功能翻译理论在英语电影标题翻译中的应用.docx

1、功能翻译理论在英语电影标题翻译中的应用Application of the Functionalist Approach to the English Film Title Translation 功能翻译理论在英语电影标题翻译中的应用Abstract The film, a particular art with both artistic and commercial values, is one of the most influential mass media . The film title is of referential, expressive and appellative

2、 functions . Although film translation has been developing quickly in the past two or three decades, film title translation is a far less explored field. Up till now, no systematic and feasible theory on English film title translation has been put forward. From the aspects of the functions and skopo

3、s of film titles, the author makes an analysis of the translation of film titles. Skopos theory is adopted as the theoretical background of this paper and an audience-oriented film title translation approach is highly advocated. Functionalism sheds new lights on the translation field. It reflects a

4、shift from traditional linguistic and formal-equivalence translation theories to a more functionally and socio-culturally oriented concept of translation. As a kernel of functionalism, Skopos theory holds that translation is an intentional action, and the skopos is the prime principle to determine t

5、he overall translational action. According to Skopos theory, one of the most important factors determines the purpose of a translation is the target receivers with their culture-specific backgrounds, their expectations and communicative needs. In this paper, the author applies the functionalist appr

6、oaches to explain the phenomena of film title translation. It proves the rationality and applicability of the functionalist approach and probes into the translation strategies of translation of English film titles under the guideline of functionalism. Key words: English Film Title Translation; Funct

7、ionalist Translation Theory; Translation Strategies; Skops Theory 摘要电影作为一种集艺术性和商业性于一体的艺术形式，是最具有影响力的媒体之一。电影片名具有传达信息，表现美感和吸引观众的功能。尽管在过去的二三十年里，影视翻译取得了很大的发展，但电影片名的研究工作还做得远远不够。目前似乎还没有人提出一套比较完整可行的原则指导片名翻译。 本文以电影片名的功能和目的为视角，分析了电影片名的翻译。以功能翻译理论作为本文理论研究背景并且大力提倡以观众为取向的英语片名翻译方法。功能翻译理论给予翻译领域新的启发，它反应了从传统的语言学及形式对等

8、翻译理论到更加注重功能和以社会文化为导向的翻译观念的改变。作为功能翻译理论的“目的论”认为，翻译是一种有目的行为，“目的”决定所有翻译行为。根据“目的论”，决定翻译目的的最重要因素之一就是译文的接受对象，他们作为译文预期的接受者有其各自特定的文化背景和不同的交际需求。文章中，作者将功能理论应用于分析英语电影片名翻译的现象，探讨了功能翻译理论指导电影片名翻译的合理性与可行性，以及在该理论指导下英语电影片名翻译的一些策略。关键词：英语电影标题翻译；功能翻译理论；翻译策略；目的论Contents Abstract 摘 要 1 Introduction With the increasing pace

9、 of Chinas opening to the outside world as well as the development of cultural communication between China and English-speaking countries, more and more English films have entered Chinese market. In order to enable the audience to understand and appreciate the film, the whole film should be translat

10、ed. Thus, there is an urgent demand for the translation of films. And because the film, as a specific form of literature and audio-visual art, is bound to have promising prospects in our age, it is of great significance to study and develop film-translating too. Film translation is the translating o

11、f languages and cultures, and the promotion of cross-cultural exchanges. And the film title, like the title to a literary text, delivers the most important information about the film to the audience. Therefore, as an indispensable part of the film translation, the film title translation naturally be

12、comes an important branch of the general translation study. Whether the film is appealing or not, the title is one and the first deciding factor, for it is often the first that comes into the potential viewers attention. It is expected to be eye-catching, ear-pleasing and curiosity-stimulating. The

13、film titles generally bear three principal functions: the referential function, the expressive function, and the appellative function. The referential function means that the translation informs the audience and the background and the plots of the film. It tells the audience as much of the informati

14、on of the film as it can use several words and help them have a basic understanding of the film. The expressive function means that the translation sets the feeling-tone reflected in each film genre, which is very important to its communicative effectiveness; The appellative function means that the

15、translation must be written in a language that is immediately comprehensible to the audience so as to attract their attention, and trigger them to enter the cinema to appreciate the film. And the film title, being short in form but rich in meaning, has its own linguistic, aesthetic, cultural and com

16、mercial features, all of which contribute a lot to the charm and the success of the film. Nowadays, the film title translation has attracted the attentions of many scholars. Many papers of this topic could be seen in various kinds of academic periodicals. However, the studies in this field are not a

17、dequate and comprehensive enough. In this paper, the author will try to make some theoretical explanations by examples which are taken from original texts and published translations.2 Literature Review2.1 The Emergence and the Development of Functionalist Approaches The functional approaches origina

18、ted in Germany in 1970s. Before its emergence, those linguistic-oriented theories had a great influence on translation. Many definitions of translation emphasized the linguistic aspect. For example, Catford thought translation is “the replacement of textual material in a language(SL) by equivalent m

19、aterial in another language(TL)”(Nord 2001); and according to Nida and Taber, the process of translation is “reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message”(Eugene A. Nida & Charles R. Taber 2004). Because the linguistic approaches basically saw tr

20、anslation as a procedure of trans-coding, “equivalence” seems to be basic and somewhat indispensable. Werner Koller even indicated that the translation must preserve the source-language content, form, style, function, or “at least must seek to preserve them as far as possible”(2001). It declared the

21、 target text which is not equivalent to the source text to be a failed translation. Though many theorists still emphasize the equivalence in translation, they have to recognize that there may be non-equivalence in translation caused by the culture differences. Just as Koller stated in his recent wor

22、k, “adaptation may be appropriate, or even inevitable, in order to make the translation reach its audience.( 2001) And as for some pragmatic texts, such as advertisements and products instructions, “equivalence” cant be well applied for them. Thus, some translation scholars shift their focus from eq

23、uivalence-based approaches to functionalist approaches, and “a new theory was called for”( 2001). “The emergence of a functionalist translation theory marks an important moment in the evolution of translation theory by breaking the two-thousand-year old chain of theory revolving around the faithful

24、vs. Freeaxis” (Gentzler 2004).Functionalism is a broad term for various theories that approach translation in this way. The major contribution to functionalism is the functionalist translation theory with the Skopos theory to its core. The development of the functionalist translation theory experien

25、ced four stages, with Katharina Reiss, Hans J.Vermeer, Holz-Manttari and Christiane Nord as the main representatives.2.2 The Basic Concepts of Skopos Theory “Skopos is the Greek word for aim or purpose and was introduced into translation theory in the 1970 by Hans J. Vermeer as a technical term for

26、the purpose of a translation and of the action of translating” (Munday 2001). Nord indicates that the main idea of Skopos theory is that translation should be purpose-oriented. Vermeer has divided the purpose of translation into three possible kinds, including “the general purpose aimed at by the tr

27、anslator in the translation process” (2001).“the communicative purpose aimed at by the target text situation”(2001), and “purpose aimed at by a particular translation strategy or procedure”(2001). And the term Skopos usually refers to the purpose of the target text. Except the term Skopos, Vermeer a

28、lso uses some related words aim, purpose, intention and function in his theory: 1. Aim is defined as the final results an agent intends to achieve means of an action. 2. Purpose is defined as a provisional stage in the process of attaining an aim. 3. Function refers to what a text means or is intend

29、ed to mean from the receivers point of view, whereas the aim is the purpose for which it is needed or supposed to be need. 4. Intention is conceived as aim-oriented plan of action. (2001). He considers teleological concepts of these words to be equivalent, subsuming them under the generic concept of

30、 Skopos. However, Christiane proposed a basic distinction between intention and function, which is particularly useful in translation. Because the sender and the receiver usually belong to different cultural and situational settings, “intention and function may have to be analyzed from two different

31、 angles” (2001).2.3 The Merits of Skopos Theory Compared with traditional translation theory prevailing before 1970s, Skopos theory has so many distinctive characteristics that it becomes a trigger of revolution in translation studies. “The two most important shifts in theoretical developments in tr

32、anslation theory over the past two decades have been (1) the shift from source-text oriented theories to target-text oriented theories and (2) the shift to include cultural factors as well as linguistic elements in the translation training models. Those advocating functionalist approaches have been pioneers in both areas.”(Gentzler 2004). And the theory is also considered by Nord exactly as the translation model that is needed. Nord summarizes the advantages of it as pragmatic, culture-oriented and consistent. 3 A Profile of English Film Title The film title, like the title to a l