A Study on the Influencing Factors in the Translation of English Movie Titles

YAN Xin

【Abstract】The movie plays an important role in intercultural communication，which can potentially reflect life，culture or thought of a society.The purpose of the study is to present the status quo of Chinese translation of English movie titles and to discuss and research the significant factors influencing it.

【Key Words】influencing factors； translation； English movie titles

1.Introduction

With the increase in cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world，the movie has gradually stood out as an important medium of communication.“Movie is so important that it has been the first art of the human world，” pointed out by French artist and novelist Mona （Baker，2004）.A good translated name helps reveal the theme，the style and the features of the movie and plays a positive role of predicting the content.But what is the status quo of Chinese translation of English movie titles？ What are the significant factors which exert a great influence upon translation of English movie titles exactly？ It will be discussed and analyzed in details with real examples in the paper.

2.The Status Quo of Chinese Translation of English Movie Titles

Despite the fact that some titles have translated successfully，the present situation of translation of English movie titles in China is still somewhat disordered due to the cultural differences and the lack of unified and strict management.One English movie title may be translated differently，which often cause puzzlement in audience.The same movie title often has different translational versions in Hong Kong，Taiwan and the mainland of China.The following chart shows the differences.

English Titles Hong Kong Taiwan Mainland

Up 冲天救兵 天外奇迹 飞屋环游记

American Hustle 瞒天大布局 骗海豪情 美国骗局

The Theory of Everything 霍金：爱的方程式 爱的万物论 万物理论

Big Hero 6 大英雄联盟 大英雄天团 超能陆战队

Unbroken 非凡生命历 永不屈服 坚不可摧

3.The Factors Influencing the Translation

It is not an easy work to translate English movie titles into Chinese，since its a complicated process in which many factors mix and make effects.

3.1 Cultural Differences

Language is a part of culture.They depend on each other and either of them is indispensable.（Nida，1993）Translation is not only a transformation of different linguistic symbols but also a transformation of culture.Thus，cultural difference is a key factor that influences translation of English movie titles.

Firstly，the ways of thinking of Chinese people and westerners differ greatly.Westerners tend to make abstract thinking while Chinese people are likely to think in a more concrete way.English movies often adopt the elements （main characters，matters，or places）which make great effect on the development of plot as the titles.For example，The Bridges in Madison County “廊桥遗梦”，Ghost “人鬼情未了” and Speed “生死时速” are all the cases in the point.However，if we translate English movie titles into Chinese，we should be clear that the titles which summarize the plots of the movies can be easily accepted by Chinese audience.Whether the title is a long sentence or a simple word，it can be translated into properly condensed Chinese.A long-named movie The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love is about love between two lesbian girls，so its proper to translate it into “双姝奇恋” which is concise and informative.

Secondly，Chinese and western standards of artistic appreciation differ from each other.Chinese prefer beauty of form and rhyme and express thoughts implicitly，while the westerners，under the influence of utilitarianism，emphasize the beauty of simplicity and conciseness.In translation of movie titles，the different aesthetic sentiments can be also observed.Chinese habitually tend to use four-character phrases most of which are idioms，so we often prefer to translate movie titles into Chinese phrases or idioms.About half of the titles of the best Oscar pictures are translated into Chinese phrases of four characters.For example，Unforgiven is translated to “不可饶恕”，Dances with Wolves “与狼共舞”，Terms of Endearment “母女情深”，The Best Years of Our Lives “黄金时代” etc.Moreover，verbal parallelism and level and oblique tones of classic Chinese poetry have great impact upon translation.The beauty of rhyme and the harmony in tonal patterns are very important.For instance，The Great Gatsby and Old Wife for New are translated respectively into “大亨小传” and “旧宠新欢”.Translators should get familiar with the culture of the source texts and express them in a proper way Chinese audience can easily accept.

3.2 Commercial Factors

Movie is an art work as well as a commercial product.In order to make movies realize their values，the most important thing the movie producers have to do is make people want to spend money seeing them.Therefore，translators must be aware of the special work，making the movie intriguing but not only trying to please the public.Certainly，its hard to balance between the two points.The name of a movie is just like a billboard advertising itself，and it will give the audience the first trend of force，so translation of English movie titles is bound to be impacted by the commercial factor.Private Life of Henry III can be translated to “亨利三世的私生活”.It seems that this Chinese version is faithful to the story itself but it sounds vulgar and coarse.Actually，“风流天子” is much better，since the version is possessed of a stronger appeal of advertising.From the instances，its obvious that commercial factor is viral to translation of a movie title，for it directly affects the movies box office.

4.Conclusion

Movies are significant art forms that can potentially reflect life，culture，customs，history or thought of a society and present it to another society，and they enjoy a high national status，for its a comprehensive art with both artistic and commercial value.（Sobhan Shokri，2014）Translating movie titles is an arduous activity owing to its leading role and great cultural and social differences.It is concluded that the present situation of this young field is disordered and cultural differences，commercial value，translators and subject matters of movies are the significant factors which exert a great influence upon translation of English movie titles.

References：

[1]Baker，Mona，Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies[M].Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2004.

[2]Nida，Eugene A.Language，Culture and Translating[M].Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，1993.

[3]Sobhan Shokri，Translating Movie Titles：Strategies Applied on Persian to English Cases[J].Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences.2014 （5）.