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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45168
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45168
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I recently finished reading a novel in translation to English from Russian. The title was in Latin (in the original edition, the title was transliterated to Russian, but the English edition was in English transliteration.).

In this case, the authors (a duo) used a Latin phrase because it had meaning within the book. None of the characters spoke Latin (or anything else but Russian) but Latin is commonly used in literature (and movies too) for its nifty phrasing. These characters used a few Latin phrases in their work, including the one used for the title.

If English has cache in your country, or if you're publishing in an English-speaking country, or if your characters use English terms, including the title, then what you're proposing may work well.

But, if your only reason for changing the language of the title is because you think it sounds prettier, don't. If it's not common in your country, it may come off as pretentious. You'll turn readers off who don't know English too.

Another issue is there are already similarly named titles in English. Over [12,000 listings in Goodreads with the word "Awakening" in the title](https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=awakening&search_type=books&search%5Bfield%5D=title) (may not be an accurate count, but it's still gonna be big). On a quick browse of the first two pages of the search, there are 5 titles that are simply "The Awakening." Including the famous novel by Kate Chopin.

If the sound of the title is your focus, choose another phrase in Portuguese.

Original score: 2