【英语论文】由东西文化差异谈电影名翻译策略On Translating English Movie Titles into Chinese.doc

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1、由东西文化差异谈电影名翻译策略On Translating English Movie Titles into Chinese摘要电影作为一种重要的文化传媒，不仅仅是简洁、直观的方式引进充满异国风情的文化,又是传播本国本民族文化的一个重要途径。西方电影,尤其是电影在以英语国家的电影，以其异质文化和异域风情吸引着无数观众的眼球而日渐成为当代国人休闲娱乐、了解世界的一种重要途径。同样华语电影也日益受到世界的瞩目和关注。这种跨文化的传播现象，引出了一个题目，那就是：由于两种文化、语言之间存在着巨大差异，电影片名翻译该如何做到“信、达、雅”？如同电影的品牌商标,电影片名具有强大的导视作用。片名佳译既能

2、表达电影的主题，又可吸引观众，所以如何译好电影片名成为翻译界长时间追捧讨论的话题。 本文主要探讨不同的翻译策略是如何运用到电影片名的翻译中去的，中国观众对于电影的功能需求以娱乐为主。翻译片名的过程中。译者应考虑到面对人群的审美趣味、心理需求、知识背景等；同时注意译名的可接受性。鉴于上述翻译要求本文通过列举实例分析总结了中文译名所用的基本翻译策略：音译、意译。直译以及改译。这四种不同的片名翻译策略对于原片名所提供的信息进行了不同的处理：即完全保留，适当选择、全部抛弃和增加信息等。文章指出了翻译策略直接的密不可分，优势互补，使用多种翻译方式可以更好的实现片名翻译的目的。关键词：电影名；文化；差异；

3、翻译策略Abstract Movie as an important cultural media is not only a succinct and intuitive means of introducing the exotic culture, but also an important way to disseminate culture on they own. Western movies, especially the movie in English-speaking countries, with its exotic alien culture, attract the

4、 viewers eye and become an important way of numerous contemporaries entertainment to understand the world. Similarly Chinese movies are also increasingly drawing the worlds attention and favor. These cross-cultural phenomena raise a question: due to the huge differences between two kinds of culture,

5、 how can the movie titles translation achieve Faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance? Like the movies brand mark, movie titles with a strong guides effect. Good title translation is not only able to express the theme of the movie, but also can attract an audience and reflect the deep cultural co

6、nnotation if the translator can successfully navigate between the two languages. So the translation of a good movie title will become the topic of heated discussions in the translation community. The Chinese audience watch a movie mainly for entertainmentTherefore， the ultimate purpose and the main

7、function of。English movie title translation are to entertain the audience as well as to stimulate the desire of the audience to see the movie. In order to achieve such a goal，theTranslator moulds try to achieve the three basic functions in target text，that is，the informative，aesthetic and commercial

8、(appellative) functionsAt the same time，the author also points out that，owing to the linguistic and cultural differences the functions of original movie titles usually cannot be totally preservedIn addition，the translator should bear the target audience in mind，taking their aesthetic tastes，psycholo

9、gical needs and background knowledge into consideration and attaching great importance to their receptivity during the process of translationBased on the above translation purposes and requirements，the strategies used in English movie title translation exemplified by a host of translated versions fr

10、om different angles are introduced，namely, transliteration，literal translation(including wordfor-word translation, the adjustment of word order or structure，transliteration plus paraphrase) ，liberal translation(including the combination of literal and liberal translation) and adaptationThese strateg

11、ies treat the source text information in different ways such as complete preservation，proper selection，complete abandonment and information additionFrom the previous analysis and examples，the present thesis holds that all the translation methods are indispensable and supplementary to each other and

12、that the translator call adopt different translation strategies flexibly in order to better achieve the goal of English movie title translationKey words: movie title; culture; differences; translationTable of ContentsPages1. Introduction 6 1.1 The Background 1.2 The Objectives 1.3 The Methods of the

13、 Research and The Organization of the Paper2. Rationale 2.1 Some Notions on the Translation of Movie Titles7 2.1.1 Translator as a Dispenser Role on the Translation of Movie Titles 2.1.2 Audience as an Acceptor Role on the Translation of Movie Titles 2.2 The Feature of Movie titles 2.2.1 Linguistic

14、Features 2.2.2 Cultural Features 2.2.3 Aestetic Features 2.3 Translation Strategies 2.3.1 Transliteration 2.3.2 Literal Translation 2.3.3 Liberal Translation 2.3.4 Adaptation7 2.4 Translation Standards of English Movie Titles 2.4.1 One Center: Functional Equivalence 2.4.2 Informative Value 2.4.3 Cul

15、tural Value 2.4.4 Aesthetic Value3. Application of Skopos theory to English Movie Titles Translation 3.1 A Functional Analysis of English Movie Titles Translation 3.1.1 English Movie Titles Translation as a purposeful Activity 3.1.2 English Movie Titles Translation as an Interpersonal Interaction 3.

16、1.3 English Movie Titles Translation as an Intercultural Action3.2 Application of Functionalist Principles to English Movie Titles Translation3.2.1 Target- text Orientation3.2.2 The Source Text as an offer of Information3.2.3 Translators Role and Responsibility in Translating Process4. Translation S

17、trategies Adopted in English Movie Titles Translation4.1 Transliteration4.2 Literal Translation4.2.1 Word- for- Word Translation4.2.2 Adjustment of word order or Structure4.2.3 Transliteration plus Paraphrase4.3. Liberal Translation4.4 Adaptation5. Results and Suggestions5.1 Results 5.2 Suggestions6

18、. ConclusionBibliographyAppendixOn Translating English Movie Titles into Chinese1. Introduction 1.1 The BackgroundNida says: Translation consists in the reproduction in the receptor language of the message of the source language in such a way that the receptors in receptor language may be able to un

19、derstand adequately how the original receptors of the source language understand the original message. A successful translation of it can guide receptors to the threshold of the original message. How can this success be achieved? Besides Mr. Lin Yutangs criteria, faithfulness, fluency, and beautiful

20、ness, which are developed from Mr. Yan Fus faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance. As an audiovisual art, movie is one of the most influential mass media, it follows and reflects peoples life and it is a product of culture. The movie title is the most informative part of a movie. It being short

21、in form but rich in meaning and has its own cultural, linguistic, aesthetic features. A properly translated movie title should be concise, condensed and compact, which can grip the attention of the audience at their first sight and stimulate their association with the plot, reveal the theme or offer

22、 some clue. In the translation process, because the translator has different ideas, experience and knowledge, the title translation will be different. Translation of movie titles to focus from language, cultural differences and the effects of cut into the audience, should have a business, informatio

23、n, culture, aesthetic features, while a short eye-catching, ingenuity in order to maximize the audience, in the eyes of the audience to leave an unforgettable the impression that advertising for the movie. The introduction of foreign movies plays an important role in promoting cultural exchanges, an

24、d enriching peoples leisure time. But the movie title translation remains a problematic issue currently. As to the same movie, it often has several different translations for its English movie title. The Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan versions can hardly achieve unity in most cases, which make

25、s confusion and inconvenience for the audience.1.2 The ObjectivesThis research makes an attempt to probe the strategies of translating Chinese idioms into English in cross-cultural communication. It also tries to figure out the relevant factors that affect translators choice of different strategies

26、in dealing with cultural differences in translation. To this end, the analysis is conducted with a relevant theoretical framework of the five strategies with 40 examples of Chinese idioms and their English equivalents. 1.3 The Methods of the Research and the Organization of the PaperOn the basis of

27、the above, the first chapter serves as the introduction of the paper, it presented the background of the research, writing objectives and the article structure.The second part support the present situation of the movie title translation; the translation concepts and the strategies of the movie title

28、; the standard and the basic principles of movie title translation.The third part introduce the adhibition and the relevant results of the movie title translation from its different methods and function.The fourth part refers the different translate method and the analysis of the citing example movi

29、es.The fifth part serves as a summarizing of the cited movie title translations, and some suggestions which could put forward.The sixth part is the conclusion of the full text content, which is also the ending the whole paper. 2. Rationale2. 1 Some Notions on the Translation of Movie Titles A title

30、is of the same importance to the movie as the face to a person. If the face you see is beautiful that your first impression of him or her will be good. So the translators of the movie titles bear a load to satisfy different audiences. The audiences as the receivers of the movie titles will become th

31、e right respond to the translations of the movie titles. Both of them are important to the translations of the movie titles.2.1.1 Translator as a Dispenser Role on the Translation of Movie Titles The translation can not be done without the translators hard working. On the translation of movie titles

32、, translators simplify the translation to achieve briefness. It is also a kind of creating while the translators are doing the translation work. There arent people who get a whole system as the principles of the movie titles translation. As for the same movie title different translators have differe

33、nt translations, because they have their own thought, experience and understanding of movie. Thats the reason why we say that the translators bear a load to satisfy different layers of different audiences. It is sure that these translators have a chance to sit together and discuss the future develop

34、ment of the movie titles.2.1.2 Audience as an Acceptor Role on the Translation of Movie Titles Movie titles are restricted by the original titles. In the views of the audience, the translations of the movie titles appear that there arent any principles to obey. Since movies are shot for the audience

35、, it is necessary to motivate the audiences interests. However, once the audiences do not possess any historical knowledge or literary cultivation, the translations of these movie titles will lose their value of existence. So its important that the audiences would be active to accept the foreign cul

36、ture. The translations of the movie titles are better to be both refined and popular tastes.22 Features of English Movie TitlesAlthough movies，as a kind of literary form，have something in common with other literary forms，they also possess some unique features，which make them different from othersThe

37、 same is true of the case of movie titlesAs a mode of cultural transmission, movie titles involve many complicated cultural factors；as an artistic form, they have an aesthetic function in nature；as a kind of commodity they must possess commercial valuesThe features of movie titles will be analyzed i

38、n the following perspectives，namely, linguistic，cultural, aesthetic，and commercial perspectives221 Linguistic FeaturesAs a special type of popular culture，movie title has its own unique linguistic featuresIn most cases，English movie titles are very short，concise and compact埘tll regard to the structu

39、re，yet rich in meaning，which，to some extent，are summarizations of the whole movieIn the view of the form，sometimes they employ one or two words as titles，which may be the natal of the protagonist or the place where the story takes place，for instance，Alexander亚历山大大帝，Pearl Harbor 珍珠港；sometimes，they ad

40、opt various kinds of phrases as titles，namely, noun phrases，verb phrases and prepositional phrases， which are exemplified in the following titles：The Sound ofthe Music音乐之声，consisting of a modifier and the word it modifies；Meet the Parents拜见父岳母大人，using the structure of a verb-object phrase；On Golden

41、Pond金色池塘，employing the prepositional phraseThere is no denying that there are some instance that some long movie titles do appear,for exampleThe Lord of the Rings：The Return of the King指环王：王者归来However,such lengthy titles are comparatively few in number222 Cultural FeaturesAll good movies are social

42、products of cultural phenomena and ideological trend of certain timesMovies are produced to reflect the reality and the current issues with which ordinary people are concernedIn a sense，they really touch the social life from different anglesSuch cultural features Can also be reflected at the level o

43、f movie titles Movie titles are closely related to various aspects of societies，such as religion, history, philosophy, social custom ，and SO onMore often than not，cultural features are closely related to the quotation of idioms and allusions，which convey rich cultural meanings For example，movies suc

44、h as Seven，Original Sin，and Adams Rib are enveloped in strong Western color, and clearly show the great influence upon English movie titles exerted by western religious culture223 Aesthetic FeaturesMovies，all audio-visual art，can provide the audience with aesthetic entertainment through their perfec

45、t combination of sound，color, and moving picturesGenerally speaking，the aesthetic characteristics of movie titles are。closely relat.ed to the application of rhetorical devices，such as simile，metaphor, irony contrast， personification，alliteration, oxymoron, and SO onThe employment of rhetorical devic

46、es has been proved to be effective and powerful，because the carefully designed devices used in movie titles help either to create some special kind of atmosphere，toarouse the imagination or to move the passionFor example：Crystal Heart (metaphor)Dances with Wolves (personification)Sense and Sensibili

47、ty (alliteration)True Lies(oxymoron)Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! (repetition)224 Commercial FeaturesAs a popular artistic form，movies are products of commercializationA successful movie should be the one that can attract people to the cinema and that should become a great box-office hitTo some extent, it is

48、 justified in saying that a movie will be meaningless if it cannot attract the public attention and bring large profitTherefore， movie titles should always be eye-catching and be tinged with commercial colorIn a sense，such characteristic can help to boom the movie industryHowever, this does not mean that one can merely pursue large commercial profit by providing some queer titles、析m rio regard to the connotation