, as closely as semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allows, the exact contextual meaning of the original”. The main differences between them can be explained in the following table: CT ST Reader-centered Author-centered Unit of translating: tends to sentences and paragraph Unit of translating: tends to words, and clauses Serve the TL and TR to an utmost extent Be subjected to SL culture and author Adjustment or decoration can be used Grammatical rules of SL texts should be remained     From the table above, we can clearly see that CT focused essentially upon the comprehension and response of the readers while ST focuses primarily on the semantic content of the source text. The author displays the differences by the following examples: Example 1: Wet floor! Version A:湿地面！ Version B:小心地滑！ Version A which is rendered by semantic translation focuses on the contextual meaning of the author within the syntactic and semantic constraints of the TL. It is translated word by word and there are no explanatory words given to help the TL readers understand the original. While version B is communicative translation, attaches great importance to producing the original effect and makes it more acceptable for TL readers. To sum up, both CT and ST are so closely connected with each other that they can not be applied separately in translation. Instead, it is advisable to combine both of them in translation practice since they overlap each other, yet quite vary in some areas to a considerable extent. 2. Obstacles of Subtitle Translation 2.1 Language Differences As we all know, Chinese and English are affiliated to different linguistic groups. The former belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language group, while the latter belongs to the Indo-European family. Thus it is natural that they have differences. And their main differences are as follows: 2.1.1 on Lexical Level Words can be considered to be fundamental building blocks of language. When we come to deal with the translation of words, we will find that a term in one language that does not have a counterpart in another. For example, the word “granny-sitter” is contrasted with “baby-sitter”. But the word does not have a counterpart in Chinese. Or we will find that the same denotation is expressed in different semantic fields. One concept is represented by one or two terms in one language, but may be represented by more words in another language. For instance, in English, the same meaning of taking something is expressed by “carry”, but it has many meanings in Chinese, like “带，提，拿，传输，刊载”. On the other hand, compared with Chinese, English words have inflection, which plays different roles in the function of a sentence. Some words can add prefixes or suffixes to turn into another word which the meaning has greatly changed and their usages will change accordingly too. Maybe sometimes some words have single, plural, tense forms. Chinese is basically according to the collocation or the function of a context to determine the use of the words, the morphological characteristics is far less tangible than the English words. Here the author just take the word “be” as an example to explain the words in English may have different forms according to its grammatical rules. Example 2: There was a time when this town was very much aware of vampires.过去有段时间，这个镇的人对于吸血鬼知道的太多。 Example 3： This didn’t used to be nowhere 过去这里可不是荒郊野岭。 Example 4： I'm glad you are here. 我很高兴你在这里。 Example 5： How long have I been here? 我在这里多久了  2.1.2 on Syntactic level Just as Nida says in his book Translating meaning, “the most distinctive linguistic difference between English and Chinese is the contrast between hypotaxis and parataxis. In English, words are chained together in the light of the syntax and the inherent logic of the content to form a sentence. And sentences usually are divided into simple sentences, compound sentence, complex sentence etc. Nevertheless, Chinese has some similar syntactic structure that sentences are built in the framework of relative words. On the other hand, it also arranges words or clauses one after another without connectives showing the relations between them. It will be a right sentence in Chinese as long as the sentence keeps coherent in the semanteme. Example 6: That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased. If you don't do it, I will.那姑娘明显希望你追上去。你不追，我追 What’ more, English is a typical subject-prominent language, while Chinese is a typical topic-prominent language. To be more specifically, in English the subject is an indispensable part of a sentence and is usually put at the beginning, while the subject is often missing in Chinese, with its expected initial position filled in by a syntactic topic, which may perform one of the various grammatical functions. Example 7: Damon, we shouldn’t mention it any more, just let it go. Damon,这件事我们就别再提了，就让它过去吧。 Example 8: You have to have more than ignorance to trap a real witch. 要逮住一名真正的巫师,没有大脑是不行的。 Example 9: It's difficult to separate your feelings. 要将感情划清界限也是很难的。 2.2 Cultural Differences Language can not be separated from culture. It is the carrier of culture which can reflect individuals’ and groups’ knowledge, beliefs, values, religions, and so on. Just as Newmark said in his book, “Frequently where there is culture focus, there is a translation problem due to the culture ‘gap’ or ‘distance’ between source language and target language”. And in this case, translators require not only have bilingual ability but also bicultural knowledge. Especially such related things like psychological knowledge of two nations which speak different languages, the course of cultural formation, historical tradition, religious culture and geographic features should be known very well. So, to translators, they need to use a variety of translation strategies to make the target language accepted by the target language audience, and the acceptability of the target language to the audience should be the same as their own language to them instead of being an obstacle. At the same time, the effects the work wants to produce should be equal to the effects of the source language to the source language audience. Example 10: What if I fail in the examination?  如果我测验不过关的话怎么办呢？  Well, you will cross that bridge when you come to it.  嗯，车到山前必有路，到时候再说吧。  The word “bridge” has its similar connotation which means “benefactor” both in English and Chinese. In Chinese, “过河拆桥”  is often used to mean “drop the benefactor as soon as help is over”. English people often say “Everyone speaks well of the bridge which carries him over”. However, “bridge” also means “difficulty” in English. For instance, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”. So translators not only require the bilingual ability but also bicultural knowledge to deal with the sentences which are loaded with cultural elements. 2.3 Limitation of Time and Space Unlike the text form of literature, the changing subtitles shown on the screen can disappear in a few seconds. In general, the minimum time for even a very short subtitle on the screen is at least one and a half seconds and the maximum time.For a two-line subtitle should not surpass five to six seconds. A full one-line subtitle should be kept on the screen for about three seconds, one and a half lines for about four seconds. However, some elements can influence the duration of the subtitle, such as, the speed and length of the dialogue, the average viewer’s reading speed, the level of literacy of target viewers etc. On the other hand, subtitle translation is controlled by the space limitation. The general consensus is that maximum line appearing on the screen at the same time is two. There should be a maximum of two lines for English and one line for Chinese at a time so that not too much of the screen image is covered. If the translation of subtitles occupied much more space, it would be bound to affect the beauty of the film In this condition, on the premise of no loss or change of the meaning, subtitles translation should be concise and succinct. Provided that the target language is made up of too long sentences, it will affect the audience’s speed of viewing the telecine. Example 11: Stefan’s gone, I don’t mean geographically. Stefan 离开了，心也不在了。 The word,“geographically”means“在地理上”in Chinese. If we attempt to explain the original text to the smallest detail, we can translated it into“Stefan 离开了，我并不是说，他只是仅仅离开了这个地方，更重要的是他的心也不在了”. Obviously, if the original sentence which is composed of only several words was translated like this, it goes without saying that such translation can affect viewers’ appreciation effects , as a result, they can not catch up with the speed of the broadcast. Fortunately, it is translated into “Stefan 离开了，心也不在了”The meaning is so clear, concise and brief that the viewers can easily understand and go on appreciating the film. 3. Application of CT and ST to Translation of The Vampire Diaries In the previous two chapters, the author has given a brief introduction to CT and ST and analyzed three important obstacles to be considered in subtitle translation. Based on the above discussion, the author will make a detailed analysis of the translation of The Vampire Diaries to find out how and where CT and ST are applied, and what techniques are mainly used in this chapter. 3.1 Translation of Lexical Level 3.1.1 Translation of neologism Neologism refers to those newly coined words and expressions or those existing words and expressions acquiring a new meaning. They make subtitle language vivid by keeping the trend of fashion in linguistics. However, because they are not well known to the people who are non-native speakers and don' not the non-literary so they become one of the biggest headaches for translators. Example 12: I binged it and I searched for all the Petersons in this area born the same year as Isobel, found 3... 所以我Bing了一下(微软公司推出的用以取代Live Search的搜索引擎)我搜到这个地区和Isobel同年出生的所有姓Peterson的人 发现3个... Of course, the word “bing” is a new word that came out recent years ago. Here the translator adopted semantic translation as well as note to translate the text. 3.1.2 Translation of Midget Words Midget words refer to those simple-structured but actively functioning words .And they are frequently used in dialogues of the TV and films and The use of these midget words can largely make it easier for average audiences from different educational background or social classes to understand. Midget words include midget nouns, verbs,adverbs etc whose usages are quite flexible. Example 13: I have no desire to tie Elena to Katherine. 我不想把埃琳娜和凯瑟琳扯到一起 Example 14: But I am done watching you destroy yourself. 可我不能再看着你毁了你自己了. How's Elena doing? 埃琳娜怎么样? Example 15: You're fresh meat. She'll back off you eventually. 你是新的猎物,她最终会甩了你的。 You had Jeremy's back. 你已经取得他的信任了。 The word “tie” is used as a verb instead of a noun and replace “relate”; the word “do” can be used to express many meanings and the word “back” is both used as a verb and a noun. They all belong to midget words. Semantic translation can be very useful to translate the dialogues in which midget words are used. However, before transform- ing them into proper TL equivalents, translators should pinpoint the fundamental meanings of these midget words first. 3.1.3Translation of Acronyms Acronyms is the words derived from the initials of several words, and it is one type of abbreviations which can also turn up in the TV and films. There are some English acronyms that have already been well-known in China. “NBA”is a good case in point. As to these acronyms, it is unnecessary to translate them into Chinese because there are no obstacles of understanding for Chinese audience any more. However, there are a lot of acronyms that Chinese audience are not yet familiar with. Example 16: I know I've been kind of M.I.A. when you need me the most 我知道当你最需要我的时候,我却玩失踪。 Example 17: Because then Stefan and his B.F.F won't come. 因为斯特凡和他的死党们不会来。 Example 18: "TTFN" said those girls 姑娘们说 “回头见”。 “M.I.A ” is short for “missing in act” and “B.F.F” is short for “ best friend forever”. “TTFN”can be a short acronyms for several phrases, such as “Ta Ta For Now” which comes from German and means “see you later” and “Totally Totally Fun Now” However, neither of them is not widely accepted in China. So translators should have profound knowledge and on the basis of context to adopt semantic translation to illustrate them well. 3.2 Translation of Rhetorical Level Both English and Chinese have various figures of speech. They contribute a lot to the vividness and charm of the texts to some extent. The plentiful rhetorical devices make the language more resplendent. However, translators are at times put into a dilemma that information should be truthfully conveyed to TL readers whereas the original rhetorical features should be reserved. Hence, the author thinks that translators should adopt CT and ST selectively according to the context. Example 19: I don’t wanna be shallow; I wanna be deep like the abyss deep. 我不想肤浅，我想变得像深渊那般莫测。 Example 20: I'm shallow. I am worse than shallow. I'm a kiddie pool. 我很肤浅，比肤浅还遭，我只有儿童泳池那么浅。 The above two sentences both have rhetorical devices, one is simile, the other one is analogy. They both are translated by semantic translation as the literal meaning. The following example, however, is communicative translation. Example 21： Stefan: I just wanna know if you remember anything about her. 我只是... 想知道你是不是还记得她的事。 Damon: Oh, it's like a needle in a haystack, Stefan. 哦， Stefan， 这就像大海捞针。 Stefan: Well, think hard. It's important. 那就好好想想 这很重要。 Example 22: We have grown up together since the sandbox 我们青梅竹马。 “haystack”means“大干草堆”in Chinese,  translators didn’t translate  this metaphor sentence as its literal meaning---“大干草堆中的一根针”.  Instead, it was translated into “大海捞针”, a idiom which is very familiar to Chinese viewers. The author of original text used metonymy in example 22.The word “sandbox” refers to “供儿童玩的沙池” in Chinese, and as a matter of fact, it means “childhood” in the context. The above examples of dealing with figures of speech suggest that it is likely for translators to use ST to translate sentences with rhetorical devices when they are easy to understand for TL readers or when its original forms can not be ignored. On the other hand, translators should associate the connotations of figures of speech and resort to CT to translate some sentences. 3.3 Translation of Cultural Level The messages shown on the screen can reflect the cultures of a society. And viewers can get more accesses to foreign cultures by movies and televisions. However, in virtue of far too different background of geography, history, nature, and so forth, China and western countries have and carry forward their own unique culture. Terms containing specific national culture often can be seen in dialogue of TV and films. And these terms usually have special meanings about which target language audience may not know. According to Newmark, when translating English subtitles, translators may stumble at each step due to its culture features. When translating these expressions, translators need to attempt to render as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the original to reflect culture. In this sense, the original culture is put in a more outstanding position, so ST seems to have high priority in translating process. However, in the real practice, since the completely different western culture elements from ours may keep Chinese readers at a distance, translators are suggested to use Chinese-specific words or expressions to retain the original flavor and if necessary, supplementary information should be provided in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Provided that subtitle translation fails to convey the cultural message accurately, it may lead to some misunderstandings which can cause the effect of the work itself wants not to be achieved. Example 23: But when life gives you lemons… 但是如果命运真的如此。 Lemon means “柠檬” in Chinese, which is just a kind of fruit in Chinese, yet in American slang it also means something that is useless. If “But when life gives you lemons…” is literally translated as “但是如果命运真的给了你些柠檬”, of course, it will make the audience puzzled. It is the same in the translation of “But put yourself in my shoes(但你替我想想)”. So, Translation is not the transfer of literal meaning alone, but exchange and communication between two different cultures. It is not as easy as it looks, since language can reflect culture and carry the abundant cultural connotation. Example 24: Stefan: I can't imagine what that must feel like…. 我真无法想象这是什么感觉。 Damon: I know what it's like. That Jekyll and Hyde feeling. 这感觉我很清楚，就是内心里善与恶的交锋。 “Jekyll and Hyde” can be said as “ Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde”. It originates in the British writer Stevenson's famous novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The protagonist in the book is a kind doctor Jekyll, who employed himself to be a psychology experiment subject, but it caused himself split personality in the end, when at night he will turn into the evil Hyde. The phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” is code for “dual personality” in English culture. Here the translator explains it as “内心里善与恶的交锋” instead of translating “双重人格” ，which makes the viewers clearly understand Stefan’s ambivalence---he was badly longing for human blood to survive, at the same time his kindness don’t permit this.