Difficulties in translation (the names of books and films that were translated into russian incorrectly)

It's amazing how much the title can change and, therefore, the perception of films when dubbing and books - when translated and republished.

Such changes, contrary to popular belief, firstly, are not always carried out by translators, secondly, quite often they turn out to be very successful in terms of marketing, and thirdly, they are never carried out just like that.

The translation of titles is carried out using several translation transformations and only after studying the target audience of the film or book.

Parasite names

Often, films become successful at the box office thanks to new titles that vaguely resemble old popular films: "Forest Brothers", "Brothers from the Jungle", "Underwater Brothers" and so on. By the way, none of the names originally contained the word "lads".

Reimagined names

The Anti-Soviet Novel is the fruit of a holistic rethinking in translation. In the Russian translation, the name acquired a completely different function and now has a different meaning. Such a transformation was necessary due to the difference in the views of the Russian and, for example, the American viewer on the politics of the iron curtain and harsh repression.

Grammatical transformations

Let us recall the novel by Charles Bukowski, The Story of Ordinary Madness. In the original, the book was called "Tales of ordinary madness". In this case, the translator only changed the form of the word from plural to singular. Such a change will hardly seem significant to most readers, although the title misinforms the reader: the novel describes a number of stories of different people, not just one.

Concretization

Specification is very often used in translation practice. For example, Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Rant" in Russian sounds like "Biography of Buster Casey". The short, mysterious title in the original has been replaced with a very specific description of the essence of the novel, but at the same time it does not change its perception at all: we still do not understand what will happen in Buster Casey's life, and why he was awarded a whole biography.

Language adaptation

Many movie titles are an interesting and witty play on words or a fixed expression that is familiar and understandable only for native speakers. It is not always possible to find a capacious and vivid analogue of such expressions, and translators often have to tinker with choosing the most suitable words.

An excellent example of such a translation is the beloved Russian “Die Hard”. Literally this name can be translated as "Painful death" or "Die hard." Not only would none of these titles capture the essence of the film, but these titles would hardly attract audiences. But Die Hard sounds more delicious and attracts the public's attention. Perhaps now the expression "strong as a nut" among Russians is more likely associated with a film than with a popular saying.

Adaptation to the viewer

"The hangover" literally translates as a hangover, but in Russia the attitude towards hangovers is very unfriendly, and a movie with a similar name would hardly have been better treated. Therefore, in Russia the film was released under the name "Bachelor Party in Vegas": this name promises the audience a funny and, perhaps, a little vulgar adventures, which will be pleasant to remember in a narrow circle and it will be a shame to tell even the bride.

Translation errors

Unfortunately, absolutely all name changes cannot be justified by either successful marketing moves or standard translation transformations.

So, the film "Death Proof", of course, can be almost "literally" translated as "proof of death", although in fact the director clearly meant here an analogy to the standard English words bulletproof (bulletproof) or foolproof (protection from fools), therefore the most correct there would be a translation "Unkillable".

Complete failure

Some titles are translated so incorrectly that it is impossible to even laugh at them condescendingly.

• “The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck and God” (literally from Japanese «Дикая утка, домашняя утка и бог, запертый в камере хранения») - «Бог на стороне уток»;
• "Jeux d'enfants" (literally «детские игры») - «Влюбись в меня, если осмелишься»;
• "Some Like It Hot" (literally «некоторые любят погорячее») - «В джазе только девушки»;
• “Lost” (literally «пропавшие, потерянные») - «Остаться в живых»;
• "The Men Who Stare at Goats" (literally «люди, которые глазеют на коз») - «Безумный спецназ»;
• "Fair Game" (literally «честная игра») - «Игра без правил»;
• "Everybody Loves Sunshine" (literally «Все любят солнечный свет») - «Понты»;
• "Keinohrhasen" (from German literally «Безухий заяц») - «Красавчик».

This list is endless, because there are many examples of completely rethought names, marketing successes and failures, and common misunderstandings in the localization of movie titles. However, by and large, the names of films are localized all over the world, and this is a normal, healthy practice: each country has its own values, traditions and its own language, which are not ready to "accept" films with their original names.

Әл-Фараби атындағы Қазақ ұлттық университетінің профессоры Жанатаев Данат Жанатайұлы, Әл-Фараби атындағы Қазақ ұлттық университетінің магистранты Болат Адия Ержанқызы

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