Translation Studies is nowadays overwhelmed by a number of attempts to discard prescriptive standpoints and adopt new, descriptive directions. As a consequence, the research effort has been shifted from an investigation of things that should be done to an investigation of things that are being done.

现今的翻译研究有太多不再重视规范性观点，而是采用一些新的、描述性的观点而进行的。人们本应研究应被做的事情，但现在人们研究的却是正在运作中的事情。

Audiovisual/Screen Translation is not left out of the trend. In Europe, current research into subtitling is oriented towards an attempt to describe the various subtitling practices around the countries of the continent rather than to dictate what practices should rather be followed. In other words, the attempt nowadays is rather to describe the various subtitling conventions being followed throughout Europe, rather than to impose new ones. However, there are a few undeniable realistic parameters that cannot pass unnoticed: a) the movement towards a United Europe necessitates the adoption of common practices that would enable the participating countries to operate as a unified body, b) new technological developments in mass media and communication (e.g. digital TV) are bound to overcome the limited physical borders of the participating countries, leading to the creation of a pan-European market audience. In such a unified framework of European mass communication, subtitling—as a means of overcoming linguistic barriers between the nations—will come to play a critical role. Large satellite broadcasting companies around the continent have already stressed the need for a unifying code of subtitling practices, a code that would enable them to reach the various individual country audiences through a unique set of subtitling standards that would not violate the already established conventions within the various countries.

视听翻译和字幕翻译也不例外。欧洲现在所进行的字幕研究往往是在描述欧洲各国现有的字幕翻译实践，而不是去进行规范实践的定义。换言之，现在所做的研究只是为了阐述欧洲现行的种种字幕翻译惯例，而不是制定新的规则。然而不可否认的是，有些现实的原因不可被忽略：

❶ 随着欧州一体化的进程，各国采用一种通用方法成为必需；

❷ 大众媒体和通讯技术（例如，数字电视）的新发展突破了地域的限制，创造了一批全欧范围内的观众。在欧洲大众通讯传播的统一框架里，作为突破语言障碍的一种方式，字幕翻译将发挥重要的作用。欧洲的大型卫星广播公司强调，要为字幕翻译制定一个统一的模式，这一模式能让各个国家的观众体验到统一的字幕标准，并且不会和各国的现行惯例产生冲突。

At a first glance, such an attempt or a “desire” looks rather futile. It is impossible to deviate from an already established convention without causing some turbulence amongst the subjects/recipients of the convention. This, however, does not mean that the deviation from the current convention will not be gradually accepted, replacing old practices with new ones and gradually formulating a new ruling convention, provided that the transition is smooth both in quantitative and qualitative aspects. This would mean that a limited number of the new set of suggested practices are initially introduced into a limited number of situations, steadily expanding to cover the whole set of the new suggested practices, as well as all of the applicable situations. Considering the above, I believe that what satellite broadcasting companies demand nowadays is both reasonable and feasible, especially since the already existing number of descriptive studies on human social viewing behaviour, as well as on human physiological eye movement and brain function, are sound enough to provide the basis for such an initial attempt.

乍一看，这种想法或者说“渴望”是徒劳的。要改变现行惯例，又不在节目制作方和受众之间造成任何骚乱机会麻烦是不可能的。然而，这并不意味着现有管理不能被逐步改变，旧协议逐渐被新协议取代，新协议慢慢成为标准。

也就是说，最初先在少数实践活动中部分局部引入新方法，再慢慢扩展新方法的比重直至全部取代，之后再向更广的范围内推广。

基于上述说法，我认为当今卫星广播公司的要求既是合理的，也是可行的，自从人们做了大量有关人类社会观看行为的研究后就更是如此。此外，还有大量的研究是关于人类生理上的眼部运动及脑部作用的，这些研究足以为刚提到的做法提供实施的基础。

The following paper departs from such descriptive studies but goes on to adopt a clearly prescriptive perspective. Its aim is to provide a unifying formula based on thorough scientific research that could bridge the different subtitling conventions currently operating within the various European countries, to cater for the needs of the individual European viewer and address the European audiovisual audience market as a whole.

下述内容不再阐述此类描述性研究，但仍会用清晰的描述性视角进行分析，目的是为了在深入的科学研究的基础上提出一个统一的模式，以适应欧洲各类观众的需要并将欧洲视听观众市场作为一个整体来对待，深入的科学研究能够将欧洲各国正采用的各种不同的字幕翻译标准连接在一起。

Towards a Standardisation of Subtitling Practices in Europe: Guidelines for Production and Layout of TV Subtitles

欧洲字幕翻译标准化：电视字幕制作及设计指南

General aim 总体目标

The general practice of the production and layout of TV subtitles should be guided by the aim to provide maximum appreciation and comprehension of the target film as a whole by maximising the legibility and readability of the inserted subtitled text.

电视字幕的制作和版面设计的总体指导原则和目标是：应保证字幕文本的易读性和可读性，并与影片本身一同形成最大限度的可观赏性和可理解性。

Spatial parameter / layout 位置参数/版面设计

❶ Position on the screen 在屏幕上的位置：

Subtitles should be positioned at the lower part of the screen, so that they cover an area usually occupied by image action which is of lesser importance to the general aesthetic appreciation of the target film. The lowest line of the subtitles should appear at least 1/12 of the total screen height above the bottom of the screen, so that the eye of the viewer does not have to travel a long distance towards the lowest part of the screen to read it. Space should also be provided on the horizontal axis, so that, again, the eye of the viewer does not have to travel a long distance along the sides of the screen in order to read a subtitle line. To this end, image space of at least 1/12 of the total screen width should be provided to the left of the first character and at least 1/12 of the total screen width to the right of the last character, for each subtitle line. Subtitles could be positioned towards the upper part of the screen only in extreme cases where visual material (linguistic or other) of vital importance to the appreciation and the comprehension of the target film is exposed at the pre-determined part of the screen where subtitles would otherwise be inserted.