Concerns for Translating Documentary Subtitles

赵孟菲

【Abstract】Different from texts like fictions， biographies and business letters， subtitles are featured by conciseness， accessibility and colloquialization. Documentary subtitles， sharing the features with other subtitles， are generally informative， introductory and objective. Therefore， translation of documentary subtitles enjoys its unique concerns. This paper， based on experiences and instances of translating documentary subtitles， has briefly discussed and summarized the concerns for translating such texts.

【Key words】documentary subtitles； translation； concerns

【摘要】与小说、传记、商务信函等文本有所不同，字幕文本具有简洁化、通俗化和口语化的特点。而纪录片字幕除了具有普通字幕文本的特点之外，通常还具有科普性、介绍性与客观性。因此，纪录片字幕的翻译有其独特的关注点。本文根据具体的纪录片字幕翻译经验与实例，对纪录片字幕翻译过程中需要注意的关注点进行了简略的探讨与总结。

【关键词】纪录片字幕 翻译 关注点

A documentary is a television or radio program， or a film， which shows real events or provides information about a particular subject. In this paper， a documentary specifically refers to a documentary film or a documentary television program with subtitles. Usually displayed at the bottom of the screen， subtitles are textual versions of the dialogue or commentary in films， television programs， video games， and the like. Documentary subtitles， limited by time and space， are not only informative， introductory and objective， but also concise， accessible and colloquial. Translation of documentary subtitles enjoys its unique concerns among which reconstruction of sentences， informality of expressions and background knowledge are the most crucial ones.

First of all， reconstruction of sentences is of great significance in documentary translation not only because conciseness is required but also due to the differences in expression between English and Chinese.

Instance：She needs those flippers to swim， to forage， to chase fish， to haul out， pretty much everything she does， so shes not releasable if she doesnt have use of those flippers.

Translation：她需要她的尾鰭去游泳、猎食、捕鱼以及拖曳食物，几乎是所有的事情，所以如果她的尾鳍用不了，她就不能被放归自然。

Improved Translation：几乎做所有的事情，无论是游泳、猎食、捕鱼，还是拖曳食物，她都要用到她的尾鳍。如果她的尾鳍用不了，就不能把她放归自然。

In the improved translation， the whole sentence of the original has been reconstructed into two and the orders of the clauses have been reversed to make the translation more natural in Chinese.

Moreover， informality of expressions is out of the colloquialization and accessibility of documentary subtitles. In such texts， there are large amount of dialogues. So the translation should accordingly be informal.

Instance：I wouldnt say it depression or actually any it might be a little boredom and I think its more or less saying “Hey I hear you guys out there. Im hungry. Feed me. Im the most important one right now.”

Translation：我不覺得它会沮丧，或者说无论是谁都确实可能会感觉有点无聊，我觉得它大概会说“喂，我听到你们就在外面，我饿了，给我找点儿吃的，我现在可是最重要的一个。”

Improved Translation：我不觉得它会沮丧，或者说不管是谁确实大概都会有点儿无聊吧，我觉得他应该是在说“喂，我都听到了，你们就在外面。我饿了，快给我找点儿吃的，我现在可是比谁都重要。”

In the improved translation， the manner of speaking is more relaxing and colloquial， the informality of which is what actually lies in dialogues.

In addition， background knowledge counts a lot in the translation of documentary subtitles because such texts generally provide information about real life. The lack of background knowledge will bring about mistakes in the translation， which will probably mislead the audience. For instance， the translator should pay attention to such words and phrases of the related field like ringed seal （环斑海豹）， back flippers （尾鳍）， front flippers （前

肢）， satellite tracing project （卫星跟踪装置）， the Arctic Circle

（北极圈）， etc， otherwise the mistranslation might lead the audience away from the truth.

To sum up， documentary subtitles， with the limitation of time and space， have their own features. Translation of such texts， accordingly， holds its unique concerns. Reconstruction of sentences， informality of expressions and background knowledge are the most essential ones. Only when the three concerns are taken into consideration can the quality of the translation be guaranteed.

References：

[1]Nichols，Bill.‘Foreword，in Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski（eds.）Documenting The Documentary：Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video.Detroit：Wayne State University Press，1997.

[2]Wikipedia.Subtitles.http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtitles （accessed on Jan.4，2017）.