1.1　Motivation of the Study

With the increasing pace of globalization,both cultural clashes and cultural integration are inevitable occurrences.Although globalization can sometimes result in dominant cultures prevailing in regions that are less influential economically and culturally,more balanced forms of intercultural communication can facilitate greater mutual comprehension between nations,fostering tolerance and cooperation.Film products,as a means of intercultural communication,undoubtedly play a significant role in helping people from the world’s different regions to understand each other’s philosophies,traditions and value systems.The visual clarity of films conveys aspects of a given culture with an immediacy and accessibility that few other art forms possess.In this exchange activity,although the role of film subtitlers is extremely important,it has frequently been undervalued in the process of translating and distributing films for consumption by audiences abroad.At times,the preparation of accurate,high-quality subtitles,which convey the essence of the source culture in a meaningful,evocative way for the target culture,requires a level of expenditure that film distributors are unwilling to meet.All too frequently,the reception of a film as a cultural product in another country is negatively affected by subtitles who fail in their task concerning intercultural communication.

In 2013,I met with Gottlieb at an international translation studies conference held in Zhuhai,China.In the course of talking with him about my study interests in English-Chinese subtitling,I realized that the 10 strategies discussed by Gottlieb,in the context of his own practical experience,are not always applicable to English-Chinese subtitling (hereafter,I will use the abbreviation of E-C subtitling in the rest of the book).Thus,Gottlieb recommended me to build upon the foundations of his own research and develop more effective strategies in relation to my study interests,as this would be inevitably helpful to the younger generation of scholars in developing a broader range of theoretical frameworks.

The issue of cultural components in film translation is set against the background of globalization.According to Manning and Shackford-Bradley (2010),“film can be a vehicle for critiquing and resisting the master narrative that has controlled discussions of the economic and cultural changes that define globalization” (p.36).In the process of globalization,citizens around the world can transcend their national boundaries and unify under a single “society” that functions collectively,not only in economic and technological aspects but also in cultural terms by sharing ways of life,religion and literary works.As a form of intercultural communication channel,film has the capacity to highlight various activities,civilizations and living conditions of human beings around the world.At the highest level of globalization,films exercise a significant role in the dissemination of culture.Therefore,when foreign films are imported into China,or when Chinese films are exported to the rest of the world,ensuring the quality of AVT work,including subtitles and dubbing,is critical.Moreover,successfully transferring any cultural phenomenon that may pervade a whole film is also necessary within AVT.(https://www.daowen.com)

Cultural elements are increasingly a concern for a growing body of scholars engaged in subtitling research.For example,at a conference held at Stirling University,UK,in 2015,Garcia emphasized the importance of cultural differences in the study of subtitling.Furthermore,at an international workshop for the training of practical translators,Gavela gave a lecture on the topic of translation colloquialisms,in which she explained her case study on the subtitling of animation films by discussing,in particular,the influence of cultural difference between English and Spanish upon subtitling.Thanks to the work of these two Spanish academics,I have acquired knowledge relevant to intercultural communication in subtitle translation.

Successful intercultural communication has the potential to accelerate globalization,as well as facilitate a better understanding between people from different countries and with different national identities.As such,the challenge for me in researching English to Chinese AVT,particularly in the area of subtitling,is to help promote intercultural communication between people from English-speaking countries and China.Thus,identifying effective ways for improving subtitle translation quality is inevitable and important.