Strategies and methods of translating modern English film titles

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of strategies and methods of translating modern English film titles. Given the high popularity of cinematography in many countries around the world, there is an urgent need for quality and accurate translation of foreign feature film texts into various languages, including Ukrainian. It was found that translating film titles is a complex and responsible task, as the translator must act as an intermediary between the source and the target language texts. The study employed the following methods: observation, induction, deduction, analysis, generalization, and the comparative method to compare the original film titles and their Ukrainian equivalents to identify the peculiarities of film translation. It is found that a film title performs a number of main functions, including nominative, informative, advertising, prognostic, and pragmatic. Three main strategies used by translators were identified: direct translation, transformation, and indirect translation or complete title replacement. Two hundred and forty English films released in 2023 and 2024, available on the UASERIAL and Kinobaza websites, were analyzed.The study revealed that translators most often used the direct translation strategy, employing techniques of calque and transliteration. The study identified the main types of transformations: replacement, addition, omission, antonymic translation, compensation, descriptive translation, concretization, modulation, transcription, transliteration. It was determined that the strategy of indirect translation or complete replacement was used very rarely. It was found that the choice of the appropriate strategy depends on the intentions pursued by the translator, whether they want to bring the title as close as possible to their culture or immerse the viewer in another culture and customs. However, the film title must be related to the film’s plot and reflect the theme and main idea of the authors. An equally important aspect for the translator is the correct choice of transformations that will help convey the key information of the film to the audience. Therefore, the translator must be very attentive when translating a film title, know the translation methods, rely on their imagination and intuition, and anticipate the viewers’ desires in advance to convey a meaning that will be close to the original.The prospects for further research on the peculiarities of translating English film titles lie in examining the methods to adequately reproducing the national and cultural components of English film titles.