Russian original vs. French version: translation solutions in the episode titles of the animated series “Masha and the Bear”

The research aims to systematize the translation techniques used in localizing the episode titles of the Russian animated series “Masha and the Bear” into French for a children’s audience, with an emphasis on the principles of dynamic equivalence and functional adequacy. The paper examines strategies for adapting culturally specific elements (intertextual allusions, culture-specific items) within the framework of audiovisual translation. In the course of analyzing translation transformations, the techniques of contextual translation (focused on the content of a particular episode), adaptation, modulation, and equivalence were identified and analyzed. The research is novel in that it is the first one to identify and describe in detail the dominant strategy for localizing episode titles – contextual translation, using the material of a Russian animated product. In addition, an interpretation for this strategy is proposed as applied to an audiovisual text. The study found that the process of translating the titles of episodes of a children’s cartoon is generally based on a similar principle of prioritizing impact on the target audience (children), which is expressed in the widespread use of the contextual approach (>60%). At the same time, under the influence of the specifics of the source material (an abundance of cultural allusions) and the tasks of localization, there is a significant divergence in translation strategies.