A Case Study of the English-Chinese Translation of English Film Titles from the Perspective of Domestication and Foreignization

By Ji Lin

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B.A. degree

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May, 2016

Acknowledgements

From the earliest stages of this thesis, I have received unswerving encouragement and support from Professor Zhang Jun, my mentor. I am grateful to his enlightening suggestions as well as his keen criticism to this thesis. Without his help, I could not have finished the thesis.

It is a great pleasure to thank all the other professors and instructors with the Department of English for their insightful teaching, from which I have acquired invaluable knowledge and skills to compose this thesis and for which I am deeply appreciative.

A big thank you also to a number of my classmates and friends, who have read at least a portion of the manuscript at one or another of its many stages, and made valuable suggestions, which I have included in the final text.

Finally to my extraordinary parents, who have not only financed my academic study but also made me feel being loved and trusted in every day of my life, I owe my deepest gratitude. Thanks, I love you.

CONTENTS

Abstract 1

摘要 3

Chapter One. Introduction 4

Chapter Two. The Current Situation of English-Chinese Translation of English Film Titles 6

Chapter Three. Major Principles of English-Chinese Translation of English Film Titles 8

3.1 Reflecting the Genre and Theme of the Film 8

3.2 Accomplishing the Aesthetic Value of the Film 9

3.3 Achieving the Commercial Value of the Film 9

Chapter Four. Two Main Strategies in English-Chinese Translation of Film Titles 12

4.1 Domestication and Foreignization Strategies 12

4.2 The Adoption of Domestication in E-C Film Title Translation 13

4.3 The Adoption of Foreignization in E-C Film Title Translation 14

Chapter Five. Conclusion 17

References 18

A Case Study of the English-Chinese Translation of English Film Titles from the Perspective of Domestication and Foreignization

Ji Lin

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology, Nanjing 210044

Abstract: Films are cultural artifacts produced by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures and, in turn, affect them. Film is regarded as a significant art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating citizens. The visual basis of film grants itself a universal power of communication. Many films, using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into foreign languages, draw attention of worldwide viewers successfully. Along with the increasing large-scale importation of English films, film title translation has become a hot issue in practice because the translation of a film title is especially important in the process of successfully introducing this film to China. Although film titles are always short phrases containing four to five words, and sometimes only a number, the translation of film titles is by no means an easy task.

This thesis is constitutive of five chapters. A brief introduction is Chapter One. The current situation of English-Chinese translation of English film titles is presented in Chapter Two. Chapter Three discusses the following three major principles of English-Chinese translation of English film titles, i.e., reflecting the genre and theme of the film; accomplishing the aesthetic value of the film; achieving the commercial value of the film. Chapter Four mainly explores the two main strategies in English-Chinese translation of English film titles, namely, domestication and foreignization, as well as their respective adoption in practice. Chapter Five sums up what have been previously argued.

Key Words: Translation; domestication; foreignization; English film title

摘要: 电影是特定文化的文化产品。电影是文化的反映，同时反作用于文化。电影既是一种重要的艺术形式，也是大众娱乐的重要源泉，同时是公民教育的有力媒介。电影的视觉基础给予其自身广泛的传播能力。许多影片通过添加外语字幕或重新配音的方式，为世界各地的观众所接受和喜爱。随着英文影片的大规模进口，英文电影片名的翻译成为实践中的一个热门话题，因为电影片名的翻译对于一部电影的成功引进是至关重要的。电影片名通常由包含四至五个单词的短语构成，有时仅为一个数字，但是片名的翻译却并非易事。

本论文共分为五章。第一章是本论文的引言。第二章介绍了英文电影片名中译的现状。第三章讨论了英文电影片名中译过程中的三个重要原则：反映影片的流派和主题；完成影片的审美价值；达到影片的商业价值。第四章主要分析了两种翻译策略，即归化和异化，以及它们各自在英语电影片名翻译中的应用。第五章是对本论文的总结。

关键词：翻译；归化；异化；英文电影片名

Chapter One. Introduction

Since the reform and opening up drive in 1978, China has opened its door wider and wider to the outside world. Economic cooperation and cultural exchanges between China and English speaking countries have become profounder than ever and, English films, in particular, have been enjoying great prevalence in China. Film, as an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful medium for indoctrinating citizens, has gradually become an indispensable part of people's cultural life. A film title is of great significance to “attracting eyeballs for it is the first thing that viewers get to know about a new film and helping the film to win an eternal reputation.”(Zhang, Li, Zhu, 2011: 15) Therefore, the proper translation of the film title is equally important for the foreign audiences. How to translate these films and to better promote cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries has become an important issue for us to discuss. An appropriate translation of an English film title should not only generalize the theme and the most important information of the film but also provide aesthetic pleasure so as to attract audiences and to drive box-office revenues. Since the success of a film depends on its title to some extent, film tile translation should not be simply considered as “a conversion between two different languages.”(Xia, 2009: 131) That means a film title should be translated into another context not only linguistically but also culturally. In general, film title translation strategies are composed of two: domesticating translation strategy and foreignizing translation strategy, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Translators may adopt the two strategies according to different conditions in translation practice. Up to now, domestication theory has been taking the dominant place in the western translation history. While Lawrence Venuti, the great American translation theorist and translation historian, strongly supports the foreignization theory because it can effectively highlight the cultural differences between nations, maintain the authenticity of cultural information and reflect the characteristics of the foreign languages and cultures.

Chapter Two. The Current Situation of English-Chinese Translation of English Film Titles

Film is an art form popular among all societies. Due to its visual basis, film possesses a universal power of communication. The international economic cooperation and cultural exchanges have stimulated vigorous development of the emerging film dubbing industry, the operation of which includes drawing materials from all over the world, translating and publishing. At the same time, the popularity of cable TV, home video, VCD and DVD also constantly propel the spread of films. Many films successfully draw attention of worldwide viewers by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into foreign languages. Watching foreign films enriches people’s cultural life and meanwhile, we find they are conducive to cultural diffusion as nowadays more and more Chinese people are willing to watch films produced by western countries and deem it as an effective way to broaden their own horizons and to understand foreign cultures.

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