電影片名翻譯
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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】當今社會，“電影片名的翻譯”已經成為一個流行的詞語，眾所周知，如何譯好電影片名已成為翻譯界很長時間內熱烈討論的話題；西片的片名不同于中國電影片名，在翻譯的過程中，由于譯者的想法、經驗和知識不同，翻譯也會有所不同。電影是文化交流非常重要的部分，所以，各國的文化成為電影中所要表達的內容。本文指出了電影片名翻譯的重要性，并號召譯者對其重視，其中藝術、商業(yè)、社會特征描繪了電影片名，那就是翻譯不只是一種語言向另一種語言轉換的過程；西方觀眾能一目了然的片名，中國人卻不這么認為。作者分析了直譯和意譯的不同，這主要是由于文化的不同，最后得出結論：不能片面地說直譯好還是意譯好，這兩者是相輔相承的，作者提議兩者之間應結合起來，具體問題具體分析，在電影片名翻譯的問題上應用改變詞序、增詞或減詞的方法來翻譯片名以求得這兩種翻譯方法之間的平衡。
【關鍵詞】電影片名；直譯；意譯；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‘梨花帶雨’(awomanintears)iscondensedfromBaiJuyi’s(白居易):梨花一枝春帶雨.
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一夜風流
(2)SisterAct修女也瘋狂
(3)Leon,theProfessional這個殺手不太冷
Alltheseexamplesshowusthedemandsthedevelopmentofmassmarketsoffilmindustry.
2.3Socialfeature
Foreignaudiencesaremoreoftenthannottocomprehendtheoriginalfilmtitles.Oncetheyaretranslatedusingfreetranslation,itwouldbehardfortheChineseaudiencestounderstandthequitecontentofthefilms.Asthepracticetestified,aringingtranslatedfilmtitlesarethepurposeofevokingtheaudiences’curiosity.Forexample,Thewords“黑幫”in“SharkTales”(《鯊魚黑幫》)givesusaroomtoassociate.Arethere“黑幫”intheworldofsharks?Somepeoplewhohaveneverseenthetranslatedonewillnaturallytranslateitinto“鯊魚的故事”.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“黑幫”.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”(《美女與野獸》),“TheLordoftheRings:TheReturnoftheKing”(《指環(huán)王3：王者歸來》),“SnowWhite”(《白雪公主》),“SleepingBeauty”(《睡美人》),“MarchofthePenguins”(《帝企鵝日記》),“CrocodileDundee”(《鱷魚鄧迪》),“BenHur”(《賓虛》),“MadamCurrie”(《居里夫人》),“Stigmata”(《圣痕》),“ThePassionoftheChrist”(《耶穌受難記》),“TheLastTemptationofChrist”(《基督最后的誘惑》)andsoforth,peoplecanseefromtheexamplesabovethatitmustuseliteraltranslationespeciallywithregardtothehistoricalfiguresandeventsorreligiousandethicalconcernswhichtheyarefamiliarwith.Peopleshouldnoticethatotherfilmtitles,whichareadaptedfromfamousbooks,alsoemploytheliteraltranslation.Forexample,“TheOldManandtheSea”(《老人與?！?,“TheGodfather”(《教父》),“AnnaKarenina”(《安娜·卡列尼娜》).Onereasonistoavoidthemisunderstandingoftheaudienceswhomaybestrangetothem,andtheotherreasonisthattheeffectoffamousbooks’titlescanattracttheeyesoftheaudiences.
AndthetranslationofChinesefilmtitleslike(《斷背山》),(《向左走，向右走》),(《新警察故事》),(《金剛》),(《成吉思汗》),(《可可西里》),(《如果·愛》),(《暖》),(《手機》),(《陽光燦爛的日子》)are“BrokebackMountain”,“Turnleft,Turnright”,“NewPoliceStory”,“KingKong”,“GenghisKhan”,“kekexili”,“If·Love”,“Nuan”,“CellPhone”,“TheDaysUndertheBrightSunshine”tobethesuccessfulliteraltranslationoffilmtitles.Andtheliteraltranslationsoffilmtitleslistedabovearemoreclosetotheoriginaltitlesintheforms,meaning,informationandsoon.Take“如果·愛”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:TheevidenceisthatthetranslatorsinHongkongandTaiwanfavorthevulgarandbombasticlanguage.Theytranslatetheminaflexibleway,mainlysacrificingtheformtoachievethemeaning.Thetranslationof"AFishcalledWanda”into“倩女大賊神仙魚”revealsthecustomsofthedailylanguageofHongkong.Thefilm“PrimaryColor”aretranslatedinto“這個總統(tǒng)真太濫”,whichisalsoadoptedthisway.Theseprobablydonotmakeanysensetotheaudiencesinmainland.HereMainlandChinausetheliteraltranslation“一條名叫旺達的魚”,directlyandclearly.Itisbetterthatthe3placesshouldworktogethertostandardizethetranslationoffilmtitlesbecausedifferenttranslationswillconfusethecinemagoers.Onthebasisofthecomparison,Hongkongtranslatorstempttomakemorefuntoattractpeople.
Asacoinhastwosides,italsohassomeadvisableplacesofthetranslationofHongkong.Theircreativitiesareundeniabletothepublic.Let’sseeanewAmericanhorrorfilmtobefirstshownonacityofMainlandChinarecently.Asaresult,thenewsaboutthisnewhorrorfilmisthattheticketofficeisnotasgoodasexpectation.Amajorinfluenceisthetranslationofthefilmtitle.Theliteraltranslationofthisfilmwouldbe(《當樹枝折斷的時候》)“WhenBoughBreaks”.Theoriginaltranslation“第七只斷手”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(《春風化雨》),(《一往無前》),(《星際寶貝》),(《超人特攻隊》),(《蟲蟲危機》),(《小雞快跑》),(《加菲貓》),(《人猿泰山》),(《綠野仙蹤》),(《寵物狗大賽》).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(《賀蘭先生的作品》).Itlookssobadfortheawfultranslation.Butthetranslatorappliesallhiswittodeepenitsmeaningandtranslateitinto(《春風化雨》).Thisisplentifultorevealusthedevotionofateacher.Because“春風化雨”isusuallyaparabletothegoodeducation.Thussuccessfulexampleisn’tonlythis.FilmactedbyAmericanactorJim·Carreywhoisgoodatchanginghisfacialexpressionfreely—“TheMask”(《變相怪杰》).Everyoneguessthatthisborncomicactormighthaveacolorfulactinthisfilmaccordingtotheabsorbingfilmtitle.Buttheaudienceswouldn’tassociateitwiththehumorofJim·Carreyifthefilmtitleistranslatedinto“面具”.Thereisnodoubtthatthecommercialfactorplaysaveryimportantroleonthetranslationofthesefilmtitles.Butoncetheysuitthewholethemeofthefilms,noonewillaccusethem.AnotherCartoonfilm“ChickenRun”,whichwasknowntomanycartoonfilmgoers.Ifpeopletranslateitonlybytheliteralmeaning“小雞跑步”.Obviously,itwillbelessattractivethan“小雞快跑”.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”,(《行運超人》)into“MyLuckyStar”,(《霸王別姬》)into“FarewellmyConcubine”,(《日出前向青春告別》)into“ADayonthePlanet”,(《江湖》)into“Brother”,(《花樣年華》)into“IntheMoodforLove”,(《唐伯虎點秋香》)into“Flirtingscholar”,(《海上花》)into“FlowersofShanghai”,(《無間道》)“InfernalAffairs”.Wecanseethatfreetranslationofthesefilmtitlestobeencouraged.
Youwouldn’thopetoseeafilmwhichismindlesstobecalled,“Allmenarebrothers:bloodoftheleopard”(《四海之內皆兄弟:豹子的血》)isinfact(《水滸傳》).Youcouldn’tbelievesuchagracefulandhistoricaltitleisspoiltdeadly.Howfunitis!Forinstance,thefollowingfilmtitles“AshesofTimes”(《時間的灰燼》,《東邪西毒》),“ThirdSisterLiu”(《第三個姐姐劉》,《劉三姐》),“RoyalTramp”(《皇家流浪漢》,《鹿鼎記》).Peoplecanseethatfreetranslationsofthesefilmtitlesarebetterthanthefirstones,whichusetheliteraltranslation.Theformeronesoftheseexamplesaresofunnytothepublic.Takethetranslationof“ThirdSisterLiu”asanexample.TheforeigntranslatorsarenotfamiliarwiththishistoricalfigureinChina.Sotheynaturallytranslateitintoliteraltranslation.Noonelikestheuglythings,whichtheyescapethemjustlikegettingridoftheplague.Somakingtheuglythingsbeautifulissavingpeople’sspirits.
Butthefactisn’tneglectedthatsomefilmtitlesusefreetranslationtohavetheoppositeeffect.Afilmcalled“MoulinRouge”,whichwasshownontheyear2001.Itistranslatedinfreetranslation(《夢斷花都》)whenitwasintroducedtoChina.Thetranslationofthisfilmtitlediscardsthemeaningoftheoriginalfilmtitlethatisseentodisrespecttheforeignculture.Atthesametime,thetranslatorswhotranslatedthisfilmunderestimatetheaudiences’planeofunderstandingtheforeignculture.Weshouldtranslateitintoliterary(《紅磨坊》)，thussuitthedemandsofpeoplewhowanttofurtherknowaboutthebackgroundofthisfilm.Thefreetranslation(《夢斷花都》)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(《肥媽先生》).Mrs.embodiestheman’sgenderoppositewhichistranslatedintoliteraryinthisfilm,whileDoubtfireisn’tjusttranslatedintoliterary‘道伯特菲爾德’.Thetranslatorwassoclevertoembodyhischaracteristicinthisfilmandtranslateditintofreetranslation.Thisperfectcombinationgivesusadeepimpressiontothisfilm.Itisagoodexampleofthecombinationoftheliteralandfreetranslation.Thereareothersuccessfulcombiningtranslationsoffilmtitles,suchas“E·T”istranslatedinto(《E·T外星人》),“ShotFirst”into(《先發(fā)制人》),“TheOppositeofSex”into(《異性不相吸》),“TheThreeMusketeers”into(《豪俠三劍客》),“SheisSoLovely”into(《可人兒》).ThetranslationofthesefilmtitleswerechangedwhichbasedontheadjustmentoftheordersoftheoriginaltitleswhentheyweretranslatedintoChinese,like“TheOppositeofSex”into(《異性不相吸》).OrthetranslatorsaddsomewordsaccordingtothedesireoftheChineseaudiences,like“E·T”(《E·T外星人》),adding‘外星人’init.Peoplecanseizethecontentofthefilmisaboutthe‘外星人’.Ortheyreducesomewordstocatchthemainideaoftheoriginaltitles,like“SheisSoLovely”(《可人兒》).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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