The translation of film titles in comparative horizon: Brazil and Portugal

This paper examines linguistic procedures used in translations of film titles in two Portuguese-speaking countries, in order to verify which techniques are used and to what extent they modify the intended effect in each title. A hundred titles in United States English and their translations into Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and Portuguese of Portugal (PP) were examined quantitatively and qualitatively. The examination shows that the most used processes were the literal translation and the adaptation, which are the opposite in terms of translational intervention. The direct translation (loan, decal and literal translation) is much more recursive in the PP, since it computes 42% of the total titles, against 24% in the BP. The analysis of the data indicates that the translations in the PP have more respect to the matrix title, whereas in the PB the advertising aspect is favored to the detriment of the content precision.