Traduire le titre du texte narratif

Translating the titles of narrative texts is a sui generis operation in the sense that the ontological conditions and the pragmatic functions of the title considerably predetermine the translator’s task. This article intends to give an account of the three functions of a title – designative, metalinguistic and seductive (the title as rigid designator or dense texture of meaning; synecdoche or interpretative key; whetting the appetite or advertising) – that shed light on the pragmatic issues encountered in translating titles. If the designative function of a title is oriented to the work as a referential object, the metalinguistic function is oriented to the text as an interpretive object. As for the seductive function, it turns to the outside, or in other words, to the public. In the case of translation or retranslation of a title, three functions come into play at the same time, but one of the functions can get the upper hand on the other two.