E-C Translation of Hollywood Film Titles

Abstract

The title is the essence of a film, the business card of the film. Different from ordinary textual translation, film title translation conveys specific purposes. The quality of film title translation is directly related to the acceptance of the film in market. Under the background of commercial marketing, maximizing the box-office return and restoring, highlighting or even optimizing the brand effect in the process of title translation is not only the concern of interest stakeholders, but also the new mission for every translator. Based on Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory and the Skopos Theory, the paper first analyzes functions of film title. Then, it explores the translation methods of Hollywood film titles translation in order to provide a new perspective for the film title translators. Some traditional translation methods are adopted in film title translation: amplification, literal translation, transliteration and free translation; while some creative strategies including adaptation/revision and parody are applied to achieve a film title’s functions.