A Study on Film Title Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence_英语论文

摘要

自20世纪七八十年代以来，我国对外开放的步伐逐步加快，中外文化交流也日渐蓬勃发展，尤其是我国与英语国家之间的艺术文化交流日渐频繁。

电影片名作为一部电影的标题与门面，灵魂与号角，向观众传递着重要的第一手影视信息，因此，出色的电影片名翻译不仅能够传递美感，而且能够直接激发观众的观影兴趣。 然而,许多电影片名翻译缺乏有效的理论指导，最终可能导致观众的观影兴趣和票房的损减。 

本文将采用功能对等理论深入探讨电影片名翻译，主要从文化和语言两个方面着手进行研究。文化层面，从中西方价值观、审美特点、思维方式等因素研究；语言方面，从直译、增译等多个方面进行研究。在论文第一章中，作者简要介绍英语电影标题翻译的背景、目的和研究方式。在第二章中，作者对电影名称翻译理论研究进行了文献回顾。在第三章中，作者对电影标题的功能进行了讨论。在第四章中，作者主要从语言对等和文化对等的角度阐述电影标题翻译的策略。最后一章总结论文。

关键词：功能对等理论 电影片名 翻译 文化

Abstract

Since the 1970s and 1980s, the pace of opening to the outside world of our country has gradually accelerated, and the cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries have been developing day by day. The artistic and cultural exchanges between China and the English-speaking countries have become increasingly frequent. 

The film title, which is considered as a film’s facade, soul and horn, burdens the task to pass the first-hand information to the audience. An excellent film title translation not only conveys beauty, but also directly stimulates the audience's interest in watching the film. However, many film title translations lack the guidance of effective translation theories, which as a result may lead to the reduce of audience's viewing interest and the loss of box office.

This paper will use functional equivalence theory to explore the translation of film titles from the cultural and linguistic aspects. As for the cultural aspect, it will study from western value, aesthetic features, thinking model and other factors. For the language aspect, it will study from literal translation, addition and some other aspects. 

In the first chapter of the thesis, the author briefly introduces the background, objective and method of the study on the English film title translation. In the second chapter, the author makes a literature review of the studies on film title translation theory. In the third chapter, the author introduces function of film title. In the fourth chapter, the author mainly illustrates the strategies of film title translation from the linguistic equivalence and culture equivalence. In the last chapter, the author concludes the thesis.

Key words: Functional equivalence theory; Film title; Translation; Culture  

Contents

1. Introduction.1

1.1. Research background.1

1.2. Research purpose.2

1.3. Research method3

2. Literature Review3

2.1. Studies at home3

2.2. Studies at abroad4

3. Functions of the Film Title6

3.1. Informative function 6

3.2. Expressive function.6

3.3. Vocative function…7

3.4. Aesthetic function.7

4. Application of Functional Equivalence Theory in Film Title Translation.8

4.1. Linguistic equivalence in English film title translation.8

4.1.1. Metaphrase9

4.1.2.  Creation10

4.1.2.  Deletion11

4.1.4.  Addition.12

4.2.   Cultural Equivalence in Film Title Translation.12

4.2.1. Film title translation and language expression.12

4.2.2. Film title translation and aesthetic orientation13

4.2.3. Film title translation and thinking orientation14

5. Conclusion.16

Bibliography.17

Acknowledgments18