摘 要：随着各国文化交流的日益频繁，我国英文电影的进口数量也在不断地增加，但由于英汉文化的差异，电影翻译工作也并非易事，尤其是英文电影片名的翻译，它在一部电影的推广过程中有着举足轻重的地位。本文结合翻译的相关理论，介绍了电影的种类、电影片名的特点与功能，并且提出了英文电影片名的汉译原则，进一步分析了翻译的四种主要方法——直译法，音译法，意译法及改意法。希望本文有助于大家了解英文电影片名汉译的原则和方法，进而通过分析一部电影的片名对此电影有进一步的理解。

关键词：英文电影名称；汉译；翻译原则；翻译方法

Abstract：With the frequent cultural communication between different countries, the number of imported English films is increasing gradually. Owing to cultural differences between China and Western countries, film translation is not an easy job, especially the film title translation. Film title plays an important role in the promotion of a new film. Based on certain translation theories, the paper introduces the genre of film, discusses the features or functions of film titles and puts forward the principles of film title’s Chinese translation. Furthermore, the paper mentions four primary methods of film title translation, which are namely transliteration, literal translation, free translation, and adaptation. Hopefully this paper will help people learn more fundamental knowledge about film title translation, and better comprehend a film by analyzing the English film title.

Key words: English film title; Chinese translation; translation principles; translation methods

Contents

摘 要 i

Abstract ii

I. Introduction 1

II. Theoretical Bases 2

2.1 Nida’s Functional Equivalence 2

2.2 Hans Vermeer’s Skopostheorie 3

2.3 Verschueren’s Adaptation Theory 3

2.4 Reception Aesthetics 4

III. English Film Titles 4

3.1 Film Genres 4

3.2 Features of Film Titles 5

3.3 Functions of Film Titles 6

IV Principles and Methods of English Film Title Translation 8

4.1 Principles of English Film Title Translation 8

4.2 Methods of English Film Title Translation 9

V. Conclusion 13

Bibliography 14

Acknowledgements 15

On the Translation of English Film Titles

I. Introduction

With the frequent cultural communication between different countries, English films have been introduced gradually to China. As an indispensable part of cultural industry, the film plays a vital role in Chinese people’s lives. Film title is the obvious label of a movie. A good movie title can attract the Chinese audiences to see this movie. Owing to the differences in language and culture, a good translated English film title is essential for the film to attract Chinese audiences and it is the key for this English film to be popular in Chinese audiences. So film title translation is vital for the potential success of the film. If a film wants to be done well in the box office, the translator should pay more attention to the title translation.

Film title, like the title to a book, supplies the most important information of a film to the audiences. It can grab the attention of the audiences when they first see it and arouse their interest about this film. Besides, as a film has commercial value, film title is the key to success in box office, which means not only widely fame and recognition, but a most huge fortune for the filmmaker. Film title serves as a promotion of a film. A good film title not merely tempts audiences’ eyeballs to gain a competitive superiority, but helps the film gain a permanent foothold somewhere in the field of film. Thus, the translator must pay attention to the film title translation. An excellent translation of a film title could contribute a lot to the appeal of the film. On the contrary, a poorly translated version may fail to attract the audience, mislead the audience, and even degrade the value and beauty of the original film. Therefore, translating film titles is a meaningful and challenging activity which requires translators’ creativity.