Different Titles in Different Language Editions

[Katharine]

I'm looking at a work originally written in English with editions in Danish and German. The Danish title's translation matches the English original, but the German edition's title is very different, and that's the current default edition.

Is there a recommended way to include an English translation of the German title, either on the German or English edition pages?

Original/English language edition:
The First Time
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

German language edition:
Wie Ich Entdeckte, Dass Ich Sex Brauche
Translated: How I Discovered That I Need Sex
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Any guidance is appreciated - I couldn't find specific info in the manual but don't want to make a bad edit. Thanks!

[☕ Lachgas ♿]

It looks correct as it is. The title is always the one in the language, not another one and the original title is mentioned as that on the books page so no idea what's your problem is...
We do not enter original titles in the title field of another language.

And they are combined so everybody can see all other titles by clicking on all editions.

[☕ Lachgas ♿]

And the default is the edition which is most shelved, that can only be changed by the author if he's a GR author.

[Katharine]

My concern is about searchability for non-German speakers - a search for How I Discovered That I Need Sex produces zero results. If you didn't know the original English title or author or German title, and only heard the English translation, you wouldn't be able to find the work, even though the original language was English.

I realize that situation isn't terribly likely, but I'm just wondering if there's already a standard protocol in place. Like, including "Translation: [English translation]" in the book description field, for instance? If not, no big deal. I'm just curious.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Katharine wrote: " Like, including "Translation: [English translation]" in the book description field, for instance?"

No. And since the book search does not look at the description field, it wouldn't help if it did.

[Katharine]

That answers my question. Thanks!

[☕ Lachgas ♿]

I can't even imagine a situation where this could be a realistic problem ... if you're a non german speaker you probably know the original title (or you google it) but if you don't speak german you couldn't translate a german title to one which in english doesn't even exist? I mean, why and how should you do that?

And it's a quite normal thing that titles doesn't match in all different languages (same with movies and TVseries).

[Katharine]

Lachgas wrote: "I can't even imagine a situation where this could be a realistic problem ... if you're a non german speaker you probably know the original title (or you google it) but if you don't speak german you..."

As I said, not terribly likely, but I was thinking about casual conversations between people of different native languages, especially in the 21st century when we can communicate freely via the internet.

For a real-world example, I'm a native English speaker. One of my friends speaks Quebecois French as his native language, almost-fluent English as a second, and passable Japanese as a third. There's always a multi-layer translation issue when he tries to share stories about his time in Japan - not knowing the English name for a Japanese TV series (for instance), he'll use the literal translation from Japanese to French to English. The end result is usually something confusingly (& hysterically) different from whatever the official English or even French titles are.

A field for "title translation" for different language editions might be useful anyway. For instance, English editions of Le Morte d'Arthur usually keep the French title. It'd be handy to have the translation right there as a side-note just as a matter of interest.

In any case, it's something for the GR team to think about someday.

[Emy]

Katharine wrote: "For instance, English editions of Le Morte d'Arthur usually keep the French title."

That's because that is how they are published! It's not particularly relevant here to compare published forms of a book title with non-published forms.

If the book is published in Language A with the title in Language B, then that is what we show. If the book and the title are both in Language B, then we would not, and should not, add what is effectively a made up title in Language A*. If a person cannot read Language A, then finding the title in Language B wouldn't help them since they still cannot read the book.

To add an extra point, not all books are given direct word-for-word translations when officially translated into another language. A rule such as you suggest could cause extra problems there, as we would be expected to A) translate the exact title, and then B) clarify that Fake-Translated-Title is actually the same as Published-Translation-Title.

* Whether made up for that edition, or in general.

[Katharine]

Emy wrote: "To add an extra point, not all books are given direct word-for-word translations when officially translated into another language. A rule such as you suggest could cause extra problems there, as we would be expected to A) translate the exact title, and then B) clarify that Fake-Translated-Title is actually the same as Published-Translation-Title."

You make an excellent point from a formal cataloging standpoint, which is obviously a large part of the function of the site. I'm not suggesting a required rule or advocating for "fake" titles. I'm suggesting a supplemental field similar to other easily google-able fields, such as awards, characters, official URL, etc.

Why? Because besides acting as a catalog, GR's other function is as a user experience and interaction platform. This is a site that exists not just to catalog editions of books but to provide opportunities for readers to discover new works, interact with other readers/authors, and (most relevant here) discover new ways to engage with books and reading. See, for example, the trivia quizzes, reviews, lists, etc.

With that in mind, some functionality that allows users to see the title's translation, regardless of and perhaps adjacent to its published title, can increase their engagement with the work or at least improve the likelihood of a new reader adding it to their TBR.

To put it another way, the GR users who would read or shelve a book despite not knowing what the title means (because they're already familiar with the work, aren't intimidated, etc.) might appreciate a "title translation" field as a fun fact or trivia item. Meanwhile, less adventurous users might be more inclined to try, or at least click to investigate, a foreign work if they understand the title, whether it's an "official" translation or otherwise.

I'm not advocating for replacing official titles with unofficial translated ones. Rather, I'm suggesting that GR could make this information easily accessible to readers and users just like it already does with other info (see awards, characters, etc., listed above).

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Suggestions for feature changes don't belong in the librarians group. Feel free to make your suggestion in the Feedback Group.

(Not that I think staff will think about this one.)

[Katharine]

Thank you.