Subtitling in Chinese: Reflections on Emergent Subtitling Cultures in Contemporary China

Abstract

This chapter surveys research and practices regarding the subtitling of television programs and films, primarily in the context of Mainland China. It defines the meaning and function of subtitling and provides a brief overview of the development of subtitling in the history of audiovisual translation (AVT). It also reflects on how technological progress constantly poses new challenges for those who perform subtitling work – for instance, they must comply with the spatial and temporal constraints of the audiovisual medium while striving to render the information that emanates from the multimodal convergence of signs in the source text in an effective and efficient way. It examines how subtitlers recontextualize source materials for cross-cultural consumption by walking the line between covert translation (for comprehensibility) and overt translation (for authenticity). Finally, this chapter discusses directions for future research, including the potential for studies on the translation of music and danmaku-driven participatory subtitling work to explore the commonalities among the modes, types, and strategies of translation of audiovisual programming.