On the Translation of Titles of American Blockbusters from the Perspective of Skopostheory

By

Wang Shangjie

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

June, 2017

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my respectable supervisor Professor Zhao Yamin because she always gives me some professional suggestions, excellent guidance and constant encouragement in my academic study. When I felt puzzled to finish the thesis, it is my supervisor who keeps on encouraging me and helping me. As soon as I have any problems in finishing the thesis, she will be always offering useful references to me. During the process of writing my thesis, I came across many kinds of different problems that make me feel hopeless to finish it, she would make a phone call to me to comfort me and tell me what I need to change in my thesis patiently.

Secondly, I would like to thank my friendly classmates who have provided me with a lot of support in my study during four years.

Finally, I want to give thanks to my beloved parents who always give priority to my thoughts and spare no effort to support me in these years.

Contents

1. Introduction 5

1.1 Research Background 5

1.2 Aim of the Research 6

2. The Skopos Theory and Its Major Guiding Principles 6

2.1 The Origin and Development of Skopos Theory 6

2.1.1 Katharina Reiss’s Text Typology 7

2.1.2 Hans J. Vermeer’s Skopos Theory 7

2.1.3 Justa Holz-Manttari’s Theory of Translational Action 8

2.1.4 Christiane Nord’s Function plus Loyalty Model 8

2.2 Guiding Principles 8

2.2.1 The Skopos Principle 8

2.2.2 The Coherence Principle 8

2.2.3 The Fidelity Principle 9

2.2.4 The Loyalty Principle 9

2.3 Relationships of the four rules 9

3. An Overview of Titles of American Blockbusters 9

3.1 Introduction of American Blockbusters 9

3.2 Functions of Film Titles 10

3.2.1 Information Function 10

3.2.2 Cultural Function 10

3.2.3 Aesthetic Function 10

3.2.4 Commercial Function 10

4. Strategies for Translation of Titles of American Blockbusters 11

4.1 Transliteration 11

4.2 Literal Translation 11

4.3 Free Translation 12

4.4 Combination of Literal and Free Translation 12

5. Influences of Different Cultures on the Translation of Titles of American Blockbusters 13

5.1 Semantic differences 13

5.2 Historical and cultural differences 13

5.3 Regional Differences 13

6. Conclusion 14

7. References 14

On the Translation of Titles of American Blockbusters

from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

Wang Shangjie

Department of Translation

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

Abstract: Films always imply a nation’s history and shoulder the mission of spreading cultures. Blockbusters play an indispensable role in international exchanges and communications, especially the American blockbusters. By means of the skopos theory, this thesis investigates the translation strategies via a variety of translation cases of film titles, illustrates the basic translation strategies, explores the function of the three translation principles for the American blockbusters, with an aim to offer some inspirations for the translation work well and hence promote the cause of trans-cultural exchanges.

Key words: skopos theory; American blockbusters; film title; translation

摘要：电影，承载着一个民族的文明内涵，肩负着传播文化的重大责任。电影大片在世界各国文化交流中扮演着举足轻重的角色，而美国大片的影响力更是有目共睹。大量翻译实践已经证明，恰当的翻译理论与翻译方法对大片的形成产生直接的影响。本文通过翻译目的论的运用，通过大量电影片名的翻译实例，解读目的论指导下的电影片名的基本翻译策略，探讨目的论三原则在美国大片翻译中的功能及作用，以期为电影片名翻译提供一定的借鉴，从而促进我国的跨文化交流事业健康发展。

关键词：目的论；美国大片；片名；翻译

Introduction

Research Background

As an art form that combines sound and image, film has been considered as a microcosm of the real world and a reflection of culture. Murphy said, “The definition of a brand is the core of embodying the identity and temperament.” Film titles are like the brand name of films. With the improvement of people's cultural life, their demands for this special art form are also growing. In order to meet their demands and promote the development of Chinese film market, it is necessary to introduce many foreign films into the domestic market. Thus, the translation of film titles plays an important role in showing its meaning to audience. In addition, film titles not only summarize the contents of film, but also arouse the audience's imagination and curiosity to buy tickets to watch.

However, because of the lack of unified theoretical guidance and evaluation criteria, there are so many problems needing solving. Although many scholars in the field of translation have put forward a lot of methods in the past two to three decades, the study of English film titles’ translation is far from enough to guide the translation practice. So far, no one has put forward a set of relatively complete, systematic and practical directive theory. Considering the translation’s features and functions, the traditional theory of "reciprocity" and "faithfulness" cannot fully satisfy the advertisement, aesthetic and cultural needs of film titles’ translation. Because of its deep cultural deposits and vivid language, it can attract the audience’s attention and promote the box-office receipts.

Aim of the Research

Scholars have done many researches on this translation problem but most of them analyze the translation from a single perspective. What’s more, quite few examples illustrate that one way is more of practical significance than another. Since translation is a particular activity, there is not only one theory applied to any fields of translation.

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：31921字