A Comparative Study of Film Title Translation in Chinese Mainland， Hong Kong and Taiwan

【Abstract】Due to different social systems， economic development and cultural phenomenon in Chinese mainland， Hong Kong and Taiwan， one foreign film title may generate into various translation texts. Therefore， “one country， three-translation” phenomenon has come into being. This paper， combined with Spiritual Resemblance， attempts to analyze this phenomenon so as to better promote the film title translation.

【Key words】Spiritual Resemblance； Film Title Translation； One Country； Three-Translation Phenomenon

Introduction

As the idol of the Chinese translation industry， Fu Lei thought translation can be described as drawing a traditional Chinese painting， the essence is Spiritual Resemblance， which has three levels of meaning：

1. Understand all details and spirit of the original text

2. Translate words and meaning in the target text faithfully and vividly

3. Reveal the original charm and aesthetics

However， because of historical， economic and other reasons， though Chinese is still many peoples first language in the mainland， Hong Kong and Taiwan， peoples habits of language use are not the same. Therefore， controversial phenomenon of film title translation always exists.

Respective Features of Film Title translation

Chinese Mainland： Faithfulness and Rigor， Prefer to Literal Translation

Straight and expressive， the translation text in Chinese mainland is full of literal translation： Pearl Harbor was translated into珍珠港Atonement into赎罪， but sometimes it lacks creative thoughts and ideas. Moreover， the audiences English level is relatively low， therefore， a too exaggerated title may dispel their desire of watching.

In the process of translation， the faith to the original text has always

been firstly taken into consideration in Chinese mainland. As a result， the translation style is loyal and conservative， literal translation is the mainstream. By doing so， it avoids some over exaggerated translation texts and keeps the exoticism of the foreign language， leaving the audience with many vivid translation masterpieces.

Hong Kong： Emphasis on Entertainment， Reflection of Cantonese

The entertainment industry is well-developed in Hong Kong， reflecting in film title translation is the full use of humorous and entertaining language. More attention is paid to meet the demand of the audience in order to maximize benefits. Higher frequency of Cantonese is another obvious feature.

For instance， Pay It Forward was translated into拉阔爱的人， Snatch into边个够我姜， where“拉阔”is the transliteration of an English word “live” while“够姜”is Cantonese and often can be seen in the criminal films， which means enterprising and tough. Therefore， translators in Hong Kong focus more on translation attractiveness rather than translation form.

Taiwan： Elegance and Commercialization， Adequacy of Local Dialect

As a whole， film title translation in Taiwan is meaningful and elegance. However， with the recent impact of commercial tide， Taiwanese translation has become increasingly shocking. Words like“神鬼”or “疯狂”often appear. For example， The Shawshank Redemption was translated into刺激1995， only aimed to get on a “free ride” of the same series of the years blockbuster—The Sting.

Influenced by colonialism local Minnan dialect， Taiwanese translation is namely the mixture of multilingualism. For example： Anger Management（我爱发脾四）， Ted（熊麻吉）. “发脾四” is local Taiwanese while“麻吉”is an Japanese- influenced word.

Comparison of Different Film Title Translation Combined with Spiritual Resemblance

As to inside connotation and charm， Inception is an appropriate example：盗梦空间was the mainlands title， which completely abandoned the literal meaning and conveyed the suspense phenomenon. The translation text潜行凶间 in Hong Kong had nothing to do with connotative plots and themes， Taiwanese translation text全面启动 strived to be close to the words meaning， however， its quality was far inferior to the mainlands text.

As time goes by， peoples aesthetic taste has changed a lot. In this way， mainland translators could not inflexibly follow海底总动员 or超人总动员 to translate Ratatouille into美食总动员. According to the plot， Taiwanese translation text料理鼠王 highlighted the theme of food and kitchen， which was more appropriate than the commercial text五星级大鼠 in Hong Kong.

Conclusion

Spiritual Resemblance has tremendous guiding significance for the film title translation activity in Chinese mainland， Hong Kong and Taiwan. Each place has merits and demerits， therefore， full respect and understanding must be given to other translation texts. The translation and film industry shall have a tolerable attitude， only in this way can the development of foreign film translation towards a more rational direction.

References：

[1]Fu Lei，The Re-translation Program of Le Pere Goriot[M].1951.

[2]张彩虹.内地、港台电影译名异同的背后[J].电影文学.

作者简介：孔健梅，女，天津大学翻译硕士在读。