# English-language books with foreign-language titles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 6, 2019, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070 "2019-11-06T09:20:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/21 "2019-11-06T15:43:58Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Different language pair, but speaking of musicals, We Will Rock You (the musical) remains We Will Rock You in Spanish but apparently some genius decided it was a good idea to translate everything else, including the lyrics. :smack:\[1\]lots and lots and lots[/sup] > > Mamma Mia is called Mamma Mia in every language; its original language is English. Unlike WWRY, this one does work with Spanish lyrics, but that’s because ABBA already did the translations 🙂 What? It is traditional to stage the show in the language of whatever country it is in. Some musicals in Quebec alternate English and Quebec French shows. And the amazing people who can translate a song’s language into another language and make it rhyme, all t he while keeping the ideas and the music’s cadence make beaucoup bucks. For a listen of Les Mis’s 17 Jean Valjeans singing Do You Hear The People Sing in their own different language, click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPpkTgMbhRU) * * * 1. sup ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/22 "2019-11-06T15:49:54Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > _Tao Te Ching_ by **Lao Tzu** > _Mein Kampf_ by someone German I imagine. Nah, Austrian… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/23 "2019-11-06T15:52:02Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Hmmm, first thing that comes up for Proust is a Wikipedia entry for “In Search of Lost Time”, then the French, then an entry for “Remembrance of Things Past”… not quite the same sense as the French title… or the book. No, indeed and I seem to remember being told that Proust was not happy about the latter. Whether he was reassured on being given the whole context of the source for Remembrance, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/24 "2019-11-06T16:06:32Z")
How about album titles? The band Daniel Amos released three consecutive (English language) albums titled _¡Alarma!_, _Doppelgänger_, and _Vox Humana_. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/25 "2019-11-06T16:32:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > How about album titles? The band Daniel Amos released three consecutive (English language) albums titled _¡Alarma!_, _Doppelgänger_, and _Vox Humana_. U2 - Achtung Baby ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/26 "2019-11-06T16:46:09Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > What? It is traditional to stage the show in the language of whatever country it is in. Some musicals in Quebec alternate English and Quebec French shows. And the amazing people who can translate a song’s language into another language and make it rhyme, all t he while keeping the ideas and the music’s cadence make beaucoup bucks. > > For a listen of Les Mis’s 17 Jean Valjeans singing Do You Hear The People Sing in their own different language, click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPpkTgMbhRU) I’m sure it’s normal to stage most shows ( including musicals) in the language of whatever country they are in. But I think a jukebox musical is different - those shows are based on pre-existing popular music which most likely wasn’t recorded in multiple languages. For example, “We Will Rock you” is based on the music of Queen, " Moving Out" is based on Billy Joel’s music, and “Million Dollar Quartet” is based on the music of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. Most people attending those shows will be familiar with those songs in English. It’s possibly that some songs from\* Les Mis\* or another non-jukebox musical might _become_ popular, but WWRY premiered in 2002 - 27 years after some of those songs were first released and they had been heard on the radio and in concerts throughout all the years. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/27 "2019-11-06T16:55:21Z")
ABBA’s songs are well known in English, but all productions of Mamma Mia! are done in the foreign languages, including the songs. And Swedish theatre goers begged for a Swedish version of Chess (musical by Benny & Bjorn; lyric by Tim Rice) long before “Chess pa svenska” was released. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/28 "2019-11-06T16:59:58Z")
I just did a quick check of my local library’s catalog, and found both _Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy_, and _Newton’s Principia_ as titles. So this one is a ‘sometimes foreign, sometimes translated’ I’m sure there are lots of books written in English with a latin phrase as a title. Though the poem “Dulce et Decorum est” is the only one I can think of offhand. (Hmm… the title should be in quotes, as the title of a shorter work, but should it also be italicized, as foreign-language words?) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/29 "2019-11-06T17:05:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Except in foreign-language bookstores, I’ve never seen these in the US without their translated titles _The Little Prince_ and _Remembrance of Things Past_. When I was younger, _Remembrance of Things Past_ seemed to be the usual English title for Proust’s novel. These days, I usually see it titled _In Search of Last Time_, a more literal rendering of the French title _À la recherche du temps perdu_. I have the sense that there has been a critical consensus to start using the latter English title. Even newer editions of the Scott Moncrieff translation, which originated the “Remembrance…” title, now seem to use “In Search…” instead. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/30 "2019-11-06T17:15:33Z")
Xenophon’s [_Anabasis_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabasis_(Xenophon)) pretty much invariably appears under its Greek title, rather than “The March Up” or other less direct translations. Oscar Wilde’s [_De Profundis_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Profundis_(letter)) (“From the Depths”), originally written as a letter rather than a book, is always published under that title. It counts as a work in English with a foreign language name. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/31 "2019-11-06T18:41:09Z")
Songs are allowed? Well: [Amoureuse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Pih5A0pdQ) by [Kiki Dee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9gZOl8WLPY). Two links, huh?\* j - - you get the original as a bonus. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/32 "2019-11-06T19:39:46Z")
I just donated my annual €5 to wikipedia and thought about the Encyclopedia Britannica, and came to mind that it’s an example for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/33 "2019-11-06T20:12:39Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I just did a quick check of my local library’s catalog, and found both _Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy_, and _Newton’s Principia_ as titles. So this one is a ‘sometimes foreign, sometimes translated’ Whereas Russell and Whitehead’s _Principia Mathematica_ is always referred to by that Latin title, though it’s written in (perhaps something akin to) English. Similarly with Wittgenstein’s _Tractatus_ (though the main text of that started in German) and Moore’s _Principia Ethica_. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/34 "2019-11-07T10:33:46Z")
Although he wrote more than his fair share of books in Latin with Latin titles, Milton was fond of using foreign language titles for works written in English, such as _L’Allegro_ and _Il Penseroso_, _Areopagitica_, _Eikonoklastes_ and _Samson Agonistes_. Another work in English with a foreign title (by someone with rather different religious views) would be Newman’s _Apologia Pro Vita Sua_. French works whose titles are rarely translated also include Zola’s _Germinal_ and Pascal’s _Pensées_. The former is pretty much untranslatable, because the month has no direct equivalent in the Gregorian calendar, while ‘Thoughts’ is presumably considered insufficiently pretentious for the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/35 "2019-11-07T11:26:58Z")
Aren’t there a lot of legal thrillers with titles like _Habeas Corpus_ and _In Flagrante Delicto_? I don’t follow the genre closely, but it seems to me there might be a bunch of them. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/36 "2019-11-07T11:31:02Z")
Borderline compliance with the OP’s requirements - James Clavell, writer of big fat airport action novels had an Asian series, with some having titles such as _Tai-Pan, Shogu_n and _Gai-jin_. The first two are ranks of office but the third is just a Japanese term for westerners. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/37 "2019-11-07T11:45:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > What? It is traditional to stage the show in the language of whatever country it is in. Yes, but We Will Rock You is a singalong play. Half the fun (heck, 95% of it) is belting the songs along with the cast. I understand that Spanish audiences would just sing them in English (or, for those whose English sucks, in their asereje-equivalent) because damnit the one thing you don’t do in such a play is Just Watch It. It’s not a musical written as such, it’s a rock concert with some spoken bits in between. I’m drawing a blank on its name, but I once watched a play that El Tricicle had obtained permission to adapt from a Norwegian one. The play takes place in a retirement home for musicians; the only character who hasn’t had a life of sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and many decades is the nurse. Both in the Norwegian original and in the Spanish version, most of the songs were international hard rock hits in English. The main exceptions in the Spanish version were an edulcorated lullaby sang by the nurse (also the only new song, and the only one where the audience wasn’t singing along) and… a disco hit? 😕 Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive” (in the original a song about surviving a bad relationship and breakup) transmuted after just a few bars in English, into its best known Spanish version: Celia Cruz’ “Sobreviviré” (musicians never die as long as their songs live), at which point the audience didn’t just sing along, the only people who didn’t stand up were my mother (who was asking “what’s happening, what’s going on”) and a guy in a wheelchair. The volume at which we belted out the final ASÚUUUUCA (Doña Celia’s signature) showed that Teatro Gayarre is a very solid building: it didn’t come down. Could they have chosen Spanish metal hits instead? Yeah, but it would have made the story more limited and that ASÚUUUUCA less poignant. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/38 "2019-11-07T15:14:44Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Borderline compliance with the OP’s requirements - James Clavell, writer of big fat airport action novels had an Asian series, with some having titles such as _Tai-Pan, Shogu_n and _Gai-jin_. The first two are ranks of office but the third is just a Japanese term for westerners. If those count, probably so does Mario Puzo’s novel _Omertà_. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/39 "2019-11-07T18:34:42Z")
Malory’s _Le Morte d’Arthur_. Text originally in English but derived partially from French sources. Sophocles’ _Oedipus Rex_. Text originally in Greek. _Rex_ is the Latin word for King. Several books of the Bible have titles that are Greek, either direct transliterations or by way of Latin: _Genesis_ (‘origin’), _Exodus_ ‘departure’, _Ecclesiastes_ (‘the speaker’ or ‘the preacher’), _Apocalypse_ (‘uncovering’), and the apocryphal book of _Ecclesiasticus_ (‘the church’). One more is only slightly Anglicized: _Deuteronomy_, (‘second law’). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070/40 "2019-11-07T18:45:48Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Sophocles’ _Oedipus Rex_. Text originally in Greek. _Rex_ is the Latin word for King. Good one, although _Oedipus the King_ and _Oedipus Rex_ are both commonly used as the title. > [@](#): > > Several books of the Bible have titles that are Greek, either direct transliterations or by way of Latin: _Genesis_ (‘origin’), _Exodus_ ‘departure’, _Ecclesiastes_ (‘the speaker’ or ‘the preacher’)… Good examples. > [@](#): > > … _Apocalypse_ (‘uncovering’) Wait, what? If you mean the last book of the Bible, I’ve only ever seen it titled _Revelation_ in English Bibles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-books-with-foreign-language-titles/843070.md?page=3)