A Study of Book Title Translation of English andAmerican Literature in Taiwan

• Main Authors: LIN, HSIU-CHUN, 林秀君
• Other Authors: HU, PI-CHAN
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/50694688569798401367

碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 跨文化研究所翻譯學碩士在職專班 === 105 === Translation studies tend to concentrate on analysis of translation such as whether the translation meets the originals or expresses correctly the meaning of the source texts. However, the studies of book title translation seem to be neglected. Since the 1990s, Bassnett and Lefevere brought an infusion of cultural aspect to the analysis of translation, the so-called “cultural turn” or “cultural approach”, it is no longer just texts or linguistic studies. Should the translation of book title stick closely to the original an essential? Does a consideration of the cultural studies become a key factor to the translation of book title? This thesis aims to study the changes and trends of the translation methods of book title of American and English literature published in Taiwan from the 20th to the 21st century. The thesis has been mainly divided into three parts. The first part examines the practicability of book title translation by adopting Christiane Nord’s functionalism, loyalty and fidelity in specialized translation and Peter Newmark’s communicative translation and semantic translation. Then the second part deals with the changes of book title translation, revealing how the translation strategies of book title were changed and what each of the strategies featured. The last part on questionnaire survey presents a crucial factor which influences choice of translation strategies. The combination of the comparison among previous conclusions, naming types of the original book title, and the result of the survey indicated that the key factor is readers’ orientation. To sum up, in the 20th century literal translation was the main strategy for book title translation of English literature in Taiwan, but nowadays, publishers or translators tend to adapt or rewrite book titles to fit the culture or the trend of the target market. Adapted book title pictures more about the story of the book that creates readers’ imagination and attracts more readers.