On the EC and CE Translation of Film Titles.doc

本科生毕业论文（设计）题目 On the E-C and C-E Translation of Film Titles 姓名 学号 0910201236 院系 外国语学院 专业 英语 指导教师 职称 教授 曲阜师范大学杏坛学院教务处制On the E-C and C-E Translation of Film TitlesA ThesisSubmitted toCollege of Foreign LanguagesXingtan CollegeQufu Normal UniversityIn Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Bachelor of Arts By Wang ShuwenUnder the Supervision of Sun HuaxiangMay 2013iiiiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI am deeply indebted to Sun Huaxiang, my supervisor, who has given me constant and valuable advices, read my drafts through meticulously and offered incisive comments on them. Without his help, the thesis could never have reached its present form. I owe grate thanks to those classmates who kindly and seriously gave me lots of useful materials related to this composition. Without their help, this thesis wouldnt have been able to be conducted. My sincere gratitude also goes to all my teachers who have given me excellent knowledge, which is indispensable to the completion of the thesis. I also give my hearty thanks to all my roommates who gave me generous help and useful resources in the process of writing the thesis. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to all the writers whose works have been referred to in the thesis.ABSTRACT Film, as one of the important ways to communicate ideas in todays international society, the works of dubbing film titles will become more and more important. At present, the domestic researches on the translation of film titles havent formed a systematic theory, which is relatively fragmented. As for the problem, this thesis engaged in the research of Chinese and foreign film titles translation, the translator in the translation process of subjective initiative into full play, to play to the advantages of the target language, and to make the translation achieve more ideal effect. This thesis will through the contrast of the characteristics of the English and Chinese film titles, the film title translation principles and skills, as well as the translation of film titles requirements for translators, compared to a large number of Chinese and English film titles. The research of translation theory is an important guiding role of film title translation, through the study of film titles in both English and Chinese translation, preliminary to film titles more in line with the target language culture characteristics, to make the film more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, to achieve the ideal effect. Key words: film title, contrast, translation摘 要电影作为当今国际化社会传达思想的重要手段，电影片名的译制也愈来愈重要。目前，国内电影片名研究只是偶有提及还未形成系统的理论体系，还较为零散。鉴于这一问题，本论文从事中外电影片名翻译的研究，使译者在翻译过程中充分发挥主观能动性，发挥目的语的优势，使译文达到更理想的效果。本论题将通过进行对英汉电影片名特点的对比，研究电影片名翻译的原则及技巧，以及电影片名翻译对译者的要求，对比大量中英文电影片名，研究翻译理论对电影片名翻译的重要指导作用，通过对中英文电影片名翻译的研究，初步达到使电影片名更加符合目的语的文化特征，使电影更加深入人心，达到理想的效果。关键词：电影片名；译制；对比；翻译CONTENTSAcknowledgments.iiAbstract (English).iiiAbstract (Chinese).iv0. Introduction.11. A comparison between English and Chinese film titles.11.1 The characteristics of Chinese film titles.2 1.1.1 A predominant role of verbs.2 1.1.2 Condensed meaning, organized structure and distinctive theme.2 1.1.3 Reflection of Chinese thinking.21.2 The characteristics of English film titles.3 1.2.1 More emphasis on nouns.3 1.2.2 Postmodernism.3 1.2.3 Reflection of Western thinking philosophy.32. The translation of English and Chinese film titles.32.1 The problems in the translation of film titles.42.2 Four values of film title.42.3 The principles of translating film titles.72.4 The skills of translating film titles.83. The requirements on translator.113.1 Encyclopedical knowledge.113.2 Language proficiency.123.3 Sensitivity and superior critical-thinking ability.124. Conclusion.12Works Cited.13vi0. Introduction With the process of globalization and the increasing exchange between Chinese and western cultures, there are more and more cultural communications as well as cultural shocks. Film, as a special and important medium in cultural exchange, has begun to attract every nations attention, and plays an important role both as an access to the foreign culture and as a significant way of spreading the native culture. Taking the American films as an example, they have influenced the worldwide peoples life in a broad way, especially the Hollywood films. Just as a book has a book title, the film title is often the first face that a film shows to the audience. However, unlike the title of the books or newspapers, the film title cannot tell the audiences the plot of a film until they buy the tickets and go into the cinema. For this reason, the film title undoubtedly becomes the initial factor that attracts them. Films, with its artistic quality and popularity, are called the most influential art form in todays society. With the developing of the present society, the communication on the culture among other countries is becoming more and more important, especially through films. A good movie needs not only wonderful scene, ups and downs of plots and perfect act skills, but also needs an attractive film title. Title, is not only a highly enrichment and summary, but also a brand, which is of vital importance in the promotion of films. The film title is short but concise and comprehensive, it always involves in the whole contents which is rather amazing. A good translation on movie can not only makes the audiences interested in the film, but also helps the audience understand the connotation. What problems existed in todays film titles translation? What are the principles and skills in the process of translation? These are the questions we will discuss in this thesis.1. A comparison between English and Chinese film titles Generally speaking, Chinese films, as for its naming, tend to show a pursuit of lofty, serene, ethereal or a Void Realm which presents a preference for a symbolic or poetic kind of title, such as 大红灯笼高高挂, 七剑下天山, and 活着. Compared with the Chinese playwright, Western playwrights are more interested in the characters shaped by emphasizing the independence of human nature, full of personality, trying to show the typical characteristics of typical characters in the performance of a typical environment, so many videos titles directly named by distinct personality characters name. Now lets talk about the characteristics of Chinese and English film titles.1.1 The characteristics of Chinese film titles This part presents the characteristics of Chinese film titles in detail. The major components of this part are A predominant role of verbs, Condensed meaning, organized structure and distinctive theme and Reflection of Chinese thinking.1.1.1 A predominant role of verbs Chinese people prefer to use verbs, not nouns, and nouns in Chinese are not as active as in English. Verbs and verb phrases make Chinese titles more dynamic, which makes it be capable to produce special appeal. I have made an investigation on the movies released in 2012. There are 139 Chinese movies and 33 film titles of them are in verb or verb phrase forms, which accounts f about 24%, such as 搜索 大闹天宫 and 我愿意. While in English movies titles, the verb forms of titles just account for about 7%.1.1.2 Condensed meaning, organized structure and distinctive theme The refining of Chinese film title looks the same as the shortness of English film titles, but in reality they are different. Although the title is short, it is the carrier of culture, which presents different aesthetic taste. Moreover, Chinese uses many four-word phrases which are similar to idioms. They are neat and well-proportioned, and we can understand the meaning literally. As I have investigated, the four-word phrase forms of film titles account for about 16% in the movies in 2012, such as 河东狮吼 乌龙戏凤 and 执子之手. 1.1.3 Reflection of Chinese thinking This point is determined by the culture. The plot of Chinese movie is winding and twisting, it puts more emphasis on details to stand out the climax. At the same time, the design of the character is fine and smooth, and we Chinese are collectivisms. As the data says that I have collected, there are 7% titles that are in this form. For example, 那些年，我们一起追的女孩， this film title tells the details of the movie and we audiences can easily get the information of the film.1.2 The characteristics of English film titles This part presents the detailed description of the characteristics of English film titles. The major components of this part are More emphasis on nouns, Postmodernism and Reflection of western thinking philosophy.1.2.1 More emphasis on nouns Nouns in English play a predominant role and it is one of the most frequently used words in English. English nouns can instead the function of Chinese verbs and adjectives, which can represent differences and emotions etc, such as God Father, The Silence of the Lamb. According to the researches I have made, the noun form of film titles account for about 97% in the movies in 2012, such as Mission Impossible and War Horse.1.2.2 Postmodernism Postmodernism is against all existing rules but like the arbitrary which is more obvious in the performance of the English film titles As I researched, there are 90% titles in 2012 that are in postmodernism, such as R.T.T, Hugo and Mirror Mirror.1.2.3 Reflection of Western thinking philosophy Language and thought are inseparable, that the language is only the carrier of the thinking. We can have a glimpse into the philosophy of the unique culture of English-speaking countries from its short and streamlined film titles, which meet the West advocating condensed aesthetic concepts. On the other hand, individualism enjoys popular support in Western countries, which believes that all values are centered in human beings, individuals are the most highly value and it is the aim itself. Individualism emphasizes on independence and human rights, it forms the basic form of relationship and presence of Westerners.2. The translation of English and Chinese film titles This chapter centers on the film title translation from English into Chinese and from Chinese into English. There are several problems we should know and four values demanding to be realized by the successful translated film title. I will begin to talk about those four values: informative value, cultural value, aesthetic value and commercial value. Then I will probe into the E-C and C-E film title translation methods and principles including four translation strategies.2.1 The problems in the translation of film titles More and more English movies sent to us and so does Chinese movie, so we have enough choices to make. But there are too many film titles that are not translated well enough, which will mislead our comprehension. Now lets talk about several problems existed in the translation of film titles.2.1.1 Literal translation When we do translation, the first thing is to have enough comprehension about the plot and theme of the movie. If the translator ignore the movie itself but just translate literally, the audience will be misled and have a wrong understanding on the movie.2.1.2 Excessive commercial and lack of artistic charming The movie title is of vital importance in the propaganda of films, and a good title can successfully attract audiences attention and then gain respectable box income. While there are too many titles which just pursue fancy and vogue and which lead to the lack of artistic quality. For example, once the movie Shaw shank Redemption was translated to 刺激1995，which just shows contents instead of spirits.2.2 Four values of film titleThe features and functions of film titles call for the realization four values of film title which are supplementary and indispensable to each other. Generally speaking, the realization of commercial value is built upon that of the other three values.2.2.1 Informative value Good translation never misleads the reader nor distorts the original. As is said by Ye Shengtao in 1935: a title is, to the author, to indicate the ideas he centers around in his writing; while to the reader, it is to manifest in advance what is going on in the works before his actual reading. It points out the significance of the informative value of film titles. GGG A good translated film title should inform the audience the following three aspects: film genre, theme and background information of the film. 2.2.2 Cultural valueAs the social product of cultural phenomena and ideological trend, films and film titles are inevitably branded by the typical nation characteristics and cultural value. Translation is not only a process of linguistic transmission but also a process of cultural communication, thus in the film title translation, both the linguistic and the cultural factors should be taken into serious consideration so that the cultural value of the title could be well reproduced in the target text. The cultural factors of the film title include the idiom, allusion and taboo, etc. Because of the diversity and vastness of difference between the Chinese and English cultures, the translators are required to realize the fusion of culture appropriately. Taking One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest as an example, it has got two translated versions 飞越杜鹃窝and飞越疯人院. In English the idiom Cuckoos Nest means a lunatic asylum, so based on the plot of the film, we can infer that the second version is more appropriate. 2.2.3 Aesthetic valueAs stated before, aesthetic function is one of the four functions of English film titles. It is this function that endows the title with uniqueness that pleases the senses and provides artistic enjoyment. To have the aesthetic value better realized, the translator should reproduce the beauty with the target language and convey it to the audiences. Two aspects deserve our attention in the realization of the aesthetic value, one is the refining of words, and the other is the reproduction of the rhetoric devices involved in the English film titles. The refining of words goes first. The translator should try to select the words that have beauty in sound, form and meaning to create a kind of atmosphere and artistic conception, to condense the feeling and emotions of the source language audience and express them to the potential receptors. Particularly, the Chinese four-character expressions are used in a high frequency in film title translation for their equal syllables and the same duration of pronunciation. Many translated titles of classic films can prove this point, such as, 与狼共舞(Dance with Wolves), 小鬼当家(Home Alone), 阿甘正传(Forest Gump) and so on. The reproduction of rhetoric devices is another aspect of the realization the aesthetic value of English film titles. It is probable for the translators to reproduce or creatively employ rhetoric devices in his translation so as to bring about artistic appeal to the Chinese audiences. We have many well-done translations in this respect: Gaslight into郎心如铁 by similes, True Lies into真实的谎言by means of oxymoron, and A Few Good Man into 好人寥寥by repetition, etc.2.2.4 Commercial valueSince film is an art form with the harmonious integration of culture and commercialization, it tends to be very natural and reasonable for the translator to take commercial element into consideration when he is translating the film titles. Two requirements of the realization of commercial value of film titles will be mentioned. The first one is that the translated title must conform to the features of our Chinese culture as well as the aesthetic judgment of Chinese appreciators, namely to reflect the thoughts, emotions and dreams of ordinary people and suit their tastes. Secondly the translated titles should be eye-catching and novel in wording, either creating suspense or intensifying the atmo