从严复的翻译标准看英语电影片名的汉译 On the Translation of English Movie Titles from the Perspective of Yan Fu’s Criteria （从严复的翻译标准看英语电影片名的汉译）开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

To have a better understanding of Yan Fus criteria, we need first to make out what faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance are. The concept of "faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance" originally appeared in the preface of Yan Fus translation of Evolution and Ethics, reads "There are three difficulties in translation: faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance. To ensure faithfulness is a hard enough work. If the version is just faithful without expressiveness, it is equal to untranslated ones. Therefore, expressiveness is prior. Faithfulness means the full and complete conveying or translation of the original content or thought. Expressiveness demands that the translation must be clear and fluent without any grammatical mistake and the targeted people can understand the translation completely. Elegance at first meant the translation must be in the ancient Chinese. However, at present, it means that translation text should remain the style of the source text.Since the publication of Yan Fus translation of Evolution and Ethics, the phrase "faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance" has been regarded as a standard for good translation and has exerted considerable influence on the further development of Chinese translation undertakings. In the past few decades, many experts and translators have elaborated on the research of Yan Fus criteria of translation. Guo Hongan (1991), a famous Chinese translator once said in his work Commenting on Flowers of Evil: although there existing various translation theories which are reasonable, from the perspective of their operability, few can be as practical as Yan Fus criteria. And he held the idea that faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance are standards which still can be followed in literary translation in recent times and they are difficulties even in todays translation.When talking about the problem of translation standard, Guo Moruo (1954), an outstanding historian, writer and poet in contemporary China, said that the principles of faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance are indispensable to a good translation and not one of them can be dispensed with. Whats more, he thought that apart from faithfulness and expressiveness, the more elegant the translation is, the better the translation is.Wu Chuangun (1992), one of the greatest Chinese translators, once praised Yan Fu for his presenting a set of quite complete translation theory as well as his ideas on attitude towards translation, translators quality, principles on naming terms, cultivation of translation talents and so on. A professor in College of foreign languages of Nankai University, Zhao Xiuming (1996), held the view that the principles of faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance put forward by Yan Fu are model of translation standards. And he pointed out that they push the aesthetics of rhetoric in translation to the limit.Shen Suru (1998), a well-known translator once authored a book researching Yan Fus translation theory. He stated in this book On Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance---Study on Yan Fus Criteria that faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance are a summary and essence of Yan Fus previous experience on translation. They reflect the objective law of translation instead of indicating it. Because of their function of reflecting, they have certain theoretical value and realistic directive significance and still have vitality till now. However, lacking of indicating function makes they are short of accuracy, profundity and standardization that are needed in science.All the above information signifies the unique significance of Yan Fus criteria in directing translation work, in this circumstance, in regulating translation of foreign movie titles. Under the guidance of faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance, this thesis reviews the past accomplishments our Chinese scholars have made in translating movie titles as well as their shortcomings in not following these principles.

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

After I decided on my theme of this thesis, I searched on the Internet to find previous studies on this theme. There were some theses dealing with the development of Yan Fus criteria and some studying on issues about the situation of todays Chinese movie title translation market and the measurements of how to improve the quality of it. However, few could combine the two assets together. Therefore, I collected relevant information and materials on both sides. Besides, on basis of the integration and analysis of them, I researched on some latest Chinese versions of foreign movies. With all these preparations, this thesis begins with an introduction to Yan Fus criteria and a general overview of previous studies on Yan Fus t criteria. The body of this thesis is divided into two parts, an introduction to current situation in the movie title translation and the practical use of the three principles. In the first part, the development of todays movie market and its problems are discussed respectively. The second part is mainly about the practical application of the three principles, that is to say, in what circumstances they should be used. And finally, a conclusion is drawn by pointing out the significance of following Yan Fus criteria when deals with foreign movie title translation.