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translation. This may be because repetition is the easiest way of translating a CSI. The
translators did not have to speculate on whether the subtitle could be understood or not
by the audience. The translators may have been mainly concerned with the criterion of
“reliability”, which may explain why the translators appeared to focus on the literal
meanings of CSIs or simply chose sound translation in some cases. Unfortunately the
researcher can only speculate as to the translators‟ rationale for choosing repetition as
their main strategy. One could speculate that translators opted for literal sound
translations or repetition to avoid being accused of not having respected the original text,
but unfortunately, the strategy of translation appears to have “ignored” the audience‟s
possible understanding of the subtitle. One could therefore say that in doing so, in a
manner of speaking translators placed their own self-interest (protection of their
reputation) above the needs and interests of the audience. In addition, there is the
interesting question of whether the translators themselves in fact understood the
associated meanings of the CSIs in question, especially where these referred to films
and television series which date back to the 1980s, an era when Mainland China had not
“opened up” to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this question is beyond the scope of
the current study, leaving an interesting topic of investigation for future studies.
Figure 6.1 refers to 6.3 summary of translation strategies used. And Figure 6.2 refers
to 6.3.1 summary of strategies used to achieve suggested HPTEs.
6.3.1 Summary of strategies used to achieve suggested HPTEs
In most cases, the suggested HPTES involved the use of strategies such as creation
and deletion. There are two main reasons why the researcher frequently opted to use
these two strategies. First, it was often not possible to find a dynamic equivalent (i.e.,
the equivalent that aims to ensure the target readers can respond the same way as the
source readers) of a CSI in question in the Chinese language. Second, the researcher
often felt that deletion of the CSI or creating a word or phrase that conveyed the same
message as that intended by the characters would help the audience understand the
scene. Finally, it should be added that the investigation of CSIs was an area of interest
for the researcher and that she took the time to find out the underlying meaning
associated with the CSIs in question. In addition, she had time available to test out what
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