Subtitling Humour in Transcultural Context

Abstract

© 2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston 2014. In China, subtitling is replacing dubbing as the preferred mode of audiovisual translation. Fans of particular shows form groups to circulate their video resources and translations online. Although remaining controversial, 'fansubs' shed light on and raise questions in both theoretical and practical aspects of subtitling. Herein I define what the product of subtitling should be and investigate strategies of translation in use. The analysis focuses specifically on translators' strategies in complying with the constraints of a multimodal medium in order to explain, transform, or neutralize the subtitle for transcultural purposes. This goal is achieved by comparing different versions of Chinese subtitles for the same episodes selected from two American TV sitcoms - The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men.