The Basic Principles in the Translation of Movies’ Titles 英语论文.doc

the basic principles in the translation of movies titlesintroductionmovie is a kind of art form with which many people are fascinated. in this sense the title of a movie is as the trademark of the merchandise, and how to translate the title correctly and properly becomes crucial to its success in a foreign country. in the conversion process of the language and culture, there are mainly four basic principles that should be followed.i. the clear and correct delivery of language informationas for the translation of the title of a movie, bao huinan once pointed out that in order to achieve the goal of a recreation of art, the translation work should not only match the language norm as well as art charm, but also should be faithful to the original context as well as the original language features; it should be beneficial to the introduction and promotion of the movie (bao: 2001, pp. 92-101).the translation work must clearly and correctly deliver the information of the source language. in doing so, translators are obliged to be as faithful as they can to the original work.a. the necessity of the information equivalence according to eugene a. nada, a renowned american theorist in the field of translation, the so-called translation work is to use the most proper and natural equivalence in the target language to deliver the information of the source language, in which process the loyalty to the original meaning comes first, and then the style. by equivalence of the source language he means expressions that can successfully deliver the basic information of the original work as well as the original cultural background，through which readers of the target language can obtain the same feeling with readers of the source language when reading the translation work. in a chinese website there is a list of the most popular films in the last ten days of april this year.top 1：basic instinct 2（本能2：致命诱惑）；top 2：memoirs of a geisha（艺伎回忆录）； top 3： daisy（雏菊）；top 4：the da vinci code （达芬奇密码）；top 5：v for vendetta（v字仇杀队）；top6：霍元甲（fearless）； top 7：ice age：the meltdown（冰河世纪2：消融）； top 8：isabella （伊莎贝拉）；top9：little red flowers （看上去很美）；top 10：eight below（零下8度）.all the above translation of the movies titles can well illustrate this principle. therefore, when translating the title of a movie, one should not only pay attention to its content but to its context in order to achieve an equivalence of the information value.b. the harmfulness of misleading information in the process of the translation of a movies title the deviation from the original information should be avoided, for it can lead the audience to a false expectation of the film; also it may result in the loss of the movies own characteristics to some extent. the movie the sound of music was once translated by a taiwanese into仙乐飘飘何处闻 while since this kind of headline is applicable to almost all sorts of musicals, it makes it difficult for the audience to figure out what the film is about. the following examples are even more ridiculous: someone once translated the two movies true lies and the anna karenina into魔鬼大帝and爱比恋更冷. this kind of translation is not only harmful to the introduction and promotion of a foreign film but also misleading to the audiences expectation of that movie.ii. the successful transmission of cultural informationthe work of translation is much more than the process of language conversion; it is also a process of interactions between cultures of the source language and the target language. its necessary for translators to preserve as much cultural information as possible of the original work in order to successfully transfer it .in doing so, they can keep some characteristics of the source language so as to better deliver the original cultural information.a. the reflection on the original cultural informationthe two languages, english and chinese, differ with each other in various aspects, such as vocabulary, grammar, sentence structures, and above all, cultural background etc, which makes the work of translation much more difficult. therefore, it becomes extremely significant for translators to find the equivalent expressions that can correctly and properly confer the original information of both language and culture when doing translation work. during this process they are required to lose as least cultural information as possible. take the well-known gothic movie seven released in 1995 for instance. this film relates a crime story of much philosophical meaning through the uses of ambiguity and strong impacts of visionary sense: a crazy murderer, who considers himself as god, kills many people that he believes have one or some of the top seven sins of human beings according to catholicism, which include gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy, and wrath. the number of seven is often regarded to be very mysterious in religion. in this movie it appears many times: sometimes it refers to the seven sins, or the seven punishments, or the seven times of raining in catholic tenets; while sometimes it may point to the different time, for example the story itself occurs on the seventh day, and even the final outcome is also settled by the criminal on 7:00 p.m. the appearance of“seven every time suggests a predestination of sin and punishment. if we simply translate it as “七, itll be impossible for chinese audience to have the same cultural association with their english counterparts. therefore, it is much better to be translated as七宗罪when shown to the public in china, which not only indicates the theme of the story but also successfully conveys its religious connotations.another example, the american film american beauty was once translated into美国丽人. this version seems to be rather faithful to the original, but people who have ever seen the film find that it is quite misunderstanding because it gives the audience an expectation of a story of an american beauty, while in fact it is about the moral crisis happening in the american families in the 1920s, belonging to the category of the so-called black humor movies. the reason for the above mistake lies in the translators misunderstanding of the meaning of the title of the film. according to a e-c concise dictionary，the phrase of “american beauty” refers to a kind of scarlet rambling rose in america. obviously, the original title of movie is a metaphor. therefore, the taiwanese translator who translated it into美国心, 玫瑰情 , has successfully conveys the message of the original title by associating the american rambling rose with the chinese rose. however, there is an even better chinese version of the films title 美国蔷薇.b. the contained cultural information in the original title since the cultural approbations in different cultures vary from one to another, the associative meaning, designative meaning and idiom meaning of the same word in chinese can be diametrically opposed to its english counterpart.1. the designative meaning because of the differences between cultures, sometimes we cannot simply translate a word or a phrase just according to its superficial meaning although it has a seeming equivalence in the target language. sometimes the results of this kind of outwardly united but actually alienated way of translation are unimaginable. one of the top 100 classic films in the united states, the third man, was first translated into第三者which may indicate the film is about the extra-marriage affair, while in fact it refers to the third eyewitness of an traffic accident. nowadays it is translated as第三个or as黑狱亡魂according to its content.2. the associative meaning take the names of animals for example. the association of people in different cultures with these words may divert from each other sharply. if one wants to translate them correctly and vividly，he or she should fully comprehend their special meaning in the source language. the reason why the movie dragon heart has not been translated into龙的心is that in english the word dragon has strong negative associative meaning, such as cruelty, devil etc. while in chinese culture it is both the totem of the nation and a symbol of the monarch or success. thus, its chinese version is 魔龙传奇.3. the idioms meaningsince some movies titles are idioms that are loaded with cultural information, they should not be understood superficially. for example, one flew over the cuckoos nest is one of the masterpieces of the political movies in the united states in the 1970s. the film, which is set in an asylum, exposes the cruelly social essence of the capitalist system and mercilessly criticizes the hypocrisy of the western democracy, freedom and humanitarianism by disclosing many social problems in america in the 60s of the last century. a translator in taiwan has translated it into 飞跃杜鹃窝, but this kind of literal translation fails to express the metaphorical meaning of the original title of the film. one of the meanings of“cuckoos nest”is “asylum”. according to longman dictionary of contemporary english, the word cuckoo can be an adjective meaning “crazy” or “silly”. in a new english chinese dictionary (p 298), it says that “cuckoo（american idiom）， the crazy person, eccentric”. therefore, compared with the aforementioned one, another chinese version飞跃疯人院is much more accurate. the pursuit of the esthetic valuewhile translating the title of a movie, a translator should try to endow his/her work the aesthetic value. thus, the choice of words and phrases is of much importance. in order to do so, translators should make a careful choice of words and phrases that can better express the meaning and emotions of the original work to create a kind of contextual atmosphere for the audience of the target language. another method to achieve a recreation of the esthetic value is using rhetorical devices.a. the choice of words and phraseswhen translating the title of a movie, one should be free from the fetters of the original one, using various means to convey the beauty of the images, emotions and rhythm in the original work and try to achieve a recreation of the aesthetic value in it. using the techniques of rhythm, tone and meter can not only make the translation of the title of a movie easy to read, and graceful to listen, but can also transfer the emotional meaning and enhance the esthetic effects. here go three examples.example 1：you cant take it with you version 1：你无法带走version 2：浮生若梦example 2：a man from snowy riverversion 1：来自雪河的人version 2：雪河男子汉example 3：ordinary people version 1：普通人version 2：凡夫俗子from the above three pairs of the chinese version of some english movies titles，we can easily find that the second one of each pair is much better than the first one in displaying the advantages of the chinese language and expressing the profound conceptions of the original titles.b. the use of rhetorical devicesin order to make it possible for audience of the target language to have the same esthetical experience with their counterparts of the source language, translators often turn to the use of the rhetorical devices to make their translation more vivid and creative. for example, in the chinese version of gaslight郎心如铁 , we can see the use of simile; in好人寥寥 for a few good man the technique of repetition is used ; in the translation work of true lies真实的谎言we can find the use of oxymoron; while in the chinese versions of the great gatsby, the old wives for new and love me tenderly大亨小传旧宠新欢铁汉柔肠there is the use of antithesis. iv. the pursuit of the commercial valuemovie is an art that has both cultural and commercial function. bao huinan held that translation work should be beneficial to the introduction and promotion of the movie (bao: 2001, pp. 92-101).that is to say translation work should possess a kind of commercial value. in order to achieve this goal translators are required to be both creative and innovative.a. the necessity of recreating the original commercial valuethe title of a movie can give its audience the first impression of the film itself. it often contributes a lot to the success of that film. in the process of translating the title of a movie，it is necessary for translators to take the possible reaction of the market into account. therefore, the translation work should be novel and eye-catching so as to arouse the psychological approbation of the audience and stimulate their esthetic appropriations and desire to see it. for example, the chinese film霸王别姬 which once won the prize of“the gold palm tree” in the 46th ghana movie festival is about the love and hatred, trusting and being betrayed of an actor of the beijing opera 霸王别姬in 1950s. since it talks about subjects such as true love, homosexuality, as well as the horrible and inhumane“cultural revolution” in china, the film immediately brought about enormous influence in the whole movie circle in france when it was first shown there. doubtlessly, its complicated plot and the superb acting skill of the performers are the main reasons for its success, while the contribution of its excellent translation of the title of movie - farewell to my concubine should not be neglected. in the original title of the movie the word “别” means “saying good bye” or “farewell”, while “姬” refers to a concubine of an emperor. therefore, the two key words of “farewell” and “concubine” in the translation work have clearly delivered the theme of love and the tragic atmosphere of the story. besides, since the english version of the title of the film is loaded with cultural information and esthetical value, it is no wonder that the romantic french people were fascinated with it.b. the applied methods in order to achieve the commercial value of a movie, translators should try to be creative and innovative. as long as the basic information is kept, sometimes translators can even change the form of the original title of the movie. in the concrete operation process, methods that translators usually use are literal translation, liberal translation and the mixture of literal and liberal translation. whatever method the translator uses, it should have the function of transmitting the original content and enhancing the influence of the movies title.1. literal translationonce in his work language culture and translation eugene a nada suggested that if more or less literal correspondence is functionally equivalent in both designative and associative meaning, then obviously no adjustments in form are necessary. as a matter of fact, there do exist some common concepts and information in both chinese and english culture which can be translated literally in the translation of the title of film. under the premise of neither transgressing the target language norm nor misleading to a mistaken association of thought or the misunderstanding，the essential of literal translation is to reserve the sentence structure and the images created by the original meaning in the translated title. this kind of method can faithfully keep the form and contents of the original title of movie perfectly unified.take the film a walk in the clouds for example. it relates a story about a man and a woman meeting by chance on a train after war and falling in love with each other in the grapery. the title of the movie was once translated literally as云中漫步, which was faithful to the original title of the movie as well as warm and fragrant, matching the characteristics of the love movie. the realistic and political film steindles list, released in 1993 by the american director steven spielberg, describes a story about the suffering experience of a nazi industrialist who has rescued thousands of jews. the adopted chinese version 辛德勒名单 tells its audience not only the title of the leading character in the movie but also its main idea; therefore, it can achieve the imaginative, concise and clear result. more examples: the film cold mountain which won “the best actress” prize in the 76th oscar academy was once translated into 冷山; the chinese version of the aviator gold, also a film that had won a prize in the 77th oscar academy, is飞行者; while the title of the “best film” prize winner in the 78th oscar academy, the crash, has been translated into撞车. all the three fore-mentioned chinese versions can well illustrate the principle of literal translation. 2. liberal translationthe liberal translation needs to lay aside the original text. by lay aside, i mean to shake off the yoke of the lexical meaning and the language structure of the original text at the formality, meanwhile, to employ the method that can be easily understood by the audience to translate the original text on the foundation of being faithful to the original text. in the light of nadas words, it is to do the necessary adjustment of “lexical” and “syntax”.（ “the types of changes which are justified in the case of possible misunderstanding of designative meaning are primarily lexical，but they may involve matters of syntax as well.”（nada: 1993, p306)） the american film anastasia, stared by ingrid bergman，is about the story of a girl who claims to be the daughter (anastasia）of the last russian czar is rushing about in all european countries in order to prove her identity of princess. the reasons why the title of the movie is translated into 真假公主lie in two aspects, one is the chinese audience doesnt acquaint with this princess title, the other is the title of movie has the ability to better performance the subject of the original film so that can even draw on chinese audience. in addition , speed is translated into 生死时速, which expresses thoroughly the nervous condition; notorious, by the england director alfred hitchcock，is translated into美人记; the sister act，which hit the highest income of american film in 1992，into