英语影视作品名称翻译处理方法

毕毕 业业 论论 文文 OnOn thethe TranslationTranslation ofof EnglishEnglish FilmFilm TitlesTitles 英语影视作品名称翻译处理方法英语影视作品名称翻译处理方法 学院 专业 级 班 学生姓名 学 号 指导教师 职 称 完成日期 Abstract The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the great power of film title translation The translation of western film titles is quite different from the translation of Chinese film titles In the process of the translation sometimes films titles will have different translations owing to the different translators Because everyone has his own idea experience and knowledge the translation is sure to be different Films are a very important part of cultural interchanges Therefore the culture of some countries is becoming a major content to present in the films This paper points out the importance of the translation of film titles and calls on the translators to pay more attention to it The art commercial and social feature are characterized by the film titles Translation isn t a process to change one language to the other Foreign audiences are more often than not to comprehend the original film titles The Chinese audiences wouldn t arouse sympathy when they see the original film titles The paper makes an analysis of what people shouldn t hold one side view that the literal translation is good or the free translation is good The literal translation and free translation ought to supplement and complement each other These two methods must combine and use adjusting orders adding or reducing some words of the original film titles to get the best results of the translation of film titles Key Words film titles translation target culture source culture principles strategies 摘要摘要 本文的写作目的是说明电影片名翻译的力量 西片的片名不同于中国 电影片名 在翻译的过程中 由于译者的想法 经验和知识不同 翻译也会有 所不同 电影是文化交流非常重要的部分 所以 各国的文化成为电影中所要 表达的内容 本文指出了电影片名翻译的重要性 并号召译者对其重视 其中 艺术 商业 社会特征描绘了电影片名 那就是翻译不只是一种语言向另一种 语言转换的过程 西方观众能一目了然的片名 中国人却不这么认为 本文分 析了直译和意译的不同 这主要是由于文化的不同 并认为 不能片面地说直 译好还是意译好 这两者是相辅相承的 两者之间应结合起来 具体问题具体 分析 在电影片名翻译的问题上应用改变词序 增词或减词的方法来翻译片名以 求得这两种翻译方法之间的平衡 关键词关键词 电影片名 翻译 目标语文化 源文化 翻译策略 Contents Introduction 1 1 The Importance of Translating Film Titles 1 2 The Current Situation of Film Titles Translation 2 2 1 Translations Differentiated in Mainland Hong Kong and Taiwan 2 2 2 Internet Causes Film Titles Multifarious 2 2 3 Different translations in Posters Ads and News 2 2 4 Commercialized Translations 2 3 The Features of Film 3 3 1 Art Feature 3 3 2 Economic Feature 3 3 3 Social Feature 3 4 Influence of the Culture on the Translation 4 4 1 The Original Western Culture 4 4 2 Chinese Culture 4 4 2 1 Be Active 5 4 2 2 Be Concise and Exquisite 5 4 2 3 Be Artistic and Poetic 5 5 Strategies of the E C Film Tiles Translation 5 5 1 Liberal Translation 6 5 2 Literal Translation 7 5 3 Transliteration 9 5 4 Creative Translation 9 6 Translation of Film Titles 10 6 1 Economic Benefits 10 6 2 Information Reflecting 11 6 3 Reflecting Characteristics of Culture 11 6 4 Aesthetic 11 Conclusion 11 Bibliography 13 Acknowledgement 14 1 Introduction Movie and TV Drama are a form of art which involve the video and sound They have become the major carrier of culture and play an important role in the communication among every country in the world At present learning English through watching the pure English movies is more and more popular However when facing various kinds of films how to choice the best one to appreciate is difficult for us readers So the translation of films is crucial If the translation is good maybe film watchers will regard it as wonderfulness Each country cultivates a different tradition of translating films and subscribes to three major modes transliteration and liberal translation and literal translation The decision to which film translation mode to choose is by no means arbitrary and stems from several factors such as historical circumstances traditions the technique to which the audience is accustomed the cost as well as on the position of both the target and the source cultures in an international context This paper points out the importance of the translation of film titles On the contrary analysis of television translation constitutes an excellent material for further research As a result analyzing the translation of the titles of film or TV drama is significant and valuable 1 The Importance of Translating Film Titles Films can be a tremendously influential and extremely powerful vehicle for transferring values ideas and information Different cultures are presented not only verbally but also visually and aurally as film is a medium that transfers meaning through several channels such as picture dialogue and music Items which used to be culture specific tend to spread and encroach upon other cultures The choice of film translation mode largely contributes to the reception of a source language film in a target culture A good film needs a wonderful title which is known by the people in the street Every time they hear about a film they always get to know its title first And they decide whether or not to see it The pleasure of watching a film comes as much from its content as from its title The translations of the film titles require using a few words to express the topic of the films and at the same time people shouldn t forget it after seeing it The translation of film titles has become a popular phrase in modern life As is known to all how to translate the film titles has become a controversial topic in the field of translation for a long time The translation of western film titles is quite different from the translation of Chinese film titles In the process of the translation sometimes films titles will have different translations owing to the different translators Because everyone has his own idea experience and knowledge so films are important for cultural interchanging Therefore the culture of the countries is becoming a major content to present in the films The art commercial and social feature characterize the film titles Translation isn t a process to change one language 2 to the other Foreign audiences are more often than not to comprehend the original film titles The Chinese audiences wouldn t arouse sympathy when they see the original film titles 2 Current Situation of Film Titles Translation Nowadays different translations of the same English film are used at the same time which rouses confusion among viewers and readers The quality of the translation is determined by the source culture western culture and greatly influenced by the target culture Chinese culture But because of the different kinds of translations and the different target markets the translation of film titles is quite different so the name of English seems confusing 2 1 Translations Differentiated in Mainland Hong Kong and Taiwan The implement of the reform and opening up policy the cultural communication among mainland Hong Kong and Taiwan is increasing and more and more frequent Large amount of English films enter into the mainland s market through the media of Hong Kong and Taiwan However the difference of the political system and the different cultural background the translation of the same film is different too This phenomenon is obvious For example the film Ghost in the mainland the translation is 幽灵 灵魂 however in Hong Kong the translation is 人鬼情 未了 in Taiwan the translation is 第六感生死恋 The film Pretty Woman the translation in mainland is 漂亮女人 in Hong Kong the film title is 风月 俏佳人 but the translation in Taiwan changed the title is 麻雀变凤凰 2 2 Internet Causes the Film Titles Multifarious As the rapid development of the Internet the film is very popular and attractive before premiere and the translation in the Internet is quite different Someone who wants to gain the profits is tending to translate it optionally For instance the film Mrs Doubtfire the translations are 道特菲尔太太 道特菲尔夫人 or 疑火太太 however the premiere of this film in Hong Kong the title turned into 肥妈先生 and 窈窕奶爸 so the same film has five confusing titles 2 3 Different Translations in Posters Ads and News For the lack of the standardized management the translation of English film titles the posters advertising and the news media have their own translations For example the film which starred by Tom Cruise Mission Impossible There has two different translations one is 不可能完成的任务 and the other is 无法完成的 使命 So talking about this film different people use different translation and 3 different region uses different titles Such kind of mix can bring confusion to us and establish barriers for the cultural communication 2 4 Commercialized Translations Nowadays the competition in the film market is more and more fiercer in order to reap the largest extend of profits the translation of English film titles becomes more and more commercial The Rock starred by Nicolas Cage the translation in the Internet is 石头 石破天惊 but 勇闯夺命岛 is the translation at premiere 3 Features of Film Titles Everything in the world has its own features so do the film titles They can t exist without their own features To make the titles more impressive people use many rhetoric devices are used in the translation of the film titles such as simile metaphor oxymoron and the like The features of the translation of film titles will be expounded from the art economic and social perspective as follows 3 1 Art Feature Film is a living art and as such it tends to respond promptly to the development of science and technology which differentiates it from the other forms of art that can be written or painted on the paper As the translation of film titles is the right key to keep the audiences attention many factors are contributed to reach this aim 3 2 Economic Feature No wonder that the film investors try any ways to attract people s eyes The translations of film titles are often put on the leading places of the bills to attract people s eyes How to occupy the film market They rack their brains to seek the high competitiveness of the film market from scripting filming to showing And the translations of the film titles are even to add an apt word to clinch the point The film industry includes the industrial production the commercial system and the cultural transmission There comes forth a great many films on the market Just for the sake of high benefits from their investment they didn t care much about the translation of the film titles which led them far from the original film titles Besides for majority of the audiences those improper translations are beyond their understandings Even the national conditions have been taken into consideration it is necessary to find a junction of the market and art However the importance is to find a naming that is close to the original title and eligible to the style of the film Meanwhile the response of the market should not be neglected But they do the translating work only to pursue the advertising benefit And in the field of western film industry people benefit from the boundless chance to get more money from this productive business in spite of these Some examples will tell us how this economic features of the film titles act 1 It Happens One Night 一夜风流 2 Sister Act 修女也疯狂 3 Leon the Professional 这个杀手不太冷 4 All these examples show us the demands the development of mass markets of film industry 3 3 Social Feature Foreign audiences are more often than not to comprehend the original film titles Once they are translated using free translation it would be hard for the Chinese audiences to understand the quite content of the films As the practice testified a ringing translated film titles are the purpose of evoking the audiences curiosity For example The words 黑帮 in Shark Tales 鲨鱼黑帮 gives us a room to associate Are there 黑帮 in the world of sharks Some people who have never seen the translated one will naturally translate it into 鲨鱼的故事 You wouldn t expect its success of such a plain film If so it is really a documentary Besides films provide a forum in which certain pressing social problems It is a way for the audiences to deal imaginatively with the problems to consider possible causes to imagine possible consequences and to hypothesize possible solutions Here Shark Tales is an example to show the social problem Shark symbolizes the bully in the society Among these sharks there is one who is the son of the leader When he dies the sea creature is happy with this and praises the untrue hero It also conveys people s wishes to wipe out the bad eggs So the bad translation is unacceptable It is title just like the TV program The world of the animals Quite often the title of a film is used to inform would be audiences Nevertheless these audiences choose to go into the cinemas unconsciously to admire the content under the drive of 黑帮 That is the contribution of the vivid film titles The different features themselves characterize the film titles They are simple and coherent with sporadic lengthy titles in view The examples which were mentioned above are just like a drop in the ocean of the translation of film titles 4 Influence of the Culture on the Translation Intellectuals and thinkers of the world have defined and analyzed culture in their own way Edward Burnett Taylor one of the most famous anthropologist gave one the first definitions of culture in the West He defined culture as a complex collection of knowledge belief art law morals customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society A modern definition of culture is given by anthropologist William A in Cultural Anthropology as follows Culture is a set of rules or standards that when acted upon by the members of a society produce behavior that falls within a range of variance the members consider proper and acceptable 4 1 The Original Western Culture The culture has the feature of space sensitiveness Any kind of culture in the world is the refection the history customs geography and so on Film is the portrayal of the culture in some certain area at certain period However the film titles are the concentrate symbol of the culture so the translation of the film titles must processed with cultural color So when translating the film titles you should consider the 5 cultural language environment Language culture features include a language of the national way of thinking psychologically history customs and belief and so on 谢 天振 2003 So the good translation of film titles should be loyal to the source language Only by transmitting the information of the film titles accurately can guarantee the consistence of the same information that the films want to deliver 4 2 Chinese Culture Importing the English film into Chinese market can bring us some western culture The excellent film titles should be artistic and commercial In order to transfer the western culture to our culture to realize the western and eastern culture we should consider the language and culture characteristics 4 2 1 Be Active A verb phrase makes the emergence of the title dynamic and artistic So some English film titles translated into verb phrases such as Top Gun 壮志凌云 Top Gun is the alternative name of the United States air force officer training school The film mainly tells us a story of pilots The translation 壮志凌云 which provides us with background information and prepares us to appreciate it 4 2 2 Be Concise and Exquisite Four characters group is the accumulation of the social life and the conventional language form If translating the film titles into four characters embodies the traditional Chinese culture and easily accepted by Chinese people The following titles are concise and fluency so they are easy to disseminate For example Bathing Beauty 出水芙蓉 The Italian Job 偷天换日 Catch Me If You Can 逍遥法外 Dances with Wolves 与狼共舞 The Age of Innocence 纯真年代 Moon Light 披星戴月 4 2 3 Be Artistic and Poetic When translating the English film titles we should take the artistic and poetic features into consideration Lolita tells us a story about an old man falls into love with a 12 aged adopted daughter The translation is 洛丽塔 or 一枝梨花压海棠 This sentence rooted from the poem written by Su Shi which satirizes the 80 year old man marries the girl who is only 18 The white hair of the old man refers to the pear flower and the young girl refers to Chinese flowering crabapple The quote just coincides with the story of Lolita The translated title is rich of Chinese classical culture So the translation is perfect 6 In the process of translation creative betraying is inevitable Said by Weisstein an American writer Nowadays the translation of film titles are the creative betraying that based on the cultural background and the plot of the film Seven is a famous horror film if the translation is 七 it will be hard to appeal people to watch it The main idea of this film is that a killer who thinks himself as the god to punish people by using seven sins However the translation 七宗罪 transfers the Western culture into China subtly The Spiderman 蜘蛛侠 Transformer 变形金刚 King Kong 金刚 Those examples totally meet Chinese readers needs and easy to understand Another example Waterloo Bridge 魂断蓝桥 the translation of this title not only gives us the main idea but also is appealing to the audiences Chinese culture plays a crucial role on the translating of film titles so we should combine Western culture with Chinese culture when doing some translating 5 Strategies of the E C Film Titles Translation The films are produced by men or women from certain areas for consumption by target audiences who also belong to certain groups Therefore the culture of the countries is becoming a major content to present in the films Consequently films become a major channel to spread culture So the translations are very important and they are the products of the times To attain the best effect of translation of the film titles according to the original language and the target language the translators of the film titles need special training Because the purposes of the translators are not only media to show the meaning of the film titles but also to give keen enjoyment the creativeness of