影片名翻译

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[Abstract]Thetranslationoffilmtitleshasbecomeapopularphraseinmodernlife.Asisknowntoall,howtotranslatethefilmtitleshasbecomeacontroversialtopicinthefieldoftranslationforalongtime.ThetranslationofwesternfilmtitlesisquitedifferentfromthetranslationofChinesefilmtitles.Intheprocessofthetranslation,sometimesfilmstitleswillhavedifferenttranslationsowingtothedifferenttranslators.Becauseeveryonehashisownidea,experienceandknowledge.Filmsareaveryimportantpartofculturalinterchanges.Therefore,thecultureofthecountriesisbecomingamajorcontenttopresentinthefilms.Thispaperpointsouttheimportanceofthetranslationoffilmtitlesandcallsonthetranslatorstopaymoreattentiontoit.Theart,commercialandsocialfeaturecharacterizethefilmtitles.Translationisn’taprocesstochangeonelanguagetotheother.Foreignaudiencesaremoreoftenthannottocomprehendtheoriginalfilmtitles.TheChineseaudienceswouldn’tarousesympathywhentheyseetheoriginalfilmtitles.Theauthoranalyzesthatpeopleshouldn’tholdone-sideviewthattheliteraltranslationisgoodorthefreetranslationisgood.Theliteraltranslationandfreetranslationoughttosupplementandcomplementeachother.Thesetwomethodsmustcombineanduseadjustingorders,addingorreducingsomewordsoftheoriginalfilmtitlestogetthebestresultsofthetranslationoffilmtitles.

[KeyWords]filmtitles;literaltranslation;freetranslation;culture

【摘要】当今社会，“电影片名的翻译”已经成为一个流行的词语，众所周知，如何译好电影片名已成为翻译界很长时间内热烈讨论的话题；西片的片名不同于中国电影片名，在翻译的过程中，由于译者的想法、经验和知识不同，翻译也会有所不同。电影是文化交流非常重要的部分，所以，各国的文化成为电影中所要表达的内容。本文指出了电影片名翻译的重要性，并号召译者对其重视，其中艺术、商业、社会特征描绘了电影片名，那就是翻译不只是一种语言向另一种语言转换的过程；西方观众能一目了然的片名，中国人却不这么认为。作者分析了直译和意译的不同，这主要是由于文化的不同，最后得出结论：不能片面地说直译好还是意译好，这两者是相辅相承的，作者提议两者之间应结合起来，具体问题具体分析，在电影片名翻译的问题上应用改变词序、增词或减词的方法来翻译片名以求得这两种翻译方法之间的平衡。

【关键词】电影片名；直译；意译；文化

1.Introduction

Agoodfilmneedsawonderfultitle,whichisknownbythepeopleinthestreet.Everytimetheyhearaboutafilm,theyalwaysgettoknowitstitlefirst.Andtheydecidewhetherornottoseeit.Thepleasureofwatchingafilmcomesasmuchfromitscontentasfromitstitle.Thetranslationsofthefilmtitlesrequireusingafewwordstoexpressthetopicofthefilmsandatthesametime,peopleshouldn’tforgetitafterseeingit.[1]

ThetranslationofwesternfilmtitlesisquitedifferentfromthatChinesefilmtitles.Theformeronestaketherealityimportantwhilethelatteronesconsiderthemoodisgreat.Thesedifferentviewsalsomirrorthetranslationoffilmtitlesandleadtothedifferentunderstandingofthetranslationoffilmtitles.(ThisalsocanbeseenfromthedifferenttranslationsonMainlandChina,HongkongandTaiwan.)Simplyout,theyoperateindifferentsocio-culturalcontexts.Allofthesearecompoundedinthetranslationoffilmtitles.

Thispapergivesatranslationnormandawaytotranslatingfromthefeaturesandtheapproachesofthetranslationoffilmtitles.Andthispapergivesabriefintroductiontothefeaturesofthetranslationoffilmtitles.Peoplecanseesomethingofthetranslationoffilmtitlesfromthesefeatures.Latertheapproachesofthetranslationoffilmtitlesaremainlyobservedbycomparingtheliteraltranslationandthefreetranslation.Theauthormakesaconclusionthatkeepingabalancebetweenliteraltranslationandfreetranslationisbetter,duetotheculturaldifferencesofthewestandtheeast.Asuccessfultranslationoffilmtitleisconcentratedontheacceptantrole:audiences.AndtheresponseoftheforeignaudiencesandtheChineseaudienceswouldbecoherentwhentheyacceptthetranslationoffilmtitles.Thisisthehighstandardofthetranslationoffilmtitles.Hence,keepingtheequivalenceofthelanguage,thecultureandthestyleisusefultotheaudiences’understandingoftheoriginalfilmtitles.Thisequivalencedemandsustoobservemorecloselytothefeaturesofthefilmtitles.

Theauthoranalyzesthatpeopleshouldn’tholdonlyone-sideviewthattheliteraltranslationisgoodorthefreetranslationisgood.Theliteraltranslationandfreetranslationoughttosupplementandcomplementeachother.Thesetwomethodsmustcombineanduseadjustingtheorders,addingorreducingsomewordsoftheoriginalfilmtitlestogetthebestresultsofthetranslationoffilmtitles.

2.Featuresoffilmtitles

Everythingintheworldhasitsownfeatures,sodothefilmtitles.Theycan’texistwithouttheirownfeatures.Tomakethetitlesmoreimpressive,peopleusemanyrhetoricdevicesareusedinthetranslationofthefilmtitles,suchassimile,metaphor,oxymoronandthelike.Thefeaturesofthetranslationoffilmtitleswillbeexpoundedfromtheart,economicandsocialperspectiveasfollows.

2.1Artfeature

Filmisalivingartandassuchittendstorespondpromptlytothedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,whichdifferentiatesitfromtheotherformsofartthatcanbewrittenorpaintedonthepaper.Asthetranslationoffilmtitlesistherightkeytokeeptheaudiences’attention,manyfactorsarecontainedtoreachthisaim.Oneofthemistheartfeature.Forexample,theChineseversionofthefilmtitle“TheAccused”is“暴劫梨花”,whichconsistsoftwoparts:暴劫and梨花.Here,暴劫roughlymeansravagedordevastatedwhile梨花,whichliterallymeans‘pearflowers’,isoftenusedtomeanafragilewoman.TherecommonChineseexpression‘梨花带雨’(awomanintears)iscondensedfromBaiJuyi’s(白居易):梨花一枝春带雨.

2.2Economicfeature

Thereisnowonderthatthefilminvestorstryanywaystoattractpeople’seyes.Thetranslationsoffilmtitlesareoftenputontheleadingplacesofthebillstoattractpeople’seyes.Howtooccupythefilmmarket?Theyracktheirbrainstoseekthehighcompetitivenessofthefilmmarketfromscripting,filmingtoshowing.Andthetranslationsofthefilmtitlesareeventoaddanaptwordtoclinchthepoint.Thefilmindustryincludestheindustrialproduction,thecommercialsystemandtheculturaltransmission.[2]Therecomesforthagreatmanyfilmsonthemarket.

Justforthesakeofhighbenefitsfromtheirinvestment,theydidn’tcaremuchaboutthetranslationofthefilmtitles,whichledthemfarfromtheoriginalfilmtitles.Besides,formajorityoftheaudiences,thoseimpropertranslationsarebeyondtheirunderstandings.Eventhenationalconditionshavebeentakenintoconsideration,itisnecessarytofindajunctionofthemarketandart.However,theimportanceistofindanamingthatisclosetotheoriginaltitleandeligibletothestyleofthefilm.Meanwhile,theresponseofthemarketshouldnotbeneglected.Buttheydothetranslatingworkonlytopursuetheadvertisingbenefit.Andinthefieldofwesternfilmindustry,peoplebenefitfromtheboundlesschancetogetmoremoneyfromthisproductivebusinessinspiteofthese.Someexampleswilltellushowthiseconomicfeaturesofthefilmtitlesact.

(1)ItHappensOneNight一夜风流

(2)SisterAct修女也疯狂

(3)Leon,theProfessional这个杀手不太冷

Alltheseexamplesshowusthedemandsthedevelopmentofmassmarketsoffilmindustry.

2.3Socialfeature

Foreignaudiencesaremoreoftenthannottocomprehendtheoriginalfilmtitles.Oncetheyaretranslatedusingfreetranslation,itwouldbehardfortheChineseaudiencestounderstandthequitecontentofthefilms.Asthepracticetestified,aringingtranslatedfilmtitlesarethepurposeofevokingtheaudiences’curiosity.Forexample,Thewords“黑帮”in“SharkTales”(《鲨鱼黑帮》)givesusaroomtoassociate.Arethere“黑帮”intheworldofsharks?Somepeoplewhohaveneverseenthetranslatedonewillnaturallytranslateitinto“鲨鱼的故事”.Youwouldn’texpectitssuccessofsuchaplainfilm.Ifso,itisreallyadocumentary.

Besides,filmsprovideaforuminwhichcertainpressingsocialproblems.Itisawayfortheaudiencestodealimaginativelywiththeproblemstoconsiderpossiblecauses,toimaginepossibleconsequences,andtohypothesizepossiblesolutions.Here“SharkTales”isanexampletoshowthesocialproblem.“Shark”symbolizesthebullyinthesociety.Amongthesesharks,thereisonewhoisthesonoftheleader.Whenhedies,theseacreatureishappywiththisandpraisestheuntruehero.Italsoconveyspeople’swishestowipeoutthebadeggs.

Sothebadtranslationisunacceptable.ItisatitlejustliketheTVprogram—“Theworldoftheanimals”.Quiteoften,thetitleofafilmisusedtoinformwould-beaudiences.[3]Nevertheless,theseaudienceschoosetogointothecinemasunconsciouslytoadmirethecontentunderthedriveof“黑帮”.Thatisthecontributionofthevividfilmtitles.

Thedifferentfeaturesthemselvescharacterizethefilmtitles.Theyaresimpleandcoherentwithsporadiclengthytitlesinview.Theexamples,whichwerementionedabove,arejustlikeadropintheoceanofthetranslationoffilmtitles.Let’sgofurtherintotheprincipalpointsofthetranslationoffilmtitles.Andthechiefamongtheapproachesofthetranslationoffilmtitlesistheliteraltranslationandthefreetranslation.

3.Approachesofthetranslationoffilmtitles

Thefilmsareproducedbymenorwomenfromcertainareasforconsumptionbytargetaudienceswhoalsobelongtocertaingroups.Therefore,thecultureofthecountriesisbecomingamajorcontenttopresentinthefilms.Consequently,filmsbecomeamajorchanneltospreadculture.Itsinfluenceissolargethatotherartsareunabletokeeppacewithit.Ourcountryisinaneasysocialenvironmentandinamoodofculturalcommunicationsoftwosides.[4]Inotherwords,translationsareproductsofthetimes.Toattainthebesteffectoftranslationofthefilmtitlesaccordingtotheoriginallanguageandthetargetlanguage,thetranslatorsofthefilmtitlesneedspecialtraining.[5]Becausethepurposesofthetranslatorsarenotonlymediatoshowthemeaningofthefilmtitles,butalsotogivekeenenjoyment,thecreativenessofthetranslatorsisimportant.Thatdemandstranslator’sendeavortocombinetheoriginaltitleswiththetranslatedoneswell.Translationiscloselyboundupwiththesocio-culturalmatrixinwhichthetranslationactisconducted.Atpresent,thedubbedfilmsareseenbymoreaudiencesthanthereadersoftheliteraryworks.[6]Theforeignculturalinformationisalsotobereflectedintheirfilms.Sotranslationisneveracompletelyindependent,autonomousactivity.

3.1LiteralTranslation

Somefilmtitlesneednotbeconsideredanddesignedagainbythetranslators,justuseliteraltranslationthatcangetthemaximumeffect―transmittingtheoriginalmeaningandkeepingtheunityoftheoriginalnamingandcontentofthefilmtitles.[7]Sometimes,theordersofthetranslatedfilmtitlesarethesameastheoriginalones,whichareseenclearlytotheaudiences.Literaltranslationcankeeptheform,meaningandinformationofthefilmtitlestobecloselytotheoriginalfilmtitles.[8]

Forexamples,thetranslationofthewesternfilmtitles“BeautyandBeast”(《美女与野兽》),“TheLordoftheRings:TheReturnoftheKing”(《指环王3：王者归来》),“SnowWhite”(《白雪公主》),“SleepingBeauty”(《睡美人》),“MarchofthePenguins”(《帝企鹅日记》),“CrocodileDundee”(《鳄鱼邓迪》),“BenHur”(《宾虚》),“MadamCurrie”(《居里夫人》),“Stigmata”(《圣痕》),“ThePassionoftheChrist”(《耶稣受难记》),“TheLastTemptationofChrist”(《基督最后的诱惑》)andsoforth,peoplecanseefromtheexamplesabovethatitmustuseliteraltranslationespeciallywithregardtothehistoricalfiguresandeventsorreligiousandethicalconcernswhichtheyarefamiliarwith.Peopleshouldnoticethatotherfilmtitles,whichareadaptedfromfamousbooks,alsoemploytheliteraltranslation.Forexample,“TheOldManandtheSea”(《老人与海》),“TheGodfather”(《教父》),“AnnaKarenina”(《安娜·卡列尼娜》).Onereasonistoavoidthemisunderstandingoftheaudienceswhomaybestrangetothem,andtheotherreasonisthattheeffectoffamousbooks’titlescanattracttheeyesoftheaudiences.

AndthetranslationofChinesefilmtitleslike(《断背山》),(《向左走，向右走》),(《新警察故事》),(《金刚》),(《成吉思汗》),(《可可西里》),(《如果·爱》),(《暖》),(《手机》),(《阳光灿烂的日子》)are“BrokebackMountain”,“Turnleft,Turnright”,“NewPoliceStory”,“KingKong”,“GenghisKhan”,“kekexili”,“If·Love”,“Nuan”,“CellPhone”,“TheDaysUndertheBrightSunshine”tobethesuccessfulliteraltranslationoffilmtitles.Andtheliteraltranslationsoffilmtitleslistedabovearemoreclosetotheoriginaltitlesintheforms,meaning,informationandsoon.Take“如果·爱”asanexample,itsliteraltranslationis“If·Love”.Thisoriginalfilmtitlewhichuseliteraltranslationitselfexpressthemostbeautifulmoodofthefilmtheme.Itindeedneednotbeconsideredanddesignedagainbythetranslators.‘If’,thisliteralmeaningofthisfilmtitlecangetthemaximumeffecttogivehypothesisandatthesametimes,itarousespeople’simagination.Theliteraltranslationofthisfilmtitlejustreachesthebestresultoftranslation.AnotherexampleoftheseChinesefilmtitlesis(《成吉思汗》)“GenghisKhan”.TheforeignpeoplearegettingtoknowmoreandmoreaboutChinesecultureandhistorywiththecommunicationoftwocountries.Andtheyhaveplentifulknowledgetounderstandtheliteralmeaningofthisfilmtitle.Itisnoneedtomakeanotetoexplainit.

Asisknowntoall,howtotranslatethefilmtitleswellhasbecomeacontroversialtopicinthefieldoftranslationforalongtime.IntranslatingaforeignlanguageintoChinese,theMainlandChina.TaiwanandHongkongalwayskeeptheirownstylesoftranslation.TheunboundedliteralapproachisadoptedbytranslatorsinHongkongandTaiwan,particularlythoseinHongkong.ThetranslatorsinHongkongaredeeplyinfluencedbythecommercialentertainmentculture.Butthetranslatorsonthemainlandshowmorerespectfortheirprofessionanddisplaylessflippancy,andthisisalsoreflectedinthetranslation.Peoplecanseetheadvantagesoftheliteraltranslationbycomparingthedifferencesintranslationamongthreedistricts.

Therearesomeexampleslinedbelowtoshowthedifferencesofthe3places:

EnglishHongkongTaiwanMainland

TheUnbearableLightness布拉格之恋布拉格之春生命中不能承受之轻

BraveHeart惊世未了情英雄本色勇敢的心

Bodyguard护花倾情终极保镖保镖

RagingBull狂牛蛮牛愤怒的公牛

TheRock石破天惊绝对任务勇闯夺命岛

AFishcalledWanda倩女大贼神仙鱼笨贼一箩筐一条名叫旺达的鱼

PulpFiction危险人物黑色通缉令低俗小说

PrimaryColor这个总统真太滥风起云涌原色

TheevidenceisthatthetranslatorsinHongkongandTaiwanfavorthevulgarandbombasticlanguage.Theytranslatetheminaflexibleway,mainlysacrificingtheformtoachievethemeaning.Thetranslationof"AFishcalledWanda”into“倩女大贼神仙鱼”revealsthecustomsofthedailylanguageofHongkong.Thefilm“PrimaryColor”aretranslatedinto“这个总统真太滥”,whichisalsoadoptedthisway.Theseprobablydonotmakeanysensetotheaudiencesinmainland.HereMainlandChinausetheliteraltranslation“一条名叫旺达的鱼”,directlyandclearly.Itisbetterthatthe3placesshouldworktogethertostandardizethetranslationoffilmtitlesbecausedifferenttranslationswillconfusethecinemagoers.Onthebasisofthecomparison,Hongkongtranslatorstempttomakemorefuntoattractpeople.

Asacoinhastwosides,italsohassomeadvisableplacesofthetranslationofHongkong.Theircreativitiesareundeniabletothepublic.Let’sseeanewAmericanhorrorfilmtobefirstshownonacityofMainlandChinarecently.Asaresult,thenewsaboutthisnewhorrorfilmisthattheticketofficeisnotasgoodasexpectation.Amajorinfluenceisthetranslationofthefilmtitle.Theliteraltranslationofthisfilmwouldbe(《当树枝折断的时候》)“WhenBoughBreaks”.Theoriginaltranslation“第七只断手”isconsideredbloody,butmanyaudiencestookthisnewfilmasascientificfilm.Theticketofficesarenaturallytobesufferedfromconsiderableinfluence.Thosewhowanttoseethisnewfilmfeelqueerifitisworthpayingmoneyforit.Whereas,othergroupswhoshownotinterestsinthefilmwillnoteventakeaglanceatit.Theoriginaltranslationofthisnewfilmgivespeopleahorrificfeeling.Andtheyalsogetageneralideaofthefilm.

Theexamplehereisreferredtothefreetranslation.Canpeoplejustuseliteraltranslationwhentranslatingthefilmtitlesinspiteofthecontentorothersaren’tcontainedintheliteralmeaningofthefilmtitles.

3.2FreeTranslation

Translationisn’taprocesstochangeonelanguagetotheother.Buttheoriginalfilmtitlesofwesterncountriesarealwaysconciseandimplied.Theseenhancethedifficultiesintranslation.Andpeoplewholikewesternfilmswon’tunderstandthemquicklywhentheyseethematthefirstsight.Yet,iftranslationisgoodenoughitcanhelpthemtomastertheessenceandimaginetheplotsofthefilm.Anditcanarousetheirdesiretoseethefilm.Whentranslatorssetabouttheirworks,theyarehesitanttotranslatecreatively.Theassumptionistoplaysafe,onewoulddowelltogivea‘faithful’rendering.Ifthereisnocreativenessintheadvertisements,theadvertisementsaredoomedtodie.Thatisalsosuitabletothetranslationoffilmtitles.Thepublicisbecomingserioustothequalitiesofthefilmswiththeimprovementofpeople’slife.Thefilmtitlesarespeciallytheheartoffilms.Therefore,thetranslationsoffilmtitlesneedthetranslatorstodotheirbestbecauseofthedifferentculturesofthedifferentcountries.

Manypeopleconsideredthatthetranslationsoffilmtitlesarecomplicated.Thereasonsarethattheoriginaltitlesofwesterncountriesarealwaysliterary.However,it’scursoryifwetranslatethemword-by-wordintoChinese.Let’stakesomefilmstitlesasexamples,like“Mr.Holland’sOpus”,“WalktheLine”,“LiloandStitch”,“TheIncredibles”,“ABug’sLife”,“ChickenRun”,“Garfield”,“Tarzan”,“TheWizardofOz”,“BestinShow”，aretranslatedinto(《春风化雨》),(《一往无前》),(《星际宝贝》),(《超人特攻队》),(《虫虫危机》),(《小鸡快跑》),(《加菲猫》),(《人猿泰山》),(《绿野仙踪》),(《宠物狗大赛》).TheChineseaudienceswouldn’thavethesamefeelingwiththeforeignaudienceswhentheyseetheseoriginalfilmtitles.Theykeepthisdoubtuntilthetranslationsofthefilmtitlesarediscovered.Itcomestherighttimethattheyunderstandthenamingsuddenly.Preconditionallthecontentandformofthefilms,it’sthekeypointtotranslateafilmtitle.Besides,thetranslatorhimselfmustpossessabundantculturalknowledgeandsteadylinguisticplane.[9]Sothetranslatorsoughttoelaborateaplantochangetheoriginaltitlesaccordingly.Like“Mr.Holland’sOpus”,anAmericanfilm,whichnarratesastoryaboutanordinalmusicalteacher:Mr.Holland.Mr.Hollandcontributed30years’lifetoteachhisstudents.Notformoneyandforfame.Allhisstudentsaredeeplyaffectedbyhim.Acorrectcomparisonisforhiminthefilm:theleaderofasymphonyorchestra.Andeverystudentisoneofhisnotes,hisopus.Ifweuseliteraltranslation,itmustbe(《贺兰先生的作品》).Itlookssobadfortheawfultranslation.Butthetranslatorappliesallhiswittodeepenitsmeaningandtranslateitinto(《春风化雨》).Thisisplentifultorevealusthedevotionofateacher.Because“春风化雨”isusuallyaparabletothegoodeducation.Thussuccessfulexampleisn’tonlythis.FilmactedbyAmericanactorJim·Carreywhoisgoodatchanginghisfacialexpressionfreely—“TheMask”(《变相怪杰》).Everyoneguessthatthisborncomicactormighthaveacolorfulactinthisfilmaccordingtotheabsorbingfilmtitle.Buttheaudienceswouldn’tassociateitwiththehumorofJim·Carreyifthefilmtitleistranslatedinto“面具”.Thereisnodoubtthatthecommercialfactorplaysaveryimportantroleonthetranslationofthesefilmtitles.Butoncetheysuitthewholethemeofthefilms,noonewillaccusethem.AnotherCartoonfilm“ChickenRun”,whichwasknowntomanycartoonfilmgoers.Ifpeopletranslateitonlybytheliteralmeaning“小鸡跑步”.Obviously,itwillbelessattractivethan“小鸡快跑”.Thistranslationgivespeopleanervousandbusyatmosphere.Goodworkappealstoeveryone.Hence,therebeingasceneofpouringintothecinemasaren’toddtobystanders.Filmsaresometimesregardedasakindofliterarywork.Isn’titquiteright?Peoplewillreadthegoodworksagainandagain,andstilltreasurethem.Agoodfilmarousespeople’swilltoseethemagainandagain,too.Heresomeonemightbringforwardaquestionthatwhythesecartoonfilmsoriginallyaimedatcatchingchildren’seyesactuallyinclinedtocanvassmoregrown-ups.Afterall,thewords“cartoonfilms”areforchildrenfromtheliteralmeaning.Wealsoknowthatchildrenjustlikethecolorsandthefiguresofthecartoonfilms.Theydon’tcareaboutthetranslationofthefilmtitles.Sotherealpurposeofthetranslationistodrawthegrown-ups’attention.Wecansaythattheygocinemasorguidechildrentocinemas.

ThereareotherinstancesofChinesefilmtitles,whicharetranslatedverywell.The(《十面埋伏》)istranslatedinto“HouseofFlyingDaggers”,(《行运超人》)into“MyLuckyStar”,(《霸王别姬》)into“FarewellmyConcubine”,(《日出前向青春告别》)into“ADayonthePlanet”,(《江湖》)into“Brother”,(《花样年华》)into“IntheMoodforLove”,(《唐伯虎点秋香》)into“Flirtingscholar”,(《海上花》)into“FlowersofShanghai”,(《无间道》)“InfernalAffairs”.Wecanseethatfreetranslationofthesefilmtitlestobeencouraged.

Youwouldn’thopetoseeafilmwhichismindlesstobecalled,“Allmenarebrothers:bloodoftheleopard”(《四海之内皆兄弟:豹子的血》)isinfact(《水浒传》).Youcouldn’tbelievesuchagracefulandhistoricaltitleisspoiltdeadly.Howfunitis!Forinstance,thefollowingfilmtitles“AshesofTimes”(《时间的灰烬》,《东邪西毒》),“ThirdSisterLiu”(《第三个姐姐刘》,《刘三姐》),“RoyalTramp”(《皇家流浪汉》,《鹿鼎记》).Peoplecanseethatfreetranslationsofthesefilmtitlesarebetterthanthefirstones,whichusetheliteraltranslation.Theformeronesoftheseexamplesaresofunnytothepublic.Takethetranslationof“ThirdSisterLiu”asanexample.TheforeigntranslatorsarenotfamiliarwiththishistoricalfigureinChina.Sotheynaturallytranslateitintoliteraltranslation.Noonelikestheuglythings,whichtheyescapethemjustlikegettingridoftheplague.Somakingtheuglythingsbeautifulissavingpeople’sspirits.

Butthefactisn’tneglectedthatsomefilmtitlesusefreetranslationtohavetheoppositeeffect.Afilmcalled“MoulinRouge”,whichwasshownontheyear2001.Itistranslatedinfreetranslation(《梦断花都》)whenitwasintroducedtoChina.Thetranslationofthisfilmtitlediscardsthemeaningoftheoriginalfilmtitlethatisseentodisrespecttheforeignculture.Atthesametime,thetranslatorswhotranslatedthisfilmunderestimatetheaudiences’planeofunderstandingtheforeignculture.Weshouldtranslateitintoliterary(《红磨坊》)，thussuitthedemandsofpeoplewhowanttofurtherknowaboutthebackgroundofthisfilm.Thefreetranslation(《梦断花都》)maketheChineseaudiencesfeelatsea.

Thelastexamplehererelatedtotheliteraltranslation.Canpeoplejustusefreetranslationwhentranslatingthefilmtitlesandignoringtheliteralmeaningoffilmtitles,whichmighttransmittheinformationoforiginalmeaning?

4.Discussionontheliteralandfreetranslationoffilmtitle

Theauthorusesalotofexamplestoshowthecharacteristicsoftheliteraltranslationandfreetranslation,justwanttosaythattheliteraltranslationandthefreetranslationhastheirownadvantages.Buttheauthoralsogivesanexampleatlastparagraphofeachcharacteristictoputforwardaquestion,“Canpeoplejustuseliteralorfreetranslationintheprocessofthetranslationoffilmtitles?”Ifpeoplewanttosolvethisproblem,itisnecessaryforthemtokeepabalancebetweenliteraltranslationandfreetranslation.Sotheliteraltranslationandthefreetranslationoughttosupplementandcomplementeachother.

Theliteraltranslationcombinesandkeepssomeelementsoftheoriginaltitles,addingthesummarizationofthecontentofthefilms.Thetranslatorsusuallyadoptedthismethodtotranslateforits‘faithfulness’.Butthismethodisalwaysconsideredunwiselyinthefieldoftranslationifnotconsidersthepracticeontranslatingafilmtitle.Hence,themethodsofcombiningtheliteraltranslationandthefreetranslationappropriatelydeservecommendation.Forinstance,“Mrs.Doubtfire”isaboutamanwhodisguisedhimselfasanoldfatladytoserveathisformerwife’shouse.Hejustwantstoseehischildreneveryday.Thisfilmtitleistranslatedinto(《肥妈先生》).Mrs.embodiestheman’sgenderoppositewhichistranslatedintoliteraryinthisfilm,whileDoubtfireisn’tjusttranslatedintoliterary‘道伯特菲尔德’.Thetranslatorwassoclevertoembodyhischaracteristicinthisfilmandtranslateditintofreetranslation.Thisperfectcombinationgivesusadeepimpressiontothisfilm.Itisagoodexampleofthecombinationoftheliteralandfreetranslation.Thereareothersuccessfulcombiningtranslationsoffilmtitles,suchas“E·T”istranslatedinto(《E·T外星人》),“ShotFirst”into(《先发制人》),“TheOppositeofSex”into(《异性不相吸》),“TheThreeMusketeers”into(《豪侠三剑客》),“SheisSoLovely”into(《可人儿》).ThetranslationofthesefilmtitleswerechangedwhichbasedontheadjustmentoftheordersoftheoriginaltitleswhentheyweretranslatedintoChinese,like“TheOppositeofSex”into(《异性不相吸》).OrthetranslatorsaddsomewordsaccordingtothedesireoftheChineseaudiences,like“E·T”(《E·T外星人》),adding‘外星人’init.Peoplecanseizethecontentofthefilmisaboutthe‘外星人’.Ortheyreducesomewordstocatchthemainideaoftheoriginaltitles,like“SheisSoLovely”(《可人儿》).Thischangepreventsthetranslationoffilmtitlesaretooplaintoberemembered.

5.Somenotionsonthetranslationoffilmtitles

Afilmtitleisofthesameimportancetothefilmasthefacetoaperson.Ifthefaceyouseeisbeautifulthatyourimpressionofhimorherwillbegood,too.Sothedesignersofthefilmtitles—thetranslatorsbearaloadtosatisfydifferentlayersofdifferentaudiences.Goodtranslationisaculture,whichiscertainlyanenjoymenttopeople.[10]Whereas,theaudiencesasthereceiversofthefilmtitleswillbecometherightrespondtothetranslationsofthefilmtitles.Bothofthemareimportanttothetranslationsofthefilmtitles.

5.1Translatorasadispenserroleonthetranslationoffilmtitles

Thetranslationisn’tcomedownwithoutthetranslators’hardworking.Forthisreason,onthetranslationoffilmtitles,translatorssimplifythetranslationtoachievebriefandtothepoint.Itisalsoakindofcreatingwhilethetranslatorsaredoingthetranslationworks.Thesamefilmtitlewillhavedifferenttranslationsowingtothedifferenttranslator’s.Everyonehashisownidea,experienceandknowledge.Theytranslatethetitlesaccordingtotheirownunderstanding.Sothat’sthereasonwhywesaythatthetranslatorsbearaloadtosatisfydifferentlayersofdifferentaudiences.

Duetothesereasons,itissurethatthesetranslatorshaveachancetosittogetheranddiscussthefuturedevelopmentofthefilmtitles.Nowtherearen’tpeoplewhogetawholesystemastheprinciplesofthefilmtitles’translation.

5.2Audienceasanacceptantroleonthetranslationoffilmtitles

Filmtitlesarerestrictedbytheoriginaltitles.Sincetheyareshotfortheaudiences,itisnecessarytomotivatetheaudiences’interests.However,oncetheaudiencesdonotpossessanyhistoricalknowledgeorliterarycultivation,thetranslationsofthesefilmtitleswilllosetheirvalueofexist.

Thetranslationsofthefilmtitlesarebettertobebothrefinedandpopulartastes.Andit’salsoimportantthattheaudienceswouldbeactivetoaccepttheforeignculture.Intheviewsoftheaudiences,thetranslationsofthefilmtitlesappearthattherearen’tanyprinciplestoobey.

6.Conclusion

Thetranslationofthefilmtitlesisaspecialprocessofre-creation.Itisn’tsimpletoobeythecontentandtheformsoftheoriginaltitles,butahardexplorationtothefilmthemes,socialproblems,theethnicassociationandnationalcondition.Sofindingthebalancebetweenliteraltranslationandfreetranslationisrationaltothetranslationoffilmtitles.Owingtothediversitiesofthewestandtheeast,thewesterners’opinionstowardsthetranslationarenaturallydifferentfromtheeasterners.Wewouldn’tonlyseeapartofthefilmandrushintotranslatingitintoliteraltranslationorfreetranslation.Thisactisirresponsible.Translationisalsoaprocessofculturalcommunicationowingtothedifferencesoftheprinciplesofthetranslation,thelinguisticcustomsoftheforeigncountriesandthecharacteristicsofthefilmtitles.Thatisnotonlytotheaudiences,butalsotothetranslatorsthemselves.Translatorsshouldmakeeveryeffortswithcarenesstobenefittheentertainmentcultureofthepublicandthustobenefitthetranslationsoffilmtitles.Afterall,thepurposeofthefilmistosatisfytheaudiences,thefilmsbusinessmenandtogetmaximumincome.

Differentfilmtitlesrequiredifferenttranslationmethods.Peopleshouldtakeallfactorsintoconsideration.

Inall,therearemanychallengesforustotranslatethefilmtitles,thusweshouldcombinewiththepracticeofthetranslation.Ifwemasterthetrickofthetranslationoffilmtitles,everythingbecomeseasy.

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