Application of Skopostheorie to the Translation of English Film Titles.doc

application of skopostheorie to the translation of english film titles目的论在英文电影片名翻译中的应用abstractfilm is a kind of audiovisual art with high commercial values. with the increasing pace of chinas opening up to the outside world and the carrying out of chinas policy of reform, more and more english films are entering chinese market. and english film translation is gaining increasingly importance. as an indispensable part of english film translation english film title translation builds up the bridge over the initial connection between the film and audience. it is an important and creative job. an excellent version can add much charm to the film and play a key role in the introduction of a new film. the film title as an indispensable part of the film has informative, expressive, aesthetic and vocative functions. this thesis tries to make a tentative study on english film title translation from the perspective of skopostheorie. skopostheorie defines translation as a purposeful activity as well as an intentional intercultural communication, thus bringing more valuable insights into translation studies and giving a new perspective to film title translation. the first part of the thesis, is a general analysis of english film titles, discussing the special roles, features and functions of english film titles and the importance and purpose of english film title translation. and then the paper introduces the skopostheorie. the last part, discusses the skopos of english film title translation and the translation strategies under the guidance of skopostheories.key words:english film title translation; skopostheorie; translation strategies摘 要电影是一门影像艺术同时又具有高度的商业性。随着中国的改革开放及对外开放的进程的加快,英文电影正越来越多地涌入中国市场。影视翻译变得越来越重要。中文译名作为英文制片不可缺少的一部分起到了桥梁的作用，把电影和观众初步联系在了一起。电影片名翻译是一项非常重要而又富有创造性的工作，好的翻译能为影片锦上添花，在新片的推出过程中起到举足轻重的作用。电影片名是电影不可缺少的组成部分，具有传达信息，表现美感和吸引观众的功能。本文从功能翻译理论中的目的论的角度对英文电影片名的翻译进行进一步的研究。目的论突破了传统翻译理论,提出了翻译行为并不是单纯的语际转换,而是一种有目的的行为活动，而且还是一种有目的的跨文化的交际活动,从而进一步丰富了翻译理论,并为影视翻译实践开辟了一个新视角。本文首先对英语电影片名做了一个总体分析：分析了电影片名的特殊角色,特点和功能以及电影片名翻译的重要性和目的,为探讨其翻译方法奠定了基础。接着介绍了目的论翻译理论。最后讨论了目的论对电影片名翻译的影响及在目的论指导下电影片名的翻译技巧。关键词:电影片名翻译；目的论；翻译方法iiicontentsabstract.1. introduction.12. english film titles12.1 definition of film titles.12.2 roles of english film titles.22.3 features of english film titles22.3.1 linguistic feature.22.3.2 aesthetic feature.22.3.3 cultural feature.32.3.4 commercial feature.32.4 functions of english film titles.32.4.1 informative function.32.4.2 expressive function.42.4.3 aesthetic function.42.4.4 vocative function.43. english film title translation.43.1 importance of english film title translation43.2 the purpose of english film title translation54. skopostheorie.64.1 definition of skopostheorie.64.2 formation of skopostheorie.64.3 skopostheories rules.74.3.1 the skopos rule.74.3.2 the coherence rule74.3.3 fidelity rule.84. 4 contributions of skopostheorie85. application of skopostheorie to english film title translation95.1 skopos of english film title translation .95.2 translation strategies adopted in english film title translation.95.2.1 transliteration.95.2.2 literal translation105.2.3 adaptation.115.2.4 addition.125.2.5 combination of literal translation and free translation.126. conclusion.13references14acknowledgements.151. introductionfilm has been generally acknowledged, as a form of art loved by people. films tell different kinds of stories, create vivid images, express deep emotions which may coincide with the audiences and attract the audience by their perfect combination of color, sound and moving pictures. they can not only entertain us but also reflect different aspects of society such as history, philosophy, social life and demonstrate different cultures. different kinds of movies may psychologically fulfill the demands of the audience by showing them life experience of different people. with the carrying out of the reform and opening up policy, with the rapid development of chinas economy and with the more frequent cultural exchanges with foreign countries, more and more excellent foreign films especially english films have entered into chinese market on a large scale. english films have become a part of peoples lives and influenced peoples living patterns, and even values. thus, we should pay much attention to the study of english film translation.film title is an indispensable part of a film. it delivers the most important information about the film to the audience. a film must have a concise and meaningful title because it has always been put in the eye-catching place. a good film title should arouse audiences imagination and curiosity towards the film. the film title also plays a leading role in the box office of the film. the translation of film title is not a simple and easy task, but actually a pretty complicate and problematic matter. the translators should take film titles linguistic, stylistic and cultural features into consideration.this thesis will take german functionalist translation approach, mainly skopostheorie as its theoretical basis. unlike traditional theories, skopostheorie, which sees translation as a purposeful activity, as an intentional intercultural communication, can be used as a guideline for the translation of english film titles.2. english film titles a detailed analysis of english film titles helps us to have a better understanding of its nature. when translating english film titles into chinese, translator should take the roles and functions of the source film title into consideration because the target film title should perform the same roles as well as the same functions in the source film. what is more, it will be good for the translation work, if the translators know about the special roles, features and functions of english film titles.2.1 definition of film titlesaccording to peter newmark, “all titles are either descriptive or allusive; in a non-literary text, a descriptive title that succinctly names the subject and states its purpose is appropriate. allusive titles are suitable for some imaginative literature and popular journalism, and may have to be changed.”(newmark, 2001:156)a film title represents the film as well as an advertisement. a film title is the head of the film, and is the first impression to the audiences. it is always put in the eye-catching place. in a word, film title is used to introduce contents, opinions or ideas of the film to film-goers for the purpose of persuading most of them to take actions to watch or enjoy the movie.2.2 roles of english film titles firstly, film title is a cultural product. film is a spiritual and cultural product and it should reflect the ideology trend of the society. film title, being an indispensible part of the film, is also a part of this cultural product and should bear cultural features of the region where the film is produced. a lot of cultural elements can be found in film titles such as idioms, titles of literary works, historical events and dialects etc.secondly, film title is a trademark of the film. it is very common that a film costs hundred millions of dollars, especially the hot hit made by hollywood. since film makers put large amount of money and manpower into making a film, of course, they want to get big profits. as a kind of mental product like other commodities do, film also confront fierce competition in the market. thus, film is both a spiritual, cultural and material, commercial product. film titles which the audience will face of the film firstly, should represent the film and play the role of the advertisement.thirdly, film title is a piece of art. film is a new form of art with the action skills, vivid sounds and colorful pictures. without film title, a film cannot be a complete work and cannot be remembered by the audience. moreover, the creating of film titles is highly creative. therefore, film titles should also be viewed as a piece of art.2.3 features of english film titlesalthough film titles, as a kind of literary form, have something in common with other literary forms, they also have their unique features, which are different from any other literature works. bearing the features of the film titles in mind, the translator can conduct his translation work smoothly. features of english film titles will be discussed in the following aspects: 2.3.1 linguistic featurein general, english film titles feature briefness and conciseness.(xie lijuan, li lin, 2009:50) they are usually very short with just a few words. but they should be rich in meaning. most films adopt no more than four words as their titles. choosing 100 english film titles randomly from the database, after calculating, we can get that film titles containing more than five words account 3 percent. titles composed of two worlds for 47 percent.17 percent of these film titles contain three words and the rest 33 percent are those with four words. from this statistic, we can conclude that a large amount of english film titles are composed of either two or four words.furthermore, most english film titles adopt various kinds of phrases as titles, namely, noun phrases, verb phrases and prepositional phrases. using the restrictive words like adjectives, articles and possessive forms before nouns and noun phrases in film titles will make them more eye-catching and vivid. , which are exemplified in the following titles: the silence of the lamb沉默的羔羊, consisting of a modifier and the word it modifies; dance with wolf 与狼共舞, employing the verb-object phrase; on golden pond金色池塘, adopting the prepositional phrase.2.3.2 aesthetic featuregenerally speaking, the aesthetic characteristics of film titles are closely related to the adoption of rhetorical devices, such as metaphor, onomatopoeia, alliteration, repetition, contrast, oxymoron and irony etc. employing rhetorical devices in the english film title has been proved to be effective and successful, because it can help create some particular kind of atmosphere, arouse curiosity and take action to watch the movie. for example:(1)crystal heart (metaphor)(2)dances with wolves (personification)(3)sense and sensibility (alliteration)(4)dirty pretty things (oxymoron)(5)its funny funny funny people (rhetorical repetition)2.3.3 cultural featurefilm titles are closely related to various aspects of societies, such as religion, history, philosophy and so on. therefore, the film titles should be of cultural features. some film titles come from a legend or fairy tale; some film titles are adapted from english idioms; some film titles are the popular expressions in its culture. for example, films such as seven, original sin, and adams rib are enveloped in strong western color, and clearly show that western religious culture exerts great influence upon english film titles.2.3.4 commercial featurefilms are of both art form and commercial value at the same time. (he ning, 1998:38) it is no doubt that film titles bear the commercial features. to some extent, if the film can not attract the public attention and bring large profit, it will be meaningless. thus, film titles should be eye-catching and be tinged with commercial color. in some sense, a successful movie should be the one that can attract people to buy the tickets and go into the cinema and that should become a great box-office hit. there are some successful versions. such as sister act修女也疯狂，mission impossible碟中谍, nike of the time千钧一发. (he ning, 1998:38) so in one word, the translated title of film has the commercial features. however, this does not mean that one can only pursue large commercial profit by providing some queer titles with no regard to the connotation of the original. 2.4 functions of english film titlesvermeer defines function as what a text means or is intended to mean the receivers point of view. (nord, 2001:28) the english film titles generally include four principal functions, the informative, expressive, aesthetic as well as the vocative function.2.4.1 informative functionaccording to peter newmark, in his a textbook of translation, “the core of the informative function of language is external situation, the facts of a topic, reality outside language, including reported ideas or theories”. (newmark, 2001:40)the informative function is the basic function that any film title should bears. that is to say, a film title without any informative value is meaningless and valueless. successful film titles should carry as much relevant information as possible in order to enable the audience to get a thorough understanding of the film content. some film titles indicate the main character(s) of the film, for example, hamlet哈姆雷特. some titles give hint to what is going on in the film, for example, saving private ryan拯救大兵瑞恩, around the world in 80 days 环游地球80天. some film titles reveal the background of the film, which consists of several aspects, such as time, place and environment in which the story takes place. for example, pearl harbor珍珠港,titanic泰坦尼克号. some titles indicate the theme of the films, which may not be so eye-catching at the first sight, but which usually leave on the audiences mind a lingering aftertaste. for instance, brave heart勇敢的心. the informative function of film titles is pretty important in the translators translating process. the translator should pay attention to conveying the information of the source films, not to giving the misled information. information may include: the film genre, events referred to in the film and the main plot of the film.2.4.2 expressive function“the core of expressive function is the mind of the speaker, the writer, their originator of the utterance. they express their thoughts and feelings irrespective of the response.” (newmark, 2001: 39)the language with expressive function is normally self-expressive, creative, figurative and subjective. the expressive function of film title is to set the feeling tone for the whole film, which can create either a touching, horrifying or exciting effect on the audience. a good film title not only informs the audience of some relevant information about the film, but also catches the audiences heart and give them pleasant feeling with its expressive language, thus put them in a certain atmosphere in the film. for example, legends of the fall, from the expressive word “fall”, the audience can feel the atmosphere of sadness.2.4.3 aesthetic functionnewmark, in his a textbook of translation, points out that “this is language designed to please the senses, firstly through its actual or imagined sound and secondly through its metaphors. the rhythm, balance and contrasts of sentences, clauses and words also play their part. their sound-effects consist of onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, rhyme, meter, intonation, stress. ”(newmark, 2001: 42) good film titles can also perform aesthetic function in the way to provide audience aesthetic enjoyment through colorful words with musical sound and the application of rhetorical devices. titles with aesthetic function please the senses of audience through their unevenness in intonation, smoothness in sound and vividness in image presentation.2.4.4 vocative functionthe core of the vocative function of language is the readership, the addressee. i use the term vocative in the sense of calling upon the readership to act, think or feel, in fact to react in the way intended by the text.” (newmark, 2001:41)taking this explanation as reference, we can conclude that a good film title can also call upon audience to see the film, or to react in the way intended by the producer-buying tickets so that great profits will be generated.3. english film title translation3.1 importance of english film title translationwith the world economic globalization, communication among countries is becoming more frequent. the case is also true about the films communication. movie companies around the world provide their products and services all over the world and build their brand images on a global basis. since there is fierce competition in the movie market, developing an international brand name has become a pretty important marketing strategy for most film companies. if a film company wants to make a success in a foreign market. it is essential for it to translate all the relevant information of the source film into the target film including the film title. a good translated film title contributes a lot to the good reputation of the movie company and its films, while a poor version often results in costly failure and even damage to the movie company. therefore, english film titles translation is a significant job.when a film title turns out welcome in public, it means enormous value. the title of a certain film is essential because it may reveal the theme of the film or indicate its plot. film title translation plays a crucial role in ticket sales. an excellent film title translation can bring about unexpected profit. for in