As a consequence, translating film titles seems to be a tough job。 To the layman, translating an English film title probably means the literal translation。 As a matter of fact, literal translating is rarely applied in translating film titles, as there exists conspicuous distinction between Chinese and English culture; literal translation is more likely to cause cultural shock。 If culture factor is considered solely, does it contribute to a remarkable film title? The answer is negative。 This thesis, based on a great number of examples, either examples of proper film title translation or improper translation, focuses on the Chinese translation of English film titles。

2。 Literature Review

2。1 A Brief Overview of Studies on Translation

    Past and present, at home and abroad, discussions on translation principles have never ceased in the field of translation。 In 1791, the Scottish jurist and historian, Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler put forward three principles for translation in his paper, Essay on the Principles of Translation, they are respectively: 1。 The translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work; 2。 The style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original; 3。 The translation should have all the ease of the original composition。 Likewise, in China, the eminent translator, Yan Fu came out a similar theory on translation in his work, Evolution and Ethics, that is “Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance” (Yan, 1879), which plays a significant role in Chinese modern translation。 According to theses theories, the process of translation is more a process of recreation than mere literal translation, and this idea is widely accepted by scholars and experts of translation。 Most translators hold the opinion that translating is a communicative method rather than words transfer。 As for the purpose of translation, Christiane Nord systematically summarize the Functionalism in his book, Translating as a Purposeful Activity, Functionalist Approaches Explained。 In 1980s, two famous German translating theorists, Hans J。 Vermeer and Katherina Reiss came up with a brand new theory, The Skopos Theory which is an essential branch of Functionalism。 It holds the idea that translation is the comparison between two cultures。 Cultural gap lies in the process of translation, therefore culture factor must be considered during this period (Hans, Reiss, 1984)。 To some degree, translation constructs a bridge between two different cultures and makes a difference in cultural communication。 Just as Eugene A。 Nida said in his work, Language, Culture and Translating, “for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of the cultures in which they function。”(Nida, 1993)   

2。2 An Overview of Studies on English film Title Translation

Film, as a cultural bridge plays an important role in connecting western and Chinese culture。 Translating film titles is continuously studied in translating history by many foreign and domestic scholars。 Their studies provided academic supports for translating English film titles into Chinese。文献综述

Ryan, Kellner and Politica (1988) stated their opinions on the translation of Hollywood film names in their book, The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film。 They thought that Hollywood films to a great degree reflect American ideology, including American heroism and its attitudes towards the whole world。 Based on this feature of Hollywood films, translators of film titles must carefully consider the political and ideological factors。 Translators should not only depict the underlying implication of a film title, but consider the acceptance of audience from other culture backgrounds。 This makes translating English film titles a tough task。