Poetics of Titles: Some Observations on Literary Translations from Russian into Italian

Abstract

The present article is devoted to the poetics of literary titles and their manifold meanings and functions in literary works. Due to their formal, stylistic and/or semantic characteristics, titles represent one of the most challenging and controversial elements in literary translations. In fact, they often refer to specific cultural aspects, idiomatic expressions or realia coming from the original linguistic context, which are not so easy to reproduce in translation with the same effects. Moreover, in some cases, editors or publishers prefer to propose specific titles slightly or consistently different from the originals for “marketing” strategies. Starting from Gerard Genette’s (1930-2018) seminal study on the topic, we will focus on some titles of Italian translations of Russian literary works of the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries, aiming to analyse the reasons underlying different choices. We will also propose reflections on the complex intertextual and cross-cultural dynamics connected to literary titles’ history and their translation processes.