Abstract：In recent years, many foreign films and TV series have been brought into our market, and gradually loved by our Chinese audience, while the subtitle translation of foreign films and TV series has not attracted so much attention in the translation field. To make a standard on the rendition between the source language and target language, Nida put forward the famous “dynamic equivalence” translation theory, i.e. “functional equivalence”, which is in accordance with the nature of translation. Taking the most popular American drama Desperate Housewives as an example, this paper analyzes linguistic features of films and TV series, the nature of subtitle translation and translation strategies under the guidance of Nida’s functional eqivalence theory, aiming to explore how to achieve functional equivalence in the subtitle translation of films and TV series. 

Keywords:Desperate Housewivessubtitle translationfunctional equivalence theory

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

 1.1 Purpose and Significance of the Study-1

 1.2 Structure of the Thesis-1

Chapter Two Literature Review-2

 2.1 The Formulation and Improvement of Functional Equivalence Theory-2

 2.2 Application of Functional Equivalence Theory to Subtitle Translation-3

2.2.1 The Culture Perspective-3

2.2.2 The Language Perspective-3

2.2.3 The Receptor’s Perspective-3

Chapter Three Analysis on the E-C Translation of Subtitle from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory in Desperate Housewives-5

 3.1 Definition and Features of Subtitle Translation-5

 3.2 Principles for Producing Functional Equivalence in Subtitle Translation-5

 3.3 Analysis on the Application of Functional Equivalence Theory in Desperate Housewives-8

3.3.1 A Brief Introduction of Desperate Housewives-8

3.3.2 Three Different Levels of Functional Equivalence in Desperate Housewives-8

 3.3.2.1 Equivalence at Linguistic Level-8

 3.3.2.2 Equivalence at Stylistic Level-9

 3.3.2.3 Equivalence at the Personalized Language Level-11

Chapter Four Conclusion-12

References-13