1. Literal translation

This is the most common translation method. Reproduce the title in a vivid and vivid translation without violating the plot and content of the movie and without causing wrong associations. Such as: Snow White and Seven Dwarfs; All Quiet On the Westernfront; Dances With Wolves. However, there are few works that can directly correspond to this form and content. Therefore, in order to achieve equivalence in terms of main spirit, specific facts, artistic conception, etc., it is completely necessary to adopt the method of literal translation plus free translation. Such as Ghost; Pirates Of Sillicon Valley, which tells the story of the founders of Apple Computer Company and Microsoft Computer Company in the United States, is translated as "Legends of Silicon Valley". Another example is The Living Daylights;

2. Free translation method

As mentioned above, many film titles themselves contain rich cultural connotations. Literal translation is difficult to reflect the essence of the film. On the basis of synthesizing, analyzing, and understanding the content, style, plot, and even style of the original film, the translator creatively processes the title and translates it into a title that reflects the characteristics of the original film to achieve the goal. Its cultural, aesthetic, economic and other aspects of equivalence. For example: In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Cuckoo’s Nest has nothing to do with the cuckoo’s nest. It is an idiom, meaning “madhouse”. Therefore, the name was later corrected to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. The original meaning of cowboy in Midnight Cowboy is "cowboy", which is unique to American culture and has nothing to do with the "cowboy" in Chinese culture. However, as a compromise, "Midnight Cowboy" seems acceptable. For another example, Butch Cassidy and the Sandance Kid is translated as "The Sharpshooter and the Wise Star", which vividly reflects the content and plot of the film, which is better than the earliest "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". It is particularly worth mentioning that although some film titles themselves represent the names of people or places, they are deliberately fictitious and closely related to the content of the film. At this time, it would be great if it could be transliterated while also reflecting the connotation of the film title. Otherwise, free translation is better. Such as Cash Mccall (Shang Hai Qing Shen); Shane (Wild Wilderness).

There are many excellent free-translation film titles. Here are a few examples for your appreciation: The Best Years of Our Lives: The Golden Age; Singing In the Rain: Ten Thousand Flowers Play in Spring, Singing in the Rain; Rebel Without a Cause: Whose fault is it for a good son to be unfilial, Days of Being Wild; Lawrence Of Arabia: a desert tyrant; It's a Wonderful Life: a man of the hour; It's Not Me, It's Him: an imposter; Big Bully: Enemies meet on a narrow road, etc.

3． Transliteration method

Many film titles themselves are often special nouns representing names of people and places. They can be directly transliterated as long as it does not cause misinterpretation of the culture of the target language. Such as: Rocky: (Rocky); Casablaca (Casablanca). However, many examples show that there are very few examples of pure transliteration, because most of the names of people and places that represent the film titles are unknown to domestic audiences. Therefore, the solution of transliteration plus free translation should be considered to achieve satisfactory results. Such as Patton: General Patton; Forrest Gump: Forrest Gump; King Kong: Donkey Kong and so on.

4. Alternative translation

When the above translation methods are difficult to achieve equivalence, or the translated name is the result of dead translation or random translation, resulting in the translated name being obscure and difficult to understand, alternative translation can be used. For example: Earthquake was originally translated as "earthquake", which gives people the feeling of a science and education film, which is very far from the content of the original film. Later translated as "shock and kill", the equivalence is better achieved. Another example, Gia. Gia is the abbreviation of supermodel Gia Carangi. If transliterated, it is meaningless. Now, according to the content of the story, it is translated as "lovely dress"; Speed ??tells the story of detaching a time bomb on a high-speed train.

The plot of the story is ups and downs and exciting. It truly reflects that "life" and "death" are all related to the "speed" of the train. The translation of "Life and Death Speed" can be described as a classic. Excellent works include: Entrapment; Playing By Heart; Matrix; The Duke; While You Were Sleeping; It Happened One Night ); George Wallace (Legend of the Storm), etc.

Four-character words are an important feature of Chinese vocabulary. It can be seen from the above translation examples that four-character words are used very frequently as translations, and they can immediately arouse the audience's sense of recognition to a large extent. Therefore, the translation of four-character words often has a surprising effect and is widely used by translators.

The so-called literal translation means that when the language conditions of the target language permit, the content of the original text and the form of the original text are maintained in the translation--especially the metaphor, image, and national and local color of the original text. Traditional film title translation theory believes that a literal translation that retains the "original flavor" and "original style" of the original film title is the best translation method. "Authentic flavor" and "original style and appearance" are what Mr. Lu Xun said to maintain the "exotic flavor" and "foreign style". A considerable part of the movies we have come across are translated using this method. This kind of translation method is easy to understand and loyal to the original title. For example: How's Moving Castle "Howl's Moving Castle" mentions that "castle" refers to a fixed building as the name suggests, and the limitation of the word "moving" not only increases the mystery of the title, but is also enough to arouse the audience's interest. Curiosity, so literal translation of this film title may be the best solution for translation. The film tells the story of a magical castle that can fly around. Legend has it that an evil magician with boundless power lives in it. He collects young girls and sucks their souls. Some say he likes to eat their hearts. All the young girls in the town are warned not to go out alone lest they be caught in the evil castle and be devoured by demons. But it is such a legendary and terrifying castle that tells us a poignant love story and shows the true love between people. There are countless fascinating examples of using literal translation to achieve a head start, such as: Batman Begins, Beauty and the Beast, The Pink Panther, The Producers, Corpse Bride, Pride and Prejudice, Hair, Monsters, Inc., Lion King, A Beautiful Mind, The Little Mermaid ", The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sleeping Beauty, Mystic River, 21Grams, Whale Rider, Cold Mountain (Cold Mountain), Walk the Line, Brokeback Mountain, Polar Express, Catwoman, Million Dollar Baby, Crash, Superman Returns "Superman Returns", The Constant Gardener, Kindergarten Cop, Evil, Twin Sisters, Shark Tale, etc.

In the above example, it is not difficult for readers to find that the degree of overlap between the translation and the original text is astonishing, and it can almost achieve a word-by-word translation. However, literal translation is not a rigid translation or a hard translation, and it cannot be a word-for-word translation. List of.

For example: Sound of Music is translated as "The Sound of Music", which is one of the classic examples of literal translation. It is the most widely praised lively and warm music movie in the history of movies. It is fresh and elegant, and is both elegant and popular. It has both humorous taste and deep and solemn emotions. It is often rated as the "most popular film" in public opinion polls in various countries and is one of the highest-grossing films in the world. Maria, a beautiful nun with a free and kind nature, the beautiful slopes of the Austrian Alps, clear lakes, elegant villas, a group of lively and lovely children, and the courage to resist the Nazis and pursue freedom, all of which moved me deeply. The hearts of people around the world. It is such a refined and fresh film that Hong Kong and Taiwan have translated it as "Immortal music is heard everywhere". This sentence comes from the famous poem of Bai Juyi, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty: "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" "The blue clouds are rising from the heights of Li Palace, and the fairy music is floating in the wind." "I heard it everywhere." This translation first makes people feel cumbersome and redundant, and secondly, it goes against the artistic conception of the original text. inappropriate! There are many other examples, such as: War of the World, Kingdom of Heaven, Father of the Bride, Pieces of April, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Eternal Sunshine of the Pure Heart, Dances with Wolves, Memories of a Geisha, City of God, Girl With a Pearl Earring Girl" and so on.

II Transliteration

When translating film titles, foreign names, English proper nouns, places, historical events, and words that cannot be corresponding in Chinese are generally translated in this way. translate. For example: Mulan's "Mulan" describes the massive invasion of the Central Plains by the Xiongnu army led by Shan Yu. The emperor of the Northern Dynasties ordered that one person from each household must go to the front line to fight the enemy. Mulan resolutely decided to join the army on behalf of her elderly and inconvenient father. With the help of the ancestral temple guardian "Mu Xulong" and the loyal cricket "Jiji", she disguised herself as a man and saved the entire army with her bravery and wisdom. Killed Shanyu and defended his motherland. In the end, Mulan regained her daughter's body openly and returned to her hometown in fine clothes, winning supreme glory for her family. This film is an animated blockbuster produced by Disney Company, but it is adapted from the well-known Chinese story "Mulan Joins the Army". It uses foreign aesthetics to interpret the ancient Chinese legend, so the simple and clear transliteration of "Mulan" It is enough to arouse the people's infinite portrayal of Mulan's image. Aladdin, I believe everyone is familiar with Aladdin. It is adapted from the myth "Arabian Nights" and tells the adventure story of young Aladdin. With the help of his pet monkey Abu and a psychic magic carpet, Aladdin fights against evil. The wizards start a duel. Although there are some names of people and places in the original text that are not well known to the audience, because they have few syllables and are short, the transliteration can be accepted by the majority of the audience, such as: Elary "Elary", Chicago "Chicago", Ryan "Ryan", Harry Potter, Munich, Capote, Syriana, Rosetta, etc.

Of course, not every Western character, place name, or historical event is translated through transliteration. We try our best to avoid some transliterated film titles that are easily misleading or confusing to the audience. For example: Waterloo Bridge, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Oliver Twist, etc. These film titles, if transliterated, should obviously be translated as "Waterloo Bridge", "Peter Pan", "Dumbo", etc. So far, from the title of the film, we can neither understand the soul-stirring love, nor can we imagine the heroic idol in children's minds - Peter Pan, let alone Dumbo, who has a pair of blue eyes and a pair of oversized ears... …

III Free Translation

Each national language has its own vocabulary, syntactic structure and expression methods. When the ideological content of the original text is inconsistent with the expression form of the target text and it is not suitable to use literal translation, free translation should be used.

1. Based on the original title, make appropriate modifications based on the content of the film, for example: Chicken Little. Little is the name of the protagonist of the film. For literal translation, we can translate the film as "Chicken Little". "Chicken Little", but although this translation is loyal to the original title, it cannot attract the audience's attention and cannot give the audience any appeal. There are also different translations for this film, such as: "Chicken Story" and "Chicken Movie". After seeing "General Mobilization", some viewers may immediately react: Why is it "General Mobilization" again? Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Cars, The Incredibles, Valiant... Our translators have no other words to choose from except "Finding Nemo". Woolen cloth? The translation of Chicken Little as "Four-Eyed Chicken" is a masterpiece: "Four Eyes" vividly depicts the cute and innocent chicken Little wearing a pair of small glasses. The film tells the story of the little chicken Little who saw a piece of "sky" falling. He panicked and made the people in the whole town panic. When everyone found out that it was just an "acorn", he became the little chicken. The laughingstock of the town. In order to save his reputation and prove that he is not a coward, the little boy who lives up to his name joins the baseball team and becomes a hero in the town. But that night, the "sky" fell again. Did it really fall? The little chicken that is obsessed with "heaven" all day long may not be an exaggeration to be called a celestial chicken! . There are many similar examples, such as: Big Momma's House, Finding Nemo, Hanging Up, Gone With the Wind, Collateral, Something's Gotta Give "Love is a Compromise", Master andCommander: the Far Side of the World, Closer "Stealing Hearts", Sideways "Sideways", Taffic "Drug Deal", Home Alone "Home Alone", Epicenter "Havoc" "The Fright", Tootsie "My Fair Lady", Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Cooler "The Unlucky Guy" and so on.

2. Abandon the original title and re-establish the title based on the storyline. This method of translating film titles is also common: some titles that cannot highlight the content of the film, establish the emotional tone of the entire film, or attract the audience, or are named after names of people, places with too many syllables, or content that is unfamiliar to the audience. Films often use this translation method. For example: The Lake House is translated as "Unreachable Lovers" or "Love Letters Jumping Through Time and Space". It tells the story of two tenants of the house who have never met each other through letters. They talk about trivial matters, hopes, losses and everything, but also discover each other. There was actually two years of time and space between them, and the connection between the two people who gradually fell in love was just the mailbox standing next to the lake house... This kind of translation is far better than the literal translation of the film title "Little Things by the Lake" Bring shock to the audience. Another example: Oliver Twist "Oliver Twist", Cinderella "Cinderella", Peter Pan "Peter Pan", Dumbo "Little Flying Elephant", Pinocchio "Pinocchio", Cinderella Man "The Iron Fist", Gost " "The Love Between Man and Ghost", Flushed Away, "The Revenge of the Prince", Hamlet, "Cast Away", etc.

IV Flexible combination of multiple translation methods

Different languages ??have their own characteristics and forms. They have similarities in terms of vocabulary, grammar, idioms, expression methods, etc., and there are also Differences. Therefore, different methods must be used when translating, either literal translation, free translation or transliteration, tailor-made and flexibly.

The ultimate goal of different translation methods is to faithfully express the ideological content and stylistic style of the original work. They have different approaches to the same goal and are not mutually exclusive or contradictory. The translator should combine them.

1. A combination of literal translation and phonetic meaning, such as: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Legend of Zorro.

2. The combination of pronunciation, meaning and free translation, for example: Shrek is translated into "Shrek Monster" much better than "Shrek". Because judging from the literal meaning, I don’t know what Shrek is. On the one hand, the "monster" appears lively and interesting, highlighting the style of the cartoon; on the other hand, it can arouse the curiosity of the audience. Similar examples include: Tarzan, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Joe Dirt, Titanic, Garfield, etc.

3. The combination of literal translation and free translation, such as: The Watcher is translated into "The Peeping Killer", which not only allows the audience to feel a terrifying and tense atmosphere, but also allows the audience to understand the subject matter and story of the film. Having a general understanding of the story naturally gave rise to the desire to watch the movie; The Wizard of Oz. Oz means an illusory and incredible wonderland. The title of the film comes from the novel "The Wizard of Oz" written by Li Baichuan in the Qing Dynasty. This book The main clue is to write about gods and miracles, so the name is very appropriate and vivid; Waterloo Bridge, as we all know, the British funded the construction of Waterloo Bridge on the Thames River in 1817 to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's command of the British army to defeat Napoleon and achieve Waterloo If "Victory of the Battle" is literally translated into English as "Waterloo Bridge", at first glance, the audience will definitely think that this is a war film related to Napoleon's war or a documentary about the construction of the bridge, and it is far inferior to "Blue Soul". Bridge" effect. Similar examples include: Sleeper, The Sea Inside, Brother Bear, Downfall, My Fair Lady, In America. ”, Toy Story, It Happened one Night, Lost in Translation, Ordinary People, Thirteen, The Village, etc.

Through the above examples, we can see that film title translation does not blindly copy the content and form of the original film title, but is tailored and flexibly processed according to the respective ideological content and stylistic style. Specifically, it means that the movie title should not only be faithful to the original film content, but also have strong appeal and appeal; it should be fascinating.

With the continuous improvement of Chinese people’s living standards and aesthetic tastes, English-language movies are increasingly favored by consumers in the Chinese market, and many familiar movie titles have emerged, such as Casablanca ("Casablanca") , Ghost, Pretty Woman.

1. The current situation of English movie title translation

However, most English movie title translations have been criticized by many conservative translators.

Their accusations mainly come from two aspects: First, according to traditional translation theory, what can be translated literally should be translated as literally as possible. However, according to statistics, only 20% of the more than 100 Hollywood blockbusters that entered China in 2001 were literally translated, such as: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Unforgiven, The Age of Innocence, Human Factor, Natural Born Killers, Coquette ("The Lovers"), The Perfect World ("Beautiful World"), Pearl Harbor ("Pearl Harbor"), America's Sweethearts ("American Sweethearts"), Original Sin ("Original Sin"), Training Day ("Training Day" "), Monsters. Inc. ("Monsters Inc."), Spy Game ("Spy Game"); on the other hand, 60% of the translations are a bit like the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School: such as: White Sister ("The Grudge of the Empty Gate"), Lady Hamilton, You Can't Take It with You, Deeds Goes to Town, The Story of Louis Pasteur ), Lucky Lady, The Equals, The Divine Lady, Cavalcade, etc., have been criticized as vulgar and exaggerated, and are not " "Fist" is "pillow".

Now the translation industry has gradually accepted the theory that movie titles are different from ordinary book title translations. It is a method of communication that is intentionally added to have no meaning due to actual needs. It is different from the method of literary translation that strictly follows the author's original intention and strives for spiritual resemblance. Therefore, the translation of movie titles used as advertising translations can be completely different from the original ones to adapt to the local market. But even so, English movie titles should follow rules and strive to achieve the unity of "faithfulness", "expression" and "elegance", and should not abandon all principles to cater to the audience in pursuit of pure economic interests.

2. Common translation methods

1. Literal translation

In the translation of the film title, the content and form of the original film title are retained to the greatest extent according to the characteristics of the source language and the target language. This is literal translation. When the source language and the target language have functional overlap, this is the simplest and most effective translation method.

This is also the best translation method recognized by my country's traditional translation circles, because this translation method retains the form and meaning of the original film title to the greatest extent. Sometimes even the word order is copied from the original film title. Many of the film titles have an astonishing degree of overlap between Chinese and English. , which can almost achieve word-for-word translations, such as: America's Sweethearts, Six Days Seven Nights, Scent of Women, Water World. ), Air Force One ("Air Force One"), Brave Heart ("Brave Heart"), True Lies ("True Lies"), Roman Holiday ("Roman Holiday"), Modern Times ("Modern Times") , The First Blood, Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, New Man, Pearl Harbor, Artificial Intelligence "Smart"), The Princess Diaries ("Princess Diary"), Love Story ("Love Story"), Cider House Rules ("Cider House Rules"). Some other film titles, although the word order and structure have been slightly changed due to the characteristics of the target language, can still be regarded as literal translations due to the overall consistency, such as: American Beauty ("American Beauty"), A Farewell To Arms, A Streetcar Named Desire, Dances with Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, The Grapes of Wrath, All Quiet on the Western Font, The Sound of Music, On the Golden Pond, A Room with a View ("Room with a View"). It should be noted that the movie titles changed from famous works should be as close as possible to the original works, such as: The God Father ("The Godfather"), The Old Man and the Sea ("The Old Man and the Sea"), The Great Gastsby ("The Great") Gatsby"). On the one hand, it prevents the audience from feeling strange, and on the other hand, it can increase movie attendance through the effect of classics.

2． Free translation

Movie translation is different from general book title translation. It is actually a kind of advertising translation, that is, a communication method that deliberately injects meaning that is not originally there due to actual needs. Therefore, there is no need to strictly pursue the standards of "faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance". You only need to choose the good ones and follow them. The focus is on engaging the audience as much as the translation allows. For example: M r. Holland’s Opus. This is an American youth campus film that tells the story of an ordinary music teacher. Mr. Helan has been teaching conscientiously for 30 years. He has no fame or wealth in his life, but his students have been greatly influenced by him. A good metaphor is used in the film, comparing him to a symphony orchestra conductor. Every student is his note and his opus. If translated literally, it should be "Mr. Helan's Works". But the translation into "Spring Breeze Turns into Rain" is more profound and fully demonstrates a teacher's dedication to teaching and educating people. Because "spring breeze turns into rain" is often used as a metaphor for good education, it is easy to think of "moistening things silently".

There are many such successful examples, such as: Nicoand Dani ("The Spanish Virgin"), The Wedding Planner ("Falling in Love with the Bridegroom"), The Others ("The Island"), Cast Away ("Cast Away"), Little Nicky ("The Devil's Successor"), Of Mice and Men ("All Living Beings"), Kate and Leopold ("Love in Another World"), The Mexican ("Magic Gun"), Glitter ("Star Dream"), Serendipity ("Fate") "Destined"), In the Bedroom ("Unfaithful Love"), Rebecca ("Butterfly Dream"), Annatasia ("The True and False Princess"), Cleopatra ("Cleopatra"), Deuce Bigalow ("Like a Fish in Water") .

3． Transliteration

In traditional translation, there are many examples of transliteration. For example: Jane Eyre, Hamlet, Macbeth, Casablanc, especially famous figures or events in history. If they are already familiar to Chinese audiences, they will be more important. Use transliteration instead.

4. Combination of transliteration and free translation

Due to the differences between Eastern and Western languages ??and cultures, movies that use names of people, places, and things as titles can be distinguished based on whether the audience is familiar with them. In addition to transliteration or free translation, you can also transliterate first and then add appropriate words based on the content of the film to fully express the content of the original film or to be more consistent with the translation habits. For example, the cartoon Shrek, translated as "Shrek Monster" is definitely much better than "Shrek". Because judging from the literal meaning, I don’t know what Shrek is. On the one hand, the "monster" appears lively and interesting, highlighting the style of the cartoon; on the other hand, it can arouse the curiosity of the audience. Similar examples include: Titanic ("Titanic"), Elizabeth ("Queen Elizabeth"), Tarzan ("Tarzan"), Philadelphia ("Philadelphia Story"), Forrest Gump ("Forrest Gump") ), Joe Dirt ("Jodette"), and Stuart Little ("Stuart Little Mouse").

5. Literal translation combined with free translation

Literal translation retains some elements of the original name and adds some summary of the content. This kind of translation is usually regarded as the last resort by traditional translation circles, and it is really a last resort. However, in the translation of English film titles, this translation method is often used because it can be faithful to the original text and attract the audience to the greatest extent. "Faithfulness" is regarded as the first principle. Between the "loyalty and plain" translation and the "refined and popular" "chaotic translation", the former is the only correct choice. Proper and appropriate combination of literal translation and free translation is a very commendable translation method. For example: Mrs. Doubtfire is a movie about a divorced man who dressed up as a fat old lady and worked as a servant at his ex-wife's house so that he could see his children every day. Translated as "Mr. Fat Mom", the gender contradiction in the title can well highlight the comedy style of the film. Antz is an American cartoon that tells the story of how the ant kingdom worked together to win at a critical moment of life and death under the pressure of powerful enemies. "A Bug's Life" is obviously better than the literal translation of "Ants". And because "bug" is a homophone to "crisis" (crisis), the audience will feel curious and good at the first sight.

In addition, there are many well-translated film titles, such as: A Walk in the Clouds, Waterloo Bridge, Madison County Bridge, The Bachelor. "Billionaire"), Bandits ("Perfect Thief"), The Fugitive ("The Fugitive"), Pretty Woman ("Pretty Woman"), Speed ??("Speed"), The Net ("Internet Love") , First Knight, The Piano, The Opposite of Sex, Blood and Sand, The Independence day 》), The Three Musketeers, She is So Lovely, In the Hear of Night, The Wizard of Oz, Volcano "The City on Fire"), Ghost ("The Love between Humans and Ghosts"), The Legend of the Fall ("The Years of Love"), Best in Show ("Pet Dog Contest"), The Thomas Crown Affair ("Dragnet"), etc. .