Politeness in subtitling: To retain or not to
Politeness in subtitling: To retain or not to

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores how politeness-related terms in Chinese films are translated into English with a case study that consists of four of Zhang Yimou’s films. Zhang Yimou is allegedly the most internationally acclaimed Chinese director. The selected films are set in different time periods of China, and thus politeness is manifested with different focuses. Politeness in the films follows two maxims: Address Maxim and Self-denigration Maxim. Hence, this paper will examine how those politeness-related terms fall into address and self-denigration divisions and how they have been translated by subtitlers. As visual politeness is prevalent in audiovisual productions, this paper will also briefly analyse how Chinese politeness is demonstrated non-verbally.

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