Domestication? Over-Domestication?: Feasibility of Applying Chinese Internet Buzzwords in Subtitle Translation

Abstract

In recent years, more and more Chinese internet buzzwords took their shapes in the subtitle translation of English comedy movies, which has sparked heated discussion on their appropriateness and necessity. This paper is thus designed to argue the feasibility of applying localized Chinese internet buzzwords from the perspective of domestication. By analyzing their occurrence in the official translation of some English comedy movies, the author summarizes the problems of those over-domesticated translations with internet buzzwords and comes up with suggestions to improve the subtitle translation. It is expected that this study can offer a new perspective on the application of internet buzzwords in subtitle translation foregrounded in the context of localization.