An Analysis of the Translation of British Humor in Downton Abbey via the View of Functional Equivalence

By Gu Yongkang

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

June, 2016

Acknowledgements

The indebted and grateful sentiment always creeps up in my heart when I looked back on the process of writing this thesis. I am exceedingly indebted to quite a lot of people for their cherishing and precious assistance rendered to me.

First of all, I would like to avail myself of the opportunity to extend my heart-felt thanks to my supervisor Pan Min. She has relentlessly contributed invaluable and generous encouragement and suggestions to me so as to achieve my objective of accomplishing this thesis.

My sincere thanks also go to all the professors in the School of Languages and Cultures, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, who have greatly benefited my intellectual growth through their inspiring lessons. And their individual characteristics impress me so much that this experience of my undergraduate study is a lifelong treasure.

My appreciation also goes to the professors and scholars who have done a lot of research in the translation circles, and to the authors whose works I have quoted directly and indirectly.

My thanks also go to my lovely classmates who were always willing to give me some helpful advice in a most detailed and patient way when I had some difficulties in writing this thesis.

Finally, a very special gratitude goes to my parents who have been my source of strength and happiness in life. With their support and love, I believe I can always pursue my dreams.

Contents

Abstract 1

1. Introduction 2

2. Brief introduction of British humor and subtitle translation 3

2.1 British humor 3

2.1.1 Definition of British humor 3

2.1.2 Features of British humor 3

2.1.3 British humor in literature 4

2.2 Subtitle translation 4

2.2.1 Definition and classification of subtitles 4

2.2.2 Features of subtitle translation 4

3. Case study: analysis of the translation of British humor in Downton Abbey via the view of functional equivalence 5

3.1 Oxymoron 6

3.2 Understatement 7

3.3 Sarcasm 8

3.4 Metaphor 9

4. Conclusion 10

References 11

An Analysis of the Translation of British Humor in Downton Abbey via the View of Functional Equivalence

Gu Yongkang

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology

Abstract: Downton Abbey is a historical period drama television series, which first aired on ITV in the UK in 2010 and came to an end in 2015. The series depict the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era—with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy. Its charm of British style has attracted a large number of fans and provoked their interest in British culture. The British are long known for their humor. By analyzing the translation of British humor in Downton Abbey via the view of functional equivalence, this thesis attempts to further study the characteristic of the British, as well as the features and importance of the translation of subtitles.

Key words: Downton Abbey; translation; British humor; functional equivalence; subtitles

摘要： 《唐顿庄园》是由英国ITV电视台出品的时代剧，该剧于2010年开播，2015年完结。该剧向观众展现了1910年代乔治五世时期英国上层贵族与其仆人们在森严的等级制度下的人间百态。该剧浓浓的英伦风吸引了大批观众，激发了他们对于英国文化的兴趣。英国人素来以幽默著称，本文从该剧的英式幽默为切入点，以尤金·奈达的功能对等理论为视角，在探讨英式幽默翻译的过程中，进一步了解英国人的性格和影视剧字幕翻译的特点和重要性。

关键词：翻译；英式幽默；功能对等；字幕

1. Introduction

With the increasingly interconnected economic cooperation and cultural communication among different countries, people are offered greater opportunities to have access to multimedia resources. Foreign movies and TV series, especially those from Britain and America have become part of daily entertainment among people of all age groups. Meanwhile, they also provide a good way to expose people to exotic languages and cultures.

Therefore, the translation of English subtitles in movies and TV series is badly needed in market. However, in fact, research on the theories related to subtitle translation in China lagged behind many other countries. On the contrary, European countries have conducted a more extensive and thorough research on the translation of subtitles and they have already achieved a consensus in the aspects of the strategy, requirement and quality of subtitle translation. Thus, a further research on English subtitle translation is essential to be carried out in China.

This thesis is going to carry out an analysis of the theory that can be applied into the translation of English subtitles. Since this is a rather broad topic, in order to narrow it down to a more specific extent, the thesis takes one specific TV series as an example to study its subtitle translation from the prospect of British humor. Among the large number of English-speaking TV series, Downton Abbey is one of the brilliant shining stars. It has won a world fame and great popularity, due to its distinctive characters, elaborate costumes, tempting plots, charming British accent and especially its fantastic British humor. Compared with other British TV series, the language in Downton Abbey is more formal and delicate, which is more suitable to be cited as examples.

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