The Title Not Taken…

The evolution of a literary title, from its working inception to its final form, often offers profound insights into an author’s creative journey and intent. A function of a title is to guide the interpretation of a text. The direction of the work may have changed by the time a final title is decided upon and working titles have been discarded. T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land originally began life as He Do the Police in Different Voices, thus indicating that it is indeed a poem of several, often competing, voices. Exploring the “back story” frequently sheds light on the finished work. It is sometimes the publisher who overrules the author and decides on a move away from a working title to make the work more saleable and attractive. Some authors opt for secondary or sub-titles to make their intentions clearer. Titologists agree on the critical importance of a title to label, seduce, and provide information on the content of the work. Critically a working title changed to a final title can affect the way in which the reader will approach the work and how differently the work is received. Most titological analysis focuses on the final, given title, usually well-known to readers. The objective of this paper is to emphasise the significance of the focus-shift from provisional working titles to final titles, and explore the altered perceptions that this might trigger.