杨海红论文定稿电子稿.docx

1、杨海红论文定稿电子稿存档编号 赣南师范学院学士学位论文On the translation of film titles from cultural differences between China and Western countries教学学院 外国语学院 届 别 2013 届 专 业 英 语 学 号 090402253 姓 名 杨海红 指导老师 邓庆玲 完成日期 2013 年 5 月 ContentAbstract-iiiKey words-iii摘要-关键字-Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 Culture and language-11.2 Factors le

2、ading to cultural differences -21.3 Differences in film industry between China and Western countries-41.4 The importance of translating film titles-5Chapter 2 Several principles to be taken into account in the translation of film titles2.1Principle of information-72.2 Principle of culture-82.3 Princ

3、iple of aesthetics -92.4 Principle of popularity-102.5 Principle of commerce-11Chapter 3 Methods of translating film titles3.1 Transliteration-133.2 Direct translation-143.3 Free translation-143.4 Direct and free translation-163.5 Transliteration and free translation-163.6 Creative translation-17Cha

4、pter 4 conclusion -19Bibliography -20Abstract: With more and more foreign films being introduced into China，many cinemas are built and more movies are directed. Even the Hollywood film producers are trying to invite Chinese actors and actresses to participate in their movies. However, contrary to th

5、e up-surging of the Chinese film industry, the importance of translating film titles gains no further attention. As far as Im concerned, cultural difference may be the major difficulty that staggers the development of film titles translation. Therefore, this paper is going to discuss the translation

6、 of film titles from the cultural differences between China and Western countries.This paper is made up of four parts. The first part is introduction which includes some theories about culture and the importance of translating film titles. The second part discusses five principles that should be tak

7、en into account in process of translation. The third part introduces six methods of translating film titles. The last part is conclusion. In order to standardize and develop translation, translators must understand the lingual and cultural differences between source language and target language. Thu

8、s, before a translator translates a film title, he must first have a comprehensive understanding of the cultural differences between China and Western countries. And this paper concentrates on this problem.Key words: translation; cultural difference; film titles.内容摘要：随着越来越多的外国电影引入中国，中国建设了许多的电影院也拍摄了更

9、多的电影，甚至好莱坞的电影也会邀请中国演员加入拍摄。而与中国电影业的蓬勃发展相对应，电影名称的翻译却没有得到更进一步的重视。我想，文化的差异是造成电影名称翻译发展的一大主要阻碍。本文章就是要从中西方文化差异来探讨电影名称的翻译。本篇文章由四个部分组成。第一部分是介绍，其中包括了一些有关文化的理论及论述了电影名称翻译的重要性。第二部分讨论了翻译时应该注意的五个原则。第三部分介绍了电影名称翻译的六种方法。最后是结束语。为规范、发展翻译，译者必须了解源语言与目的语之间的语言及文化差异。因此，在翻译电影名称之前，译者必须对中西方文化差异有一个全面的了解。本篇文章就是集中于这一问题。关键字：翻译，文化差

10、异，电影名称Chapter 1 IntroductionThis paper is going to discuss the cultural differences between China and Western countries and the methods of translating film titles under these differences. Before we go ahead into this topic, we must have a clear understanding of the following theories.1.1 Culture and

11、 languageFirst of all, in order to understand the differences between the various cultures, one has to be familiar with the definition of culture. Then, what is culture? It is still a controversial question. Scholars have to define culture in a satisfactory way, but each is dissatisfied with the oth

12、ers. However, in general, culture can be defined as the coherently learned, shared view of a group of people about lifes concerns that ranks what things are appropriate, and dictates behaviors. Therefore, it is sure that every country has its own culture which distinguishes it with other countries o

13、r states.Mr. Hudson divided human language into three parts: the knowledge learned from society, the common knowledge of the human beings and the knowledge of personal experiences. He insists that only the first of the three belongs to culture. According to Hudsons opinion, the different societies p

14、roduce different cultures, and in the process of language acquisition people are civilized. Culture and language are intertwined and shape each other. It is impossible to separate the two. Language is not a matter of neutral code and grammatical rules. Each time we select words, form sentences, and

15、send a message, either oral or written, we also make cultural choices. We all agree that language helps in communicating with people from different backgrounds. But we should notice that cultural literacy is necessary to understand the language being used. If we select language without being aware o

16、f the cultural implications, we may at best not communicate well and at worst send the wrong message.All in all, cultural differences bring about difficulties in the process of translation. Translating a source language into a target language is to find the equivalence between them. But people from

17、different language backgrounds live both in a different world and absolutely a different society. So their modes of thinking, the knowledge of the world and the ways of distinguishing the cosmos are very different. Therefore, in the process of translating film titles, we should give more attention t

18、o these differences.1.2 Factors leading to cultural differences The cultures of the East and the West differ from each other in a lot of aspects. The followings are the factors that lead to the cultural differences between China and Western countries.1.2.1 High-context cultures and low-context cultu

19、resThe major reason resulting in the differences is that Chinese culture and Western countries cultures are different to each other. According to Hall, cultures differ on a continuum that ranges from high to low context. High-context cultures prefer to use high-context messages which are implicit, i

20、ndirect, conveyed primarily through the context or the social situation. Low-context cultures prefer to use low-context messages, in which the majority of the information is vested in the explicit code.1.2.1.1 High-context culturesIn high-context cultures, people are very homogeneous with regard to

21、experiences, information networks, and the like. High-context cultures, because of tradition and history, change very little over time. As a result, for most normal transactions in daily life they do not require, nor do they expect, much in-depth, back-ground information. Meaning, therefore, is not

22、necessarily contained in words and the information is often provided through gestures, the use of space, and even silence.1.2.1.2 Low-context culturesIn low-context cultures, the population is less homogeneous and therefore tends to compartmentalize interpersonal contacts. This lack of a large pool

23、of common experiences means that “each time they interact with others they need detailed background information.” The verbal message contains most of the information and very little is embedded in the context or the participants. Therefore, Western communication tends to be direct and explicit, that

24、 is, everything needs to be stated.With the clear understanding of the differences between high-context cultures and low-context cultures, it is not difficult to find that Chinese culture belongs to the high-context cultures and most of the Western cultures belong to the low-context cultures.1.2.2 D

25、ifferences of language systemsThe Chinese belongs to the pictographic language which is an ideogram that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object while Western languages are mostly based on the Latin system whose alphabet evolved from a Western variety of theGreek a

26、lphabet. The different language systems between Chinese and Western languages contribute to the differences between Chinese culture and Western cultures. 1.2.3 Other factors contributing to the differences Other factors like human racial differences, social differences, belief diversities, religious

27、 differences count as well. Whats more, due to the far distance and the steep areas between the East and West, the two cultures seldom communicate until recent centuries. So they developed totally in their own styles without connection with the other. With a clear understanding of how the cultural d

28、ifferences are caused, it is beneficial to the translating of film titles.1.3 Differences in film industry between China and Western countriesFilms, as the carrier of culture, can reconstruct the history and make audiences have the opportunity to know about a countrys history and culture. With the rising of consumption level, people have an increasing demand of entertainment. The total income of film in mainland of China in 2012 was about 17 billon RMB which is almost triple than the income in 2010 when its total income was 6 billon RMB. At the same time