英语本科毕业论文-The Principles and Techniques ofthe Translation of the English Movie Titles.doc

第 15 页The Principles and Techniques ofthe Translation of the English Movie Titles IntroductionThe movie is a kind of art, which interests both the old and young, appeals to both refined and popular tastes. It moulds personages image with the lively picture, tells the story, expresses inner feelings, explains some reasons. It is a form loved by most of the people.As China and Western cultural exchange is strengthened day by day, the movie becomes one of the international mass media, which spread far and wide. The movie in foreign language can enrich our audiences amateurish cultural life and promote the international culture artistic exchange. The movie title is the most brief, and centralizes the reflection of a movie.Good titles add the finishing touch and attract the audiences. The quality of the translation of the movie titles has directly determined the fate of the film.A good movie title can give an additional grace to what is already beautiful, and it has three functions: 1. Letting audience find out the main idea, and announcing the theme about the movie. 2. Strengthening audience desire to appreciate the movie. 3. Helping the audience to know whether this movie is a type of the film, which is liked by himself. Thus, it can save time in the course of choosing the film and reducing the trouble. This text will proceed with current situation of the English movie titles, combining the characteristics of the translation of the movie titles, and analyzing the principles and techniques of translation of English movie titles, and then giving some advices. Present Situation of the Translation of English Movie Titles Despite the importance of movie titles, translators have not paid enough attention to their translation. The present situation of the translation of English movie titles allows of no optimism.There have been very few good renderings since English movies first landed in China. Whenever we refer to good renderings, it is always the few titles that jump into our mind immediately, such as Waterloo Bridge(魂断蓝桥), The Bathing Beauty (出水芙蓉), Sound of Music(音乐之声), Legend of the Fall(燃情岁月), Madison County Bridge(廊桥遗梦), A Walk in the Clouds(云中漫步) etc. 2. 1 Different renderings for the same title The mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are the different places with different social systems, habits and customs, so these three places have adopted the different translation techniques and principles, therefore, there are some different renderings of the same one of English movie title. Here are some examples:Movie Title HK Taiwan MainlandAmerican Beauty 美国有罪 美国心玫瑰情 美国丽人Fatal Attraction 孽恋 致命的吸引力 致命的诱惑English Patient 别问我是谁 英伦情人 英国病人Pretty Woman 风月俏佳人 麻雀变凤凰 漂亮女人Moulin Rouge 情陷红磨坊 梦断花都 红磨坊2. 2 MistranslationsThe mistranslation is caused by following factors: 2.2.1 Lacking a comprehensive understanding of the storyThe movie title is an important constituent. If a translator wants to show a good title to audiences, he should see the film several times and has a deep understanding. If the translator lacks a comprehensive understanding of the story, he will make mistakes, sometimes even make a joke. Only with a comprehensive view of the story, the translators can make the best choice among many possible renderings.Sample: The Third Man At first, it is translated into “第三者”. Seeing this title, the audience may mistake it as a Marital Ethical Film. In fact, The Third Man refers to the third witness about a traffic. Now it is translated into “第三个男人”.Sample: The Silence of the Lambs Anyone with a modest knowledge of English will translate it into “羔羊的沉默” rather than “沉默的羔羊”. And the movie does tell something about the Silence, not the Lambs. But it is ironical that the “wrong” version sounds more appealing than the “right” one, and has enjoyed high popularity since its coming into being.2.2.2 Misunderstanding of the western culture“Culture is the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression.” There is so much information in the movie titles. If the translators do not pay enough attention to it or misunderstand it, maybe he will mistranslate the titles and mislead the audiences.Sample: Rambo: First Blood First Blood has been translated into “第一滴血”. In fact, First Blood is a English idiom which means to win the first battle. Now it is translated into Chinese “首战告捷”.Sample: First Wives ClubIt is translated into “大老婆俱乐部”, but first wife is not equivalent to “first wife” in Chinese. Actually, Americans have not experienced the period of plural marriage except that some Mormons had practiced it before 1890. In English, “first wife” refers to the first woman a man marries. So “原配夫人俱乐部” is a better alteration.2.2.3 Influence of commercial profitThe movie, as a modern commodity, is excepted to earn a large box office income. Movie titles are inevitably influenced by this purpose. So there have emerged a good many exciting, passionate, mysterious, or thrilling titles. But some of these titles actually reflect nothing of the original stories.Sample : The Matrix 黑客帝国/ 骇客任务/ 22世纪杀人网络 In this movie, the real world is not where we live now, but somewhere in the future, while the real world in our eyes is a program designed by people living in the future. So far none of Matrix renderings is capable of clarifying the puzzle. Characteristics of the English Movie Titles3.1 Novel and strikingThe movie title is the film label, its role is to represent the movie, separates from other movie areas, and make it come out prominently. Therefore, the good movie titles must be able to catch audiences attention, with the certain charm, use the words and expressions which cause the tension in the film title: some let us feel shock, for example, Star War (星球大战), Die Hard (虎胆龙威); some then contain profound meaning, full of poetic sentiment, for example, Cold Mountain (冷山), Walk in the Clouds (云中漫步); some are relaxed and humorous, for example, 50 First Dates (初恋50次), Escape to Victory (胜利大逃亡); some are strange, for example, The Matrix (骇客帝国), X-Men (X-战警) and so on.3.2 Terse and forceful The good movie titles must be easy to understand and memorize. In English, there are more than 70% good movie titles that consist of only one or two key words, such as Gump (阿甘正转), Rain Man (雨人). Although movie titles are terse and forceful, they can manifest actually the information and the content of movies, moreover, they are easy to remember.3.3 Heros or heroines names as titlesMany movies center on the characters in the process of the stories, portraying the characters in the plot development, elaborating the themes of the stories. Most of this kind of films use the heros names or heroins names as the movies titles directly. Sometimes they use their family names, sometimes use given names, and sometimes use family names and given names together. In the process of translation, we translate the title according to its pronunciation basically, especially when the name is familiar to the public. For example, the film title with the surname: Nixon (尼克松), Gandhi (甘地); the film title with the given name: Tess (苔丝), Oliver (奥立弗); the film title with the family names and given names together: Jane Eyre (简爱).Otherwise, English Movie titles often choose settings, where the stories occurs ,as title, such as Pearl Harbor(珍珠港),Titanic（泰坦尼克号） The Principles of the Translation of English Movie TitlesSpeaking of the principles of the translation, we tend to think of Yan Fu who firstly advocated for the three-word as translation criteria, namely, “faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance.” The movie is a synthesis art, and the translation of movie titles has already followed the certain translation principles, that are “faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance.” So we must have the rich cultural knowledge and the solid language foundation.The translation of the movie titles is different from that of books or novels, which demands a strict translation of literature for the intention of the author, and for reproduction of vividness. In order to meet the local market, it is permissible to make a change in the movie titles translation. However, we should follow some principles and strategies to translate in the ways of faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance; meanwhile, we should consider the cultural and commercial value.4.1 Faithfulness “Faithfulness refers to the translation of the film should be faithful to the content of the original work. The translator must bring out the original meaning both comprehensively and accurately without any distortion or casual addition or the original thought.” The ideal translation of movie titles is coordinated with three aspects (faithfulness, expressiveness, elegance)of the function and unified with the original movie titles, namely, faithfulness, such as Six Days Seven Nights (六天七夜), Scent of Women(女人香), Love Story (爱情故事), Water World (水世界), Air Force One (空军一号), Sense and Sensibility(理智与情感), Rain man(雨人), Gladiator(角斗士), God father(教父) etc. Otherwise, the translators can discard the original for the sake of faithfulness to the story, Sample: The Mask (变相怪杰) .Of course, it is perfect to be faithful to both. But if it cannot be made at once, faithfulness to the original title then has to give way to faithfulness to the story.4.2 Expressiveness“Expressiveness means that we should make the language forceful, clear and idiomatic. Different languages have different ways of expression. The translator must try to follow the custom and good usages of the language used and do not stick to the mode of expression of the original.” The movie should be created for the audiences, and be admitted, appreciated, and judged by the audiences. The title of a film, its trademark, seems simple, but some words from the authors effort crystallize the essence of the films. The eye-to-eye title on the advertising serves a guide to the audience.The audiences also understand the movie through the movie titles, therefore the translations of movie titles must be based on audiences appreciation, with the easiest words and language, be accepted by audiences. For example, Love at First Sight (一见钟情), Stars Wars (星球大战), Americas Sweethearts(美国甜心), Sound of Music (音乐之声), and so on. These movie titles are accepted by common people.4.3 EleganceContemporary translation theorist Eugene. A. Nida said: The meaning of translation is more profound than the meaning of science. It is mastery of atechnique; all in all, a perfect translation is an art.Here, elegance means art, esthetic sense. The translators should use the art form of our country language to convey the artistic of image, emotion and language of the original works. The Translation of the movie titles is an art. According to the content of the film, translator should consider the differences between the east and the west and acceptability of the audience, in order to not only conveys the films information but also show the aesthetic appeal.1. Seek to VividnessIn order to make the renderings vivid, the translators can create one kind of ideal condition, or atmosphere, with the advantage of Chinese , such as You Cannot Take It With You (浮生若梦), A Man from Snowy River (雪河男子汉), Ordinary People (凡夫俗子).2. Four- character PhrasesFour-character phrases are brief and concise, full of the expressive power; the utilization ratio is extremely high in the film title translation. For example, Dances With Wolves (与狼共舞), Home Alone (小鬼当家), When Night is Falling (夜幕低垂), Frighteners (神通广大), An Eye for An Eye (逍遥法外).3. Rhetoric Technique The translators use rhetoric techniques to make the movie titles more vivid and let audiences feel the “elegance”, such as simile: Gaslight (郎心如铁), Some Like It Hot (热情似火); repeatation: A Few Good Man (好人寥寥); oxymoron: True Lies (真实的谎言); antithesis: The Great Gatsby (大亨小传), Old Wives for New (旧宠新欢), Love Me Tenderly (铁汉柔肠); hyperbole: Past Tense (奇幻追杀), Fear (致命的危机), Mars Attack ! (星战毁灭者).4. 4 Cultural awareness“The translation not only is the language exchange process, at the same time is two kinds of cultural exchanges process.” Therefore, translators must accumulate the widespread knowledge before translation, including western history, geography, local conditions and social customs, knowledge and cultural information. The movies have always manifested this nationalitys culture in some aspects, in addition to the ideology of the East and the West is different, so this kind of translations of the movie titles are very easy to let the audience misunderstand; therefore, at first, the translators should understand the content of the original works, the language of the original works, and the foreign culture. Afterwards, the translators should apply relevant culture and characters to the translation of movie titles, which can be accepted by audiences.Sample: Seven Seven is a thriller. If Seven is rendered simply into 七，the audience will surely be bewildered. In fact, Seven refers to the seven crimes which are listed in Holy Bible. But if specified as 七宗罪, the movie will be easily classified as a detective one. Because 七宗罪 ingeniously transmit the western religious culture to the Chinese audience who are not familiar with western culture. Then七宗罪serves as a guide to the audience. Sample: Bathing BeautyBathing Beauty, this classical music comedy movie has a well-known rendering “出水芙蓉”. This conforms with Chinese thought custom and Chinese flavor translated version. With overpowering momentum music resounding, dozens of girls are dancing lightly in the water, suddenly, the music becomes soft, and the crowd disperses, a girl rising slowly in the water, very beautiful. Immediately, the audience are understanding the meaning of “出水芙蓉”.Sample: One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest The Taiwan rendering of this title is飞越杜鹃窝, the literal translation of the Cuckoos Nest. In fact, in English “cuckoo” is also a slang word, meaning a foolish or crazy person, for cuckoos always lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. And the Cuckoos Nest refers to the madhouse. So it is proper to render it into飞越疯人院. Sample: Dragon Heart Dragon Heart is not straightly translated into龙的心. In English, dragon has negative association significance (cruel, evil), but in China , dragon represents esteem (Chinese Nation, King, success), therefore this movie should be translated into魔龙传奇.4.5 Commercial valueThe movie is a cultural and commercial art. As a modern commodity, the movie is expected to earn a large box office income. So we should consider to the commercial factor when we translate the English movie titles. If we want to come true the commercial value of movies, at first, we should require the translators with full assurance of the language characteristic and the esthetic appeal, create an attractive movie titles which can beloved by audiences, obtain audiences approval, and let the audiences eager to see the film. The more attractive the title is, the more audience the movie may have, and the more profit it will make.Sample: Impossible It has two other renderings:职业特工队(HK) and不可能完成的任务(Taiwan). But neither leaves a deeper impression on the audience than does碟中谍(Mainland), the three-character title, brief but forceful, full of tension and suspense. The mainland version has been widely praised for its originality and novelty. Moreover, the movie title must be novel, and good at creating anxious, exaggerating the atmosphere. Some translations of movie titles are very fascinating, for example, It Happens One Night (一夜风流), Sister Act (修女也疯狂), The Net (网络惊魂). The Techniques of the Translation of the English Movie TitlesThe techniques of the translation of English movie titles mainly fall into three categories: showing respect for the original titles (transliteration, literal translation), the combination of transliteration and free translation, and discarding the original one (free translation, summarizing a new title). No matter what technique is employed, one fundamental and vital principle that should never be forgotten is that the translation must be related to the story in one way or another. 5.1 TransliterationAccording to the pronunciation of the source language, we can write the familiar pronunciation of the Chinese characters, this method is called transliteration. As English movies often have their settings, heros or heroines names as titles, transliteration can be employed when titles are places, personal names, or great history events, especially when these titles are familiar to the target audiences. For example, Titanic (泰坦尼克号), Casablanca（卡萨布兰卡），Ben Hur (宾赫传), Madam Currie (居里夫人), Chicago (芝加哥)， Aladdin (阿拉丁).5.2 Literal translationAccording to the characteristics of the original language and the target language in the translation of movie titles, literal translation can preserve both the content and the form of the original to the maximum. When the functions of the original language and the target language reach higher authorities superposition, literal translation has become the most simple, effective method.The following are the merits of literal translation:1. be simple and directSample : Harry Potter (哈里波特)，Aladdin （阿拉丁）,Gladiator (角斗士)2. maintain the original style Sample: Harry Potter Harry Potter is adopted from the best-selling fiction novel or fairy tale. If we replace the renderings, then the audiences will feel strange, and the movie propaganda will defeat. Therefore literal translation can avoid these questions.3. request the translation of movie titles and the movie content to be unified For example , Save The Last Da