On Chinese Film Title Translation From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

Film title translation is an important work, creative but transcultural. However, the current study of film title translation is far from instructive and systematical. Therefore, the study of film title translation is theoretically necessary; especially the translation from Chinese to English is far behind, compared to the English to Chinese film title translation which has begun for quite a long time. With the robust development of China's film industry in recent years, a growing number of Chinese films are exported overseas and it is highly necessary to conduct a comprehensive study of the English translation of Chinese film titles.This thesis aims to analyze the translation of Chinese film titles from the functional perspective in the hope of elaborating the application area of Skopostheorie and finding a guiding theory for film title translation from Chinese to English, and trying to work descriptively to discover the principles underlying Chinese film title translation, which is a purposeful activity. Its ultimate purpose is to induce the audience to see the film and it means to produce a target film title with defined functions of informing, persuading and entertaining the target audience, serving as the cultural medium and communicator and appealing to audience's interests. According to Skopostheorie, translation strategies are determined by the purpose (Skopos) of the target texts. Thus the translator can choose any strategies and methods that can best serve the particular functions and finally realize the Skopos of the translation.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is an introduction to the motivation, theoretical basis, aims, methodology and data collecting of the research. Chapter Two focuses on the definition and genre of films, the functions and features of film titles, the naming methods of film titles as well as the differences between Chinese film titles and English ones, and briefly reviews some related research achievements. Chapter Three deals with the theoretical framework which begins with the discussion on the background of the emergency of the Skopostheorie, and gives the basic concepts of the theory, and proceeds into the influence of Skopostheorie on translation. Chapter Four is the highlighted body of the thesis. First the functional approaches are applied to the Chinese film title translation. Second, in order to achieve the Skopos of Chinese film title translation, the author makes a theoretical analysis of the three factors considered to be essential to the fulfillment of the functions of Chinese film titles in translation, namely, cultural awareness, information transferring and aesthetic feeling. Finally, Skopostheorie is applied to the translation strategies of Chinese film titles by citing numerous examples from varied sources. Chapter Five the last chapter, is a conclusion based on the theories cited and case analysis made in previous ones.