影视配音与字幕翻译之比较

【摘 要】影视翻译是近年来发展迅速的翻译类型之一。本文在简要介绍影视翻译的基础上，通过分析配音翻译和字幕翻译的各自特点及优缺点，得出带有字幕翻译的影视作品更适合语言学习者。

【关键词】影视翻译；配音；字幕

【Abstract】Screen translation， also known as “audio-visual translation” or “film and TV play translation”， is a relatively new type of translation which has been developing rapidly in the past few years. Through introducing the related terms of screen translation， the thesis focuses the study on the features as well as merits and demerits of dubbing and subtitling in screen translation， and it draws a conclusion that films and TV plays with subtitles are more suitable for language learners.

【Key words】Screen Translation， Dubbing， Subtitling

As a pop-culture， films and TV plays have influenced our life in various aspects. No matter the popularity of home films and TV plays or the outburst of international ones all proves this. Therefore， screen translation should be paid highly attention to. Screen translation， also known as “audio-visual translation” or “film and TV play translation” is a relatively new type of translation which has been developing rapidly in the past few years. The thesis focuses the study on the features as well as merits and demerits of dubbing and subtitling in screen translation， and it draws a conclusion that films and TV plays with subtitles are more suitable for language learners.

1.Screen Translation

Screen translation is currently the preferred term used for translation of a wide variety of audiovisual texts displayed on one kind of screen or another. It is to make audiovisual materials such as television programs， films， videos， CD ROMs and DVDs available to wider audience than the original language format of such products allows. Early cinema audiences could clearly see that actors were engaged in verbal communication on screen. This visible linguistic element of early films was called inter-titles， which is viewed as the direct forerunners of subtitles， helps to clarify dialogue and plot development. The first attested showing of a sound film with subtitles was when The Jazz Singer opened in Paris on January 26， 1929， with subtitles in French.

2.Dubbing and Subtitling

From the perspective of methods， screen translation can be mainly categorized into two types： dubbing and subtitling. If a film or soundtrack in a foreign language is dubbed， the original soundtracks containing the actors’ dialogue is replacing with a target language， while subtitling is a method of translating the words of a foreign film and TV play that are shown at the bottom of the picture.

2.1Features

Either dubbing or subtitling is the replacement of the dialogue and narration of the foreign or source language into the language of the viewing audience， the target language. Though dubbing and subtitling share some common qualities， they also differ from each other with their own features.

In screen translation circles， dubbing is generally taken to refer specifically to the preparation and recording of the target language voice track. This term is most commonly used in reference to voices recorded that do not belong to the original actors and speak in a different language from the one in which the actor is speaking. It can also be used to describe the process of re-recording lines by the actor who originally spoke them. Subtitling is the written translation of the source language of a television program or film into the target language. It can be classified into two types： open subtitling （or inter-lingual）， when the target language is different from the source language and closed subtitling （or intra-lingual）， when the target language is the same as the source language.

Both dubbing and subtitling have their own features respectively. And there are many factors influencing the choice of screen translation method. As an indispensible part of cross-cultural communication， screen translation is still a relatively new genre in the field of studies and there are huge potentials for us to do the research.

2.2 Merits and Demerits

Both dubbing and subtitling have advantages and disadvantages， and each of them has its own priority in certain fields of screen translation. Dubbing does not distract attention from image； it is better for children and for people with poor reading skills. While， compared to subtitling， it is more expensive， takes more time， loses more of the original sound track， the voices of dubbing actors can become repetitive after a while. For subtitling， it is not expensive， does not take a very long time， and the original sound track is preserved， which may have a role in language learning. It is better for the hard-of-hearing and the deaf and for immigrants and tourists. However， subtitling “contaminates” the image. Due to compression， greater information is lost. Thus， the attention of the audience is split between image， sound track and subtitles.

As one branch of translation， screen translation possesses its own constraints that result from its own peculiarities. Constraints on dubbing are： “lip synchronization， limit of time， and matching of gestures.”（2002：16） And constraints on subtitling are： restriction of space， restriction of time， and condensation of information. In the last part of this thesis， the author introduces minority language screen translation and surtitles. Minority language screen translation aims to maintain and develop the minority language linguistic competence of their main audiences and is likely to dub into the minority language where at all possible. Surtitles “are usually used in order to provide opera goers with a translation of the libretto during a live performance of an opera sung in a foreign language.”（2004：52）

3.Uniqueness of Subtitling

Subtitling outdoes dubbing in many aspects. And there are many reasons for choosing subtitling rather than dubbing. Subtitles usually are tagged on the bottom of the screen and they have three major roles. First of all， “subtitles bring the recognizable visual words to viewers， and help the audience conquer the linguistic barrier.”（1992：45） Secondly， subtitles help the audience have a better understanding the plot of the movie， such as the dialogues between characters， the name or the places. Thirdly， subtitles can help a person who has some difficulty in hearing. Even the people with the same language， due to some reasons， they could not completely understand their native language. For example， in some domestic films， some actors or actresses carry more or less accents when they speak Putonghua， thus many audiences have difficulty in understanding what they are talking about. Thus， film producers usually provide subtitles in the films and TV plays.

4.Conclusion

As for foreign films and TV plays， subtitles can help the audience have a better communication with what they see on the screen. In recent years， it seems that subtitled films TV plays are welcomed by more and more people. Subtitling is more efficient than dubbing， thus a subtitled film or TV play would reach the market earlier and faster than a dubbed one. Film lovers， especially the younger generations， prefer original sounds and voices， which are unfortunately all removed in a dubbed one. What's more， subtitled films and TV plays can provide a good environment for foreign language learners.

【References】

[1]Gottlieb Henrik. Subtitling―A New University Discipline [A].Cay Dollerup， Annette Landegaard， eds. Amsterdam： John Benjamins Publishing Company， 1992.

[2]Grice，H，P. Studies in the Way of Word. Cambridge， Mass： Harvard University Press. 1989.

[3]Shaochang Qian. The Present Status of Screen Translation in China. Meta， vol.49， 2004.

[4]钱绍昌.影视翻译--翻译园地中愈来愈重要的领域[J].中国翻译，2000（1）.

[5]赵春梅.论译制片翻译中的四对主要矛盾[J].中国翻译，2002（4）.