Abstract:This paper aims at discussing the theory guiding translators in the translation of English film titles into Chinese, and translators’ value orientations in deciding which version of the translation is more appropriate to the film. In the 21st century, film has already become an indispensible part of people’s recreational life. It plays an important role in the culture exchange between different countries. What film title to film is what sail to boat, it generally convey the main idea of the film. In the past two or three decades, audiovisual translation has enjoyed great development. However, film title translation is a far less explored field. It seems that there is no systematic theory guiding the translation of film titles. Traditional translation theories cannot provide a theoretical explanation for some successful translations that are against the “equivalence” standard. So Skopostheorie is brought up to help with the translation. Based on Skopostheorie, this paper points out that translation is a purposeful human process. As to film title translation, the purpose is to take audience into full consideration，arousing their attention and at the same time, generally conveying the main idea of the film. In order to achieve this purpose, the translator should consider the differences between Chinese and west audience, appealing to their special demands. Translators should always bear in mind the aesthetic and cultural needs of the audience, which determines whether a film will be popular or not. At the same time, as a way of entertainment, film also has the pressure of box office, so the translator will never neglect the commercial and expressive requirement.

Keywords: English film titles; Skopos; value orientation; translators

摘要:本文旨在探讨英文电影片名汉译时译者所遵循的理论及译者的价值取向。在21世纪，电影已经成为日常生活中不可或缺的一种娱乐方式。电影名对于电影而言就像帆对船而言，它言简意赅地指出了电影的内容。过去二三十年，影视翻译取得了很大的发展，但是电影名的研究工作还做得远远不够。目前似乎还没有一套完整的理论体系来指导电影名的翻译，传统的翻译理论无法解释为什么有的翻译违反等值理论但在现实生活中却十分成功。本文以目的论为基础，指出翻译是一项有目的的人的活动。而对于电影名翻译这样一个特殊的领域，译者的目的就是要让观众喜欢译文并且同时也要尽可能地传达出电影的基本思想。为了实现这个目的，译者必须要考虑到观众人群的特点，考虑中美观众审美，文化背景等各方面的差异。同时在翻译的过程中，译者也必须考虑到电影的商业价值和信息的传达。

关键词：英语电影名；目的论；价值取向；译者