The Uncrossable Otherness in the Translation of Chinese Idioms into Thai Subtitles of the Chinese Series “Go Ahead”

Abstract

           This research article aimed to study the inability to overcome the otherness in the translation of Chinese idioms in Thai translation of the Chinese Series “Go Ahead”. The study found that some of the translation unable to overcome three aspects of otherness in the use of language, and the mistranslation can be categorized into three levels as follows: 1) the meaning is not equivalent to the Chinese original version, resulting in Thai audiences being unable to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of Chinese idioms. 2) the translation is not accurate compared to the original version; both idioms meaning and overexaggerated translation concept, resulting in Thai audiences being unable to experience the aesthetic qualities of Chinese idioms and unable to comprehend what the player is implying. 3) omission in translation results in the meaning of Chinese idioms disappearing from the series script. As mentioned above, the researcher may assume that the reasons that the translators did not acknowledge the using language methodology of the writer and did not read the original language script accurately, also lack of both understanding Chinese idioms in terms of culture aspect and Thai idioms meaning. Furthermore, the translator might not intend to maintain the original form of Chinese idioms as well.