Empresses adapted to impress: Examining adaptation and translation in the TV Series Empresses in the Palace

摘要

This article examines the interrelation between adaptation and translation and theudimpact of this interrelation on the communication of cultural content in audiovisualudproducts. The paper focuses on the case of the American adaptation Empresses inudthe Palace, which is based on the Chinese TV series The Legend of Zhen Huan.udEmpresses in the Palace was subtitled from Chinese into English and it wasudbroadcast on US Netflix. The study discusses the adaptation changes that occurudbetween the Chinese and the American version and the subtitling strategies used toudrender culture-specific references (CSRs). The American adaptation is audconsiderably edited version of the Chinese series; yet it is overloaded with culturaludinformation which may be inaccessible to an English-speaking audience. Theudanalysis shows that the condensation involved in the American adaptation affectsudthe translation of CSRs and has potential implications for the circulation of culturaludproducts in a digital era