从英文电影片名翻译看中西文化差异.docx

从英文电影片名翻译看中西文化差异.docx

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从英文电影片名翻译看中西文化差异

从英文电影片名翻译看中西文化差异

Abstract

Withthefurtherprogressofreformandopening-up,numerousblockbustershavebeenbroughtinChina;movieshavegraduallybecomethemainwaysofculturaleducationandentertainment.Therefore,peoplepayincreasingattentiontothetranslationofthemovies,especiallythetranslationofmovietitles.Tooffertheaudienceanappropriatetitle,translatorsshouldnotonlyfollowthegeneralrules,butalsorespectthenatureofmovieculture.

ThisarticleexplorestheculturaldifferencesbetweenChinaandWesternCountriesinexpression,thoughtsandvalueswhendoingthetranslation.Thispaper,bycomparingthetranslationofmovietitlestocontrastbetweenChineseandwesternculturedifferences,mainlyfromthefollowingthreeaspects,namely:

comparingthedifferencesbetweenChineseandwesternexpression,theChineseandwesternthinkingmode,theChineseandwesternvaluesdifferences.LanguagestyleandnamingconventionsmanifestedthedifferencesbetweenChineseandwesternexpression:

Chinesetendtousetheverb,Westernerstendtousenoun,thewesternprominentnamedsimplequietlyelegant,westernmoviesarenamedoncharacters,combiningwiththeexample.

Andhumanisticcultureandscientificcultureofdifferentimpactsawesternwayofthinking,whichcausesoffilmnameddifference:

theChinesemovienamedemphasisonChineseculture,contrastandwesternsimilarfilmnamedprinciple,andwesterncultureistheemphasisonscientificculture,contrastandChinasimilarfilmnamedprinciple.Chineseandwesternvalues,theChinesewayofthinkingfocusedonthewholeandabstraction,westernthinkingmodeisfocusedonpartandconcrete.

Keywords:

culturaldifference;movietranslation;thinkingmode;value

中文摘要

改革开放以来，越来越多的外国大片被引进中国，电影逐渐成为人们文化教育和娱乐休闲的主要方式，因此，电影的翻译越来越受到重视，其中电影片名的翻译更是重中之重。

在进行电影片名翻译时，不仅要遵循翻译的一般规律，还要尊重电影文化的特殊性。

本文通过对中西表达方式的差异、中西方思维方式的差异、中西方价值观的差异等方面来进一步对比分析了中西方文化的差异。

本论文通过对比电影片名的翻译来对比中西方的文化差异，主要从以下三个方面进行对比，即：

中西方表达方式的差异，中西方思维方式的差异 ，中西方价值观的差异。

语言方式和命名习惯的体现了中西方表达方式的差异：

中国注重动词，西方突出名词，中国电影命名朴实淡雅，西方电影则以人物命名，本文结合实例进行了对比。

而人文文化和科学文化的不同则影响了中西方思维方式，从而造成了对电影命名的差异：

中国电影命名侧重中国文化，对比与西方同类电影命名原则，而西方文化则是侧重科学文化，对比与中国同类电影命名原则。

中西方价值观，中国思维方式侧重于整体与抽象，西方思维方式则侧重于部分和具体。

通过此三方面的对比，对于电影片名的翻译及其所体现出来的文化差异有了很明确的认识。

把握好文化差异才能更加精确的翻译出片名，让观众在接触到片名的同时就立刻体会到影片的内容，这才是电影片名翻译的意义所在。

也是此论文的目的所在，通过英文电影片名的翻译对比中西文化差异从而指导电影片名的翻译。

关键词：

文化差异；电影片名翻译；思维方式；价值观

Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………i

ChineseAbstract………………..…………………………………………………ii

Chapter1Introduction…………………………………………………………………1

Chapter2DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternCulturesintheTranslationofMovieTitles……………………………………………………………1

2.1DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternCulturesintheModeofExpression…………………………………………………………………….…………………2

2.1.1LanguageStyle………………………………………………….…………………2

2.1.2NamingConvention………………………………….………...…………………2

2.2DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternCulturesintheModeofThinking………………………………………………………………….……………3

2.2.1Humanity………………………………………….………………..………………3

2.2.2ScienceandCulture…………………………….…………………………………4

2.3DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternCulturesinValues……...…………4

2.3.1AbstractandConcrete…………………...………………………….……………5

2.3.2ParcelandWhole……………………………………………….…………………6

Chapter3Conclusion……………………………………..………………………7

Bibliography……………………………………..……………………………………9

Acknowledgements………………………………………………...………………10

DifferencesBetweenWesternandChineseCulturefromtheFilmTitlesTranslation

Chapter1Introduction

Film,asapopularart,attractsmoreandmorepeople’saffection.Withthefurtherprogressofreformandopening-up,numerousmovieshavebeenbroughtinChina,especiallytheAmericanblockbusters;movieshavegraduallybecomethemainwaysofculturaleducationandentertainment.Agoodfilminvolvestheactors’superbactingskills,philosophicaldialogueandcolorfulpictures,besidesthefilmtitleisoneofthemostimportantpartofafilm,whichwillattractaudiences’attention.Agoodmovietitlecansumupthecontentsuccinctly,conciselyandclearlyrevealthemovietheme,directlyplay“guides”role.Sothemovies’namesshouldbecreatedcarefullybythedirectorandplaywright.Whenwearetranslatingthenamesofmovies,weshouldhaveasecondthoughtsothatthenamewillattractaudienceandpromotethefilms.However,wewillcomeacrossthedifferencesoflanguagesandcultures.BothChineseandEnglisharediversified,thesametoChineseandEnglishcultures,translatingthemovienamesisacross-culturalcommunicationactivity.Itisnotasimpleprojecttotranslatethenamewell.Agoodfilmisabletomakepeoplefoodforthought,inadditiontoactor’ssuperbartistry,richphilosophicaldialogueandbrilliantscreen,themovie'stitleisalsocrucial.Thesoulofthemovietitleistheproductlabel,ispresentedtotheaudiencethefirstimpression.Goodtitleeasytoremember,tastes,andtoaskaboutabundance,canbecondensedcontent,highlightingthetheme,establishemotionaltone,thefilmcanplaytheroleoficingonthecake.Thus,howtotranslatethenamesofthemoviessothatitcanbeacceptedbytheaudiencesisaproblemwhichcannotbeneglectedbythetranslators.

Chapter2DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternCulturesintheTranslationofMovieTitles

2.1DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternCulturesintheModeofExpression

Chineseuseverb-orientedmovietitles,thiscanmakethetitledynamic,haveaspecialappeal,suchas“HouseofFlyingDaggers,”“CrouchingTiger”,etc.,andChinaclaimsthemovie’stitleconcise,oftenusefour-characterwords,thisfour-characterwords,oftenbasedontheexpressionoftheneed,canbeunderstoodliterally,anditsstableandnolackofseriousflexibilitytomakemorevividexpression.TheWesternmovietitlestendtohighlighttheterm,andthisisbecausethedominantterminEnglishisthemostfrequentlyusedEnglishwordslike“TheGodfather”,“TheSilenceoftheLambs,“andsoon.

Culturaldifferencesalsomakethelanguagedifferent,oftenbehindtheChinesewordsmeaningthereisstillextended,andEnglishisevenmorestraightforwardaccordingtotheliteralmeaning.XuJianguopointedoutthat"theChinesefilmtitlesandmorepreferenceforsymbolicorpoetictitle,whiletheintrovertednatureoftraditionalChineseculturemakesthemovie’stitleandnotpayattentiontosimpleandelegantgoodpublicity,suchas“RaisetheRedLantern,”“MoodforLove,”“Midnight”andsoon.TheplaywrightismoreinterestedinWestern’scharactersshaped,emphasizestheindependenceofhumannature,personalintegrity,tryingtoshowthetypicalenvironmentincharacter,somanymovietitlesdirectlynamebythedistinctivecharacters’name.Surfacetreatmentonthemovietitleisjustasingleword,wordsorphrases,butinthesecharacters,wordsandphrasesarehiddenafterthetwoWesterncultures.Suchas:

Rebecca,Hamlet,Pygmalion,Lolita,TheSlmaandLouise,Ghost,Pocahotasandsoon.

“ForestGump”ThefilmwhenreleasedintheUnitedStatesin1994,arecordforaweektoobtain100millionattheboxofficeand,ultimately,300milliondomesticboxoffice,675millionworldwideboxofficemiracle.13wereintheAcademyAwardnominations,sixawards.ThefilmispopularinChinajustasmuchasitshome,itscausesanditstranslationof“ForrestGump”agreatrelationship.LuXunhasanovelcalled“TheTrueStoryofAhQ”,butthefilmnametranslatedas“ForrestGump”,inlinewiththeexpressionsofChineseculture,andtosomeextent,leavingroomforimagination,sothatfanswanttoknowthepressingGan.EnglishformerlyknownasthemovieForestGump,ifsimplytranslatedas“ForrestGrim”,presumablymuchoftheattractivenessoftheaudiencewillbediscounted.2003TomCruisefilm“LastSamurai”madeagoodboxoffice,butthecontrary,itsname,howmanypeoplescratchingtheirheads,whatis“TheLastSamurai”?

IsTomCruisewarriorplayedbythatname?

So,thefilmperformanceofthethemeitistoonarrow?

Moreover,TomCruisewhichtheforeignercantrulyrepresenttheJapanesesamuraioftheyearwithalltheconnotationsit?

justlookattheEnglishnameTheLastSamuraiseemstotranslateas“TheLastSamurai”isnotanexaggeration,butattentiveviewerswillfindlittle,thereisalsoafilmbythesamestructure,butthetranslationisright,thatisthe1988film“TheLastEmperor”,althoughthefilmdescribesthelastemperorofChina,butthetranslationistoavoidusingthissimpleexpression.TheLastSamuraitellsthelate19thcenturyshouldbethefateofthesamuraiclasswastheend,therefore,translatedas“TheLastSamurai”seemsbetter.Similarly,theChinesefilmtogoout,havetoworkhardintheirnames.Thisisdonetoberegardedasagoodnumberoffansheartstolovetheclassic“WestwardJourney”series,andthefilmwiththeChinesenameofoneofthefourclassic“JourneytotheWest”asthebackground,reflectsapoignantlovestory.Intranslation,thefilmdoesnotfocusontheliberationoftheChineseculturalperspective,thenametranslatedasAJourneytotheWest,buttheopposite,inthenameofthesearchforcorrespondingChineseandWesternculture.Therefore,thetranslationwasPandora’sBoxandCinderella.Althoughthiscorrespondenceisnotsoaccurate,butIbelievethefilmisveryeasyforthefansintheWesttoaccept.

2.2DifferencesBetweenChineseandWesternCulturesintheModeofThinking

Thewayofthinkingandhabitsofexpression,thereisabigdifferencebetweenWesternculturesandChineseculture.Chinesepeoplepayattentiontoitalytogether,thatis,syntacticorsemanticrelationtotheperformancebythewordorder;andWestern-orientedHypostasis,sentencestructure,preciseandlogical.