A study of Chinese-English subtitle translation from the perspective of multimodal discourse analysis— A case study of How to Become Three Loongs from Yao-Chinese Folktales 2
多模态话语分析视角下动画字幕中译英研究——以动画《中国奇谭2》之《如何成为三条龙》为例

摘要

本文以动画《中国奇谭2》之《如何成为三条龙》的中文原语及现有英文字幕为研究对象，借助张德禄多模态话语分析框架，从语境层面及内容层面的意义与形式两个方面考察其字幕中译英的处理方式及意义传递特点。研究发现，在多模态语境中，影片字幕并非对中文台词的简单转换，而是与画面、人物动作、配乐和叙事结构共同参与意义建构。在涉及文化负载表达时，字幕多采用音译保留或适度显化，以维持源语文化概念的独特性；在涉及人物口语表达时，字幕更倾向于通过改写、压缩和功能转移来突出语气效果与交际功能；在结尾部分，字幕又通过相对直译、语义弱化以及语气标记的保留，与画面和叙事结构共同完成主题收束。研究表明，动画字幕翻译的有效性不取决于字面对应的完整程度，而在于其能否在多模态协同中合理分配信息负担，并在可理解性、文化独特性与观影节奏间取得平衡。本文可为国产动画字幕中译英研究及跨文化传播实践提供参考。

Abstract

This paper takes the Chinese source text and existing English subtitles of the animated film How to Become Three Loongs from Yao-Chinese Folktales 2 as its research object. Drawing on Zhang Delu’s multimodal discourse analysis framework, it examines the handling strategies and meaning-conveying features of its subtitle translation from Chinese into English from the perspectives of context as well as meaning and form at the content level. The study finds that, in a multimodal context, subtitles are not merely a simple transformation of the original Chinese lines, but participate in meaning construction together with images, character movements, music, and narrative structure. In translating culture-loaded expressions, the subtitles tend to adopt transliteration retention or moderate explicitation to preserve the distinctiveness of source-culture concepts. In rendering colloquial utterances, they are more inclined to employ rewriting, compression, and functional transfer to foreground tone and interpersonal effect. In the ending part, the subtitles further realize thematic closure through relatively literal translation, semantic weakening, and the retention of modal markers in coordination with visual images and narrative structure. The study shows that the effectiveness of animated subtitle translation depends less on complete word-for-word correspondence than on the proper distribution of information load in multimodal collaboration, so as to achieve a balance among comprehensibility, cultural distinctiveness, and viewing rhythm.