: Naming a book in a language different from where it would be published: is it good? The book is being written in Portuguese, would it be bad if the name is in English? The name is just

Vote Up Vote Down

I recently finished reading a novel in translation to English from Russian. The title was in Latin (in the original edition, the title was transliterated to Russian, but the English edition was in English transliteration.).

In this case, the authors (a duo) used a Latin phrase because it had meaning within the book. None of the characters spoke Latin (or anything else but Russian) but Latin is commonly used in literature (and movies too) for its nifty phrasing. These characters used a few Latin phrases in their work, including the one used for the title.

If English has cache in your country, or if you're publishing in an English-speaking country, or if your characters use English terms, including the title, then what you're proposing may work well.

But, if your only reason for changing the language of the title is because you think it sounds prettier, don't. If it's not common in your country, it may come off as pretentious. You'll turn readers off who don't know English too.

Another issue is there are already similarly named titles in English. Over 12,000 listings in Goodreads with the word "Awakening" in the title (may not be an accurate count, but it's still gonna be big). On a quick browse of the first two pages of the search, there are 5 titles that are simply "The Awakening." Including the famous novel by Kate Chopin.

If the sound of the title is your focus, choose another phrase in Portuguese.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

If the target audience understand the meaning of the tittle, then its fine. I'm an English only speaker, but if a book was titled 'El Diablo' that would be fine because I am familiar with those two specific spanish words. Also I would probably assume that the book was set in a Spanish speaking country or has something to do with spanish speaking people.

Would an English tittle imply that the story had something to do with an English speaking culture? Is that good or bad for your specific book?

When seen in book shops, would the customer falsely assume that the book was in English and not look at if if they can't read English? Maybe you could have a Portuguese quoat on the cover as well.

(0)