On the Translation of English Film Titles from the Perspective of Reception Aesthetics

刘佳 田庆武

【Abstract】Reception Aesthetics elaborates on the relationship between man and art and the relationship between human existence and social effects of arts； in the aspect of film and TV arts， the theory plays a dual role of theoretical support and practical guidance. This thesis introduces Reception Aesthetics theory and the guiding role of the aesthetic theory in the English translation of film titles.

【Key words】Reception Aesthetics， reader， English film title translation

Ⅰ Introduction

In the past three to four decades， great progress has been made in the translation of screen and video works. A good translation of a film title can make the film more attractive and also means a lot to film creators and investors. Nowadays， there are many versions for the same film title. Some of them are sound， while some may lead to audiences confusion.

Ⅱ Reception Aesthetics

Reception Aesthetics refers to that a book， movie or other creative work， instead of simply passively being accepted by audience， is interpreted by the reader or viewer based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.

The representatives of Reception Aesthetics are Hans-Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser. They both advocate that people must focus the readers acceptance during the process of studying literature and literary history. The reader， readers reading process and readers own understanding means a lot to literary works. Reader is the center of the study of literary works. Their creative acceptance is the basis and golden part of Reception Aesthetics.

Ⅲ English Film Titles

Film is a medium of mass communication and different cultures. The title of a film， as the key and head of a film， has to gain its proper version， which means the success or not of the film itself to some extent.

Generally speaking， the title of a film may give us the information， such as the background， the object， the theme and the hero or heroine of the film. Conciseness and vividness are the distinctive characteristics of the English films titles. They are simple and terse with sporadic length. Many rhetoric devices are employed in titles in order to produce better effect， such as， simile， metaphor， oxymoron etc.

Ⅳ Reception Aesthetics and English Film Titles

The essence of Reception Aesthetics has been rethought and widely used into practice. The most impressive influence of Reception Aesthetics on translation is its turn to the receptors.

In most peoples mind， one of the basic criteria of translation is “faithfulness”. We pay attention to the text of both source and target， reproducing the original first in terms of meaning and second in terms of style. Reception Aesthetics broadens our horizon and finds new path for the research of translation. It makes us transfer our attention from the text to the input of the potential readers. The new literary text will be unthinkable without the participation of the receptors of the target language. As a result， translators will think more about the readers mind when they have their translational work. And accordingly they could define the problems that deserve attention and apply possible strategies.

Ⅴ Conclusion

According to Reception Aesthetics， translators take audiences interest into consideration， moving close to audiences reception， avoiding audiences misunderstanding because of different cultural， social and experiential backgrounds. Its a better way to solve the practical problems and create high box-office for the cinema.

Bibliography

[1]Jauss， Hans Robert. Tow and an Aesthetic of Reception. Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press，1989

[2]Newmark， Peter. Approaches to Translation. Oxford： Pergamon Press Ltd，1981

[3]刘凤梅. 从接受美学视角论翻译[J].北京第二外国语学院报，2005（2）