电影片名翻译与语境适应论.docx

电影片名翻译与语境适应论.docx

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电影片名翻译与语境适应论

1Introduction   

Asweallknown,filmisanaudio-visualart.Thisglamorousactisamagnificentgeminhumanhistory,whichcreatesromanticstoriesandleadshumanintoamarvelouslandwehavenevercomebefore.Lookingbacktothedevelopmenthistoryoffilm,wecannotdenythatfilmreflectsthesocietyrealityandthetimespirit.AstheculturalexchangebetweenChinaandoverseasbecomebooming,filmplaysanimportantroleascultureenvoy.Filmwasentrustedwiththemissiontoletmorepeoplefromdifferentculturalbackgroundstoenjoytheentertainmentandshareadvancedtechnologytogether.Thisisanunavoidabletrendintheworldnow.

Asthemostpopularformofmasscommunication,filmhasaccompaniedhumanforalmostonecentury.Inthelonghistory,filmindustryexperiencessixseriouschanges.Fromtheeraoffilm’sfatherLiasterbrothertakingblackandwhitedocumentaryintopeople’slifetotheeraoftalkie,ever-bigchangeoffilmindustryhasremarkablesignificanceinhumanhistory.Countlessfamousfilmstarsshowtheircharmingglamouronthescreenandmanyexcellentfilmsarepopularwithaudienceinthewholeworld.Enteringinto21century,thefilmindustrycontinuestodeveloprapidly,whichisentrustedwiththemissiontoletmorepeoplewithdifferentculturalbackgroundunderstandforeignculture.Asthedevelopmentofsociety,thetrendoffilmimportingandexportingisunavoidableduetotheglobalism. 

SincethepolicyofreformandopeningcarriedoutinChinaattheendof1970s,anincreasingamountofEnglishfilmshaveenteredChinesemarketandtheChinesefilmindustryhasdevelopedinthemeantime.Bothsidesneedtosharethemarketandspreadcultureofeachother.Therefore,itiscurialtobeacceptedbytheaudiencefromotherculturalbackground.Undoubtedly,filmtitletranslationisanimportantsegmentconcerted,whichisfarfrombeingexplored.Filmtitlemusterstheessenceofthefilmwholly,andinsomesense,asuccessfulfilmtitleshouldbetheonethatcanattractpeopletothecinema.Agoodtranslatorshouldtranslatethefilmtitleinthebaseofthecontextualadaptation,whichreflectstheculturesurroundingsofaudiencesuchassocietycurrentsituation,religionandhistory.Thoseobjectivefactorsareindirectcontactwithacceptanceandcomprehensionofaudience.Actually,itishightimethatfilmtitletranslationshouldpaymoreattentiontothecontextualadaptationfield.ThispapermakesatentativestudyofChineseandEnglishfilmtitletranslationwithanattempttoformulatesomepracticaltheoriesandmethodstoexplorefilmtitletranslation.

Thefilmtitlemusterstheessenceofthefilmwholly,andinsomesense,asuccessfulfilmtitleshouldbetheonethatcanattractpeopletothecinemaandthatshouldbecomeagreatbox-officehit.

Theintenserivalryofbigfilmcompaniesimpelsallfilminvestorstopaycarefulattentiontotheinternationalmarket.However,filmtitletranslationisaprocesstomasterthepsychologyandacceptanceofforeignaudiences.Namely,thisprocessisacruelsegmenttoenterinternationalmarket.Theaimoftranslatingfilmtitleistoinherit,thatistosay,thetranslatorshouldapplyaudience-orientedtranslationskillsonthebaseofreferringtofilmcontentinordertoenterintothemarketsuccessfully.Theaimoffilmtitletranslationlaythepositionofdisseminatingfilm.Translationisnotjusttheprocessoflanguagetransferring,butthesocietyphenomenonofcultureexchange.[1]Thegreatmissionoffilmtitletranslationistoincarnatetheculturevalueanddeveloptheunderstandingbetweendifferentcountries.

Beingaspecialandsignificantpartoftranslation,filmtitletranslationhasbeenpilotedfrommanyaspects,suchastheangleofrecept

ionaesthetics,theperspectiveofskopostheorieandculturalperspective.Agreatportionofscholarskeeptheireyesonreceptionaestheticswhichhasoftenbeentakenasthetheoreticalbackgroundtoanalyzefilmtitletranslation.Basedonthosetheories,typicalmodelsareestablishedaimingatprovidingthetheoreticalframeworktoguidefilmtitletranslation.Thosefruitfulresearchcontributealottothework.However,tillnownotasingletheoryortheoreticalframehasbeensetuptoguidethefilmtitletranslation,whichisfarfrombeingexploredinthepastyears.

 Contextualadaptation,anewlydevelopedfieldinChina,isadoptedasthetheoreticalbackgroundofthispaperandanaudience-orientedEnglishandChinesefilmtitletranslationapproachishighlyadvocated.ThereceptionprocessisakindofContextualadaptation,andthecontextualadaptationsignificanceofaliteraryworkcannotbefullyrealizedwithoutthereader’sreception.Contextualadaptationprovidesuswithanewperspectiveoftherelationshipbetweenfilmandaudience.Exploringthesources,typesandstylesoffilmtitle,thispaperclaimsthattranslatingfilmtitleisonthebaseoffour-foundationrule:

informationvalueprinciple,culturevalueprinciple,aestheticappreciationprincipleandbusinessvalueprinciple.Accordingly,thispaperputforwardthreebasictranslatingmethodswiththeguidanceofcontextualadaptation,whichareliteraltranslation,transliterateandadaptation.Thenthepaperwillraisethosetranslatingapproacheswithrichexamplestoelaboratetheimportanceandthewayofapplyingcontextualadaptation.

Contextualadaptationservesasthetheoreticalbaseofthispaperduetoitsapparentapplicabilityofthisnewlydevelopedfield,whichistestifiedasguidingprinciples.Convincingexamplesandpropermethodshavebeengiven.ChapterOnegivestheimportanceintroductionoffilmtitletranslation,fromtheangleofsocialdevelopmentandtheangleoftheaimoftitletranslation.ChapterTwosatesthedefinition,contentandimportanceofcontextualadaptation.ChapterThreestudiestheapplicationofthecontextualadaptationinfilmtitletranslation,whichincludesfour-foundationruleandthreebasictranslatingmethodswithtypicalexamplesoffilmtitletranslation.

2MainFactorsInTheTranslationOfFilmTitle

Thetranslatorshouldbearinmindthattherearesomemainfactorsinthetranslationoffilmtitle.AestheticPrinciple,Ideology,ThemeandStyleoffilmarethemainpointsthatneedcarefulconsiderationintheprocessoffilmtitletranslation.Then,inthischapter,thekeyfactorsoffilmtitletranslationwillbeanalyzedaccordingtorichexamples.

2.1AestheticPrincipleAndTheTranslationOfFilmTitle

Chineseaestheticsemphasizesthebalanceverymuch,particularlyinusingtheorganizationalstructureofthelanguagelikeaparallelsymmetry.Therefore,Four-c

haracterphraseologyiscommonlyusedinChinesefilmtitlesandthetranslatedtitlesofforeign,suchtranslatedtitlesas卢浮魅影,生死时速,完美风暴,一往无前,永不妥协,天使之城,择日而亡,霹雳娇娃,狼犬丹尼,冰河世纪,etc.

Westerners'aestheticconceptsisputtingmoreemphasisonanalysisandpayingmoreattentiontolocalandindividualandadvocatingconcisenesswhichisreflectonthefilmtitlesdirectly.Substantialfactorsaffectingthedevelopmentofthefilmplot（suchaspeople,objects,things,location,etc.）orasingletermareusedasafilmtitleuniversally,likethenet,Saw,thepiano,Congo,ghost,thecar,coldmountain,KingKong,etc.SonowmanyChinesefilms,accordingtotheappreciatingcustomandpsychology,adoptthetranslatedtitlesasbriefaswesternfilms’,suchas决战紫禁之颠intotheDual;Jetlee’slatestfilm霍元甲withthenameFearless;ChenKaige’sblockbuster无极withitstranslatedtitlethePromise;看上去很美withtheLittleRedFlower,etc.

2.2IdeologyAndTheTranslationOfFilmTitle

TheconceptofideologyhasbeenbroadeninganditsintroductiontoTranslationStudieshasenabledresearcherstoprobeintosometranslationalphenomena,whichmighthavebeenneglectedotherwise.Theideologicalmanipulationintranslationcouldreferto"anyinterferencewiththetextisitcultural,religious,politicalorotherwise,imposingmodificationsthatarenottextualconstraints,forthepurposeofindoctrination".[2]

Asgrowingandlivinginthedifferentsocialsystem,theideologyofChinesepeopleandwesternersarequitedifferentevendifferentbetweenHongKong,Taiwanandchinamainland.thetitleofChinesefilm红色恋人audienceknowclearlyitisabouttheloveoftheCommunistinhardyears.Butinwesterners’mind,ononehand,theymaynotunderstandredloverindicateacoupleofCommunistlover,ontheotherhand,eveniftheyknowthetindicativemeaningoftheredinchina,theydonotidentifywithCommunistatall.SoitisagoodchoicetoadoptcreativetranslationwiththefilmEnglishtitleatimetoremember.

2.3ThemeAndStyleOfTheFilm

Usuallythethemeandstyleofthefilmisrelatedtothefilmtitlescheekbyjowl.Naturallyitiscloselyrelatedtothetranslationofthefilmtitlesaswell.Agoodtranslatedtitleshouldreflectthemainideaofthefilmproper,wellandtruly,whichembodythethemeandgiveprominencetothestyleofthefilm.

Toclassifythe63filmsaccordingtoitsthemeasfollows:

Wecanseethefilmtitlesofdifferenttypesabovewithdifferentcharacteristics,Documentaryfilmisthetrackrecordoftruelifeandaffairsintheworld,soitstranslatedtitleneedbriefanddirectwithoutanyexaggerationormorespecialtranslatingtechniques.Ethicalfilmsusuallyhaveprofoundsocialmeaningsandethicalthinking,whichhaveseriousandelevatedtopicsintrulysense.Sothetranslatedtitlesofethicalfilmdonotneedtobeaddedsomeelementsintranslating,astheprimaryfilmnamehasbeenthebestsummaryofthefilm.Astothelegend-basedfilms,warfilmsandpoliticalfilm,th