6.3 Data Analysis on the Questionnaire
As described in the previous introduction in the last chapter,the questionnaire was answered by 100 young adults who are considered to be the main audience for English-language animation films in the Chinese market.There are 97 answers that proved to be effective and usable,with the results from each part of the questionnaire shown in the following table:
Questionnaire on Issues and Strategies of Movie Caption Translation Between English and Chinese
Among the 15 selected pairs of subtitles in Part I,three translated subtitles use traditional expressions; they are Questions 2,3,4 and 12 (highlighted in the above chart).
For Question 2,the original text is: “And replaced by a giant inflatable replica.There is panic throughout the globe as countries and citizens try to protect their beloved landmarks.” The released translation is A,while B is the direct translation without using any traditional expressions.
A）取而代之的竟然是一个巨大的充气仿制品。此事已引起全球恐慌，各国人民都力求保护各自的国家瑰宝。
(condensation,transcription)
(Back translation: It has been replaced by a huge inflatable imitation,which has caused global panic,with people in different countries trying to protect their own national treasures)
B）而且用了一个巨大的充气金字塔来取代它。此事让全球各国和人民恐慌，他们试图要保护自己的国家地标。
(Back translation: A huge inflatable pyramid has replaced the stolen one.This has made the whole world feel panic,with people trying to protect their own national landmarks.)
C) Your own translation: __________________________
Observations： The data result of this question is that 87 out of 97 people （90%） chose option A，while 10 out of 97 （10%） chose Option B； no one offered his/her own translation in Box C.It shows that the majority of respondents chose the answer involving the use of traditional Chinese expressions or idioms （all the underlined items）.Although the lengths of these two versions are similar，the result suggests that，in line with the younger generation’s speaking habits，the use of idioms is preferred because they are more vivid and readable.According to my opinion，using traditional expressions with four-character words makes the whole translation more readable and comprehensible.Visually，“取而代之” （replaced by） is shorter than “用……来取代它” （replaced by using “...”） in the sentence structure.The same function occurs in the use of “全球恐慌” in the second sentence pattern.What is more，this translation pattern is fully equal to the original text of “global panic”.For the third expression of “力求保护” （try one’s best to protect），it expresses the strong determination to search for the thief by the speaker than the use of common word “试图找出” in the translation of B.Lastly，for the last word，“landmarks”，the translation in A is “国家瑰宝” and the translation in B is “国家地标”.The former one is a more artistic description of national historical interest and belongs to traditional expressions in Chinese； however，“国家地标” is the direct translation.I think the latter translation is correct literally，but “地标” is an abbreviation for “标志性建筑物” （symbolic constructions），which belongs to academic expressions in the knowledge category of geography and history： not every person can immediately comprehend the meaning of “国家地标” in one or two seconds.Therefore，“国家瑰宝” is easier to make sense of in the very short time period.
For Question 3,the original subtitle was “leaving everyone to wonder if the world’s villains are responsible for this heinous crime” whereas the given translated Chinese subtitles were:
D）大家都在猜测是哪个世界级的大坏蛋做了如此十恶不赦的坏事。
(Back translation: Everyone is guessing who will be the world’s villains to do such heinous bad thing) [Paraphrase,localization].)
E）让所有人都想不到究竟是这世界上的哪个坏蛋要对这可恶的罪行负责？(https://www.daowen.com)
(Back translation: No one can think out who is the villain in the world should pay responsibility to this hateful crime?)
Observations： The data result for this question is that 67 out of 97 （69%） respondents chose A，while 29 people chose B； one other provided his/her own translation in Box C.The word “heinous” is paraphrased as a Chinese idiom，“十恶不赦”.However，Option B uses a rhetorical question to emphasize people’s comments on this theft.I agree with the use of this idiom in this translation，because “十恶不赦” is used to describe the evilest person in people’s eyes，their crime cannot be forgivable.The using of this idiom can vividly express people’s outrage over the theft of their national landmark.Thus，although the result shows that the majority still preferred the use of Chinese traditional expressions and certain equivalences in translated subtitles，others noticed the importance of the speaking tone in expressing personal attitude or comments on some points.One respondent translated this subtitle as： “所有人都在猜测是哪个殿堂级恶棍会对此滔天大罪负责？” （Everybody is guessing which of the highest-ranking villains is responsible for this heinous crime.） In this specific translation，the first underlined words belong to the other typical expression，which the researcher thinks is beneficial in subtitle translation between English and Chinese—popular expressions.These expressions will be discussed later in the next chapter.The second expression of “滔天大罪” is a Chinese idiom which means serious crimes.Although technically speaking，the degree of the crime of “十恶不赦” is higher than that of “滔天大罪”，the latter expression is also a correct translation in this subtitle； the researcher also agrees with this translation.
The next question in Part I is Question 4.The subtitle was for an interlude song with the lyric,“I’m having a bad,bad day.It’s about time that I get my way.Steamrolling whatever I see.Freeze ray! Freeze ray! Freeze ray! I’m having a bad,bad day.If you take it personal,that’s okay.Watch,this is so fun to see.Despicable me.” The alternative translations were as follows:
F）今天我心情很坏很坏，于是现在火力全开，眼前的一切全都碾烂。冷冻光线！冷冻光线！冷冻光线！今天我心情很坏很坏，你要因此恨我我也不会介怀。看好了，这可不好玩。因为我是个大坏蛋。（Dislocation）
(Back translation: Today,I feel very bad,very bad,so now I am totally on fire,fire.I will destroy all the things in my eyes.Freeze ray! Freeze ray! Freeze ray! Today I feel very bad,very bad,if you hate me because of this,I won’t mind.Look carefully,this is not fun.Because I am a big bad guy.)
G）今天是糟糕，糟糕，糟糕的一天。现在是随心所欲的时候了。碾碎我看见的一切。冷冻射线！冷冻射线！冷冻射线！今天是糟糕，糟糕，糟糕的一天。你要觉得这是我的事，那好吧。小心，这看着很好玩。卑鄙的我。
(Back translation: Today is a bad,bad,bad day.Now is the time to “go as you-please”.I will crush all that I see.Freeze ray! Freeze ray! Freeze ray! Today is bad,bad,bad day.If you think it is my own business,it is okay.Watch out,this looks funny.Despicable me.)
Observations： Participants gave different responses to this question.Only 44 out of 97 （45per cent） people chose option A，the official subtitling，while 53 out of 97 （55%） people chose option B，the direct translation.I am minded to infer that the reason why more people chose the second option rather than the first is because the expression in the second translation is more readable in rhyme.That said the first translation is marked as a “dislocation”，which is a strategy recommended by Gottlieb and，for me，applicable to the translation of songs and poetry （see a more detailed discussion on this point in 3.5.6，pp.103-106）.However，there is still over a half of respondents showed their preference for the second natural translation.However，from the perspective of using traditional expressions，the above two translations both used varied types of traditional expressions.In the first released translation，the first bold pattern “很坏很坏” is a kind of traditional expression in Chinese.It is a repetitive adjective meaning “very，very bad”； the second traditional expression is a Chinese idiom “火力全开”，which means using full power to fight.Then the word “介怀” is an expression of Chinese archaism，which means “to bear in mind or to remember by heart”.The use of this word makes the translation more like a literary translation.And because this translation is the translation to a pattern of a song in the film，the rhyme can be shown by this traditional expression as well.In option B，the translation is mostly word-for-word translation.There is one Chinese idiom in this translation “随心所欲”，which equally means “go-as-you-please”，and is a good use of traditional expression as well.
For the 12th question,the subtitle was “Okay,I wasn’t going to tell you about this yet,but I have been working on something very big! Something that will blow this pyramid thing out of the water!” The alternatives in Chinese were:
H）好吧，我当时还不想说其实我正在策划一项大工程！金字塔那事跟它根本没法比！（Paraphrase）
(Back translation: Ok,I wasn’t willing to tell you about this yet,but I have been planning a big project! The pyramid thing is a piece a cake compared to this project.)
I）好吧，我那时没打算跟你们说，我正在做一件大事！这件事将把金字塔的事打得落花流水。
(Back translation: Ok,I wasn’t going to tell you this yet,but I am doing a big thing! This thing will shatter the pyramid thing to pieces.)
Observations： The collected data for this question showed that the absolute majority of respondents preferred A （95 out of 97 people，or 98%），while only two chose B.Technically，the first subtitled translation uses 36 Chinese characters，whereas the second has 40 characters.Given the limits of space and time，subtitles the shorter the better.Secondly，the underlined pattern in the first instance of subtitling is closer to authentic oral language in Chinese，while the expression is made stronger by using “根本没法比” than “把……打得落花流水”，which is a traditional expression in Chinese.Moreover，according to its literal meaning，“把……打得落花流水”，the researcher concludes that it is more appropriate for use in a situation involving a war or competition，rather than to compare size or influence between two things.Take，for example，中国军队把日本侵略者打得落花流水，他们最终投降了。（Back translation： The Chinese army crushed the Japanese invaders into pieces，so that they finally surrendered）.Meanwhile，for “根本没法比”，we might say “红队和蓝队的实力根本没法比！” （The strength of the red team does not really compare with that of the blue team！）.The meaning of these words is that the blue team has more absolute strength needed to win a game when it competes with the red team.Therefore，the first instance of subtitling is more appropriate than the second one in the given context.
Then,in Part II of the questionnaire,I asked five more specific questions and offered options for the respondents to choose.The third question is concerned with the expression of translated subtitles from the perspective of linguistic peculiarities and figures of speech: “Do you like translations that make use of traditional Chinese expressions,such as idioms,proverbs,sentences from ancient poems or archaisms?” 85% (82 out of 97) of respondents believed that the use of traditional Chinese expressions was effective and useful.The remaining 15% answered more conservatively,stating that,to some degree,the use of devices such as traditional Chinese expressions and figures of speech functioned.This result correlated with the results from the first section of this questionnaire,given that a clear majority of respondents preferred the evocative language resulting from the translation strategies used in the option A subtitles,as opposed to the minority of respondents who chose option B in 5 out of 15 questions in the first section.Both of these two results show that culturally loaded expressions in E-C subtitling are preferred by a majority of a typical animated film audience.These expressions may be more attractive to the audience because they feel the subtitles engaging with their own culture and customs.Again,my hypothesis about the effectiveness of using traditional and established Chinese expressions in E-C subtitling was verified.
Then,in the last question in Part II of the questionnaire,I highlight the use of traditional expressions and popular expressions as well in the selected data.I would like to measure the respondents’ awareness and approval of the use of this typical expression as culturally loaded ones in subtitle translation between English and Chinese.Since the result also involves another category of expression,the popular expression,the data analysis on this specific question will be discussed later in the next chapter concerning the discussion of the use of popular expressions.
Lastly,in Part III,the last part of the questionnaire,the researcher asks an open question: “In your opinion,what have been the main problems and weaknesses that have emerged in the subtitles of recently released animation films?” Among the summarized six keywords (have already discussed in Chapter 4,cultural barriers,the different ways of thinking in English and Chinese,proper nouns and translation quality are all factors that can be dealt with by using specific traditional expressions and strategies.For example,the first two elements concern cultural exchange.If the subtitlers notice the cultural differences between the source culture and the target culture,the use of traditional expressions will be their one of concerns.Because traditional expressions in Chinese are commonly used in real life,people won’t feel strange when they see these expressions in the translated subtitles of a foreign film.Conversely,they may feel acceptable when they see a film,these translations with the use of Chinese traditional expressions may help them better understand the film.Moreover,like the use of fourcharacter idioms,the translated subtitles may be visually shorter,brief and readable.Then,for the element of proper nouns,if the subtitler can find fairly equivalent traditional expressions to translate certain patterns of subtitles,from the perspective of translation aesthetics the translated subtitles will be more artistic.Lastly,with regard to the translation quality,the researcher thinks it is a general concept that is relevant to all aspects of language translation in subtitles.If the audience prefer translations that feature traditional expressions,this will become one factor or criterion for judging the quality of subtitle translation,given that the majority of those watching these translated animation films comprises young people who have a good level of English and use Chinese idioms and archaisms in their daily language.They may think that the use of traditional expressions in subtitle translations is idiomatic and closer to their own life.