The fate of movie titles in translation
A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Author: Mia Vestergaard Andersen
Date of hand in: May 5 2010
Supervisor: Nick Wrigly
Number of characters: 53,659
ASB: BA English and German
The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
Table of contents
1. Introduction and problem statement
p. 1
2. Theory and method
p. 3
3. The purpose of movie titles
p. 5
3.1 Function and effect
p. 5
3.2 The movie genres and the expectations to a title of a certain genre
p. 5
4. English as a global cinematic language
p. 7
5. Translation strategies
p. 9
5.1 The Three-method-model with macrostrategies by Cordero (1987)
p. 9
5.2 Microstrategies by Schjoldager (2008)
p. 10
5.3 Elaboration of the Three-method-model
p. 11
6. Analysis of the source texts and target texts
6.1 Frequently used translation strategies
p.13
p. 13
6.1.2 Patterns in the genre of romance
p. 13
6.1.3 Patterns in the genre of comedy
p. 16
6.1.4 Patterns in the genre of children’s movies
p. 20
7. The effect of the target texts
p. 23
8. The prominent patterns of each movie genre
p. 25
9. Conclusion
p. 28
10. Abstract
p. 30
11. List of references
p. 32
12. Appendices
p. 34
The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
1. Introduction and problem statement
The title of a movie is an essential first impression determining whether or not the receiver
decides to view the movie. The goal of a title is to give an impression of the action of the movie
while attracting as many viewers as possible. Therefore, it is important that the translation of a
movie title, distributed in a foreign country, has the same effect as the original title and
corresponds with the action of the movie. This is not the case of every translation though, and this
causes misunderstandings in relation to the movie and its audience.
The inspiration to this thesis originates in movie titles that I have been startled with; In these cases
I did not think that the translation of the title corresponded with the effect or meaning of the
original title. By discussing title translations with my friends and people in discussion forums on
the internet, it became clear that some people are dissatisfied with the startling translations.
Some translations seem to be working while others do not, and I am going to endeavour to find
out why that is so.
Furthermore, since the titles that will be analysed, are movie titles from three different genres, I
am also going to look into possible translation patterns within the different genres, and find out
what the cause of the patterns is.
Thus this is going to be an empirical analysis of the different translation strategies used when
translating English movie titles into Danish. Furthermore, the aim of the thesis is to find out, why
the translator chose the translation strategies in question, and if the effects of the source texts are
maintained or lost in the translations. However, I cannot determine this by analysing the
translations, but only by giving my own opinion about the effect of the TTs in connection with the
expectations the target audience is assumed to have.
In continuation of this introduction, the questions I am going to answer are the following:
1 – What happens with the title of an English/American movie when distributed in Denmark?
2 –Are there any translation patterns within each of the different genres and if so, then why?
3 - Is the effect of the source text lost in the translation, in what cases and why?
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
To be able to answer these questions I am going to study the chosen movie titles based on a
comparative analysis between source text and target text in relation to the theory of Anne
Cordero’s (1987) Three-method-model and theory on title translation by Christane Nord (1993).
I will use Anne Cordero’s model to simplify and explain the different ways in which a title can be
translated in general, and I will use theory of Anne Schjoldager to elaborate on Cordero’s Threemethod-model to explain translation strategies of the titles in greater detail.
Practical remarks
Throughout the thesis, I will refer to English as well as German sources. In relation to the German
sources I will use the German phrases if a proper translation in English is not applicable. By using
the phrases in the source language I avoid making my own translation, which enables me to focus
on the original meaning of the phrase. This is done to report the statements of the sources with
fidelity. The German phrases in question will be written in clams and followed by the source e.g.
(Akzeptabilität by Nord, 1993: 248).
Furthermore, examples of titles in relation to translation strategies will appear in my theory
section in chapter 5, but they are not considered to be a part of the study. The examples of titles
in the theory are only meant to exemplify the different translation processes concerned. My study
is based on the titles in appendix 1, which is the focus of my thesis.
Moreover, I will be using the abbreviations ST and TT which stands for source text and target text
respectively.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
2. Theory and method
My intention with this project is to make a comparative analysis between the STs and the TTs to
study the translation strategies used in title translation. The source text data is 30 English movie
titles collected from the Internet Movie Database, imdb.com. For the study I have chosen titles
from three genres, romance, comedy, and children’s movies, to be able to investigate the
translator’s task when translating movie titles of certain movie genres. The information sources of
IMDB are on-screen-credits, interviews, press kits, official bios and autobiographies. Moreover,
70% of the database’s staff is dedicated to check and process the gathered information and its
liability. The database contains 2.3 millions of titles and names of the movie industry, which makes
it one of the largest movie databases on the internet. IMDB has a function that categorises movies
into different genres and with this function I searched for movies listed within the categories in
question. Within each genre I selected ten movie titles that represent the time frame of
distribution 1937-2008 evenly, so that I am able to see if there are changes in the translators’
translation strategies during this period of time.
The target text data is 30 Danish translated versions of the titles in question, collected from a
Danish online DVD database, dvdoo.dk. This Danish database is actually an online movie shop
gathering its information from movie companies and imdb.com, which is why the title information,
found on this site, is reliable. The shop has over 8.500 movies on disposal, with additional
information about the genres of the movies and their original titles.
The chosen movie titles have been distributed in a time period from 1937 to 2008 for the reason
that it would be interesting to see if there are differences between how older and newer movie
titles are translated. The STs and TTs are to be found in a table in the appendix 1.
To be able to make the comparison between the STs and TTs in the first place, I will need to define
the purpose and function of a movie title. In relation to the purpose of a movie title I will also
investigate the target audience’s expectations to a title, to study whether or not the titles in
question live up to these expectations. This is related to what an audience is expecting from a
certain movie genre, which is why a definition of the genres, I will work with, is needed. For the
study I have chosen three different genres to be able to investigate the task of the translator when
translating movie titles of certain movie genres.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
The theoretical tool I aim to use in identifying and discussing the differences and similarities of the
STs and TTs, is Anne Cordero’s (1987) model dividing movie title translation in three different
groups. The aim of this tool is to create an overview over the chosen macrostrategies of the title
translations, which enables me to see whether there are patterns in the translation strategies
within the genres. Furthermore, I will utilise Anne Schjoldager’s (2008) translation strategies by
applying them to the titles translated with Cordero’s translation method no. 3, enabling me to
define and study the used strategies in greater detail. In my analysis I aim to present and evaluate
the patterns that may appear and discuss the effect of the target texts. Finally, the analysis will
also present the reasons for the choice of translation strategies, concluding in an estimation of the
patterns, translation strategies, and the effect of the target texts in relation to the problem
statement in chapter 1.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
3. The purpose of movie titles
3.1 Function and effect
The placement of movie titles is privileged and prioritised as the title of a movie is the most visual
of a movie’s promotional features; it is displayed on posters, in announcements, and commercials
a long time before the movie runs in the cinema. To conclude on the above, the function of a film
title is to attract the audience intended for the movie (Cordero, 1987, in Kummer: 228). This
entails that a translated title is allowed to differ completely from the original title, as long as it
stays true to the plot and themes of the movie and meets the expectations of the recipient (Nord,
1991: 55), who, in this case, is the target audience.
The focus of a title is represented in a wide range of features such as descriptions of the
protagonist or references to the movie’s core situation. However, there are some titles that
deviate from these conventional title features e.g. by only referring to an unknown line of the
movie or to a person other than the protagonist of the story (Bordwell, 2008:1). In relation to the
translation of titles, such ‘creative’ titles are naturally accepted as purposeful titles, on the
condition that they live up to the expectations of the audience and stay loyal to the intensions of
the creator of the movie. In other words, the translator is expected to render the relevant features
of the source text faithfully (Loyalität by Nord, 1993:17), and create an effect equivalent to that of
the original title. The new title is also expected to be as functional for the target culture as the
source text is for the source culture (Funktionsgerechtigkeit by Nord, 1993:17).
3.2 The movie genres and the expectations to a title of a certain genre
The target audience’s expectations to a movie title are rooted in the genre of the movie. Due to
this, a definition of the three movie genres, studied in this thesis, will be given to estimate which
characteristics a title of a certain genre is expected to contain.
Romance: The genre of romance is very broad and cannot easily be defined, since almost every
movie contains some sort of love story or romantic undertone. But the genre of romance, I will be
working with, can be defined and referred to as the way a movie revolves around the concept of
love between two protagonists of the movie. The movies of this genre are chosen for the reason
that love and affection for another human being is the general theme of the story. The romantic
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
theme establishes some requirements for the title to enable it to appeal to its target audience,
who are mostly people wanting to be enchanted and swept away by a beautiful love story. The
age group of the target audience is roughly 18-50, since love is something a person of every age
can relate to. However, the majority of the target audience is expected to be women, as emotional
love stories are more appealing to them than to men, who find action and humour more alluring.
This is why a title in this genre should be able to enchant the audience and establish curiosity
towards the main characters of the movie. This is frequently done by creating a title the women
surely will be able to relate to e.g. the title Kate and Leopold. This creates the impression that this
is a story based on a relationship between the two people in question. The target audience would
want to know who these people are, and which obstacles they must go through to be together.
Comedy is a genre of movies that are created to amuse and elicit laughter from the audience
(Simpson, 1998). In this thesis, the genre of comedy represents light-hearted dramas with focus on
humour in form of sarcasm, representations of highly unlikely situations, and exaggeration of
characters and situations representing the common everyday life and its frustrations. The genre
deals with ordinary human failures, but usually has a happy ending for the protagonists of the
movies. Some of the chosen titles in comedy are based on romantic comedies (e.g. Knocked Up
and Juno) but I have chosen these movie titles because of the sense of humour in the story and
not because of the romantic undertone.
The comedies’ focus is on the humorous aspects of the story, and the main purpose of the comedy
genre is to entertain and amuse the audience while telling a humorous story (Simpson, 1998),
resulting in the other themes of the stories to only become secondary of importance. In relations
to this, it might be expected that the title of a comedy contains references to a humoristic
situation or person of the movie, since the humour reflected in the title is meant to be the feature
that attracts the audience the most.
Children’s movies: The genre of the children’s movies, studied in connection with this thesis, deals
with movies that are meant to appeal to children. The studied movie genre in this relation focuses
on classical children’s movies for kids in the age of 5-15. Some of them e.g. The Neverending Story
and Ice Age 2-The Meltdown are both regarded as family movies but appeal to children as well.
The movies for children are characterised by their happy endings, magical features, and the
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
conventional representations of the good and the bad. The genre contains everything from
animation, cartoons and ordinary filmed children’s movies. The themes seem to be the same
regardless of how the movies are made and what effects they contain. The movies appealing to
children often focus on concepts as family, adventures, imaginary creatures, magic, friendship and
happy endings. All of these concepts might also be represented in the title to achieve an
enchanting and appealing effect for the children.
The following chapter will describe the developments in the use of English in Denmark,
considering the fact that English has become a global language.
4. English as a global cinematic language
Language and culture are phenomena that develop through time, and this is evident in the study
of movie titles, since these developments influence the translation of English movie titles. One of
these developments is the increasing use of the English language all over the globe (Mogensen,
1998:267). The globalisation and developments in technology have turned the English language
into a global language, with which everyone is encountered. According to Cordero (1987, in
Kummer: 229) this results in a dominant use of English in the cinematic language and creates a
tendency of retaining the English movie titles, when the movies are distributed in foreign
countries. Considering that the source material of Anne Cordero (in Kummer, 1987) is somewhat
obsolescent, one might expect the non-translated titles not only to be a tendency, but a whole
new translation strategy today in relation to titles in English. This means that the trend of not
translating English titles is not regarded as a new phenomenon anymore, because it is prevalent in
the study of movie title translation.
The incorporation of English terms in the Danish language is mainly rooted in the developments in
technology. Else Mogensen states: When a new terminology emerges and becomes entrenched
within a nation, a new terminology follows by necessity (in Gambier, 1998: 269). This quotation
supports the fact that the incorporation of English language in Denmark is formed as a result of
the need for new words, because of developments in technology. The new technology originates
from English-speaking areas, which is the reason why the English technical terms are incorporated
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
in several other languages lacking adequate technical terminology. Furthermore, using English
expressions in the everyday language is being connected to the perception of what is smart,
glamorous and modern in Denmark (Mogensen in Gambier, 1998: 270). To elaborate on this,
English has become a necessity in relation to technological terms the last two decades, but also a
linguistic trend in connection with the common use of language.
English is expected to be known especially by the younger and the middle aged audience, since
these generations have been brought up with being taught English in school, watching English
movies, and listening to English music in their spare time etc. This causes several English movies,
intended to appeal to this audience, to be distributed more or less with a non-translated title.
Additionally, when speaking of the term non-translated titles (Cordero in Kummer, 1987: 229), it is
essential to keep in mind that a translation is still involved, despite the meaning of the phrase. To
elaborate on this, a title is surrounded by a specific semantic field and becomes isolated and as if
torn from its cultural moorings when it is transplanted into a foreign cultural setting (Cordero in
Kummer, 1987: 229). In other words, the translation still takes place, however, not in the physical
composition of words in another language, but in the head of the receiver, as he tries to connect
the title to his own cultural experiences and interpretation of the title.
The following chapter will elaborate on the theory of the translation strategies used in the study.
These theoretical strategies are formed by Anne Cordero and Anne Schjoldager, and will be used
to categorise and analyse the chosen titles that are the focus of this assignment.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
5. Translation strategies
5.1 The Three-method-model with macrostrategies by Cordero (1987)
According to Anne Cordero, title translation can be categorically divided into three translation
methods:
1. The title transfers untranslated
2. The title undergoes a one-to-one translation
3. The original title is adapted to the target culture by undergoing a metamorphosis 1
Method no. 1 explains the way a title can be ‘translated’ unchanged into the target language e.g.
The Matrix (imdb.com) distributed in America = The Matrix (dvdoo.dk) distributed in Denmark.
This exemplifies the way the original title is directly transferred to the target language without
changes.
Method no. 2 involves a one-to-one translation, meaning that the original title undergoes a
transformation by being translated word for word. The problem of this procedure is to find
linguistic equivalents to the words and phrases of the original text. An example of the use of
method no. 2 is Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (imdb.com) = Harry Potter og
Halvblodsprinsen (dvdoo.dk). In this case the focus is on translating the text word for word and on
keeping the same effect as the one of the original title.
Method no. 3 adapts the original title into its target culture, by undergoing several changes,
whether it is on word level, phrase level, sentence level, or on a level of meaning.
This model is based on an empirical study of a great amount of titles in English, French and
German revealing trends in the translation of movie titles (Cordero in Kummer, 1987: 227).
Cordero’s translation model is a simple way of determining how titles are translated and with
which strategies. However, to be able to work with the title translations in greater detail,
translation method no. 3 will be elaborated on in chapter 5.3, since there are several ways to
adapt a title to its target culture.
1
Metamorphosis: When a phrase changes in form or structure
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
5.2 Microstrategies by Schjoldager (2008)
The elaboration of Cordero’s method no. 3 (see chapter 5.3) is based on additional translation
strategies of Anne Schjoldager (2008) as she focuses more on the microstrategies2 of translation
compared to Cordero’s model focussing more on macrostrategies. Schjoldager’s microstrategies
deal with translation problems on a micro level concerning specific problems with words, phrases
and sentences. The translation strategies of Schjoldager are listed below and defined with her own
words (Schjoldager 2008:92):
Direct transfer: Transfers something unchanged
Calque: Transfers the structure or makes a very close translation
Direct translation: Translates in a word-for-word procedure
Oblique translation: Translates in a sense-for-sense procedure
Explicitation: Makes implicit information explicit
Paraphrase: Translates rather freely
Condensation: Translates in a shorter way, which may involve implicitation (making explicit
information implicit)
Adaption: Recreates the effect, entirely or partially
Addition: Adds a unit of meaning
Substitution: Changes the meaning
Deletion: Leaves out a unit of meaning
Permutation: Translates in a different place
In the following chapter Schjoldager’s microstrategies will be added to Cordero’s three method
model. The purpose of this is to maintain Cordero’s simple division of translation strategies, while
elaborating on the several ways in which a title can be adapted to its target culture with
Schjoldager’s additional microstrategies.
2
Microstrategies: translation strategies that deal with the translation in detail. Microstrategies are a subgroup to
macrostrategies that deal with the overall translation method.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
5.3 Elaboration of the Three-method-model
A comparison between the strategies of the two theorists shows that Schjoldager deals with
translation strategies that are similar to Cordero’s method no. 1 and 2. However, Schjoldager’s
strategies are called something else; Method no. 1 is similar to Schjoldager’s direct transfer as the
text in question is transferred unchanged in both procedures.
Cordero’s method no. 2 is similar to Schjoldager’s direct translation as the text is translated with a
word-for-word procedure similar to method no. 2 involving a one-to-one procedure. In other
words, the translator translates one word at a time in both strategies, which means that they are
similar to each other.
The remaining translation strategies of Schjoldager are regarded as microstrategies of Cordero’s
translation method no. 3. A model of the joined translation strategies of both Cordero and
Schjoldager is shown below.
1. The title transfers untranslated (by Cordero)
= Direct transfer (by Schjoldager)
2. The title undergoes a one-to-one translation (by Cordero)
= Direct translation (by Schjoldager)
3. The original title is adapted to the target culture by undergoing a metamorphosis (by
Cordero)
= Oblique translation, Calque, Explicitation, Paraphrase, Condensation, Adaption,
Addition, Substitution, Deletion, Permutation (by Schjoldager)
The elaborated model will be used when analysing the titles translated with Cordero’s method no.
3, and when discussing them and the chosen strategies in greater detail. The titles translated with
method no. 3 will be linked with the microstrategies of Schjoldager to determine the choice of
strategy on a more detailed level. In addition, it is essential to mention that it is possible for the
translated titles to be linked with more than one of Schjoldager’s microstrategies. That is, a
translated title can be linked with for instance both explicitation and paraphrase, since it can be
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
difficult for a translator to only stick to one translation strategy, when facing problems on the
micro level.
The analysis of the movie titles in appendix 1 is commenced in the next chapter. Firstly, the focus
is on the patterns of the translation methods within each movie genre, and secondly, the titles of
each genre will be gone through, and their connected translation strategies will be clarified.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
6. Analysis of the source texts and target texts
When reviewing the titles in the table in appendix 1 it is noticeable that the distribution year of
the movie titles are spread over a long period within each movie genre. That is each movie genre
contains 10 titles that are chosen because of the date of distribution between the 1930s and
2000s, since it is important that the study contains both new and old movie titles, to be able to
study the trends of movie title translation through time.
For starters, the table has been structured in the way that the original titles (STs) are placed
underneath each other in the first column to the left, with the year of distribution behind them.
The next column is the translations of the original titles, followed by a column that states the
genre of the movie belonging to the title. The last one of the four columns states which one of
Cordero’s translation methods is used for the translation. As a matter of form, it should be
mentioned that the original titles are collected from the Internet Movie Database, imdb.com,
whereas the translated titles are collected from a Danish internet movie database called dvdoo.dk.
6.1 Frequently used translation strategies
The aim of this thesis is to study how English movie titles are translated, and whether there are
patterns in the title translation strategies within the chosen movie genres. When stating the
translation strategies of Cordero with which the titles are translated, it becomes clear that the
chosen translation strategies form a certain tendency in each genre. The next chapter will
elaborate on the chosen translation strategies of the titles and state the patterns that seem to
appear in each genre.
6.1.2 Patterns in the genre of Romance
Looking at the first movie genre, romance, it is shown in the table of appendix 1 that the majority
of the titles, 6/10, are translated with method no. 1. These titles are Nights In Rodanthe, American
Beauty, The Notebook, Casablanca, Pretty Woman and P.S. I love You which are all kept in their
original form when distributed in Denmark. With the exception of one, all of these titles have been
distributed in the period of time, in which the target audience in Denmark was expected to know
the English language on a moderate level, from 1990s-2000s that is. The exception is the title
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
Casablanca, which was distributed in 1942. Now, the reason for the title not to be changed, but
directly transferred, is presumably because the original title refers to a geographical place. It is
believed that a title can be left untranslated, when referring to cities, countries and other
geographical places that do not need to be integrated into the language of the target culture
(Cordero in Kummer, 1987:227), probably because the target audience is expected to be familiar
with the place. Another reason for the title to be directly transferred with method no. 1, even
though it is from 1942, is that the city is called the same both in English and in Danish. This means
that a translation is not actually needed in this case, since the word is the same in both languages.
The second most frequently used translation strategy in this genre is Cordero’s method no. 3,
adapting the title to the target culture. The titles translated with this method are The Mirror Has
Two Faces, The Graduate and The Way We Were. An explanation to the use of method no. 3 in the
case of The Graduate and The Way We Were is that the movie titles were distributed respectively
in 1967 and 1973, which means that the trend of using the original English titles in Denmark was
not as prevalent as it became in about 1990s (Mogensen, 1998: 267). And the reason why these
two titles were not translated with method no. 2 is probably because a translation of the titles
would not represent the plot and the themes of the movies accurately enough for the audience.
In the case of The Mirror Has Two Faces, it could be expected that the title would be distributed
untranslated, because the year of distribution is 1996 since the Danish people would know the
English language by then. But this seems to be ignored by the translator as he seems to focus on
the theme of love instead by replacing The Mirror with the word Kærligheden. According to
Schjoldager (2008: 106-7) this is called substitution, as the translation changes the meaning of a
unit in the original title. The translator seems to believe that a clarification of the theme ‘love’
would be a better target text appealing to a greater audience in Denmark than a direct transfer.
In addition, The Graduate is also completely changed in the translation because a direct transfer or
a direct translation, Studenten, would not clarify the theme enough to appeal to the target
audience. The new title Fagre voksne verden has gone through a procedure of adaption
(Schjoldager 2008: 104) in which the translator has been creative enough to support the original
title’s themes of becoming a graduate, growing up and becoming an adult, but while changing the
linguistic meaning of the original title. However, paraphrase is also a part of the procedure here,
as the translation is rather freely executed considering the choice of words. The new title sticks to
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
the original theme, but sounds phonetically more appealing with the new composition of words
than a direct translation would have. The reason for this is the two syllables in each word, and the
alliteration with the letter v in the last two words. The translator creates an effect in the Danish
title that is similar to the effect of the original title.
The last title translated with method no. 3 is as previously mentioned The Way We Were. This title
has gone through the same procedure involving the translation strategies called adaption and
permutation (Schjoldager, 2008: 103-110). The procedure of adaption recreates the effect of a
source-text item (Schjoldager, 2008 : 103), which in this case is represented in the way the
translator focuses on the We in the original title, and in trying to maintain the theme of being a
couple, the translator translates The Way We Were into Vore bedste år. The new title still seems
to be looking back at something, which is similar to the original title referring back to the way
things were. Furthermore, permutation is involved as the translator includes a phonetic
alliteration in the new title with vore and år, as the sound of the first syllables’ vocals are similar to
each other. This is done to try to recreate the alliteration of the consonant w in the original title
The Way We Were. The result is a rendered effect of the English title established by a new title
nearly carrying the same contextual meaning of the source text, but with very different words.
The genre in question only contains 1/10 titles translated with the procedure of Cordero’s method
no. 2, one-to-one translation. The title Gone With The Wind was distributed in 1939, which is one
of the main reasons that the title was actually translated into Danish and not directly transferred.
The other reason is that the translator was actually able to find equivalents to the words of the
original title, making it possible to translate it with a one-to-one procedure, without changing the
meaning of the title. If this has not been the case, the title would probably have been translated
with method no. 3 instead. Furthermore, the new title actually sounds as good as the original one,
because of the alliterations created with the b in Borte and Blæsten. This has a great effect as it
sounds good in Danish.
In conclusion, the study of the genre, romance, shows that titles that are distributed these days
are often directly transferred, on the condition that they already refer to the themes of love and
romance. This is due to the fact that the target audience of these movies are expected to be
familiar with the English language.
Furthermore, only three of the ten titles have been translated with method no. 3 and the reason
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
for this is also the time of distribution, with the exception of The Mirror Has Two Faces from 1996
that has been translated with method no. 3, because the original title did not reveal the theme
well enough for the target audience.
If the title is from before 1990s, translation method no. 1 will be excluded as a translation
possibility, because the target audience is not expected to know the English language sufficiently
by that time of distribution. Furthermore, if the words of an English title from this period of time
are able to be replaced with perfect equivalents in Danish, then the choice of strategy will be
method no. 2 instead of method no. 3, since this is an easy and faithful (Loyalität by Nord,
1993:17) solution.
The study of this movie genre clearly shows a pattern in the overall macrostrategies in relation to
which titles are translated respectively with method no. 1, 2 or 3. Nevertheless, the
microstrategies used in translation method no. 3 seems to be quite random and are simply chosen
in relation to a rendering of the items, effect and the meaning of the original title.
6.1.3 Patterns in the genre of comedy
When viewing the table of appendix 1, it is obvious that the patterns of the comedy genre are very
different from those of the romantic genre.
For starters, in comedy the majority of the titles are translated with method no. 3, even though
several of these titles have been distributed within the last two decades. This means that a direct
transfer in English has been avoided, even though the target audience is regarded as being familiar
with English. 6/10 titles in this genre have been adapted to the target culture by undergoing
several changes in composition and meaning.
The Cannonball Run from 1981 was translated into Ud at køre med de skøre. The translation
strategies used in this case are substitution, as the title contains items that are very different from
those of their source-text items (Schjoldager, 2008: 107) and permutation since the translator has
developed a phonetic alliteration by using the words køre and skøre in the translation. This
establishes an effect that is different from the one of the source text, as The Cannonball Run refers
to some kind of unknown race while the new title refers to a drive. However, even though the new
title refers to a drive, it lacks the reference to the main event of the movie: the race. Despite this,
the translator creates a humoristic appealing effect with the alliteration resulting in a very catchy
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Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
title that is easy to remember and pronounce for the target audience.
In the case of The Odd Couple from 1968 a substitution is involved in the translation, as the title is
completely rewritten and substituted with words of different semantic meaning: Hvem støver af?.
The translation does not refer to an obvious or typical theme of the movie, but is simply
transformed into a question, that is meant to refer to a humorous situation of the movie.
However, the effect of this translation is not adequately achieved since the theme and the plot of
the movie are not revealed to the target audience.
The other four titles that are translated with method no. 3 are Miss Congeniality, Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo, Groundhog Day, and Liar Liar. All of these movies are relatively new, for which
reason one might wonder why they have not just been directly transferred, since this is a
prevalent trend.
Miss Congeniality is adapted to the target culture because the translator wanted to make it clear
for the Danish audience that the main character is an FBI agent. This theory is supported by
Cordero (in Kummer, 1987), who states that a mystifying proper name has the tendencies not to
be transferred at all, but to be replaced by a new title which points to a particular attribute of the
main character (Cordero, 1987, in Kummer: 228). When this theory is applied to the title Miss
Congeniality it is clear that the translation refers to the attributes of the main character being an
agent working undercover as a beauty pageant contestant. The theme of the original title is
maintained with the word catwalk, which is why this translation is regarded as adaption
(Schjoldager, 2008: 103). In continuation of this, the title Liar Liar is also includes a mystified
proper name, which is why it is not directly transferred either. Instead, the title is replaced with
Fuld af løgn that both describes the theme of the movie and the protagonist’s characteristics.
Therefore, this is also regarded as adaption since the meaning and the effect of the source-text
item Liar is maintained.
Another title with a mystified proper name is Deuce Bigalow - Male Gigolo. As previously
mentioned, this title is not directly transferred either, but replaced with a new title, that is meant
to refer to the main character of the movie. However, the new title Er du til noget? does not refer
to any items of the original title, to the theme of the movie, or to attributes of the main character.
For this reason it can be discussed whether the effect and the humour of the original title is
maintained or lost in the translation.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
The last title translated with method no. 3 is Groundhog Day from 1993. The reason why this title
has been translated with method no. 3 might be because the translator did not expect everyone in
the target audience to be familiar with the American phrase Groundhog Day. In popular culture
the phrase is connected to the phenomenon of experiencing something repeatedly over and over
until it can be transcended (Wikipedia, 2010). Since the phrase does not have an equivalent in
Danish this is an additional reason for the translator to avoid a one-to-one translation. This has
resulted in a translation procedure involving adapting the title in the target culture by using
adaption, as it focuses on the meaning of the original title, while trying to establish the same
effect but with different words.
A clear pattern in the table of the genre, comedy, shows that the second most frequently used
translation method is method no. 1. The titles translated with this method are American Pie,
Knocked Up and Juno. It is essential to note that the target audience of these movies a mostly
considered to be the younger audience in the age of 15-24 years (Faulkner, 2009: 1), because of
the themes relating to sex, adolescent humour, relationships and growing up to face adult
problems. This age group has been exposed to English while growing up, through TV, in school and
through the music they listen to. In continuation of this, the main reason for the movies to be
distributed in Denmark with an English title is the fact that the target audience is expected to be
very familiar with the language. However, they are other reasons to be using the direct transfer.
For instance, the title American Pie refers to the American phrase ‘as American as apple pie’. It
implies that something is as typically American as apple pie, which, by some, is regarded as
America’s national dish. For Americans, the apple pie is a dish that represents their culture just as
much as baseball (Popik, 2009: 1). In relation to this, according to Cordero (1987, in Kummer: 228)
a title that reflects something very American or English in relation to cultural understanding, has a
tendency to remain unchanged. This is connected to the demands that the translator remains
faithful to the title (Nord, 1993:17) and its cultural references, which is one of the reasons why the
title American Pie was directly transferred when distributed in Denmark.
With reference to popular English phrases, Knocked Up is a perfect example of titles that remain
untranslated because the phrase is prevalent among the young Danish people. The target
audience knows what the phrase means, thus a translation into Danish would be unnecessary.
Furthermore, it would be hard to find equivalent words in Danish that would have the same
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
phonetic effect and meaning as the original English phrase, which is why method no. 2 is excluded.
As previously mentioned, mystified proper names in titles have a tendency not to be directly
transferred (see the paragraph about Miss Congeniality on p. 16), but to be replaced with a new
title pointing to attributes of the movie’s main character (Cordero, 1987, in Kummer: 228).
However, considering the title Juno this was not the chosen procedure of translation as the
translator chose to transfer the title directly instead. According to Cordero titles of films by wellknown directors seem to be left more often in the original than those by lesser known directors
(1987, in Kummer: 229), and regarding the case in point, the director of Juno is actually the wellknown and reputable Jason Reitman, who has been nominated for 4 Oscars and has received
several other movie awards (IMDB 2, 2010: 1). Bearing Cordero’s statement in mind, the translator
must have chosen to leave the title unchanged because the movie is made by a noted director.
The only incidence of method no. 2 within this genre is I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry. This
title has been translated with a word-for-word (Schjoldager, 2008: 95) procedure, probably
because the title is known to have the exact equivalent both in linguistic and contextual meaning.
However, the title could be considered to be kept in its original form, since the target audience
would be instantly aware of the meaning the phrase, when reading it. The reason why the
translator chose to translate the title into the equivalent Danish phrase might be to be able to
transmit the sense of humour to an older audience who is not necessarily familiar with English.
In conclusion of the study of the movie genre, comedy, it is clear that the majority of the titles
within this genre are translated with method no. 3. The pattern shows that the reason for this is
that titles consisting of a mystified proper name, Deuce Bigalow - Male Gigolo, Miss Congeniality,
and Liar Liar, are mostly transformed into a title pointing to the attributes of the movie’s main
character by undergoing an adaption to the target culture. In addition, other titles categorised
with method no. 3 are translated with this procedure, mainly because it was important for the
translator to transmit the titles’ sense of humour to the target audience, or because the titles
were distributed for more than two decades ago, which is the case of The Odd Couple from 1968
and The Cannonball Run from 1981.
Furthermore, the genre contains three incidences of method no. 1, and the explanation to these
transfers is that they have been distributed within the period in which English is prevalent in the
Danish language. However, a title that represents something utterly cultural in the minds of the
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Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
English or the Americans, e.g. American Pie, also has a tendency to be directly transferred to stay
faithful to the title’s cultural references.
Only one title, I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, was translated with method no. 2, because a
perfect equivalent phrase in Danish were available (Direct translation by Schjoldager, 2008: 95),
and also because the translator wanted to reach out to a broader audience. Otherwise it could be
expected that the movie was directly transferred, because the phrase is as recognizable in English
as in Danish for the target audience.
6.1.4 Patterns in the genre of children’s movies
In the genre, children’s movies, the pattern shows that the majority of the titles have been
translated with method no. 2. The method in question refers to the direct translation also called
the one-to-one procedure (Cordero in Kummer, 1987: 228), in which the translator translates the
title word for word and uses what first comes into mind (Schjoldager, 2008 : 96). As the genre
implies, the target audience in this case are Danish children in the age of 7-11, which is why the
pattern almost omits the use of direct transfer. The pattern shows that 7/10 titles are translated
with method no. 2, 2/10 are translated with method no. 3, and only 1/10 is translated with
method no. 1. The reasons for choosing translation method no. 2 in the majority of the translation
procedures are mainly because equivalents of the titles’ units are available in Danish, but also
because the effect of the direct translation seems to be working in all of these cases. The Wizard
Of Oz, Beauty And the Beast, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Finding Nemo, Babe - The Gallant
Pig, The Neverending Story, and The Sword In The Stone are the source texts of one-to-one
translation procedures that seem to be working in Danish, because of phonetically good
compositions and available similar expressions (Schjoldager 2008 : 90). Considering the pattern of
the genre, it is clear that one of the titles seems to be translated with a small addition included in
method no.2: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs is translated into Snehvide og de syv små
Dværge. This title has gone through a change that falls outside the definition of method no. 2 and
therefore it could be considered as being partly translated with method no. 3. Snow White And
The Seven Dwarfs seems to be added an additional adjectival unit: små in the translation. This
means that addition, which is a part of translation method no. 3, can also be considered to be
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
influencing the translation. On the other hand, the addition is not an essential unit of meaning,
since it only describes the Dwarfs as little, and when speaking of Dwarfs, they are already thought
of as little people. This means that the word små is actually superfluous in the sense of meaning,
but phonetically it has the effect of establishing a rhythm in the Danish title, by creating
alliteration (Schjoldager, 2008: 109) of two words, with one syllable, beginning with s: syv små.
Thus, since the meaning and the composition of the title and its translation are so much alike, this
translation procedure is still mainly considered to be method no. 2.
Looking at the second most frequently used translation method in this genre, method no. 3, the
two titles The Iron Giant and Ice Age 2 – The Meltdown have been adapted to the target culture by
undergoing very different changes. The first mentioned title undergoes a transformation in which
a unit of meaning, not inferred from the source text, is included as an addition Schjoldager, 2008:
105). Furthermore, as previously mentioned a mystified proper name has the tendency to be
translated with method no. 3 and changed into a title pointing to attributes of the movie’s main
character (Cordero in Kummer, 1987: 228). This theory can also be applied to the translation
method of The Iron Giant, but the translator seems to attach importance to the theme of
friendship in the movie and emphasises this by adding Drengen og to the original title. This
addition (Schjoldager, 2008: 105) does not directly point to the attributes of the main character,
but emphasises the most important theme of the movie.
The other title Ice Age 2 – The Meltdown has been translated in a completely different way; the
effect of the source text has been recreated with the adaption procedure that is defined by
Schjoldager (2008: 103) as a strategy that focuses on one aspect of the source text while ignoring
others. The source text element in focus is The Meltdown, which has been translated into På Tynd
Is. This translation shows that the translator has considered the fact that the ice is getting thinner
to be a vital theme of the movie. Furthermore, the translation also indicates that the translator
has used an idiom; In Danish when someone is in some kind of trouble, it can be described with at
være på tynd is (being on thin ice), which is the reference the translator has used in the
translation. This means that the target text both has a literal meaning, in the way that the main
characters are literally on thin ice because of the meltdown, and a figurative meaning as the
wordplay describes the troubles the main characters are facing in the movie. As a result of all this,
the target text represents the effect of the source text and the themes of the movie at the same
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
time, while maintaining one part of the title and changing other parts. In some ways, the last part
of the translation can also be considered to be a substitution (Schjoldager, 2008: 106-107), since
the two units The Meltdown and På tynd is are so linguistically different.
Finally, the only title within the genre comedy translated with method no. 1 is Toy Story. The
reason that the translator chose to use the direct translation could simply be that he did not
expect the children to be specially appealed by the title, but by the trailers published in the TV.
The translation strategy has been chosen due to the fact that the target audience in this case,
might be considered to be parents, who could be interested in passing on the message to their
kids. Since parents are the ones taking their children to the movies, the translator chose to
transfer the title directly to reach an older audience. Whether the effect of the source text is lost
in the target text can be discussed, since the movie’s target audience is children, while the title’s
target audience are the parents. However, if the movie is expected to be watched by older
children, who are be able to understand the English target text, then the title would be more
appealing and thus functional.
In conclusion of this, it is demonstrated that children’s movies generally have a tendency to be
translated into the target language, simply because the target audience is children. The most used
method in these cases is method no. 2, mostly because the translator of the titles was able to find
linguistic equivalents that also work together phonetically and semantically in Danish. If
equivalents to the words of the English titles are not to be found, then translation method no. 3
will be utilised as a translation strategy. The different microstrategies within the use of method no.
3 are not showing any clear patterns, but are simply chosen in relation to the best way of creating
an effect, sound, and meaning similar to the one of the source text.
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
7. The effect of the target texts
Taking the analysis into consideration, it is prominent that some target texts lack the effect of the
source text, and by discussing the translation strategies of these incidences, it will be possible to
determine why they are not successfully translated titles.
An example of a title of which the effect is questionable is Deuce Bigalow - Male Gigolo which was
translated into Er du til noget? The source text is a mystifying proper name, reasoning why it was
expected that the new title would be translated with method no. 3 into a title pointing to the
character’s attributes (Cordero, 1987, in Kummer: 228). The title is translated with method no. 3,
however, the target text does not point to any features or attributes of the movie’s main
character. Instead it was changed into a question that was meant to accentuate the movie’s sexual
and humorous theme, but it is primarily regarded as a misleading title, because the theme is not
clearly indicated. The target audience does not have a chance to know what kind of movie it is,
because of the misleading title, which means that the effect of the source text, in my opinion, is
completely lost. This is an example of what happens, when a title is not adapted correctly into its
target culture; the title becomes misinterpreted (Fehlinterpretation by Nord, 1993: 248). For a
target audience to accept a certain title, it has to contain elements of what is expected of it
(Akzeptabilität by Nord, 1993: 248). Therefore, a solution to the misleading title could be to use
the rhyme of the source text, Bigalow – Gigolo, in the target text, since the word gigolo means the
exact same thing in Danish. If for instance the target text was Deuce Bigalow - I lære som Gigolo,
then the title would point to attributes of the main character, while indicating the theme and the
sense of humour for the target audience. This title suggestion is the result of translation method
no. 3 with adaption (Schjoldager, 2008: 103) as a microstrategy, since aspects of the source text
are in focus, while other aspects are ignored and replaced with other words. Another solution is to
transfer the source text directly, since the target audience is expected to understand English by
the time of distribution, which is 1991.
In addition, the effect of the source text The Odd Couple is not achieved in the target text Hvem
støver af? either. The problem here is the same as the one of the previous case, namely that the
target text does not refer to the themes, the sense of humour or the main characters of the
movie. That is, the audience of the comedy genre cannot be appealed by the movie title if it does
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
not represent what the audience expects it to represent. In continuation of this, the translation of
the source text does not correspond with the function of a title (Nord, 1993: 9). A solution to this
problem is to utilize a different microstrategy than the chosen one. According to Schjoldager
(2008: 95-96) a direct translation is often used when linguistic equivalents to the wording of the
source text are available. In this case the equivalent wording would be det umage/underlige par.
However, Schjoldager also states that other translation strategies come in to use, when the
translator is dissatisfied with the result of a direct translation (Schjoldager, 2008: 96). This may be
the reason for the translator of The Odd Couple to have chosen method no. 3 as a macrostrategy,
since a direct translation does not have a phonetic rhythm or alliteration as the vocals o and ou
have in the source text; they sound alike in speech even though they are spelled differently. To be
able to achieve the same effect in the target text, the translator has to think creatively by using a
wording different from the one of the source text. The most important thing is that the translator
makes sure to create an effect similar to the effect of the source text, to be able to make a
translation that functions (Nord, 1991: 9-10) as a movie title.
Even though some translations seem to be lacking the exact effect and sense of the source text,
other title translations also achieve to be as effective or even more effective than the original title.
An example of an effective translation is Agent Catwalk translated with method no. 3 as a
macrostrategy and with adaption as a microstrategy (see chapter 6.1.3). Even though the wording
is completely changed, the target text contains elements that accentuate the humoristic theme
and the main character of the movie. In this case, the target text is considered to be slightly better
than the source text, because it functions so well in Danish. The target text could also be directly
transferred back to English as a proposition for a new title to the same movie, since Agent Catwalk
also works well in English.
Another example of an effective title translation is Ice Age 2 – På Tynd Is. This title successfully
describes two things going on in the movie; firstly that the ice is melting and getting thinner, and
secondly på tynd is is a fixed expression explaining that the main characters are facing some
troubles in the movie. In other words, the translation clearly indicates the plot of the movie, while
sounding phonetically good in Danish, because of the three one-syllable words. Furthermore, the
translator seems to be of the opinion that a direct translation would be lacking a purposeful effect,
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
since he chose to adapt the title into its target culture instead. Bearing the points above in mind,
the target text is regarded to be as effective, if not more effective, than the source text.
8. The prominent patterns of each movie genre
The study of macrostrategies used in the translations has shown that the titles of each genre have
essentially different translation tendencies. The genre romance mostly contains utilisation of
translation method no. 1, because the source texts already represent the themes and the plot of
the movie accurately enough to be kept in their original form. Furthermore, the use of direct
transfers is also due to the distribution year of the titles, since the majority of the directly
transferred titles are distributed in Denmark in a period, in which the target audience is familiar
with the source language. Whereas the romance genre contains most translations with direct
transfers, the table in appendix 1 indicates that the titles of the genre comedy are mostly
connected to translation method no. 3. This is due to the fact that we are dealing with source texts
containing mystifying proper names (Cordero, 1987, in Kummer: 228), or source texts that are old
and/or lack the ability to refer to the humorous aspects of the movie in a way that the target
audience can comprehend.
Finally, the translation strategies of the children’s movies’ titles indicate that the majority of these
titles are translated with method no. 2. The main reason for this is the fact that the target
audience are children, who need a translation to understand and to be appealed by the movie
titles. Furthermore, another reason is that the translator of the titles in question was able to find
linguistic equivalents in Danish, establishing the same meaning in the target language as in the
source language.
Now the question in relation to the translation strategies is; why they appear as a pattern that is
different from genre to genre? The answer is to be found in the focus of the titles in question and
therefore also in the target audience. The genre of the movie determines the target audience, and
the expectations of this audience have to be fulfilled for the title to be appealing to and accepted
by them (Funktionsgerechtigkeit and Akzeptabilität by Nord, 1993: 17, 248). For instance, the title
American Beauty works both for the English and the Danish audience, because it contains the
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
word beauty as a romantic reference. When the theme, as for instance love, is something that is
understood as the same in every culture, it is easier to relate to and therefore, the titles with this
unambiguous focus have a tendency to be directly transferred.
Contrary to the above, the sense of humour is not the same in every language and cultural aspect.
The sense of humour in one country is not necessarily the same in another country. In
continuation of this, the focus of the comedy genre is clearly the humoristic perspective of the
movies, which is mainly why the titles presenting any kind of humour, are translated with method
no. 3, in order to transmit the source text’s sense of humour to the specific target audience. This
also indicates that when speaking of movie genres, maintaining the focus of the genre seems to be
crucial to achieve to transmit the message of the source text to the target audience.
The patterns of the translations in children’s movies also support that the maintenance of the
genre’s focus is vital to the effect of the translation. As previously mentioned, this genre contains
most translation procedures of method no. 2, because it is possible to transmit the elements of
magic and fairytale to the children with a Danish equivalent wording.
Even though the target audience has a say in the choice of translation strategies, it is also
important to look into the focus of the source texts. For instance in the genre romance, the
majority of the source texts already refer to the themes of the genre, which is one of the reasons
why they are simply directly transferred. Furthermore, when referring to love and romance, the
translator seems to be of the opinion that the directly transferred English titles are easy to
understand for the target audience. However, this is not the case in the comedy genre, where the
patterns show a lot of translations executed with method no. 3, because many of the source texts
consist of references to a humorous aspect of the movie. This results in the procedure of method
no. 3 as the translator endeavours to pass on the source text’s humoristic focus to the target
audience in a way it can relate to.
Furthermore, the titles in the genre of children’s movies are mostly translated with method no. 1,
because the focus of the source text contains the conventional magical elements for this genre.
The wording of the original titles in this genre also seems to have perfect equivalents in Danish,
but whether this is a coincidence or a conventional feature is difficult to determine, as this is a
preliminary research with a limited scope of data.
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BA project English S10
In the light of the discussion in chapter 7 it is stated that some translations are lacking the effect
and function of the source text, primarily because the translator chose a wrong macro- and/or
microstrategy, or simply made a bad translation. However, there are incidences in this study, in
which the translator succeeded in transmitting both the effect and function of the original title, by
recreating the effect of the target text, or by creating a title that corresponds with the linguistic
and phonetic elements of the source text. Some translations work very well, while others do not.
Furthermore, the reason why there are different patterns in each genre is because of the focus of
the source text and of course because of the target audience. The focus of the target text has to
appeal to the target audience, and since each genre has a different target audience, the titles also
have different focuses. This focus, be it humour, romance or magical fairytales and cartoons, is
attempted to be transmitted to the audience by the translator with the specific translation
strategies. From this, it is concluded that a title is expected to be functionally accepted if it
contains linguistic elements and references corresponding with the focus of the genre.
To conclude on the findings of the patterns, it is important to state that this was a preliminary
research that probably will need even more titles to be able to designate whether these patterns
are universal for the majority of titles within the three movie genres.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
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My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
9. Conclusion
The aim of my thesis was to study how English movie titles are translated into Danish, and why the
translator chose the translation strategies in question. Furthermore, I was to study whether there
were translation patterns in the translation strategies of each movie genre, and if so, then I was to
investigate the reason for this.
To answer the questions of my problem statement I made an empirical analysis of the source texts
and target texts by applying theory of Cordero (1987) and Schjoldager (2008). By studying the
movie titles it became clear that there were patterns in the way the titles of each genre were
translated into Danish. The results of this study showed that the patterns of each genre were
caused by the specific thematic focus of every movie genre; Given that every genre had a specific
individual focus, each movie genre formed a translation pattern different from the one of the
others.
In relation to how the titles were translated, the analysis emphasised patterns showing that,
where the focus of the genre was romance, several titles were translated with method no. 1. This
was due to the fact that the source texts already contained elements corresponding with the
genre’s focus and that the target audience knew the English language. In addition, where humour
was the core focus, the majority of the titles were translated with method no. 3 in order to
transmit the titles’ sense of humour to the target audience as optimal as possible. Where the
focus was fairytale and magic, the majority of the titles were translated with method no. 2, since
the target audience was children, and because perfect equivalents with similar effects were
available in Danish. Even though this study clearly showed that the translator chose specific
macrostrategies to maintain the genre’s focus in the target text, the microstrategies turned out to
be quite randomly chosen in order to render the elements of the source texts in the best possible
way.
In conclusion, my thesis proves that the characteristics and the linguistic features of a movie title
are rooted in the genre of the movie. That is, the focus of the movie genre forms the translation
patterns. However, the target audience also has a say in the translation process, given that it is of
importance, what the target audience can comprehend and what it expects of a title.
Furthermore, due to the use of English as a global language, the Danish translators increasingly
seem to accept the use of movie titles in their original English form, especially when the titles refer
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
to the concept of romance, since this concept means the same in every cultural aspect.
During the discussion of my results I reached the conclusion that some translations are better than
their source texts, while other translations lack the effect and meaning of the original title. This
was either due to a wrong choice of translation strategy or due to the fact that the translator did
not keep the focus in mind while making the translation.
The result of my analysis is of importance because it shows a development in translation strategies
throughout a longer period, from which it is indicated that English movie titles distributed in
Denmark have become very common especially after the 1990s. It also shows that the choice of
translation strategies has a vital influence on the appealing effect of the target text.
To conclude on the findings of this thesis, it is essential to mention that this was a preliminary
research that would need to contain many more titles to be able to indicate whether these
translation patterns are universal for the majority of titles within the three studied movie genres.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
10. Abstract
My thesis A comparative analysis of title translation strategies is an empirical study of the
translator’s chosen strategies in the task of translating English movie titles into Danish. The study
is based on a comparison between source texts and target texts in order to determine why the
translator chose to use the translation strategies in question.
The introduction to this thesis is presented in chapter one, in which the problem statement is
clarified with the questions meant to be answered throughout the thesis. The core of my thesis
revolves around what happens with English movie titles when distributed in Denmark, and the
translator’s reasons for making the choices of strategies. Furthermore, I focus on the patterns of
macrostrategies that can appear within each movie genre, and on explaining what causes these
possible patterns. Finally, I endeavour to evaluate whether the effect of the target texts are
corresponding to the one of the source texts and to explain the reasons for my answer.
The thesis is based on theory on translation strategies by Anne Schjoldager (2008) and Christiane
Nord (1991, 1993). Furthermore, the study is based on Anne Cordero’s (1987) theory on title
translation, which includes her Three-method-model that I have applied to the title translations in
order to study the translation strategy patterns of each movie genre. For theory on the integration
of English in the Danish language I refer to Else Mogensen (1998).
Before the analysis is carried out, I call attention to the need of a definition of each movie genre,
which enables me to work with the thematic focus of the titles. In continuation of this, a definition
of the effect and function of the title is also needed in order to study the demands and
expectations as to what a movie title conventionally should contain.
My analysis of the title translations (chapter 6) reveals that the chosen strategies of each genre
form a specific tendency; in the genre romance 6/10 titles are translated with method no. 1, in the
genre comedy 6/10 titles are translated with method no. 3 and in the genre children’s movies 7/10
titles are translated with method no. 2. By identifying the macro-and microstrategies of each title
translation I am able to work out the translator’s focus of the task and thus draw a conclusion as
to why patterns appear in each genre.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
Throughout chapter 7 I discuss the effect of specific target texts to evaluate whether the translator
has achieved to recreate or even improve the effect of the source text. I also emphasise certain
examples, which I evaluate as poorly translated titles and give the reasons for my estimation.
Furthermore, in chapter 8 I discuss the reasons why patterns of macrostrategies appear in the
different chosen movie title genres.
Finally, I reach the conclusion (chapter 9) that the effect of the poorly translated titles is lost
because the translator chose the wrong translation strategy or simply made a bad choice of
wording in his translation. Considering the macrostrategy patterns of the movie genres it is proved
in the analysis that these patterns are formed by the specific focus of every genre; Where the
focus is love and romance several titles are translated with method no. 1, because the source texts
already contained elements corresponding with the focus, and because the target audience is
familiar with the English language. In addition, where humour is the core focus, the majority of the
titles are translated with method no. 3 to transmit the titles’ sense of humour to the target
audience in the best possible way. Where the focus is fairytale and magic, the majority of the titles
are translated with method no. 2 because the target audience is children, and because perfect
equivalents with similar effects are available in Danish.
The movie’s year of distribution also have a vital say in the choice of translation strategies. That is,
before 1990 English movie titles were mainly translated into Danish, to make sure the audience
was able to understand the plot and the themes of the movie. However, after 1990s English has
become a global language, and is more prevalent on the Danish cinematic scene, which is why
many English movie titles are kept in their original form if they already contain comprehendible
references to the themes of the movie on the condition that humour is not the core focus of the
titles. In conclusion of the above, my thesis proves that the chosen translation strategies are
formed by the movie genre’s thematic focus, which results in specific characteristics and linguistic
features of movie titles in every genre.
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
11. List of references
Books
Cordero, A., 1987. The strange fate of movie titles. In K. Kummer, ed. American Translators
Association Conference: Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the American Translators
Association: Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 8-11, 1987. Across the Language
Gap, 1987 Albuquerque, New Mexico, pp.227-234
Mogensen, E., 1998. New Terminology and the Translator. In Y. Gambier, ed. Translating for the
media: papers from the International Conference LANGUAGES & THE MEDIA, Berlin, November 2223, 1996. Turku: University of Turku pp. 267-272
Nord, C., 1991. Text analysis in translation: theory, methodology, and didactic application of a
model for translation-oriented text analysis. Amsterdam: Rodopi
Nord, C., 1993. Einführung in das funktionale Übersetzen. Am Beispiel von Titeln und Überschriften,
Tübingen : Francke Verlag
Schjoldager, Anne. 2008. Understanding Translation. Kbh. Academia
Internet sources
Bordwell, David. 2008. Title Wave. Available at: http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/?p=2805
[Accessed 10 April, 2010]
Dvdoo. 2010. Available at: http://www.dvdoo.dk/ [Accessed 12 April 2010] Each Danish movie title
is found by typing in the title in the search box and pressing ‘enter’.
Faulkner, Sean. USF Community Counseling Centre. 2009. Adolescence and the Portrayal of Teens
in Film and Television. Available at: http://usftherapist.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/adolescenceand-the-portrayal-of-teens-in-film-and-television/ [Accessed April 14 2010]
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The fate of movie titles in translation - A comparative analysis of translation strategies in title translation
Mia Vestergaard Andersen
My exam no. 287746
BA project English S10
Internet movie database. 2010. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/ [Accessed 12 April 2010].
Each English movie title is found by typing in the title in the search box and pressing ‘enter’.
Internet movie database. 2010. Jason Reitman. Available at
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718646 [Accessed April 20 2010]
Popik, Barry. 2009. As American as apple pie. Available at:
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/as_american_as_apple_pie/
[Accessed April 14 2010]
Simpson, David L. The School for New Learning, DePaul University. 1998. Comedy and Tragedy.
Available at: http://condor.depaul.edu/~dsimpson/tlove/comic-tragic.html [Accessed 16 March 3
2010]
Wikipedia. 2010. Groundhog Day. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day
[Accessed 12 April, 2010]
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