| Author: | Sha, Lei |
| Title: | Exploring norms in media translation : an analysis of Chinese subtitles in game of thrones |
| Advisors: | Li, Dechao (CBS) |
| Degree: | DALS |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Subject: | Translating and interpreting Translating and interpreting -- China Audio-visual translation Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Humanities |
| Pages: | xv, 223 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | In line with the multimodal turn in content localization, subtitle translation is commonly conceptualized as “snippets of written text superimposed on visual footage that convey a target language version of the source speech” (Pérez-González, 2016: 16). The current study explores norms in the English subtitles of the American TV series Game of Thrones (GoT) and their translation in the official Chinese version produced by Tencent Video (WeTV). Using an intersemiotic and multimodal approach, this thesis investigates the patterns of subtitle translation for GoT based on data collected from the series premieres of all eight seasons. A theoretical framework, drawing on theories of triadic signs (Peirce, 1991), systemic functional linguistics (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004/2014), visual grammar (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006), and descriptive translation studies (Toury, 2012), is employed for the analysis. This study identifies parameters among selected instances of subtitling and categorizes them as part of an intermodal analysis via a coding scheme of multimodal transcription (Taylor, 2003, 2016). This coding scheme is based on its characteristics of the spatial-temporal constraints embodied in the multifarious audiovisual translation practices. Three research questions concerning the visual frames and political, social, and cultural norms of subtitles are proposed: 1) What are the differences between original English subtitles and their Chinese translations in the context of the audiovisual frames of GoT? 2) How can the patterns observed in the subtitle translation be displayed in the form of multimodal transcription? 3) What are the norms conveyed in the Chinese subtitles and their potential impact within the Chinese socio-cultural paradigm? Variations in construal between the source and target subtitles (e.g., ideational shift) are manifest in three basic functions of visual analysis of narrative patterns in GoT: representative, interactive and compositional meanings. Based on a statistical analysis of “visual-verbal-textual” triangular cross-modal structure in each instance, this study uses taxonomies and frequencies and to analyze and count the subtitled instances of GoT in the circular and interactive process. In terms of the basic operating mechanism of multimodal discourse analysis in GoT subtitle translation, the study also shows that subtitle translation is more of a social-semiotic practice from three perspectives of representation, interaction, and composition. Firstly, the frequencies identified under each parameter comprehensively reveal that subtitlers play a vital role in focusing on process, participant, setting, contact, social distance, attitude, and semiotic cohesion. The thesis also identifies the hybrid patterns of visual images and verbal acoustics beyond the textual level based on the analysis of multimodal transcription. Secondly, within the scope of descriptive translation studies, the thesis continues to “diffuse the borderlines between adjacent types of constraints” (Toury, 2012: 66), seeking to highlight the vital status of multimodal subtitle translation in categorical instances of cinematic units. Thirdly, this study calls for an audience-oriented approach to subtitle translation, subverting traditional translator-oriented approaches. This in-depth exploration of narrative features in the “visual-verbal-textual” triangular cross-modal dimensions highlights the semiotic interplay between political, social, and cultural norms for viewers in the target language. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7066.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.03 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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