The translation of animation titles: A case study on English, Japanese, and Chinese titles

Abstract

Though the translation of film titles has not been firmly established within translation studies, the existing studies mainly focus on the translation strategies and process analysis from classic theories including Skopos theory and semantic equivalence. Meanwhile, there has been limited research to examine the translation of animation titles. This paper delves into the intricate world of animation titles and their translation dynamics across languages, especially focusing on English, Japanese, and Chinese, employing a methodology that combines data from IMDb.com and chineseanime.org with Weiciyun and Python analysis. The study investigates titles’ characteristics and features in each source language and the translation strategies used among them. The findings highlight that English, Japanese, and Chinese animation titles possess distinct structural and semantic attributes. These traits reflect the inherent linguistic norms and cultural preferences of each language. Furthermore, the study uncovers multifaceted translation strategies used to bridge the linguistic gaps among languages, including transliteration, literal translation, and adaptation. As for creative adaptation which has a large percentage of every translation process, it is conspicuous that the characteristics of those translated titles largely remain consistent with the features of the source texts. Also, this study exposes discernible patterns of cultural power dynamics influencing translation strategies, particularly evident in the prevalence of English loanwords and transliterations.