Concerns for Translating Documentary Subtitles

趙孟菲

【Abstract】Different from texts like fictions， biographies and business letters， subtitles are featured by conciseness， accessibility and colloquialization. Documentary subtitles， sharing the features with other subtitles， are generally informative， introductory and objective. Therefore， translation of documentary subtitles enjoys its unique concerns. This paper， based on experiences and instances of translating documentary subtitles， has briefly discussed and summarized the concerns for translating such texts.

【Key words】documentary subtitles； translation； concerns

【摘要】與小說(shuō)、傳記、商務(wù)信函等文本有所不同，字幕文本具有簡(jiǎn)潔化、通俗化和口語(yǔ)化的特點(diǎn)。而紀(jì)錄片字幕除了具有普通字幕文本的特點(diǎn)之外，通常還具有科普性、介紹性與客觀性。因此，紀(jì)錄片字幕的翻譯有其獨(dú)特的關(guān)注點(diǎn)。本文根據(jù)具體的紀(jì)錄片字幕翻譯經(jīng)驗(yàn)與實(shí)例，對(duì)紀(jì)錄片字幕翻譯過(guò)程中需要注意的關(guān)注點(diǎn)進(jìn)行了簡(jiǎn)略的探討與總結(jié)。

【關(guān)鍵詞】紀(jì)錄片字幕 翻譯 關(guān)注點(diǎn)

A documentary is a television or radio program， or a film， which shows real events or provides information about a particular subject. In this paper， a documentary specifically refers to a documentary film or a documentary television program with subtitles. Usually displayed at the bottom of the screen， subtitles are textual versions of the dialogue or commentary in films， television programs， video games， and the like. Documentary subtitles， limited by time and space， are not only informative， introductory and objective， but also concise， accessible and colloquial. Translation of documentary subtitles enjoys its unique concerns among which reconstruction of sentences， informality of expressions and background knowledge are the most crucial ones.

First of all， reconstruction of sentences is of great significance in documentary translation not only because conciseness is required but also due to the differences in expression between English and Chinese.

Instance：She needs those flippers to swim， to forage， to chase fish， to haul out， pretty much everything she does， so shes not releasable if she doesnt have use of those flippers.

Translation：她需要她的尾鰭去游泳、獵食、捕魚(yú)以及拖曳食物，幾乎是所有的事情，所以如果她的尾鰭用不了，她就不能被放歸自然。

Improved Translation：幾乎做所有的事情，無(wú)論是游泳、獵食、捕魚(yú)，還是拖曳食物，她都要用到她的尾鰭。如果她的尾鰭用不了，就不能把她放歸自然。

In the improved translation， the whole sentence of the original has been reconstructed into two and the orders of the clauses have been reversed to make the translation more natural in Chinese.

Moreover， informality of expressions is out of the colloquialization and accessibility of documentary subtitles. In such texts， there are large amount of dialogues. So the translation should accordingly be informal.

Instance：I wouldnt say it depression or actually any it might be a little boredom and I think its more or less saying “Hey I hear you guys out there. Im hungry. Feed me. Im the most important one right now.”

Translation：我不覺(jué)得它會(huì)沮喪，或者說(shuō)無(wú)論是誰(shuí)都確實(shí)可能會(huì)感覺(jué)有點(diǎn)無(wú)聊，我覺(jué)得它大概會(huì)說(shuō)“喂，我聽(tīng)到你們就在外面，我餓了，給我找點(diǎn)兒吃的，我現(xiàn)在可是最重要的一個(gè)。”

Improved Translation：我不覺(jué)得它會(huì)沮喪，或者說(shuō)不管是誰(shuí)確實(shí)大概都會(huì)有點(diǎn)兒無(wú)聊吧，我覺(jué)得他應(yīng)該是在說(shuō)“喂，我都聽(tīng)到了，你們就在外面。我餓了，快給我找點(diǎn)兒吃的，我現(xiàn)在可是比誰(shuí)都重要。”

In the improved translation， the manner of speaking is more relaxing and colloquial， the informality of which is what actually lies in dialogues.

In addition， background knowledge counts a lot in the translation of documentary subtitles because such texts generally provide information about real life. The lack of background knowledge will bring about mistakes in the translation， which will probably mislead the audience. For instance， the translator should pay attention to such words and phrases of the related field like ringed seal （環(huán)斑海豹）， back flippers （尾鰭）， front flippers （前

肢）， satellite tracing project （衛(wèi)星跟蹤裝置）， the Arctic Circle

（北極圈）， etc， otherwise the mistranslation might lead the audience away from the truth.

To sum up， documentary subtitles， with the limitation of time and space， have their own features. Translation of such texts， accordingly， holds its unique concerns. Reconstruction of sentences， informality of expressions and background knowledge are the most essential ones. Only when the three concerns are taken into consideration can the quality of the translation be guaranteed.

References：

[1]Nichols，Bill.‘Foreword，in Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski（eds.）Documenting The Documentary：Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video.Detroit：Wayne State University Press，1997.

[2]Wikipedia.Subtitles.http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtitles （accessed on Jan.4，2017）.