[Wikipedia-l] anglicization is stupid

Wed Nov 20 21:29:26 UTC 2002

Zoe wrote:

> We've had this discussion concerning foreign language movies.  Some 
> movies are known in English only in their English name -- "Crouching 
> Tiger, Hidden Dragon", for one.  But others are known in both 
> languages -- "Life is Beautiful" vs. "La vita e bella", for example.  
> And then there's "La Dolce Vita", which is known only in its native 
> language (most commonly).  We need to call these articles by the name 
> that most English speakers expect to find.
>
Yes, we did have the discussion in the narrower context of movies, and 
agreed to proceed with respect while we waited for the issue to sort 
itself out. The problem is in your last sentence.  How can we presume to 
know what "most English speakers expect to find"?  Some movies have been 
released with different titles in the UK and US.  Which is right?

I think we also need a way to develop for convergence in a multilingual 
environment.  Original language is likely to remain constant across 
Wikipedias.  A reference to "La vita è bella" will be the same in the 
German or Polish Wikipedia.  The texts may be different, but it will be 
clear that we are talking about the same thing.

Eclecticology