6.6.2 Two More Strategies
Furthermore,in recognition of several recent developments in translation theory (the related theories and scholars are reviewed in Chapter 2),I added two up-to-date strategies to my research analysis: namely,localization and globalization.These concepts complement and correlate with each other.Nowadays,people all over the world have countless opportunities to communicate with each other easily and frequently.Exported and imported films represent one major method of cultural exchange,but subtitlers should have the awareness needed to make their translation more comprehensible to the target culture; one strategy is that of “localization”.For example,translations using traditional Chinese idioms or archaisms,the sentence patterns of ancient poems and old sayings are aspects of what is meant by “localization” from the perspective of intercultural communication,because the target audience mostly comprises Chinese natives.Using these particular types of Chinese expression that contain concepts,values and modes of expression that are specific to Chinese culture makes the subtitling more understandable.
① 00:00:52,361 to 00:00:55,983
Night after night,day after day.(Original subtitle)
日复一日，夜复一夜。（Released translation，uses archaisms）
一天又一天，一夜又一夜。 （Direct translation）
② 00:04:06,787 to 00:04:08,587
We do this as a family.(Original subtitle)
像一家人那样齐心协力。（Released translation，uses idiom）
我们像家人一起来干吧。（Direct translation）
(The Croods,2013)
③ 00:05:38,498 to 00:05:40,344(https://www.daowen.com)
Forget about it,Humphrey.(Original subtitle)
别妄想吃天鹅肉了，汉弗莱。（Released translation，uses archaisms）
算了吧，汉弗莱。（Direct translation）
④ 00:10:59,118 to 00:11:02,144
Scraps and bones is no kind of dinner.(Original subtitle)
残羹冷炙和剩骨头怎么能叫饭呢。（Released translation，uses idioms）
剩饭剩骨头怎么能叫饭呢。（Direct translation）
(Alpha and Omega,2011)
According to the corpus data，in the above four examples，the subtitlers frequently use Chinese idioms and archaisms in their translation.As these expressions are prevalent in Chinese people’s daily conversations，they may feel more included by these translated subtitles in the process of watching the respective films.These examples describe the use of localization in the subtitle translation of these films.In addition，when comparing the released translations and their corresponding direct translations，the back translations are almost the same as the original subtitles，although the expressions have a certain level of difference： 1） in the examples from the data for Alpha and Omega，both of the direct translations belong to the oral language in Chinese because they are shorter than the released ones； however，in terms of the tone of voice and the mode of expression，the released translations involving idioms and archaisms make the translation more artful and idiomatic； 2） in Example 1，the use of archaisms makes the released translation shorter than the direct translation； 3） in the second example，the use of the idiom “齐心协力” makes the translation a complete expression in Chinese，and also emphasizes the importance of family power.
Another example of the translation of names,from the perspective of intercultural communication,involves the direct transfer of these names into the translated subtitles,which is also a kind of “globalization” strategy aimed at the target audience.This is because,given the extent of globalization,it is inevitable that Chinese people will become acquainted with common English names used in English-speaking countries (this was discussed with examples on page 206),which in turn will become more accessible for Chinese audiences,which conforms with Davies’ definition (2003) of “globalization”.In terms of the observation regarding the data in the corpus,the researcher concludes that,when traditional expressions are used,the strategies involved are mainly condensation,transfer,transcription,and paraphrase.Although all the uses of traditional expressions and popular expressions (to be discussed in the next chapter) are intended to match the preference of the target audience,it is generally “localization” that uses these types of expressions; whereas,when transcription happens,e.g.,directly copying across the original names to the translated version,“globalization” is generally used.Furthermore,these two strategies involve “intercultural communication” from the perspective of intercultural awareness.Thus,the new strategies in subtitle translation are relevant and relative.The use of localization in translated subtitles can make the target audience feel that the foreign films are more accessible,while the use of globalization can offer more unfamiliar culture references to the target audience.Meanwhile,both of these two strategies are kinds of intercultural communication,which occur in the translation of film subtitles.