Yahia Fares university- Medea

Module: Introduction to Analytical Interpretation

Level: 1st year

II. Title
Every fictional work needs titling. Charles dickens jotted down fourteen possible titles for the
serial-novel “Hard Times” in 1854. Therefore, the ultimate choice of Hard Times is consistent
with the broader social concerns of the novel.

1- Form of the title:

Genette comes up with three terms: title, subtitle, and genre indication.

The title and the subtitle: define the form of the work of art, say a novel or a poem. The genre

indication: is more specialized and pinpointed and defines the function of the work of art.

The only first element is obligatory and the others exist with various combinations:

- “title”+ “subtitle” (Madame Bovary, Moers de province).

- “title”+ “genre indication” (Sartre’s Nausea, A Novel), etc.

2- Place of the title:

In the past, the title had no special site or place reservered for it. If the opening lines and the
closing lines of the text itself mentioned the title, the title was more or less kept alive by oral
transmission, knowledge by hearsay or scholarly competence. In the present scheme of things,
the “title” has four possible locations:

1- Front cover
2- The spine
3- The title page: lists subtitle, author, publisher and edition.
4- The half-title page: is a page carrying nothing but the title of a book. The half-title is
usually counted as the very first page in a printed book.

Where do we find the title repeated most often? The title is often repeated on the back cover
and/or as the running head, that is along the tops of all pages, a position it may share with the
“intertitles”.

3- The time of the title’s appearance:

The time of the title’s appearance can vary from book to book. It can be anthumous or
posthumous.
 - Anthumous: written by an author and comes out alongside the text during his/ her
lifetime.
- Posthumous: written by an author and comes out after his death.

4- Functions of the title:

The first function is obligatory; the remaining two are optional or supplementary

1- It identifies the work: this function can be fulfilled by a semantically empty “title” (e.g.
The Name of the Rose) that does not indicate the subject matter.

The Name of the Rose

(Italian: Il Nome della Rosa) is the 1980 debut novel by the Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a
historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327; an intellectual mystery
combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies, and literary theory. It was
translated into English by William Weaver in 1983.

2- It designates the work’s subject matter: the semantic relationship between the “title” and
the subject matter is variable, ranging from the most straightforward and matter-of-fact
designation as in (Oliver Twist) to the most doubtful, ambiguous and symbolic
relationship between the “title” and the text as in (Heart of Darkness, The Grapes of
Wrath)
a- Indicating the actual subject matter of the work
Oliver Twist

A novel (1838) by Charles dickens, well known for its realistic descriptions of London’s poor
districts and criminals. Oliver is a poor orphan (child whose parents are dead) who runs away to
London. There he joins a group of criminals, including Fagin, The Artful Dodger and Bill Sikes,
who try to turn him into a thief. He is rescued by a good man, Mr Brownlow, but captured again
by the criminals. Nancy, Sikes’s girlfriend, tries to help Oliver and is killed by Sikes, who dies
trying to escape from the police. The criminals are all arrested and Oliver goes to live with Mr
Brownlow. It is one of Dickens’s most famous books, and has been made into successful films
and a musical show called Oliver! (1960).

b- Indicating the symbolic subject matter of the work

The Heart of Darkness

A story by Joseph Conrad, published in 1902. The story is told by Marlow, a young man who
travels up the Congo River in Africa to find Mr Kurtz, who works in the ivory trade. He
discovers that Kurtz is worshiped by the local tribe and has fallen into cruel and immoral way of
life.
 The Grapes of Wrath

A novel (1939) by the US writer John Steinbeck which won the Pulitzer Prize. It tells the story
of the Joad family, whose farm is ruined in the Dust Bowl, and their journey to the “promised
land” of California. It is a sad story about the lack of government support for poor people.

The Dust Bowl: an area in the western central US where there were terrible dust storms in the
1930s. These were caused by strong winds blowing the dry earth off the fields, and they made it
difficult to grow corps. Many farmers became poor and moved with their families to other areas.
This was especially bad because it happened during the great depression.

c- Besides indicating the actual or symbolic subject matter of the work, the title may also
indicate the genre or form

Ode: a poem that speaks to a person or thing or celebrates a special event.

Elegy: a poem or song that expresses sadness, especially for somebody who has died.

Sonnet: a poem that has 14 lines, each containing 10 syllables, and a fixed pattern of rhyme.

Novella: a short novel.

Novel: a story long enough to fill a complete book, in which the characters and events are usually
imaginary.

3- It entices the targeted public: attracts the readers

5- Types of the title:

Thematic title: what one talks about. Ex: La théorie littéraire (literary theory) this book talks
about literary theory- this book is obviously thematic.

Rhematic title: what one says about it (most often indicating genre). Ex: Théorie de la littérature
(the literal translation, but it had already been used)- rhematic (this book is a theory of literature).
Introduction to linguistics, understanding psychology

Mixed titles: containing clearly two distinct elements, one “rhematic” (most often indicating
genre) and one “thematic”. Ex: Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature; Locke’s Essay Concerning
Human Understanding . These titles begin with designating the genre, and therefore, the text
(genre = text in a form of Treatise or Essay) and then go on to designate the theme.