1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………......1
2. Literature review of subtitling translation………………………………………....2
2.1 Definition of subtitling translation……………………………………………….….2
2.2 Previous studies on subtitling translation abroad……………………………….…...2
2.3 Previous studies on subtitling translation in China……………………………….....3
3. Constraints of subtitling translation……………………………………………..…3
3.1 Technical constraints of subtitling translation………………………………….…....4
3.2 Textual and linguistic constraints of subtitling translation…………………………..4
4. Culture turn in translation……………………………………………………….…5
5. Translation strategies: foreignization and domestication…………………….…...6
5.1 The definition of foreignization and domestication………………………………....6
5.2 Foreignization and domestication in this study……………………………………...7
6. Case in study: Gossip Girl…………………………………………………………...7
6.1 An introduction of Gossip Girl………………………………………………………7
6.2 The cultural elements in the text of Gossip Girl…………………………………......8
6.2.1 Words concerning celebrities………………………………………………….…...8
6.2.2 Words concerning famous brands……………………………………………….....9
6.2.3 Words concerning geography………………………………………………….…10
6.2.4 Words concerning sports……………………………………………………….....10
6.2.5 Words concerning English language…………………………………………...…11
6.3 The application of foreignization and domestication strategies in subtitling translation………………………………………………………………….…………...12
6.3.1 Tactics employed to achieve foreignization………………………………………13
6.3.1.1 Annotation……………………………………………………………………...13
6.3.1.2 Preservation and explanation…………………………………………………...13
6.3.2 Tactics employed to achieve domestication……………………………………...13
6.3.2.1 Substitution…………………………………………………………………..…1
4
6.3.2.2 Paraphrase………………………………………………………………………15
7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..16
Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………..17
Reference………………………………………………………………………………18
1．Introduction
In this information age when information, in various forms such as audio, video, multi-media products, transmits almost instantly around the globe, a particular merit of is that one can download the latest episode of the American TV series he or she likes almost without a time-lag. But there is still a big question getting in the way. The language barrier between the original TV show and its ardent Chinese viewers has greatly hindered the appreciation of these high-quality TV programs. Therefore, there is a huge need for good subtitling translation. Fortunately, there are currently many translation practitioners volunteering their effort in this field, and some of them have contributed a great deal. On the other hand, it seems that the study of subtitling translation does not keep up the pace. This study focuses on the main hallmarks of subtitling translation, and introduces some tactics coping with the culture-loaded materials in subtitling translation.
2. Literature review
2.1 Definition of subtitling translation
Subtitling translation can be defined as the translation of the spoken or written source text of an audio-visual product into a written target text which is added onto the images of the original text at the bottom of the screen11
2.2 Previous studies on subtitling translation abroad
The first academic article regarding the study of film translation appeared in a special edition of the magazine Babel, under the title Cinéma et trauction, in 1960. Since then a variety of works has been published. However, the study of subtitling translation had not received high attention until the 1990s, when the massive use of internet had accelerated the pace of globalization.
Gambier, as a leading figure in the this area, edited with Henrik Gottlieb a book in 2001 named (Multi)media Translation: Concepts, Practices, and Research, which is a collection of 26 articles pertaining to the subject of subtitling translation. At the beginning of this book, he wrote: “Globalization, in many ways a cliché, does have some pretty direct implications for us all, as modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is changing a large part of our daily lives.”iii
The co-editor of this book, Henrik Gottlieb, is also a very productive scholar in the field of subtitling translation. He began to delve into this area in 1990s, and concentrate himself on the strategies and the linguistic respect of subtitling translation. On top of that, he also explored the area of the training and teaching of subtitling.
Other scholars have contributed in the study too. For instance, Ivarsson provided us an elaborate history of the technical aspect of subtitling translation and a general review of subtitling translation for the disabled people like the ones with difficult in hearing in his 1992 book subtitle translation for the media.
2.3 Previous studies on subtitling translation in China
Compared with the studie
s conducted in the West, there are fewer studies on subtitling translation in China, since the subtitling translation is relatively a new area in the research field. Zhang Chunbo[6] thinks that the main purpose of film translation is to serve the target audiences. Therefore, the translators should give consideration to the cognitive capability of audiences.
Li Yunxing[7], in his article Strategies for Translating Subtitles, claims that the chief requirement of subtitling translation is to provide the most information in the most effective way, within the constraints of time and space. This article illustrates its translating strategies with concrete examples
As a supporter for foreignization Zhao Chunmei[8] in her paper Translation into Chinese of Film Scripts and Scripts of TV drama series – Four Main Conflicting Demand, she puts forward that since foreign films are heavily culture-loaded, and are showcases of their own cultures, translators should retain as much as possible the original flavor of the film.
3. Constraints of subtitling translation
In translation process, there are various constraints that restrain the realization of an optimal translation. According to Xia Ping[9], translation is basically a decision making process under constraints such as space, time, quality of information, problem-solving attitude and so on. These constraints affect the quality of performance and the quality of the translation product and always threaten the realization of a best translation. Film translation is no exception, which imposes a variety of constraints on the translator. The main obstacles come from the following aspects:
3.1 Technical constraints of subtitling translation
In Guardini, Paola’s has done a great deal of research and reached a comprehensive solution in his work “A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards in Europe". It may not be applicable in all different languages and cultures, but it certainly provides a steady research cornerstone:
In terms of space constraints, the subtitles should be positioned at the lower part of the screen. The number of the lines of subtitles should be two in maximum in order to assure that no more the 2/12 of the screen image would be covered by subtitles at a time. Thirdly, the subtitle text should be in the center on its allocated line(s) in order to enable the eye of the viewer to travel a shorter distance in order to reach the start of subtitle. Fourthly, each subtitle line should allow around 35 characters to form an adequate portion of the spoken text and minimize the need for original text reduction and omissions.
As to the time limits, Karamitroglous also gives a detailed description. The reading speed of the “average” viewers (aged between 14-65, from an upper-middle socio-educational class) for a text of average complexity ( a combination of formal and informal language) has been proven to range between 150-180 words per minute, that counts for between 2 1/2-3 words per second. And the duration of a single-word (minimum duration) should be at least 1 1/2 seconds, regardless of the difficulty of the word. The lead-in time of subtitles should be 1/4 second later from the beginning of the utterance instead of inserting the subtitles simultaneously, since studies have shown the brain needs 1/4 of a second to process the advent of spoken linguistic material and guide the eye towards the bottom of the screen anticipating the subtitle.[11]
3.2 Textual and linguistic constraints of subtitling translation
Film language has a poly-semiotic nature, from which the textual constraints of subtitling translation derive. The text of film language comprises four channels:
1. The verbal auditory channel, which includes dialogue and background voices and maybe lyrics.
2. The non-verbal auditory channel, which is made up of natural sound, sound effects, as well as music.
3. The verbal visual channel, comprising the sub-titles and any writing within the film, as for example, letters, posters, books, newspapers, graffiti, or advertisements.
4. The non-verbal visual channel, which includes the composition of the image, camera positions and movement as well as the editing which controls the general flow and mood of the movie.[12]82
The subtitling translation involves a mode shift from the verbal auditory channel to the verbal visual channel. This course will lead to a great amount of textual adjustment, so the translators should pay attention to the visual information on the screen and use various translating strategies to compensate the loss the information in the course of textual adjustment.
In the aspect of linguistic constraints, there are two types which are the intra-linguistic constraints and the extra-linguistic constraints. As Guardini puts it, the intra-linguistic cons
traints refer to the “syntactic and grammatical differences between the source language and the target language.”[10]104 While the extra-linguistic constraints relate to the elements that are not confined precisely linguistic, but are more culture-loaded in the film text.
4. Culture turn in translation
Traditionally, translation was considered as a pure linguistic process. Hence, traditionally, studies of translation were more concentrated in the linguistic perspective. But in the era of globalization, one can not overlook the effects of cultural influence in the study of translation. Christiane Nord argued that translating means “comparing cultures. Translators interpret source culture phenomena in the light of their own culture-specific knowledge of that culture, from either the inside or the outside, depending on whether the translation is from or into the translator's native language and culture”[13]
Films are products embedded with a heavy load of cultural elements. Firstly, in visual sense, a foreign movie presents images and scenes from which audiences could get a direct impression of its culture. For example, from English legal scenes we can see that the judges in British courts wear wigs, or that in a Japanese film, Japanese girls appreciating the beauty of oriental cherry in their traditional kimonos. These scenes represent the cultural uniques in a particular country or region in visual language. Also the audio channel of a film offers no less culture elements than the visual channel. For example, music is a very cultural-related thing in films such as the use of the national anthem of one country, which usually generates a solemn feeling. And of course, in the audio channel, language plays a major role in the cultural representation, such as the use of wordplay to achieve humorous effect.
Therefore, we can conclude that subtitling translation, though mainly dealing with the language part of an audio-visual product, is a process highly sensitive to cultural influences. In the next chapter, we will discuss strategies coping with the cultural component in an audio-visual product.
5. Translation strategies: foreignization and domestication
5.1 The Definition of foreignization and domestication
Foreignization and domestication are two terms coined by American scholar Lawrence Venuti. In his book The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation, The former indicates a type of translation “in which a target text is produced which deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original.” While the latter “describes the translation strategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for TL readers” [14].
In Foreignization, the translators preserve as much the original atmosphere of the source language, bringing foreignness to the target audience. The translators should “take as his aim to preserve the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text and give his reader the same image and the same delight which the reading of the work in the original language would afford any reader educated”[14]101.
In domestication, however, the translators should center on the target audiences’ point of view, making the text as recognizable and familiar as possible. “Whatever is strange, different or “other" has to be naturalized into target language and culture so that it is immediately understandable."[13]12
5.2 Foreignization and domestication in this study
Basically, foreignization and domestication are complementary. Since the only adoption of foreignization will cause difficulties in the understanding of film text, while the only adoption of domestication will obliterate all the foreignness in the product. The merit of foreignization is that it can evoke a sense of foreign. Therefore, in theoretical understanding, a combination of strategies of foreignization and domestication should be used in order to achieve the best translation effect.
However, in coping with the translation of American TV series, this paper holds the idea that the translation should favor more in the strategy of foreignization. Since the main audiences of American TV series are high educated students and white collar employees in companies. They are not only interested in the plots of the TV products, but also the foreign culture presented in them. Consequently, the translators should take this fact into consideration, and retain as much the original flavors of the TV products as possible without causing big problems in understanding.
In the next chapter, we will discuss the above mentioned elements such as the cultural elements and the use of foreignization and domestication in the case study, Gossip Girl.
6. Case in Study: Gossip Girl
6.1 An introduction of Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American drama television series based on
the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Narrated by the omniscient yet unseen blogger "Gossip Girl," the series revolves around the lives of wealthy teenagers growing up on New York City's Upper East Side.
The series first aired on September 18, 2007 in Canada on CTV before premiering in the U.S. a day later on The CW. The show received the first full season order of 18 episodes of the 2007/2008 television season of the five major broadcast networks in October 2007. Following the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Gossip Girl returned on Monday, April 21, 2008 to close the first season.
Since the season 2 is still in air now, so the text scripts in this study are all from season 1.
6.2 The Cultural Elements in the text of Gossip Girl
There are many lines that have deep cultural backgrounds in Gossip Girl. To fully understand the meaning of the lines, one should have the knowledge about these cultural backgrounds, which cover wide aspects of American society. Although it’s impossible to explain all of the cultural backgrounds, in this section, we will discuss some typical ones.
6.2.1 Words concerning celebrities
The celebrity culture is on the rage in the contemporary society. As a TV drama aiming to present current adolescent community, Gossip Girl surely consists of many lines which contain the names of the hottest celebrities. To understand these names and the persons behind these names is definitely crucial to the understanding of the lines. For example, in the season 1, episode 5, there is a line spoken by Blair Woldalf: “Too Beyonce. Too Mary-kate. Too Hannah Montana…..”
The line was spoken in the scene that little Jenny Humphrey was trying clothes in Blair’s wardrobe. And every time she finished dressing, Blair spoke out her opinion. The first time Jenny tried a scarlet dress with a diagonal cut from the left shoulder to the upper part of her right chest. Blair said” too Beyonce”. In fact, Beyonce is a famous American singer, and she always looks wild and sexy before the camera, so here, what Blair meant is that the dress Jenny was wearing is too wild and conspicuous. Then as Jenny put on a baggy sweater and a thick speckled muffle, Blair said: “too Mary-kate”. Also, Mary-Kate Olsen is a TV star and a fashion celebrity, whose style is known as Bohemian-chic, which presents a “homeless” look. So here, what Blair means is too informal. In a third scene, Jenny was wearing a gray dress with sparkled patches on it, and thin scarf and a dark jean jacket, Blair’s remark was: “too Hannah Montana”. Hannah Montana was a TV series that is very popular among American teenagers. The main character, Hannah Montana, is an ordinary girl in school but a teen pop sensational in her leisure time. Her dress style is very young and cute. So Blair thought Jenny’s outfit was too teenage-like, and was not mature enough.
From this scene, we can see that if we do not know the names, the line is quite indecipherable to us. Hence, we can draw from this example that a fair amount of knowledge of the celebrities in American society is important to the translation of the lines.
6.2.2 Words concerning famous brands
In Gossip Girl, there are many lines concerning famous brands, since not only is this TV show focusing on the life of teenage group, who are very sensitive to the popular brands of all sorts of merchandises, but also brand-consciousness is very common in the American society. There is a line in season 1, episode 16:
Eric：No, I'm fine. I figured I'd let Bart, Chuck and Prince Albert have their fun... Oh, that didn't come out like I meant it. Gossip Girl. Looks like Jenny's been spotted at Gap sewing Stella Mccartney labels into pocket T-shirts.
In this line, Eric read what is on the Gossip Girl blog about Jenny “at Gap sewing Stella Mccartney labels into pocket T-shirts”, here are two culture-related words “Gap” and “Stella Mccartney”, which are two brands in apparel industry. So the question is that how the two brands here relate to the comprehension of this line.
In fact, Gap is a brand under the The Gap, Inc, which is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and Founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F, Fisher. The market strategy of the brand Gap is to appeal to a broader demographic of customers compared to the high-end designer brands. So it is a common brand for middle class.
On the other hand, Stella McCartney is a high-end brand designed by the namesake fashion designer Stella McCartney, who is also the daughter of the legendary Beatles member Paul McCartney.
In this scene, the message in Gossip Girl said that Jenny, who craved to join the rich girl clique in her school but did not have the money to buy those luxury custom-made clothes, was trying to stitch the Stella McCartney brand labels into
the Gap pocket T-shirts.
6.2.3 Words concerning geography
In old times, due to the lack of means of transportation and communication, culture was highly-related to geography and the people living in the same area may share many common traits and characters. For example, in many people’s mind, English are quite conservative and French are romantic. In Gossip Girl, there is an area of New York City which is called the Upper East Side. This is the place where the story is carried out and the people living there are referred as the Upper East Siders. Hence, it is necessary to know what is the Upper East Side like. The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. Once known as the “Silk Stocking District”, it has some of the most expensive real estate in the United States. Therefore, it is a place filled with wealthy people.
6.2.4 Words concerning sports
Sport is always a very hot topic in American society. If you can strike up a conversation with an Englishman by saying something about weather, with an American, your starting-line should be something about sports. The most favored sports in American society are American football, baseball, and basketball. So in Gossip Girl, you would encounter many lines pertaining sports. In season 1, episode 4, there are lines as follows:
Nate：How about this? Definitely that.
Chuck：Babe Ruth's called shot. The most famous homer he ever hit. Better safe than sorry.
Here Chuck was hiding valuable things before having a party in his room, and Nate give him the baseball preserved in a glass casket. Actually this ball has a famous anecdote. Babe Ruth is the nickname of one of the greatest sports heroes of American culture, George Herman Ruth, Jr. He was an American Major League baseball player from 1914-1935. And the ball in this scene is the ball of his legendary “called shot”, which was the home run hit by him of the New York Yankees in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, held on 1st October 1932 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Before the hit, Ruth made a pointing gesture, pointing to the center field bleachers. It was supposedly a declaration that he would hit a home run to this part of the part. And then, he did it. So if you know this story and the prestigious status of Babe Ruth in the baseball circle and American society, you will understand why the ball is so precious that Chuck has to keep it safe.
6.2.5 Words concerning English language
Language is definitely a cultural related thing. Sometimes we cannot understand the lines fully because we are not able to read between the lines. Many lines are well-designed to convey special effects to audiences and the use of pun is a method to do that. In season 1, episode 15, the line goes:
Blair：Nelly Yuki has her sights set on Yale too. What are the odds of them accepting two girls from Constance? And have you seen Nelly Yuki's extracurriculars? I need to kick her well-rounded ass.
Here Serena and Blair were talking about the upcoming S.A.T. test, and Blair has a strong competitor Nelly Yuki, who is excellent not only in her academic score, but also many other areas. So Blair was hatching plans to defeat her. She used the phrase “kick her well-rounded ass”. We know that “kick someone’s ass” means to beat someone, and “well-rounded” here has two meanings, one literally means Nelly Yuki’s bottom is round, and another one means a person is capable of many skills, which is also suitable here since Nelly Yuki is indeed a multi-talented student.
In the above parts, I have explained some culture-loaded words and phrases used in Gossip Girl. From these explanations we can learn that these culture-loaded words are quite important to the full understanding of this TV show. In the next part, I will discuss the strategies coping with the translation of these cultural elements.
6.3 The application of foreignization and domestication strategies in subtitling translation
It is a well-known fact that culture-related materials are difficult to translate, since the culture gap between different cultures can be so great that sometimes a commonplace notion in one culture could be utterly incomprehensible in others. Hence, the exact conveyance of the meaning of the original text from the source language to the target language through translation is theoretically impossible.
The chief strategies dealing with culture-loaded materials are foreignization and domestication. However, the needs of the target audiences of the American TV series determine the more favored translation strategy translators used in their subtitling translation. The main viewers of American TV series are students and white-collars employees. They are keen to know more foreign culture and usually have a certain amount of knowledge of English language. In order to serve them better, I think it i
s necessary to preserve more foreignness in the subtitling translation. Hence, the strategy of foreignization should be used more, as long as the meaning of every line is not confused.
In practice, the achievement of foreignization and domestication strategies needs some practical tactics, since the strategies only provide a theoretical thinking concerning the translation of cultural elements. In the following part, some typical tactics will be introduced and exemplified so as to present the realization of the two strategies in the practical level.
6.3.1 Tactics employed to achieve foreignization
The foreignization strategy focuses on the preservation of the foreignness in the original products, in this respect, the tactics of Annotation, preservation and explanation can be adopted to achieve this object.
6.3.1.1 Annotation
Annotation is that in the course of translation, the translator leave the culture-loaded words unchanged in the translated text and explain them in the brackets following them. For example, proper nouns such as acronyms, names of famous persons, bands, and so on are difficult to translate. In this situation, we can use annotation. For instance, in season 1, episode 8, the line goes:
Gossip Girl：According to the Catholic Church, mortal sin can only be absolved through the sacred act of confession, but it looks like a certain W.A.S.P. princess has recently found herself desperately in need of a little unburdening.
Here the acronym W.A.S.P literally means White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and it is applied to people with histories in the upper class Northeastern establishment, who were alleged to form a powerful elite. So the Chinese meaning of this word here is “上流社会的人”. So here, by using annotation, we can translate the sentence as:
“根据天主教义，犯下大罪的人只能通过神圣的祷告被赦免，最近似乎一位W.A.S.P(上流社会的)公主正急切的想要得到一些解脱。”
6.3.1.2 Preservation and explanation
Some lines concerning some culture figures and images that have already been familiar to the target audiences. With regard of these elements, a translator can simply preserve them or add a little explanation. For example:
Gossip Girl：Speak of the devil and he doth appear, wearing his trademark scarf. Careful B. Hell hath no fury like a Chuck Bass scorned.
Here the cultural images “hell”(地狱)，and “fury” (这里指复仇精灵) are already familiar to our audiences. So the translator can simply preserve them and the meaning of the line is quite explicit：
“说到魔鬼，他的确出现了，围着他标志性的丝巾，小心了，Blair, 地狱里可没有想被激怒的Chuck一样的复仇精灵”
Another example here is concerning explanation:
Kati：Oh! She owned you, Serena.
Isabel：Yeah, you went down almost as hard as Britney at the VMAS
Here, the name Britney is quite familiar with audiences since she is such a famous singer. And VMAS stands for MTV Video Music Awards(MTV音乐大奖), which audiences would not have much difficulty to understand it. The only explanation here is the incident that Britney once has lost out of expectation in VMAS. So the translation goes:
Kati: 噢，她完全打败你了，Serena
Isabel: 恩，你就像Britney在MTV音乐大奖上一样惨败。
6.3.2 Tactics employed to achieve domestication
There are occasions that the only adoption of foreignization is not enough to transmit a clear meaning of the original text or the translated version is quite hard to understand. In these cases, we need to use domestication strategy, by employing tactics such as substitution and paraphrase.
6.3.2.1 Substitution
The substitution tactic involves replacing the cultural item in the original text with a target-language item likely to have a similar impact on the target reader. This is a typical tactic used in domestication, because it centers on the angle of target audiences, focusing on their understanding.
For instance, there is a line in Gossip Girl:
Gossip Girl：As per gossip girl's thanksgiving tradition, I'm trading my laptop for stovetop and for the next 16 hours, the only thing I'm dishing is seconds. When the cat's away, the mice will play…”
Here there is an adage, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play”, which has a Chinese equivalent “山中无老虎，猴子称大王”. Hence, we can use this substitute in order to achieve a lucid understanding
Another example:
Dan：Hey. Bold choice of attire, Mrs. Van der woodsen, unless it's what they're wearing on the runway these days.
Serena：No, my mom sicked out because she didn't want to be imposing.
Here, the culture-related word “runway” could cause some trouble in understanding. It refers to the gangway used in fashion show for models to perform. In Chinese we call it “T型台”, which means the same thing as runway. So here we can translate this sentence as “您好,Van der woodsen太太，您的上衣真是大胆的选择,难不成最近T型台上都流行这么穿？”
6.3.2.2 P araphrase
Paraphrase is also a very important tactic in domestication. It means to explain or use a more plain way to convey the meaning of culture-related words. It is often used in the circumstances where the translator cannot find a proper equivalent in target culture.
For example:
Vanessa：Not bad but Skynyrd is meat and potatoes and I'm bringing dessert, so what do you say to a slice of "cherry pie"?
Here, the phrase “meat and potatoes” means the basic part. However, if we translate it literally, the audiences cannot get the implied meaning. So here, we use the paraphrase tactic. And the translation goes: “ 是不错， 但是Skynyrd乐队的歌只是最基本的，我让你见识一下厉害的，你觉得来一首“cherry pie”怎么样。”
Here is another example:
Dan：I opened the cranberries. My work is done. How’s Blair's?
Serena：I wouldn't know. She gave me the boot.
Dan：She kicked you out of her house? What happened now?
Here “gave me the boot” is quite confusing if we translate it literally into “踢了我一脚”. Actually it means “kick sb. out”, so we must paraphrase it. The translation goes:
Dan: 我打开了橘子罐头。我的工作完成了。Blair那边怎么样？
Serena: 我不知道，她把我赶出来了.
Dan: 把你赶出来了？那你们现在怎么办？
5．Conclusion
The above discussion of subtitling translation of American TV series is by no means overarching, however, it does present some main features and offer some primary information for those who have an interest in this field. To sum up, subtitling translation is a young area, although many translators have gained much empirical experience through their practice, studies in this respect are still in great needs. In subtitling translation, in spite of various constraints, the translation of cultural elements poses a great obstacle in the process and also it is the main research direction in recent years. In the translation of culture-loaded elements, a combination of foreignization and domestication strategies should be used in order to achieve the optimal translation effect. In my opinion, since the main audiences of the American TV series are students and well-educated white-collar employees, so they not only have a certain amount of English knowledge, but are also keen to experience some foreign culture in the shows, in order to satisfy them, the translators should favor more the foreignization strategy in the process as long as a proper understanding of the lines is guaranteed
Acknowledgements
My initial thanks go to my supervisor Feng Shaozhong, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.
I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books.
My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.
The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.
References
