论欧美电影片名的翻译

论西方电影片名的翻译AbstractThe 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. Films are a very important part of cultural interchanges. Therefore, the culture of the 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 characterize 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 Chine se audiences wouldn‟t arouse sympathy when they see the original film titles. The author analyzes that 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; literal translation; free translation; culture difference摘要当今社会，“电影片名的翻译”已经成为一个流行的词语，众所周知，如何译好电影片名已成为翻译界很长时间内热烈讨论的话题；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。

作者分析了直译和意译的不同，这主要是由于文化的不同，最后得出结论：不能片面地说直译好还是意译好，这两者是相辅相承的，作者提议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】电影片名；直译；意译；文化差异目录1. Introduction 12. Features of film titles 12.1Art feature 12.2 Economic feature 12.3 Social feature 23. Approaches of the translation of film titles 23.1 Literal Translation 23.2 Free Translation 34. Conclusion 3 参考文献41.IntroductionA 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 should n‟t forget it after seeing it. The translation of western film titles is quite different from that Chinese film titles. The former ones take the reality important while the latter ones consider the mood is great. These different views also mirror the translation of film titles and lead to the different understanding of the translation of film titles. Simply out, they operate in different socio-cultural contexts. The literal translation and free translation ought to supplement and complement each other. These two methods must combine and use adjusting the orders, adding or reducing some words of the original film titles to get the best results of the translation of film titles.2.Features of film titlesEverything 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.2.1Art featureFilm 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 contained to reach this aim. One of them is the art feature. For example, the Chinese version of the film title “The Accused” is “暴劫梨花”, which consists of two parts: 暴劫and 梨花. Here, 暴劫roughly means ravaged or devastated while 梨花, which literally means …pear flowers‟, is often used to mean a fragile woman. There common Chinese expression …梨花带雨‟(a woman in tears) is condensed from Ba i Juyi‟s (白居易): 梨花一枝春带雨.2.2Economic featureThere is 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. And in the field of western film industry, peoplebenefit 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All these examples show us the demands the development of mass markets of film industry.2.3Social featureForeign 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 audie nces‟ 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. Here “Shark Tales” is an example to show the social problem. “Shark” symbolizes the bully in the society. Let‟s go further into the principal points of the translation of film titles. And the chief among the approaches of the translation of film titles is the literal translation and the free translation.3.Approaches of the translation of film titlesThe 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. Its influence is so large that other arts are unable to keep pace with it. Our country is in an easy social environment and in a mood of cultural communications of two sides. demands translator‟s endeavor to combine the original titles with the translated ones well. The foreign cultural information is also to be reflected in their films. So translation is never a completely independent, autonomous activity.3.1 Literal TranslationSome film titles need not be considered and designed again by the translators, just use literal translation that can get the maximum effect? Sometimes, the orders of the translated film titles are the same as the original ones, which are seen clearly to the audiences. Literal translation can keep the form, meaning and information of the film titles to be closely to the original film titles. For examples, the translation of the western film titles “Beauty and Beast”(《美女与野兽》), “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (《指环王3：王者归来》), “Snow White” (《白雪公主》), “Sleeping Beauty” (《睡美人》), “March of the Penguins”(《帝企鹅日记》), “Crocodile Dundee” (《鳄鱼邓迪》), “Ben Hur” (《宾虚》), “Madam Currie” (《居里夫人》), “Stigmata” (《圣痕》), “The Passion of the Christ” (《耶稣受难记》), “The Last Temptation of Christ” (《基督最后的诱惑》) and so forth, people can see from the examples above that it must use literal translation especially with regard to the historical figures and events or religious and ethical concerns which they are familiar with. People should notice that other film titles, which are adapted from famous books, also employ the literal translation.The example here is referred to the free translation. Can people just use literal translation when translating the film titles in spite of the content or others aren‟t contained in the literal meaning of the film titles.3.2 Free TranslationTranslation isn‟t a process to change o ne language to the other. But the original film titles of western countries are always concise and implied. Obviously, it will be less attractive than“小鸡快跑”. This translation gives people a nervous and busy atmosphere. Good work appeals to everyone. There are other instances of Chinese film titles, which are translated very well. The (《十面埋伏》) is translated into “House of Flying Daggers”, (《行运超人》) into “My Lucky Star”, (《霸王别姬》) into “Farewell my Concubine”, (《日出前向青春告别》) into “A Day on the Planet”, (《江湖》) int o “Brother”, (《花样年华》) into “In the Mood for Love”, (《唐伯虎点秋香》) into “Flirting scholar”, (《海上花》) into “Flowers of Shanghai”, (《无间道》) “Infernal Affairs”. We can see that free translation of these film titles to be encouraged. Can people just use free translation when translating the film titles and ignoring the literal meaning of film titles, which might transmit the information of original meaning?4. ConclusionThe translation of the film titles is a special process of re-creation. It isn‟t simple to obey the content and the forms of the original titles, but a hard exploration to the film themes, social problems, the ethnic association and national condition. So finding the balance between literal translation and free translation is rational to the translation of film titles. Owing to the diversities of the west and the east, the westerners‟ opinions towards the translation are naturally different from the easterners. We wouldn‟t only see a part of the film and rush into translating it into literal translation or free translation. People should take all factors into consideration. In all, there are many challenges for us to translate the film titles, thus we should combine with the practice of the translation. If we master the trick of the translation of film titles, everything becomes easy. Bibliography参考文献：[1]全春阳. 论欧美影片译名的意境美[J]. 辽宁大学学报, 2005, 1. P103[2]方永彬,王晓彤. 浅析电影片名的翻译现状及误区[J]. 广西教育学院学报, 2005, 4. P116[3]张发勇. Translation of Movie Titles—from a functional perspective [J].广西大学梧州分校学报, 2002,4. P48[4]贺莺. 电影片名的翻译理论和方法[J]. 外语教学, 2001,1. P58[5]马娟. 电影片名的翻译技巧[J]. 湖南冶金职业技术学院学报, 2005, 3. P312。