A Study on Chinese Translation of English Film Titles from the Perspective of Equivalence Theory_英语论文

摘要

随着中国改革开放的不断深化发展，中外文化交流迅猛发展。因此，越来越多的西方电影流入中国市场，电影名称的翻译日益受到关注，而电影名称的翻译能够对电影的票房及其商业价值产生极大的影响。由于台湾和大陆历史文化的差异，同一部英文电影的名称在两地往往被翻译成截然不同的两个中文名称。比较研究两地对英文电影名称在汉译上的差异有助于今后的翻译教学及实践。

目前，国内已经有不少文献分析大陆和台湾对电影名称翻译方法和翻译风格的差异。然而，从对等翻译理论角度分析两岸对电影名称翻译差异的文献为数不多，而且尚未发现有关文献着眼于分析形式对等与动态对等如何体现在两岸电影名称翻译的差异中。为此，本文从尤金·奈达的动态对等和形式对等两个翻译理论出发，结合一系列热门电影名称的翻译事例，分析两地的电影名称翻译如何体现形式对等和动态对等，以及探究两岸不同的翻译取向的优缺点，从而更好地促进后续的电影名称汉译事业的发展，为深化两岸的交流作出贡献。

关键词： 电影名称翻译  中国大陆  中国台湾  形式对等  动态对等

Abstract

Benefiting from the vigorous development of reform and opening-up, cultural communication and exchange at home and abroad accelerate rapidly. Therefore, more and more English films have been introduced into China, which fosters the development of the Chinese translation of English film titles that has enormous impact on the box office and commercial value of films. Due to historical and cultural differences between mainland China and Taiwan, an English film is often translated into two distinctly different Chinese names in the two regions. A comparative study of the differences on the Chinese translation of English film titles between the two places thus avails to the translation teaching and practice in the future.

At present, there are a number of works that investigate the differences of the Chinese translation of English film titles between mainland China and Taiwan form the perspective of translation styles and strategies, but few of the present works concentrate on how formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence are reflected in the differences of Chinese translation of English film titles in the two regions. Therefore, armed with Eugene A. Nida’s formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence, as well as a series of samples of popular films, this paper tries to analyze how the Chinese translation of English film titles between mainland China and Taiwan embodies formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence, and explores the advantages and disadvantages of different preferences between the two regions, thereby promoting the development of English-Chinese film title translation, and contributing to facilitate mutual communications.

Key words：film title translation  mainland  China  Taiwan  formal equivalence  dynamic equivalence

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction 1

1.1 Purpose of This Thesis 1

1.2 Significance of This Thesis 2

1.3 Structure of This Thesis 3

1.4 Research Method of This Thesis 4

Chapter Two  Literature Review 5

2.1 Introduction 5

2.2 Previous Research Related to the Application of Equivalence Theory 5

2.3 Comparative Studies of Chinese Translation of English Film Titles between Mainland China and Taiwan 6

2.4 Comment 7

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework 9

3.1 Introduction 9

3.2 Formal Equivalence 9

3.3 Dynamic Equivalence 10

3.4 Conclusion 11

Chapter Four  Analysis of the Chinese Translation of English Film 

Titles in Mainland China and Taiwan 12

4.1 Introduction 12

4.2 Features of Chinese Translation of English Film Titles in Taiwan 12

4.3 Features of Chinese Translation of English Film Titles in Mainland 

China 13

4.4 Comparative Analysis of English-Chinese Film Title Translation 

between Mainland China and Taiwan from the Perspective of 

Equivalence Theory 13

4.5 Conclusion 18

Chapter Five  Conclusion 20

Biography

Acknowledgments