Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: Without the support of translation theory, film title translation market in China has been regarded as disordered. Skopos theories, oriented on the audiences and their tastes, are suitable for film title translation. The thesis gives a detailed analysis to the application of Skopos theories (including fidelity rule, coherence rule and skopos rule) in the translation of English affectional film titles. Innovation is also applied to the existing translated versions. These theories help to optimize affectional film title translation and thus attract more audiences.

Key words: Skopos theories ; English affectional film titles ; the translation of English film titles

摘要：中国的片名翻译市场处于混乱无序状态，需要翻译理论对之进行规范监督。功能目的论是一种以译众及其审美为导向的翻译理论，更适用于片名翻译。本文旨在分析功能目的论（包括忠实原则， 连贯原则，目的原则）在爱情类英语电影片名翻译中的运用并对已有片名译本加以创新，使电影片名翻译最优化。该理论及对其进行的分析有利于规范、完善爱情类英语电影片名译本，吸引更多观众。

关键词：功能目的论；爱情类英语电影片名；英语电影片名翻译

1.    Introduction
Film titles, same as media in cross-cultural communication, play an important role in leading audiences to their favor. However, film title translation in China has caused suspicion by scholars in the field of translation. They regarded film title translation market as disordered, for some Chinese versions even drive a contradictory part from original titles. As is known to all, films are the combination of commercial values as well as artistic values. But for film makers, they are bent solely on profit. Thus, film titles become great stunt that lure audiences to open their wallets. To attract audiences, “真爱一生”, one translated version of The Scarlet Letter, is far from satisfaction. From  the film title, audiences may easily come to a conclusion that Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne have true love and the scarlet letter “A” does not have its special meaning in the movie. Another example is the film called When Harry Meet Sally, which is translated into “90男欢女爱”. This version may mislead audiences to believe that the film is a sheer erotic one. However, this film is such a good affectional movie that it can even compare favourably with the romantic mood of the film Sleepless in Seattle. So, the version “当哈里遇见赛丽” is much better. Some titles are created by translators with no basis of the original titles. Examples are the film In the Bedroom, which is translated into “卧室里” ( the appropriate translation is “不伦之恋” ), White Nights is translated into “白夜” ( “不眠之夜” is more advisable ). Since English affectional movies account for a considerable part in Chinese film market, it is by all means essential to establish a proper theory which helps to regulate and supervise affectional film title translation.