Translation of Film Titles: A Pragmatic and Socio-Cultural Adaptation Perspective

Abstract

Film titles serve as the initial point of contact for audiences and play a pivotal role in how films are promoted and to what extent they succeed. They carry distinct cultural meanings and linguistic characteristics that capture the film's essence, greatly affecting its reception by the audience. However, translating film titles can be challenging since translators need to keep the original meaning of the source text and consider the acceptance of the target potential audience. Given its importance, there is a need to explore the features of film titles and the translation strategies employed. Most studies about film title translation have focused on the translation strategies from different perspectives without analyzing their features in adaptation. This paper aims to study the translation strategies employed in rendering film titles by utilizing Volkova and Zubenina’s (2015) pragmatic and socio-cultural adaptation theory, which is not used in film title translation. This study hopes to contribute to the burgeoning field of titleology and offers insights into adaptation's pragmatic and sociocultural dimensions. Hence, the findings are anticipated to enhance the understanding of adaptation processes and provide practical guidance for translators in the field.
Keywords: film title, translation strategies, socio-cultural adaptation, pragmatic adaptation