On the Film Title Translation from English into Chinese from the Cultural Differences Aspect

Contents…………………………………………………………………………………………2Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………3Chapter One Introduction……………………………………………………………………… 4Chapter Two Literature Review……………………………………………………………4-72.1 Sources of Film Titles……………………………………………………………………..52.2 The Characteristics of Film Titles………………………………………………………62.3 Specific roles of Film Titles……………………………………………………………….62.4 Review of Studies on the Chinese Translation of English Film Titles…………...7Chapter Three Cultural Differences in Film Titles……………………………………...7-93.1 Material Cultural Factors………………………………………………………………...73.2 Institutional Cultural Factors……………………………………………………………73.3 Psychological Cultural Factors………………………………………………...8-93.4 Miscellaneous Factors…………………………………………………………....9Chapter Four Methods of Film Title Translation…………………………………… ..9-124.1Free Translation………………………………………………………………..9-104.2 Literal Translation………………………………………………………………104.3 Transliteration………………………………………………………………………….10-114.4 Adaptation……………………………………………………………………11-12Chapter 5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………12Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..13AbastractThe film, a popular art with both artistic and commercial values, is one of the most influential mass media with large quantities of English film being introduced into China. The film title, as an important part of film, is of informative, expressive and vocative functions and its translation is a challenging job.

This paper studies the Chinese translation of English films on the cultural differences aspect. Language and culture are two inseparable twins. Language is a reflection of culture and also part of culture. Culture regards language as one of its manifestation forms and exerts profound influence on language. To film titles, there is no exception. As part of language and the enlightening part of films that keeps up with times, film titles bear rich culture imprints. This paper analyses the cultural differences in the film titles and the common methods of English-Chinese translation.

Key words: film titles, cultural differences, English-Chinese translationOn the Film Title Translation from English into Chinese from the Cultural Differences AspectChapter 1 IntroductionFilm, one of the most important mass media, is an audio-visual art. It creates images, narrates stories, expresses feelings, states philosophy and attracts the audience by its sound, color and moving pictures. Film is more direct and sensitive than any other form of art to keep pace with times. Ever since the adoption of the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world at the end of the 1970s, cultural exchanges have become increasingly prevalent and the receptors of dubbed films have greatly expanded.Meanwhile, people begin to investigate the films from various angles and comparison between films of different countries also starts to prosper. However, being a special and significant part of films, film titles are far from being explored and there is a relative paucity of writings on film title translation. Ever since the importing and exporting of films, the translation of film titles are always faced with the problem of incongruity. At first glance, it seems like a question of personal preference or the language proficiency of the translators. However, after thinking it over, we find that cultural factors play a very important role in the translation process.Although there are numbers of articles dealing with the translation of literary works or scientific literature, few essays are written concerning the translation of films, let alone film titles. The paper looks at the English into Chinese translation process of film titles from the cultural differences aspect.

Chapter 2 Literature ReviewA thorough understanding of film and film title is necessary before film title translation work starts because the acquaintance with the research subject provides the foremost guarantee of a fruitful research. First of all, it is necessary to define the object of the study. Just like literary genres, there are many types of films, but the most significant categories are documentaries, science and educational films, and feature films as suggested in The Complete Film Dictionary (Konigsberg, 1987:2-381).Documentaries are non-fiction films, which are a true record of all the social and natural things. Science and educational films refer to those films which introduce scientific knowledge to people. These two kinds of films aim to transmit information and popularize science, and are intended for specific purposes. Thus the audiences are relatively small in number and specialized in nature. While feature films, which tell fictional stories derived from reality but portrayed by actors and actresses, are those most commonly shown in film theatres. They are intended to entertain and enjoy much greater popularity than films of the first two categories. For the convenience of discussion, the present thesis confines its tentative study to feature film titles.

In accordance with The Complete Film Dictionary, a title means any words that appear on the screen not as part of the scene but as a means of conveying information to the audience. "Credit titles" appear at the start and conclusion of a film to cite the various personnel responsible for the motion picture; "the main title" gives the name of the film; "subtitles" are placed at the bottom of the scene to translate foreign language; "the end title" tells the audience that the film is concluded and "end titles" give us the credits (Konigsberg, 1987:381). The present thesis will discuss the "main title" which gives the name of a film.

2.1 Sources of Film TitlesA better understanding of the sources of film titles is the prerequisite of proper translation of film titles, because it can help translators detect the way of film title naming, which definitely facilitates the translation work. According to He Ying, most film titles indicate the plot, background, theme, hero or heroine or, the clue of the film(He Ying2001).

One of the chief sources of film titles is the plot of the film. The story in the film may develop around the plot from the very beginning to the end. It can be said without exaggeration that it ranks as the most important source, which could be further confirmed by the following examples:Around the World in 80 Days, Death of the Nile.

The background, which plays a very important part in characterization, the development of the plot as well as the expression of the theme, could also serve as one of the chief sources. As far as background is concerned, it consists of several aspects such as time, place and environment in which the story happens. A number of film titles of this kind can be found such as Philadelphia, Titanic and Casablanca.

Some films are named in an attempt to provide the audience with the information of the main theme of the film. Audiences are supposed to get the gist of the film through the film title. Their desire to know what is really going on in the film will be aroused by this thought-provoking naming approach. A host of film titles can be listed to illustrate this point such as Brave Heart, A Beautiful Mind.

A large proportion of films are named after the main characters in the films. Adjectives describing their characteristics or personality may be added in front of the characters ' name. In most cases, there is one leading role while in some cases there are two or more. To name but a few, Forrest Gump, Rebecca, Kramer vs. Kramer and Bonnie and Clyde are examples of such film titles.

Some film titles have something to do with their clues that run through them from the very beginning to the end without which the story would be difficult to be organized and consequently be incompact. Such examples can be found in Schindler 's List, Twister, Golden Eye.

2.2 The Characteristics of Film TitlesFilm titles are basically characterized by conciseness and expressiveness. They are succinct and clear with only a small number of long titles in sight. Besides, as an art form, they have aesthetic and artistic values and many of them are culturally loaded. In order to make the title more expressive and impressive, many rhetoric devices are employed, such as simile, metaphor, oxymoron and the like. In addition, idioms and allusions, which convey rich cultural connotations, are frequently used. The overall characteristics of film titles will be approached from the linguistic, cultural, and aesthetic perspectives.

2.3Specific roles of Film TitlesFirstly, film title is a cultural product. Film as a popular art reflects the main trend of ideology of the society. Film title, a necessary part of film is also a part of this cultural product.What 's more, film title itself also bears cultural features of the region where the film is produced. Abundant cultural elements have been traced in film titles: such as idioms, slang, popular words, lines of poems, titles of literary works, historical events, dialects etc. Film titles have well had the source culture reflected and condensed. Due to the above two reasons, film titles should be treated as a cultural product.

Secondly, film title is the trademark of film. It is necessary to first state the definition of trademark. According to New Oxford English Dictionary, trademark is "a symbol, word or words leagally registered or established by use as presenting a company or product"(Pearsall 2003:1964). Film producers input large amount of capital and manpower into the making of a film and of course require high profits. Film will also confront fierce competition in the market. In this sense film is also a highly commercialized commodity. Film title as a marker of the film, which is composed of words, legally registered,proved by authorities of the film censorship and used to present a film,plays a role of the trademark of film.

Thirdly, film title is a piece of art.Film is a completely new form of art.Different from the traditional form of art, with the aid of advanced science and technology and by absorbing advantages of other arts, film has created an unprecedented form of art, which presents audience with a vivid description combined with sounds and colourful pictures in motion through camera.Since its birth, it has been spread to every corner of the world because of its unique ways of expressing feelings and emotion and has become a necessity in people 's spiritual life.Film title, as a necessary part of film is a segment and component of a piece of art.Without film title, a film cannot be viewed as a complete work and will be forgotten by the audience soon.Moreover, the creating of film title is highly creative. A good film title can not only provide the audience aesthetic enjoyment, information about the film but also can evoke the audience 's desire to see the film. The naming process itself is an artistic creation.Therefore, film title should also be viewed a piece of art.

2.4 A Review of Studies on the Chinese Translation of English Film TitlesThough the activity of translation has begun for a long time, books on systematic study of film title translation are not found up to now. There are some writings on this topic in some of the chapters of several books, such as Bao Huinan 's Cultural Context and Linguistic Translation, Chen Hongwui 's New Practical Translation Book from Chinese to English. Wu Min 's article A Brief Analysis of English Film Title Translation probably is the first of its kind concerning film title translation which was published at core journal in 1995. Only two to three articles were published every year till 2001. After 2002 articles increased to six to seven, noticeably there were about thirty articles in 2005.

Chapter 3 Cultural Differences in Film TitlesCulture consists of "the shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts"(D.G. Bates & F. Plog, 1990: 28). This means not only such material things as clothing, food and houses but also non-material things such as ideas, customs, family patterns, slang and other formal or informal languages. Putting it simply, culture refers to the entire way of life of a society. Culture is divided into three categories, namely, material, institutional and psychological with the last one at the core.

3.1 Material Cultural FactorsMaterial culture includes all the tangible things created in a culture, such as buildings, streets, meals, etc. The differences in material culture can be easily seen in language, whose main function is to donate the things present in a culture. For example, the absence of such sweets as chocolate in traditional Chinese culture results in the lack of equivalent expression in Chinese language. That is why we have to translate chocolate into Qiaokeli which has almost the same pronunciation with the original text. Film titles, part of culture, are no exception in the reflecting of material culture. For instance, the following Chinese film tiles Miao Jie Huang Hou(), Gu Jin Da Zhan Qin Yong Qing(), Gang Tie Chang Cheng() and Ai Qing Ma La Tang() mention such things as Miao Street, Warrior Statue of Qin Dynasty, and Hot Pot which are peculiar to Chinese culture, while the following English film Titles Air Force One()American Pie()Apollo 13(), Chocolate()refer to something peculiar to its own culture.

3.2 Institutional Cultural FactorsDifferent tracks of development lead to different regulations and systems. As a result of the vast gap in the tracks of development between United States of America and China, their political system, economical system, medical system as well as law system inevitably make a great difference. The habitual practice in the same situation may vary a great deal. As is seen such film titles as Wu Er Ge Qing Shen() , Gua Sha () and X-files, a god could be "invited" into the home of the mortal in Chinese tradition, the customary treatment of a cold in some parts of China is Guasha and the cases that can not be solved in FBI are entitled X-files, etc.

3.3 Psychological Cultural Factors(1) PerceptionThe process of perception includes two stages. The first is the physical mechanism of recognition or identification which is accomplished through sensory organs. At the second stage, interpretation and evaluation take place, the results of which are not the same for all people and are influenced by all the past experiences. By exposing a large group of people to similar experiences, culture generates similar meanings. " Perceptions of the world are representations we make from both the nerve impulses that reach our brain and our unique set of experiences supplied to us as members of a particular culture." (Samovar, 2000:57) There exist various kinds of theories as for the different ways of perceiving the world between Chinese and western cultures. One common portrait of the difference posits a radical incommensurability on the very nature of philosophical inquiry. Chinese philosophy is "wisdom" literature, composed primarily of stories and sayings designed to move the audience to adopt a way of life or to confirm its adoption of that way of life.

Western philosophy is systematic argumentation and theory. One reason to think so is the fairly widespread wariness in Chinese philosophy of a seemingly discursive rationality that operates by deduction of conclusions about the particular from high-level generalizations. Confucians articulate their teachings in the form of principles, but such principles seem to function as designators of values or general considerations that ought to be given weight in judgments about what to do. Never lost is recognition of the necessity for the exercise of discretion in judgment according to the particular circumstances at hand. The best rules lose applicability in unusual circumstances. Rules and values conflict in many circumstances, and there are no "super-principles" to supply ready answers. The appropriate resolution to each conflict depends very much on the situation. When we encounter situations that pose similar-looking conflicts in stories we have heard before, we will use the story as a resource and a model. That model is not the same as a general principle that would deductively yield a judgment about what to do in the present situation. We must exercise judgment in determining what to do. In such ways, Chinese thinkers draw a picture of the world that must in the end be evaluated by explanatory power in some very broad sense. So then, it is right to say that Chinese philosophy is invitational while Western philosophy is argumentative. It is true that much Western philosophy, especially of the late modern variety, and most especially emanating from the United Kingdom and North America, attempts to establish its claims through argumentation that is more rigorous than appeals to experience and explanatory power in the broad sense. This vague or allusive characteristic of Chinese perception is well displayed in a great many film titls such as Bo Li Zhi Cheng (), Chun Guang Zha Xie (), Si Shui Liu Nian (), Chun Tian De Kuang Xiang (), Ting Yuan Shen Shen (), Liu Lian Piao Piao () which either create an atmosphere for the film or use a symbol to symbolize the theme of the film. By contrast, most English film titles are more direct and straightforward. They either refer to the leading role of the film or indicate the main plot or setting of the film: Ghost(), Gladiator(), The Graduate (), Home Alone(), etc. The perceptive difference between the two is also reflected in the Chinese translation works of English films titles: Rebecca as Hu Die Meng ()Waterloo Bridge as Hun Duan Lan Qiao(). These translation works turned the originally plain and straight film tiles into allusive ones, which are more favorable in Chinese culture.

(2) ValuesValues refer to the enduring belief that a specific mode of act or end-state existence is personally or socially preferred to another. Values are a learned organization of rules for making decisions and for resolving conflicts. These rules and guideposts are normative and teach us what is useful, good , right, wrong, what to strive for, how to live our lives and even what to die for. As Albert says, a value system "represents what is expected or hoped for, required or forbidden. It is not a report of actual conduct but is the system of criteria by which conduct is judged and sanctions applied." (E.Albert. 1968: 32). While each of us has a unique set of individual values, here values are used to refer to those permeating a culture, that is, cultural values.

3.4 Miscellaneous factorsThe above-mentioned cultural factors are observed from a macro perspective. In fact, many other cultural factors are also in effect in film names. As mentioned in foregoing chapters, counterpart words with the same literal meanings in different cultures do not necessarily have the same connotational meanings. For example, "seven" and "thirteen" which are flavored by Christian culture as unlucky numbers do not impart the same meanings as their Chinese counterparts which are only plain numbers. Therefore, the film title Thirteen Days() carries a cultural meaning besides its literal meaning. The corresponding expressions of color in different cultures also carry different connotational meanings. The color blue in American culture expresses sad feelings, while it implies calm and peace in Chinese culture. The color red has the implication of violence in American culture and may symbolize a happy occasion in Chinese culture. The film titles Blue Boy() and Hong Xi Fu () give people of different cultures different feelings at the first sight. In addition to the cultural factors, there are still many other factors that influence the naming of a film.

Chapter 4 Methods of Film Title Translation4.1 Free TranslationFree translation is an alternative approach that is used mainly to convey the meaning and the spirit of the original title without sticking to the form mechanically. This method is most frequently used when it is impossible or difficult for the translator to do literal translation. In this process, the translator is more concerned about the content of the film than about the title so as to avoid misunderstanding and unintelligibility. The above mentioned the Third Man and Bird-keeper are accordingly translated into and (in view of the content of the films to avoidmisunderstanding. Free translation often calls for some techniques, such as omission, extension, conversion and amplification in particular. As mentioned in the foregoing chapter, English film titles are often plain in wording. To make the Chinese version informative enough, the translators often resort to amplification when and where necessary. Take Bambi for example. If translated as ""the audience would have no way to know that it is a film to the taste of the children. Once "" is added to"", the image of a lovely animal immediately jumps into the audience 's mind at the sight of this version. As is also the case with the translation of Piano into ()Blood and Sand into() .

4.2 Literal TranslationLiteral translation strives to reproduce both form and content of the original according to the respective characteristics of English and Chinese and retains as much as possible the figures of speech. In the actual process of translation, this method proves very simple and feasible when its title reflects almost exactly the content of a film. These titles can almost be e translated word for word. For instance, Shindler 's List is rendered as (),Four Weddings and a Funeral as (),Gentleman 's Agreement as ()Human Factors as ()and Dances with Wolves as (). A case is the film Brave Heart. The American film is a powerful, passionate film about a brave man, a legendary Scots warrior who led his nation into battle against the intruders. The title Brave Heart successfully imparts the content of the film and the Chinese version () has reproduced the original title in terms of form and then in terms of style. It must be kept in mind that word-for-word translation of some English film titles may violate Chinese idiomatic ways of expressions and their esthetic taste. Therefore , sometimes, this word-for-word translation needs to be slightly altered. The following examples use adjustment of word order: Man in Black as()The Wild River as()A Walk in the Clouds as(); Dance in the Dark as(); A Streetcar Named Desire as() and so on. Besides a title seemingly suitable to be translated literally may need a second thought. For example, Bird-Keeper can not be translated into "" because its meaning is a prisoner who is sentenced to life imprisonment. Similarly, the Third Man can not be translated into"" because"" in Chinese culture refers to a person who is having an affair with a married person, which is not the meaning contained in the English title.

4.3 TransliterationTransliteration is to seek phonetic correspondence in terms of the translation of proper names, the name of persons and places in particular in the film titles. It relates to the conversion of different alphabets in different language systems. Although not widely used in the translation of film titles, it turns out to be indispensable. When viewers in the target language are familiar with the name of the person or address involved in the title or possessive of latent historical and cultural connotations of such titles, such titles are usually preserved by means of transliteration. In particular, the names in the titles of films adapted from world-famous novels tend to be kept, for the names in film titles are all the crystallization by which the author could reveal the typical characterization under typical environment. As pointed out by the famous English novelist Charles Dickens when he named the great literary work David Copperfield: "To name this book, I feel an upsurge of thoughts and emotions, just like the sea with roaring wave."200182. Such titles would be unquestioningly worth cherishing to each of their translators. If they are translated in other ways, the viewers may take it for an ordinary film and might well miss a good opportunity of appreciation. Then it is not only a great pity in artistic reproduction, but also a huge loss in box-office appeal, both of which are exceedingly significant to film industry. () Titanic()Casablanca,()Romeo and Juliet, ()Jane Eyre are all examples of this kind. As a coin with two sides, transliteration has its own advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it keeps the rhythm of the original title and attracts the audience 's attention with strong exotic flavor. On the other hand, transliteration aims at phonetic correspondence, that is, to describe the English syllables through the corresponding Chinese syllables. However, Chinese has twenty-one initial consonants, thirty-one simple or compound vowels as well as four tones, and especially features the trinity of the three, which make a great difference from English. The differences contribute to the difficulties of appropriate phonetic correspondence between English and Chinese. In addition, when seeking for the phonetic correspondence, the translator would inevitably take into consideration the meaning of the words chosen because Chinese people have formed such a habit of inferring the meaning of words through their form and pronunciation. That is why they attempt to offer a translation pleasant both to the eyes and ears. Strictly speaking, transliteration is not sheer phonetic correspondence, but tinged with semantic element.

Due to the intrinsic inadequacy of phonetic corresponding between English and Chinese, and Chinese people 's unfamiliarity with alien Chinese characters (a cluster of pointless phonetic combination), semantic correspondence is often preferred to phonetic correspondence. This can be shown by the following examples. Frankenstein , Cleopatra , Rebecca .

4.4 AdaptationAdaptation is the last resort in translating English film titles. It occurs sometimes to the translator that neither literal nor liberal translation works in some cases. Even if handled by the virtue of the two methods, some renderings still become obscure and hard to understand, or tend to be pedestrian and flat, or ambiguous and misleading. Faced with such dilemma, the translator has to develop his initiative and creativity to crack the hard nut. The choice would be adaptation.

Adaptation is to shake off the original title and makes a fresh one based on the content of the film. This approach lies in "betraying" the original title so as to be loyal to the latent meaning, the theme and the style of the film. To a large extent, adaptation is a process of generalization of the content of the film. Therefore, the translator must first understand the content and theme of the original film thoroughly, and then correctly and creatively reproduce a title.

In the practise of English film title translation, many successful, creative and appropriate Chinese versions meet the audience 's eyes, in which the diction is carefully weighted, the thematic meaning deeply explored, the artistic effect vividly reproduced and great interest and desire from the audience conjured up accordingly. The American science fiction film The Day After Tomorrow tells the story of the relation between human beings and the natural environment. Global warming melts the polar ice caps, which makes the oceans rise and disrupts the Gulf Stream. A climate shift occurs, sending the Earth into the ice an ice age. Millions die and the world is damaged forever, but the planet has "cleansed" itself. The version is an adaptation. For such a grand scene and a shocking and alarming movie, the version is apparently preferable.

So is the case with the translation of The Shawshank Redemption, a movie about a prisoner who is wrongly put in jail and strives for his freedom. Andy, the hero of the movie, escapes by digging through his cell wall in Shawshank Prison with his rock hammer in 20 years and then crawling 500 yards through dirty sewage pipe towards freedom in a stormy night. The version () is creative and faithful to the story. It vividly echoes the plot. Meanwhile, this version is good in the aesthetical appeal. It borrows an allusion from a Chinese poem by Lu Lun, in which a sentence describes a general escaping in a dark and windy night"". Such a genius borrowing matches the film well and arouses association from the audience. Here are more examples of successful adaptation: Volvano, You Can 't Take It with You, Rebbeca , Sideways.

Chapter 5 ConclusionThe film is one of the most influential mass media products. With China conducting more and more cultural, economic and political exchanges with foreign countries, English films have entered the Chinese market and held a very important position in Chinese people 's recreational life. So translating foreign films has become a significant activity in promoting cultural exchange.

The film title, as an important part of the film, not only attracts eyeballs, but also helps the film win an everlasting fame. Translating film titles is an interesting, meaningful and challenging activity.With the promotion of cultural communication, film importing and exporting will become more prosperous. The task of film title translation will at the same time become more and more important.

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Bibliography: 1] , [J], ,2001,(1)[2] 2001[3] Pearsall Judy,2003, The Oxford Dictionary of English [M], Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. [4] D. G. Bates & F. Plog. 1990. Cultural Anthropology, 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill[5] E. Albert. 1968. The International Encyclopedia of the Social Science. Macmillan[6] Larry A. Samovar, Richard E. Porter, Lisa A. Stefani. 2002. Communication Between Cultures. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Brooks/Cole/Thomson Learning Asia