A Study of Film Title Translation From the Perspective of Peter Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theory

Abstract

Film is a popular art form, and it is a useful tool of intercultural communication. As the brand of a film, film title can help audiences have a better understanding of the content of the film. A good translated film title should not only achieve its commercial value, but also can bring audiences to aesthetic experiences when they watching the film. Hence, the film title translation is so important.
This thesis tries to use Peter Newmark’s communicative translation theory to study the methods of film title translation. In communicative translation, the translators should try to produce the same effect on the target readers as is produced by the original text on the source readers. The author put forward that, when use communicative translation theory to guide the film title translation, the translators must follow three criteria: a) the translation should be target-language-oriented; b) the translation should be aesthetic; c) the translation should be consistent with the content of the film.