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their sons playing with Barbie dolls as Ross was in Friends. Secondly, Chinese viewers
would likely not be aware of any association between a doll and the show business.
In the researcher‟s view, the most noticeable weakness of the subtitle is its adherence
to semantic strategy. “演艺圈”-the word that is used to translate “show business” is in
fact inconsistent with the meaning of “show business”. “ 演 艺 圈 ” means the
entertainment industry in Chinese, a catch-all word that includes TV production,
filmmaking and so forth. Therefore, Chinese viewers would very probably not
understand why Ross is anxious, as the entertainment industry is basically a profitable
and enviable occupation.
f) A Recommended Alternative to the Original Subtitle:
The strategy here should be a combination of semantic, pragmatic and addition. A
pragmatic Strategy is a strategy that allows the translator to find a pragmatic equivalent
of the source text, instead of merely closely adhering to the syntax of the source text. A
pragmatic equivalent of the source text entails a representation of the original meaning
and intent of the author of the source text. The semantic strategy by comparison, focuses
on the literal meaning and the syntax of the source text only, regardless of whether the
translation fails to convey the intent of the author or the implications of the source text.
Addition is the strategy that allows the translator to add „messages‟ in order to help the
audience understand the meaning of the line. Such messages might include background
information that assists the audience to understand the traits of a culture unfamiliar to
them.
The original subtitle could be rendered as: “他是有女孩才玩的洋娃娃,那又如何?
莫非你担心他长大后去跳脱衣舞?” This new subtitle can be back translated in
English as: “He‟s got a girl‟s doll, so what? Unless you are afraid he‟s gonna grow up to
be a stripper.” The addition would make Ross‟s unspoken fear explicit. The Chinese
audience is also more likely to understand what Ross was concerned about.
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