TITLE:
Chinese Dubbing Translation from the Perspective of Metafunction Theory: A Case Study of Mulan (2020)
AUTHORS:
Li Sun, Chenghui Zhang
KEYWORDS:
Metafunction Theory, Dubbing Translation, Audiovisual Translation, Mulan (2020)
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.16 No.5,
September
21,
2026
ABSTRACT: With increasing cultural exchanges between China and other countries, film and television works have become important media for intercultural communication. As an adaptation of the traditional Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, Disney’s live-action Mulan (2020) incorporates various elements of Chinese culture and presents the story and cultural values of Mulan to international audiences. Taking the Chinese-dubbed streaming version of Disney’s Mulan (2020) available on Tencent Video as the research material, this qualitative case study analyzes 12 English-Chinese excerpts through Halliday’s ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions. Drawing on textual evidence from the selected excerpts and their audiovisual contexts, the study finds that the Chinese dubbing translation reconstructs ideational, interpersonal, and textual meanings through lexical, grammatical, and discourse-level adjustments, contributing to coherent and contextually appropriate dubbed dialogue.