Linguistics and Literature Studies 1(4): 197-205, 2013 DOI: 10.13189/lls.2013.

010404

http://www.hrpub.org

The Study of Novel Title Translation from English into Persian Based on the Functionalist Skopos Theory
Mahshid Salehi1,*, Mohammad Reza Falahati Qadimi Fumani2
2

Department of Translation Studies, Science and Research,Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fars, Iran Department of Computational Linguistics,Regional Information Center for Science and Technology, Shiraz, Iran *Corresponding Author: mahshid.salehi2010@yahoo.com

Copyright 2013 Horizon Research Publishing All rights reserved.

Abstract The present study aimed at investigating the naming approaches and techniques with special reference to novel title translation from English into Persian. In doing so, a total number of one-hundred and twenty novel titles were chosen through simple random sampling. Then, using Yins (2009) model of naming approaches, each and every collected sample was compared with its corresponding Persian translation and further placed in its related category. This is a comprehensive model divided into five approaches, namely, transliteration, literal translation, explicitation, adaptation, and providing a new title. In search for the significance of the differences among the five afore-mentioned naming approaches, the Chi-Square procedure was carried out. The results of the test revealed statistically significant differences among the five types of naming approaches pointed out by Yin (ibid.). The findings also pointed out that literal translation was the most frequently used naming approach with the frequency of 84. In addition to the naming techniques, the function of each translated sample was investigated, too. These included aesthetic, informative, and vocative functions. Accordingly, the results of the study indicated statistically significant differences among the frequencies of the three functions in question. Keywords Title Translation, English Novels, Naming Approaches, Functionalism

1. Introduction
During the history of mankind living, language has been acting as one of the major tools of communication among humans in terms of expressing their feelings, thoughts, emotions, demands, etc. Since there were many languages used around the world, humans looked for a way to bridge the communication gap between people from different societies, a way that could help them exchange their cultures and knowledge and have commercial, economic, political and cultural relations. The means to facilitate this was

nothing but translation. Throughout history, many books and masterpieces including stories, novels, poems, etc., have been translated from one language into another. Among popular translated works, there are many novels read by many readers throughout the world. The first thing that catches the reader's attention is the novel title. Well translated novel titles tend to attract the audience. Undoubtedly, novel title translation, which contributes to cultural exchanges, counts or matters a great deal. Therefore, it is necessary and worthwhile to study this topic. According to Reiss and Vermeer (1984, p.119) the underlying reason for translation is determined by a text's Skopos (as cited in Munday, 2008, p.79).That is, the very first stage a text has to come through in order to be translated deals with identification of purpose. For example, for what reason is the text being translated? For what age group and audience? With what level of education? etc. Novel translation and publication comprises a major component in the whole publication enterprise. Title is deemed as the first text component observed by readers. Therefore, title is of utmost importance in any type of publication. For this reason, great strides are made by authors to select titles for their publications such that they can attract more audience. Usually, a lot of information is embedded in title. Such information includes content information and an array of other information related to culture, etc. All this necessitates that great care must be taken while translating titles from one language into another. Title in scientific publications is more static and concrete compared to novel titles. Titles are believed to have a number of functions including informative function, aesthetic function and vocative function. An excellent title is said to have all the three functions mentioned. For translation, in general, and title translation, in particular, a number of theories have already been put forward, Skopos Theory being an important example. Throughout the world, several work has been done on title translation, especially movie title translation. In line, the present study intended to compare English novel titles with their respective Persian translations in terms of title functions and naming approaches based on the Functionalist Skopos Theory. Based on this major

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which their activities take place. Normally, a translator is entitled to change the title of the text (Newmark, 1988, p. 156).However, translating titles is not simple because the only true unit of translation is the whole text (ibid., p.54). The statement implies that, in translating a title, it is necessary to consider the title as a part of the whole text. A translator is obliged to understand the whole text before translating its title. Above all, Newmark (ibid., p.56) instructed that if the surce language text title (original title) adequately describes the content, and is brief, then leave it. Otherwise, the translator/editor may truncate the title if it begins with an unnecessary phrase in the target language, highlight the main point, make the title more inviting, or treat the translation as transformation. However, Newmarks phrase leave it seems to be ambiguous, meaning that the translator/editor can leave the original title in the source language as it is or translate it literally. 2. On the Skopos Theory Newmark (ibid., p.57) suggested that all titles are either Skopos Theory, originally written as skopostheorie in descriptive which describe the topic of the text or allusive German, is a major translation approach of German which have some kind of referential or figurative Functionalist School. Skopos means Purpose or goal in relationship to the topic; the latter ones are suitable for Greek. This approach was proposed in the late 1970s and imaginative literature, and may have to be changed. early 1980s by Reiss and Vermeer. In 1979, Reiss published However, for serious imaginative literature, Newmark (ibid) a book entitled Possibilities and Limitations in translation thinks a descriptive title should be literally kept, and an criticism (translated into English from German), in which allusive title literally or, where necessary, imaginatively she (ibid.) touched upon the idea of Functionalist theory for preserved.In the first place, translating titles requires the the first time. Through practice she came to realize that the same process as any translation in general. Translating source-text oriented and equivalence-based theories which consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest she had previously emphasized were not applicable to some natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in communicative situations at all and it even seemed terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style (Nida & Taber, 1974, p.12). At the same time, in Bakers opinion, undesirable to realize equivalence in those situations. There must be a specific translation brief to guide each equivalence is influenced by a variety of linguistic and translation activity. Sometimes, the Target Language Text cultural factors and is therefore always relative (as cited in (TLT) may differ in function from the Source Language Text Munday, 2008, p.49). Despite the importance of equivalence, in translating titles, (SLT) due to some particular needs. In this case, Reiss (1971) holds that the translator should give priority to the functional equivalence yields a particular problem. In this case, Nida perspectives of the TLT rather than the equivalence-based and Taber (1974, p.12) statement that the translator must theories. Afterwards, Vermeer, a student of Reiss, broke strive for equivalence rather than identity is not always away from the equivalence-based theories and set up the applicable. As it was mentioned before, titles of novels theoretical basis for Functional School: Skopos Theory. should usually bear some relation to the original Vermeer defines human action as intentional, purposeful (Newmark, 1988, p.56) because the target readers may have behavior that takes place in a given situation. In the been familiar with the original titles by surfing the Internet. framework of Vermeer's theory, every translation is directed Nevertheless, this problem is solved by the fact that titles of at an intended audience, since to translate means to produce translated novels in Indonesia may, and usually, bear both a text in a target setting for a target purpose and target the original and Indonesian titles. Therefore, equivalence can be prioritized because the identity will be contained fully in addressees in target circumstances (Vermeer, 1987, p. 29). The prime rule translators are supposed to follow is the the original title. Style is undoubtly important in translating Skopos rule, and Skopos here mainly refers to the titles because, as Newmark (ibid.) believed, the translated communicative purpose of TLT. Based on Vermeer's theory, title should sound attractive, allusive, and suggestive. In Holz-Mnttri (1984) and Nord (1991) further improved doing this, Nida and Taber (1974, p.14) warned that in trying to reproduce the style of the original one must beware Skopos Theory. As Nord (ibid., p. 12-13) points out Holz-Mnttris (1984) theory is based on the principles of producing something which is not functionally equivalent of action theory and is designed to cover all forms of because reproducing style, even on a formal level, may not intercultural transfer. Holz-Mnttri places special emphasis result in an equivalence, and it is functional equivalence on the action aspect of the translation process, analyzing the which is required, whether on the level of content or on the roles of the participants, initiator, user and message receiver level of style. Titles of novels need to be attractive, allusive, and the situational conditions (time, place and medium) in and suggestive in order to attract the readers. In order to do

objective, the following sub-objectives were formulated: Studying the title (informative, aesthetic and vocative) functions used in English and Persian novel titles. Studying the naming approaches used in English and Persian novel titles. Given these major objectives, the following research questions were formulated in order to be dealt with throughout the study: 1) Are there any differences between English and Persian novel titles in terms of title (informative, aesthetic and vocative) functions? 2) Are there any differences between English and Persian novel titles in terms of naming approaches?

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so, the titles should be able to attract the readers emotionally because, as Nida and Taber (1974. p.91) stated, we do not only understand the reference of words; we also react to them emotionally ... This aspect of the meaning which deals with our emotional reactions to words is called connotative meaning. As suggested by Nida and Taber (ibid. pp. 92-3), there are three principal sources of the nature of connotative meaning: (1) the speakers associated with the word, (2) the practical circumstances in which the word is used (words used by precisely the same persons in different circumstances may carry quite different connotations), and (3) the linguistic setting characteristic of the word.

3)

4)

3. Skopos Theory: Pitfalls

Skopos Theory views translation as a complex activity intended to realize a specific purpose. The weakness of Skopos Theory at this stage is that it lacks a moral principle to guide the translation activity. In order to make up for this weakness, Christiane Nord, a German professor in translation, added the loyalty principle to perfect this theory. Up till this stage, there are altogether four guiding principles for translation activities in Functionalist Skopos Theory, namely the Skopos rule, the fidelity rule, the coherence rule, and the loyalty principle.

Commercial Skopos: Film title is the trademark. It becomes products of commercialization which helps realize both economic return and social effects. The term commercial or to put it another way, vocative or appellative is used in the sense of calling upon the audiences to act, think and feel. A name with commercial function must be written in a language that is immediately outstanding to the audiences so as to arouse their interest, make them appreciate the movie and consequently end up with a hit success. So, the commercial function of film title, in popular term, is to require high profit. Cultural Skopos: There exists some cultural difference between western countries and China. Abundant cultural elements have been added in film title. If the translator directly transfers to the audiences, there are prone to misunderstanding, distortion even mistakes. So as for the translators, they should trace the cultural elements and make a corresponding equivalence on the basis of the target audiences. So it is necessary for the translators to consider such differences so that their translation can be attracted by the audiences. Under the guidance of skopos theory, in order to make the audiences of target language enjoy the movie and achieve the loyalty and fidelity to the original, translators must take culture into consideration.

4. Other Aspects of Skopos Theory

Using a widely accepted model within the realm of Skopos Theory, Mei (2009) divided this theory into four main Skopos (or purposes) including: 1) Informative Skopos: Its universally acknowledged that a title is supposed to contain the main or central idea of the film. After the readers read it, they should know some information about the film, such as type (detective story or Dracula movie), plot(about a person, a thing or a disaster) etc.. This information is definitely the skopos of the audiences. In order to satisfy the requirement, the translators must transfer this information as soon as possible. To achieve this goal, translators always adopt Literal Translation or Transliteration. This kind of translation can not only retain the structure of the original, but convey the content as much as possible. 2) Aesthetic Skopos: Film title, as a special type of literature, must be simple and appealing, which is aesthetic needs of the film and the skopos is to please the sense of the audiences. satisfying the aesthetic interest, expecting field and recipient ability of the target audiences is the aesthetic skopos of the film title translation. The strategy or skill the translator uses are commonly Free Translation, in addition with Complementary Translation and Creative Translation.

5. Novel Title Translation

Title can provide information about the story for the audience by summarizing the main plot, uncovering the theme, or offering some ideas. It gives a means for guiding audiences guess and understanding of the content in a direct or indirect way. Even if the title is vague, abstract or hard to capture the meaning, at least it may provide us with a certain notion of the story. On the other hand, title is an integral part of a book. Titles are not merely window dressing. They are hooks to get people reading the story and should evoke an image (or several).An interesting, well-written title can draw readers to the story. A poorly written title can turn them away. Therefore, translators may deliberately try to find a new translation for a title to distinguish their translation from others. Title translation permits a certain degree of creativity so that at times title translation takes the form of an artistic exchange or what Roman Jacobson calls creative transposition in the case of poetic untranslatability (Jakobson, 1959/2006, p.143). The target title would, thus, be a creative exchange of the source title. The creative transposition of titles is a literary exchange as part of creativity in translation. The title of a text (a novel, a play, or a poem) is a constituent element of the textual world (Lodge, 1992, p. 193) and very often a literary title functions as a proper name as a

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consequence of particularization; that is, a literary title establishes a text as a completely particularized entity. Most of the arguments on the status of proper names for the individualization of characters in the novel (Watt, 1968, p. 18-21) may be applied to the status of textual titles. Ogden and Richards (1923, 1985, p. 212) posits that proper names are associated with particular experiences which will help to form the context, that will identify the proper name. Similarly, the title of a novel may be considered as a proper name. The title is associated with the novels content and thus it becomes part of the text. In other words, the title derives its identity from the context and translation must take this into account. The particularizing aspect of titles acts as soundings to the texts. Particularization for textual soundings requires that a title be dynamic. In fact, broadly speaking, the functions of literary titles can be reader-oriented or content-oriented, and the latter may be subdivided into two categories: the internally oriented titles and the externally oriented titles. A reader-oriented title can prepare the reader for whats coming. It can catch the readers attention and condition his/her concentration (Lodge, 1992, p. 193). This can be done in one of several ways. For instance, a title can stipulate a condition (e.g. Adrian Mitchells If You See Me Comin, 1962), make a request (e.g. Anita Brookners Look at Me, 1983), or launch an invitation (e.g. Anita Desais Where Shall We Go This Summer?, 1975), all of which include direct addresses to the reader. But the title can attract the readers attention also by indicating a moral (e.g. Malcolm Bradburys Eating People is Wrong, 1959), showing an emotion (e.g. AngusWilsons No Laughing Matter, 1967), or setting up the readers expectation (e.g. Carolyn Forchs poem Taking Off My Clothes) (Myers & Simms, 1989, p. 319). But apart from engaging the readers awareness, title can encapsulate the texts theme or it can act as an extension or an explanation of the theme. Content-oriented titles describe subject, theme, form, character, and symbols. And they can be internally oriented, that is, titles can be directed towards an aspect that is part of the novel, or externally oriented, that is, titles can be directed towards an aspect that is outside the novel, thus maintaining an external link. Internally oriented content titles fall into several categories. For example, there are titles that name the main characters of novels claiming to be biographical (e.g. Graham Greenes Monsignor Quixote, 1982), titles that indicate a theme (e.g. Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, 1813), suggest intrigue (e.g. Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, 1985), or promise a particular atmosphere (e.g. Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights, 1847) (Lodge, 1992, p. 193-194]. Such titles, which are internally oriented, can also indicate a special time or event (e.g. George Orwells Nineteen Eighty Four, 1949), create a pun (e.g. Samuel Becketts poem Whoroscope), or form an allegorical framework (e.g. William Goldings Lord of the Flies, 1954) (Myers & Simms, 1989, p. 317-318). Externally oriented content titles bring in an outside reference (that is, they refer to an item that lies outside the

text) to be juxtaposed with the texts theme or to put the text in a larger perspective. This outside reference can be a literary quotation, an idiom, an expression, a symbol, or a metaphor (e.g. Ernest Hemingways For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940) (Lodge, 1992, p. 194; Myers & Simms, 1989, p. 316). Titles can be rather complex, especially those that accommodate several latent meanings which can be discovered after experiencing the text (Myers and Simms, 1989, pp. 310-312). For instance, Charles Dickens Hard Times (1854) contains several layers of meanings held in potential and as we read the novel we discover the titles resonance in utilitarianism, ruthless repression of human nature, and corruption. In contrast to this layered title we can mention the springboard title as when a poet uses a line or phrase from the poem itself for a title (Briffa, 1998, pp. xci-xciv): The reader jumps from the line in the title and dives into the poem. So, generally speaking, it may be said that the literary title carries an idea or an argument relevant to the text. It is not simply an ornament or a mere indication. And the choice of a title can reflect the authors mind and very often it serves as an introduction to the work. In translation these functions have to be respected but at the same time the translated title must attempt to maintain a relation with the original work. In her Translating Titles of Novels: Why and How We (Don't) Translate Them, Violin (2011) discussed the translation of titles of novels. The purpose of this novel is explaining why one would not translate titles of novels and how we translate them. In doing so, she (ibid.) took two main theories in her paper to be tested including Newmark's (1988) theory of title on one hand, and the theory of connotative meaning suggested by Nida and Taber (1974) on the other. The results of the study revealed that translating title required the translator to put in consideration the whole text, the title's connotative meaning, and the reader's response. Equivalency was then pursued, but if it was not possible to accomplish, the translator could transform it, add a subtitle, or just leave the original title the way it was. Identity was undoubtedly important, but the translator could simply keep the original title on the cover to gain a full guarantee.

6. Movie Title Translation

Not all title translations include the ones adhered to novels. A considerable deal of titles being translated each and every day from one language to another is in fact related to the movie industry. With the high number of movies produced and dubbed into different languages of the world, a search into these aspects seems crucial to the nature of the present study. Concerning movie title translation, He (1998, as cited in Jindan, 2009) makes a systematic study of the various factors translators should take into account, such as the original title, the content of the movie, the acceptability of the audience in the target culture and cultural differences. He (2001)

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explores the functions of movie titles and suggests that the translated movie title should be functionally equivalent to the original title. Her view has been considered to be a breakthrough in movie title translation study, because she introduces the concept of Functional Equivalence into this field and asserts that translators are no longer confined to the traditional Formal Equivalence theory. According to He (1998; 2001), the translation needs to be source-text oriented and therefore the original title should be given priority to in the translation activity. Li (2002, as cited in Jindan, 2009) takes a great step forward and introduces Functionalism into the field of movie title translation. In his paper, the author proves the futility of traditional equivalence theory in explaining some excellently translated titles and proposes that the focus should fall on the taste of target language audiences for the primary skopos of movie title translation is to make the movie title appealing to target audiences. Therefore, the priority of movie title translation needs to be shifted to the target text and target culture. Mao (2002, as cited in Jindan, 2009) presents a detailed analysis of the distinctive features of translated movie titles in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively and stresses that Skopos Theory should be effectively promoted to prevent the audience from getting confused when they are confronted with several translated versions of one single movie title. In a study conducted by Jindan (2009) the author discusses movies and movie titles with emphasis on a comparison of movie titles in English with those in Chinese from both linguistic and cultural perspectives, illustrating application of Skopos Theory to movie title translation, emphasizing the translators subjectivity and focusing upon apt use of the two translation strategies, domestication and foreignization. Jindan (ibid.) then argued that the primary strategy should be domestication since the main purpose of movie title translation is to render translated movie titles appealing to target audiences. However, the complementary strategy of foreignization could not be overlooked, for it played a crucial role in promoting cultural exchanges between nations. Finally, a detailed study of four cases showed that only those translated movie titles which not only meet the linguistic and aesthetic preference of the target audience but also conform to the target culture are likely to remain lively and magnetic as time passes by. TAs the author of this study maintained, as far as movie title translation was concerned, Skopos Theory was superior to traditional translation theories, owing to its capability of providing reasonable explanations for excellently translated film titles which were obviously not handled in accordance with the traditional translation theories, claiming that Skopos Theory is perfectly applicable to movie title translation and to show that this theory is of constructive significance for translation of movie titles and for criticism of translated movie titles. In another study conducted by Yin (2009), the researcher aimed at exploring the situation of film titles within the framework of audience-oriented approach. In fact, in this paper Yin (ibid.) tried to generalize some principles, such as faithfulness, cultural awareness, and combination of

commercial and aesthetic effects of film titles with abundant examples. Based on the analyses of the results, some concrete techniques of film title translation were discussed, such as transliteration, literal translation and explication. In his On the Translation Strategies of English Film Title from the Perspective of Skopos Theory, Mei (2010) discussed the translation of film title from English to Chinese based on the Skopos Theory. Meanwhile, according to the characteristics of film title, the writer proposed some translation strategies, such as literal translation, transliteration, free translation etc.

7. Method
7. 1. Materials One-hundred and twenty English novel titles, along with their equivalent Persian translations were randomly selected. The data were selected based on the availability factor (for each novel, both English and Persian titles should be available). 7.2. Data Collection Procedures To answer the research questions, the researcher first read the novel reviews and comments in order to attain a good command of their content, since in many cases title words can only be judged based on the novel content. Then, within the functionalist Skopos theory, the data were analyzed in terms of linguistic differences, title functions observed as well as the naming approaches used in novel titles. According to Yin (2009, p171), the techniques of English title translation mainly fall into two categories: showing respect for the original title (transliteration, literal translation, explication) and discarding the original one (adaptation, providing a new title). On the other hand, as Nida (2001, p.214) pointed out, no matter what technique is employed, one fundamental and vital principle that should never be forgotten is that the translation must be related to the story in one way or another. In each case, judgments were made by the researcher as well as a translator, with an M.A. degree in translation. This was done for the sake of inter rater reliability, which showed agreement between/among different raters. When differences occurred, they would be discussed by the two raters and final decisions would be made. Accordingly, the main functions of the translated titles were put into consideration. These included the three following functions: 1) 7.2.1. Informative function. The informative function of a title is to inform the potential audience of some relevant information about the story of the novel. The information may tell us whom the novel is concerned with, where the story is taking place or the incident presented by the author.

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Table 2. Statistical Information on the Novel Title Translation Techniques Name of the Technique Transliteration Literal Translation Explication Adaptation Providing a New Title Total Observed N 12.0 84.0 14.0 2.0 8.0 120 Expected N 24.0 24.0 24.0 24.0 24.0 Residual -12.0 60.0 -10.0 -22.0 -18.0

2) 7.2.2. Aesthetic function. Novel titles can also perform the aesthetic function to let audiences gain aesthetic enjoyment through delicate language which may involve vivid images, musical words or various rhetorical devices. 3) 7.2.3. Vocative function. A novel title can inform the audience of the relevant information about the content, and it can create an imaginary atmosphere for the audience and entertain them aesthetically. However, its vocative function is more important. As Newmark (2001, p.41) believes, the core of the vocative function of language is the readership, the addressee.

8. Results and Discussion

8.1. Novel Title Translation Techniques This section tends to find suitable answers to the posed research questions. To begin with, each and every title out of the total number of novel titles (n=120) were studied carefully and placed within their suiting category of the model. As it was mentioned before, the techniques of English title translation mainly fall into two categories: showing respect for the original title and discarding the original one. While the former technique holds three sub-categories including transliteration, literal translation and explication, the latter one consists of two sub-categories, namely adaptation and providing a new title. Table 1. provides some primary information on the frequency of each category pointed out by Yin (2009).
Table 1. Some Basic Information on the Frequency of Each Category of Techniques in Novel Title Translation Novel Title Translation Technique showing respect for the original title Sub-Techniques transliteration literal translation explication discarding the original one Total adaptation providing a new title Frequency of Each Technique 12 84 14 2 8 120

Using 16th version of SPSS software, a Chi-Square test was carried out to see if the differences between the frequencies of the techniques were statistically significant or not. As the results revealed, there were statistically significant differences (Asymp. Sig. 0.005) between the frequencies of the novel title translation techniques pointed out by Yin (2009). Table 3. shows the results of the related Chi-Square test:
Table 3. The Results of the Chi-Square Test as Related to the Frequencies of the Novel Title Translation Techniques Test Statistics Relating to Chi-Square df Asymp. Sig. Test Results 46.500a 4 .000

Hence, the first research hypothesis was supported in favor of the meaningfulness of the differences among the novel title translation techniques. 8.2. Function of the Translations As discussed, each piece of translated novel could have a possible function. These included aesthetic, vocative and informative functions. One of the concerns of the researcher while dealing with the process of data collection was to put these functions into consideration, too. In other words, the function of each novel title after being translated was of interest to the researcher. In doing so, Table 4. provides the primary statistical information based on the functions of the translated titles.
Table 4. Statistical information on as Related to the Functions of the translated novel Titles Possible Types of Functions Informative Function Aesthetic Function Vocative Function Total Observed N 62.0 20.0 38.0 120 Expected N 40.0 40.0 40.0 Residual 22.0 -20.0 -2.0

The next step to be taken was related to the Chi-Square procedure. This was to find out whether the differences among the frequencies of the novel title translation techniques were statistically significant or not. In line, Table 2. presents the required statistical information on the observed frequencies (i.e., the actual frequencies of each category), the expected frequencies (i.e., the frequency of each technique in case there were no statistically significant differences) and their residual sum.

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In search for the meaningfulness of the differences among the functions of the translated titles, a Chi-Square test was conducted once more. Concerning the functions of the translated texts, the results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences among these categories (Asymp. Sig. 0.005). Thus, the second research hypothesis was not supported. The results of this test are shown in Table 5.
Table 5. The Results of the Chi-Square Test as Related to the Functions of the Novel Title Translation Techniques Test Statistics Relating to Chi-Square df Asymp. Sig. Test Results 1.900 2 .000

events, but also aesthetic and artistic feelings to the readers and audience. In addition, several principles in novel title translation were also previously. A good translation needs to be faithful, communicable and natural while a good translated novel title has other specific requirements including commercial and aesthetic effects. Generally speaking, there is no optimal strategy for all translators to be taken. Thus, for the titles to be translated, it is the best if the five discussed strategies are put into practice in a flexible and creative way.

9. Conclusion
The naming approaches play an important role on the way a book is sold. A good title can encourage the customer to buy that book and the reader to read it. On the other hand, a weak title might interfere with these processes, although the book enjoys a good and a strong plot. Each of the naming approaches and/or techniques introduced in previous sections have a primary function. The transliteration, for instance, is an easier way to translate the title of a novel, a movie, etc. Thus, King-Kong, Casablanca, Romeo and Juliet and so one are transliterated for both economy and the accuracy of the translation process (Newmark, 1988, p.47). In some cases, where the transliteration is not possible, the translator comes one step forward to the free translation and chooses to select literal translation, explicitation, adaptation, or even the act of providing a totally new title (Yin, 2009). All in all, the five afore-mentioned strategies are possible while translating a novel title form a language into another. What seems to be important is the Skopos (Reiss and Vermeer, 1984) or the purpose of the translated text, which remains up to the translator.

The research questions of the study were posed as followings: 1. Are there any differences between English and Persian novel titles in terms of title (informative, aesthetic and vocative) functions? 2. Are there any differences between English and Persian novel titles in terms of naming approaches? In accordance to the research questions, the research hypotheses were formulated in a way as if there were statistically significant differences between the frequencies of the novel title naming approaches and/or translation techniques on one hand, and the function they exert on the other. The findings revealed that there were statistically significant differences between the naming approaches. This also included the differences among the functions of the titles translated. A novel title should be brief and concise with content included. However, what it conveys is not only figures and

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Appendix A. Sample of the Collected Data

English Title Night Woman Make death Love Me The Wind Done Gone A Confederacy of Dunces The Thirteenth Tale Deception Inside the Kingdom, My Life in Saudi Arabia Autobiography of a Yogi Brick Lane The Grapes of Wrath Northanger Abbey Fight Club, A Novel A Man Without a Country The Lost Rose The Side of Paradise Memories, dreams, reflections Mysterious Conjunctions: An Inquiry into the Separation and Synthesis of Physics Opposites in Alchemy Call Me If You Need Me Persuasion Romeo and Juliet The Namesake Love Never Dies The Lover The Wall Translated Persian Title ... Strategy Used Literal translation Explicitation Adaptation Literal translation Literal translation Literal translation Providing a new title Literal translation Literal translation Literal translation Literal translation Providing a new title Literal translation Literal translation Literal translation Providing a new title Providing a new title Literal translation Literal translation Transliteration Literal translation Literal translation Literal translation Literal translation Function of the Translation Aesthetic Vocative Vocative Informative Informative Informative Informative Informative Vocative Vocative Informative Informative Vocative Aesthetic Aesthetic Aesthetic Vocative Vocative Vocative Informative Aesthetic Vocative Vocative Aesthetic

[5]

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