When local goes global : English subtitles of two comedy films by Stephen Chow

This article offers a descriptive analysis of how Hong Kong actors’ and director Stephen Chow’s comedies have been translated for English-speaking audiences. Drawing on previous studies of Chow’s films, this study highlights the translation characteristics to focus on when translating Chow’s comedies. Through discussions of Freud’s and Bakhtin’s theories of comedies, this study examines the subtitles used in Chow’s films From Beijing with Love and Flirting Scholar. The findings show that Chow’s comedies contain many mixtures and contrasts of high and low culture in Chinese, with an abundant use of sexual and vulgar language. In comparison, the English translations of the official DVD version of From Beijing with Love tend to be literal, whereas the translations in Flirting Scholar convey a stronger impression of childishness to English-speaking audiences.