A Typical Subtitling Strategy——Reduction

The article focuses on, with the samples from the eight films, the examination and description of the typical strategy, reduction, employed in subtitling Chinese feature films for English-speaking audience, with the application of Sperber and Wilson’s relevance theory (1986) in the discussion of what should be included and what should be omitted. It is concluded that decisions as to which pieces of information are to omit or to include should depend on the relative contribution of these pieces of information to the comprehension and appreciation of the target film as a whole.