Romantic Comedy Analysis

Translation of romantic comedy is highly related to the target audience and culture
Introduction
It is often asserted that the translation strategy of subtitles is related to the genre of the movie. Comedy, which is frequently studied, gives the translator a choice on whether to maintain the comic effect or keep the jokes as its original did. As stated by Zabalbeascoa, “It would seem that there is often a need to strike a balance between a search for comic effect by making the translated jokes as funny as possible, on the one hand, and, on the other, finding solutions that will not put the viewer off because […] the plot, structure and the coherence of the text are weakened for the sake of certain witty one-liners (Cintas & Aline, 332).” The

In the movie, Elizabeth tries to flirt with Mr. Nobley, where she said, “I sure would like you to turn me upside down in the garden.” It is considered as a punchline as the Regency Period is not supposed to speak like this. For its Chinese subtitle, it is translated into Chinese as 「我想要你 / 在花園和我翻雲覆雨」, which is different from the literal meaning 「將我翻轉」 but chorus with the sexual meaning underneath. It reserves the punchline in the conversation. In the movie, the line by Elizabeth saying that ‘Top of the evening to you.’ is translated as 「希望你今晚愉快」. ‘Top of the evening to you’ is a greeting with an Irish origin. Instead of translated as「最好的晚上給你」, which may be ambiguous in meaning since Elizabeth is a flirtatious woman, it is translated as 「希望你今晚愉快」, which is a greeting with similar effect in Chinese. Nida’s equivalence is focusing on the naturalness and the effect produced in the target language. Therefore, the translated sentence should be highly related to the target culture and language as the effect and naturalness is taken into consideration. To take another example is, when the guests perform a drama and Elizabeth remembers her line in a wrong way. She said, “l am Aphrodite, the goddess. Often fickle in my large arse.”, which is then corrected by Mrs. Wattlesbrook, “Largesse.” “Arse” refers to “the fundament, buttocks, posteriors, or rump of an animal (OED).” “Largesse”, the original word that Elizabeth is trying to say, has a meaning of “The willingness to spend freely; (the virtue of) generosity; liberality, munificence. Also: this virtue personified (ibid).” It is translated as「最喜歡樂善好屎 / 樂善好施」. By looking at the translation, we can see that the meaning of “large arse” was not kept in the subtitle. Instead, the meaning of “Largesse” is emphasized and the last world 「施」is replaced by 「屎」, which has a similar sound