


































Education, Language and Sociology Research 

ISSN 2690-3644 (Print) ISSN 2690-3652 (Online) 

Vol. 4, No. 2, 2023 

www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/elsr 

125 
 

Original Paper 

Research on Film Title Translation from the Perspective of 

Polysystem Theory 

Na Yan1* 

1 Chongqing Jiaotong University, Nanan, Chongqing, China 

* Yan Na, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Nanan, Chongqing, 400074, China. Email: 

1602423851@qq.com 

 

Received: April 24, 2023       Accepted: May 20, 2023      Online Published: June 3, 2023 

doi:10.22158/elsr.v4n2p125         URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/elsr.v4n2p125 

 

Abstract 

From the film, we can have access to the customs and cultures of all over the world, and the film title is 

playing a pioneering role. The more successful the title is, the more attractive it is to the audience. The 

translation of film titles is more dependent on by audiences in different language and in different cultural 

backgrounds. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the translation of film titles. This paper intends 

to study the translation of film titles (Chinese translation of English titles and English translation Chinese 

titles) through Polysystem theory, and find that culture is an important factor affecting the translation of 

film titles, in addition to political and patron factors. 

Keywords 

movie title, English-Chinese translation, polysystems theory, cultural differences 

 

1. Introduction 

As an art form, film is also an entertainment product of new demand from the public, and it is becoming 

more and more popular. Film has a huge influence and is a creative industry consisting of politics, 

economy and culture. In today’s era, film is an important form of cross-cultural communication, and the 

cultures of various countries have spread along with the release of films in different countries. The title 

is the window, is the eyes of the film, through it audience can have an insight into the inner world of the 

film. Despite only a few words, it is the guide and soul of the whole film (Mao, 2012). The titles of 

Chinese films and English films have their own characteristics and forms, but no matter what type of 

film titles, they have rich connotations and are the epitome of culture. At present, China advocates “going 

out” and advocating cultural confidence. Film culture also belongs to a kind of culture, so the export of 

Chinese films is also an important part. Translation has undoubtedly played a huge role in the promotion 



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and introduction of Chinese films. Similarly, absorbing “new nutrients” from English films is also 

inseparable from translation, and the translation of film titles is also very important. The film title 

involves cultural, linguistic and social factors, and its translation is not separate from these factors. 

Therefore, studying the translation of film titles from the perspective of Polysystem theory can 

understand the characteristics of Chinese and English film titles, reveal the factors affecting the 

translation of film titles, and provide some new research perspectives for the translation of film titles. 

 

2. Previous Studies of the Translation of Film Titles 

For the translation of film names, previous studies mainly include the following topics: the use of various 

theories and perspectives to explain the translation phenomenon of film names, discuss the translation 

standards of film names, the translation strategies and methods of film names, etc. 

Many studies have discussed the translation of film titles using various theories and perspectives, such 

as He (2001), Li (2002) and Wang (2019). Some scholars have studied the translation standards and 

principles of film titles. Such as Long (2003). In terms of the research on the translation strategies and 

methods of film titles, scholars have also made great achievements. Such as Lin (1996), Mao (2012) and 

Xiao (2019). 

According to the literature collection, the author found that the research on film titles mostly focuses on 

the above three themes. In addition, there are also some scattered studies, such as Jose Santaemilia and 

Pardo (1994), which pays attention to the program of English film translation. The research perspectives 

are gradually diversified, and the research methods are mostly deduction to illustrate their own views, 

and few use Polysystem theory to study the translation of film titles. What is more noteworthy is that 

scholars pay more attention to the Chinese translation of English film titles and ignore the English 

translation of Chinese film titles. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the embodiment and role of 

Polysystem theory in film title translation (English translation of Chinese film titles and Chinese 

translation of English film title) to enrich the research in this field. 

 

3. The Influence of Multivariate System Theory on Film Titles 

3.1 Polysystem Theory 

Polysystem theory was proposed by Itamar Even-Zohar, who first proposed the “Polysystem theory”, 

which combines translation and translation with the cultural context, social conditions, politics and many 

other factors that arise and are read (Li, 2007). Zohar believes that “system” is to reveal a fact, language, 

literature, culture, society, “human communication dominated by symbols”, “systems rather than a 

mixture of unrelated elements to fully understand and study”; “pluralism” is to abandon Saussure’s static 

structural view and advocate “regard symbol system as a heterogeneous and open structure” (Itamar, 

2002). Introduce Polysystem theory into translation research helps to better understanding of translation, 

“Polysystem theory breakthrough to a single text static, isolated temporal research method to measure 

the limitations of the early translation research school, and the translation research in a larger cultural 



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environment to dynamic, systematic research, to broaden the vision of translation research” (Zhang, 

2005). Translation involves many factors, such as language, culture, politics and society, and the 

translation of film title is also a kind of translation. Therefore, this paper intends to use the Polysystem 

theory to study the translation of film title. 

3.2 Characteristics of the Chinese and English Film Titles 

Chinese film titles mostly use idioms or four-character words, and some even directly borrow historical 

allusions, such as《霸王别姬》,《卧虎藏龙》,《洞房花烛》,《马路天使》,《万家灯火》. Four-word 

phrase is the accumulation of people’s long-term social and cultural life, which is a conventional form of 

language. It has a concise and comprehensive rhetorical effect, rich in the charm of traditional Chinese 

culture (Feng, 2010). Therefore, when the English movie name is translated into Chinese, translating it 

into four-character words can reflect the traditional Chinese culture and attract the attention of Chinese 

audiences. For example, Gone with the wind (《乱世佳人》), Random Harvest (《鸳梦重温》), Flipped 

(《怦然心动》) and so on. These translations are simple and clear, and full of charm. The title of Chinese 

films also has a feature, that is, the beauty of artistic conception, which refers to the aesthetic realm of 

meaning and environment, feeling and scene, heart and things blend, and can make the audience have a 

certain association, such as《桃李劫》,《大红灯笼高高挂》,《花样年华》and so on. Such a traditional 

Chinese aesthetics, Chinese audiences under the influence of five thousand years of culture will always 

be attracted by, so the translation of English title also highlights the artistic beauty. For example, Waterloo 

Bridge (《魂断蓝桥》), Hilary and Jackie (《她比烟花更寂寞》), Ghost (《人鬼情未了》), Lolita 

(《一树梨花压海棠》) and so on. 

One of the major features of the English film title is it usually uses the name of the protagonist of the 

film story, which is simple and convenient, such as Rebecca, Thelma and Louise, Malena, Shane, Patton, 

etc., and the name of the male/heroine is directly used as the name of the film, which can show the hero 

of the film to the audience to the fastest limit. The translation of these titles into Chinese often adds 

Chinese romanticism, such as Rebecca into《蝴蝶梦》and Thelma and Louise into《末路狂花》. Like 

Chinese titles, English titles use idioms and allusions with the brand of British and American culture. In 

terms of religion, people in British and American countries mostly believe in Christianity, which has a 

great influence on the title of English films. A large number of English allusions come from the Bible, 

Christianity and myths, which play a considerable role in the formation of English titles (Feng, 2010). 

For example, in the 1995 thriller Seven, the plot revolves around the seven original sin of Catholic 

doctrine. The number “seven” is very mysterious in religion, which is the most common number in the 

Bible. For example, God used seven days to make Adam and removed Adam’s seventh rib to make Eve. 

In this film, the “seven” is also everywhere: seven crimes, seven penalties, seven rain and so on. 

Therefore, just translating “seven” into “七” cannot reflect the specific information of the film, and the 

Chinese audiences cannot understand the implied cultural factors. Another film Adam’s Rib, this word 

which is actually derived from the Bible Genesis, where God created Eve with his seventh rib and married 



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them. The film tells the story of a couple, a prosecutor and a defense lawyer, and Adam’s rib actually 

refers to a man’s wife. 

3.3 Factors That Influence the Translation of Film Titles 

3.3.1 The English Translation of the Chinese Film Titles 

One of the major factors that affects the English translation of Chinese film names is the differences 

between Chinese and Western cultures. Because of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, 

this factor needs to be considered in translation to make the western audience not confused. As mentioned 

above, some titles of Chinese films use four-character words, some contain Chinese allusions, and some 

create a kind of artistic conception. However, when translating them, we should also take into account 

whether western audiences can understand these titles containing traditional Chinese culture. 《梅兰芳》, 

directed by Chen Kaige, tells the legendary life of Mei Lanfang, a Peking Opera master. The Chinese 

title is titled《梅兰芳》. Because most of the Chinese audiences have heard of Mei and feature the main 

characters of the film, most Chinese audiences can know what story the film is about to tell. However, 

the English version title is not so, it highlights the main idea of the film rather than the main characters, 

Forever enthralled reflects Mei Lanfang’s exquisite acting and personality charm, but also vaguely 

contains the audience’s obsession with him. The film《东邪西毒》is adapted from Jin Yong’s famous 

novel “Legend of the Condor Heroes”. In the novel, “Dongxie” refers to Huang Yaoshi and “Xidu” refers 

to Ouyang Feng. The film tells the story of these people. Chinese audiences view the title, most can know 

what the content of the film is involved, so the “Dongxie Xidu” highlights the main characters of the 

film. However, the title of the English translation does not directly translate it, because foreigners do not 

understand. Ashes of the times actually shows the connotation that the film wants to express, suggesting 

that everything will pass with time. When the title《唐山大地震》comes, Chinese audiences will be 

drawn into the fear and grief of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Tangshan in 1976. The title describes 

the location of the story and recalls the pain of the disaster. The short five characters contain too much. 

If its English name is translated as Tangshan Earthquake, first of all, foreign audiences may not know 

Tangshan, second, because the core of the film is not only to show people’s vulnerability in the face of 

disaster, but also pay attention to how people let go and get rid of the shackles of the soul after the disaster. 

The word “aftershock” highlights the core of the film well, because “shock” is a pun, both referring to 

an earthquake and a heavy blow and shock people suffered. Look at the film《刮痧》, with the 

misunderstanding of traditional Chinese medicine scraping therapy as the main line, tells the story of 

Chinese people in foreign countries due to the conflict between the Eastern and Western cultures, and 

finally because of people’s sincerity and love, the dilemma was broken through. Its English translation 

is called The Treatment, and many treatment techniques actually belong to the category of “treatment”, 

and scraping therapy is certainly no exception. While foreigners do not understand this treatment, this 

purpose-oriented translation also helps the audience to grasp the core and essence of the word. 

In addition to the connotation of the film title, the English translation of the Chinese film title can 

sometimes quote or imitate the sayings that have appeared in British and American culture, such as the 



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title of a famous book, the name of an English film, or a certain allusion. For example, in the film《大

话西游之月光宝盒》and《大话西游之仙履奇缘》, the former English translation is called A Chinese 

Odyssey Part One: Pandoras Box, while the latter continues in form: A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: 

Cinderella. The English translation of both films treats “大话西游” into “Chinese odyssey”. Because of 

the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, Western audiences cannot understand the meaning 

of a Chinese Odyssey, and the word is difficult to handle. Compared with direct translation, borrowing 

“odyssey” can make western audiences “empathy” to some extent, because the Odyssey from Homeric 

epic now refers to major works of fantasy and adventure. For example, in the English translation of Wang 

Jing’s《有情饮水饱》, Love My, Love My Money firstly makes people think of the English proverb “Love 

me, love my dog”, which is quite comic. The English translation of《黄飞鸿》by Tsui Hark Once upon 

a Time in China uses the English film title Once Upon a Time in America (Feng, 2015). 

Chinese film titles are also influenced by their sponsors when translated in English. For example, the 

film Farewell My Concubine, directed by Chen Kaige, centering on the joys and sorrows of two Peking 

Opera singers for half a century, shows the thinking and understanding of traditional culture, people’s 

living state and human nature. The Chinese title is taken from the soul plot of the film—《霸王别姬》

by the main character, which is also an allusion in ancient China. The English translation is Farelwell my 

concubine, which to some extent is the meaning, but the beauty and artistic conception are greatly 

reduced. Australian translator and Sinologist Linda Jaivin mentioned the title translation of Farewell My 

Concubine in an interview. She mentioned that “the translation of the title was not done by me”, but the 

English title “Farewell, My Concubine” was decided before I started translating. When I received the 

translation work, the first question was to ask the director if I could change the translation name. The 

director said no. I just talked about that when translating, excepting text, translators are often limited in 

film directors (Jin, 2013). This is actually a typical example of a patron’s influence and manipulation of 

translation. 

3.3.2 Chinese Translation of the English Film Title 

In the process of translating English film titles into Chinese, cultural factors should not be underestimated. 

Chinese expression is implicit and graceful, with obvious ideology, with a unique charm of Chinese 

culture. The film Waterloo Bridge was translated into《魂断蓝桥》, which was once named the best 

Chinese title in a foreign film. If the original title is directly translated, it is the “滑铁卢桥”. In reality, 

this is a bridge across the River Thames in London, and the place of the hero and heroine in the film. And 

two words “魂断” are not difficult to understand, which is obviously to say a love story of sad feelings. 

The wonderful thing is “蓝”(blue), which describes the night when they met, fell in love and broke up, 

while “Blue” is more meaning “sad” in English. The translator’s translation of the title not only suits the 

content of the film, but also reflects the tragic color of the original film, which is appropriate (Long, 

2003). On the cultural level, “the translator flexibly borrowed the legend of the ‘blue Bridge meeting’ 

with Chinese national cultural characteristics” (Bao, 2001), which makes it easier to be accepted and 

understood by the Chinese audience. The Chinese translation of the film Lolita is《一树梨花压海棠》, 



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the original title is named after the main character of the film. This film describes the secret love between 

the university professor Humbert and the 12-year-old girl Lolita. And “a tree pear pressure begonia” is a 

poem by Su Shi, he used the poem “十八新娘八十郎, 苍苍白发对红妆. 鸳鸯被里成双夜, 一树梨花

压海棠” to ridicule his good friend and poet Zhang Xian in the Northern Song Dynasty, he married an 

18-year-old concubine when 80 years old. Pear, is old; Begonia is delicate and charming. The word “梨

花” and “海棠” refers to “old people” and “beauty”, and the word “压” connects the two realms, which 

points out the theme of incest (Wen, 2007). It has to admit that this poem is really in line with Lolita’s 

plot. This highly naturalized translation method allows language to naturally follow the common world 

and be more acceptable to the local people. 

When English films are introduced to China, there will also be a number of translated titles, especially 

in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Both Taiwan and Hong Kong have been part of China 

since ancient times, although due to historical reasons, there are little cultural exchange across the Taiwan 

Straits, including films, for quite a long time. However, the translation of the English titles of the two 

sides, with the same way of thinking and cultural basis, the two sides and regions are mostly the same 

(Mao, 2002). However, there are still differences, some of which are even huge, including political and 

cultural factors and patron factors that affect the translation of films. 

After the return of Hong Kong, although Chinese was defined as one of the official languages of Hong 

Kong, Cantonese was still widely used, so the pronunciation of transliteration of human names and place 

names, Chinese and Cantonese are not the same. The Taiwan region has been separated from the mainland 

for a long time, and the cultural differences are increasing, which also causes the differences in 

transliteration. For example, film American Beauty’s translation in mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are

《美国丽人》,《美丽有罪》and《美国心玫瑰情》; film JFK translated into《肯尼迪》,《惊天大刺

杀》and《谁杀了甘乃迪》respectively. It can be seen that the translation of Hong Kong is more colloquial, 

the Taiwan translation is more literary and the mainland translation is more inclined to adopt literal 

translation. 

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, for a long time, western films failed to enter the 

mainland market, and the titles of mainland translated English films were influenced by political 

decisions. Under Lenin’s guidance of “of all the arts, film is the most important to us,” film was not a 

profitable tool, or merely an entertainment, but rather a tool to “unite the people, educate the people, fight 

and destroy the enemy”. In this case, the translator’s personal preferences are suppressed, and the 

translation of the film titles is also controlled by the dominant political ideology (Sun, 2012). However, 

some classic films have moved to Hong Kong, and the previous ancient translation school, such as the 

school of mandarin duck and butterfly. Most of these films are from the 1930s to the 1990s, focusing on 

touching love or stirring stories, and the old translations are both implicit and imaginative. Some like 

seven words,《春花秋月不了情》of 1965 (film Darling),《仙乐飘飘处处闻》of 1980 (film The Sound 

Of Music),《风流剑客走天涯》of 1963 (film Tom Jones), etc. After the Cultural Revolution, the 

mainland’s restrictions on foreign films were loosened, but films containing violence, pornography, 



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religion and politics were excluded, which to some extent led to different names in the three places. In 

the mainland, due to policy reasons, film distribution companies are still more or less ideologically 

constrained in the translation, and the translation of film titles should conform to the politics, morality 

and culture of the mainland. In Hong Kong, film is a tool to make money, and film companies are 

sponsors of film and are more concerned about financial interests. In Taiwan, the film regulator is the 

government information office. It is responsible for film production, imported films, etc., and is the 

patron of films, serving the society, but due to Taiwan’s social system, film companies are also sponsors. 

This phenomenon makes Taiwan’s translated film titles sometimes focus on politics and sometimes on 

economic interests (Sun, 2012). The influence of the patron has also led to the different translation of 

English film titles between the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. 

 

4. Conclusion 

The film title is an important line of defense to attract the audience, and the audience can know something 

from the title, and the more successful the title is, the more audience it can attract. For a medium quality 

film, the translation itself is aesthetic and serves as a “guide” (He, 1997). Nowadays, all parts of the 

world are in a situation of mutual influence and common development. We can understand western 

culture from many aspects, such as film, and if Chinese culture wants to go out, if Chinese films want to 

go out, translation is impossible not to involve. 

This paper tries to explain the factors affecting the translation of film titles (the Chinese translation of 

English film titles and the English translation of Chinese films) according to the Polysystem theory. 

Through the analysis of the translated names of multiple film titles, this paper finds that the English film 

titles are concise, mostly using the names of the protagonist, and some have the color of religious culture. 

Chinese film titles mostly use idioms or four words, which is full of artistic conception. Among the many 

factors, culture is the most influential factor in the translation of film titles, as well as the political and 

patron factors. 

 

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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.60.2.04rui

