Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
by Agnieszka Szarkowska
Whether domesticating or foreignising in its approach, any form of audiovisual translation ultimately
plays a unique role in developing both national identities and national stereotypes. The transmission of
cultural values in screen translation has received very little attention in the literature and remains one of
the most pressing areas of research in translation studies.
Mona Baker and Brao Hochel (1997: 76)
Key words:
Film translation, subtitling, dubbing, domestication, foreignisation, target culture, source culture
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the great power of film translation. This aim is
accomplished by presenting the major modes of film translation, their world distribution and history,
which are then followed by an analysis of dubbing and subtitling from the perspective of domestication
and foreignisation.
Introduction
ach country cultivates a different tradition of translating films and subscribes to one of the two
major modes: dubbing and subtitling as far as cinema translation is concerned, or sometimes to a
third, minor, modevoiceoverin the case of television translation. The decision as to which film
translation mode to choose is by no means arbitrary and stems from several factors, such as historical
circumstances, traditions, the technique to which the audience is accustomed, the cost, as well as on
the position of both the target and the source cultures in an international context (see Dries 1995). This
paper will focus on cinema translation only, which is of course not to say that television translation is
less worthy of academic investigation. On the contrary, analysis of television translation constitutes an
excellent material for further research, and it is only disregarded here for reasons of clarity and lucidity
of argumentation.
The first part of this paper sets out to present the above-mentioned translation modes and their world
distribution, next trying to account for them from the perspective of history and culture. Subsequently,
an attempt is made to show the enormous power that these modes exert on audiences and entire
cultures. The paper aims to demonstrate that dubbing is a form of domestication whereas subtitling can
be regarded as foreignisation.
Types of film translation
There are two major types of film translation: dubbing and subtitling; each of them interferes with the
original text to a different extent.
On the one hand, dubbing is known to be the method that modifies the source text to a large extent and
thus makes it familiar to the target audience through domestication. It is the method in which "the
foreign dialogue is adjusted to the mouth and movements of the actor in the film" (Dries 1995: 9 qtd. in
Shuttleworth and Cowie 1997: 45) and its aim is seen as making the audience feel as if they were
listening to actors actually speaking the target language.
On the other hand, subtitling, i.e. supplying a translation of the spoken source language dialogue into
the target language in the form of synchronised captions, usually at the bottom of the screen, is the
form that alters the source text to the least possible extent and enables the target audience to
experience the foreign and be aware of its 'foreignness' at all times.
References
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1
"These figures were based on three types of statistics provided by various official agencies or
governments. In some countries, the actual numbers of imported films were provided; in others, the
numbers of released films were reported; in some other cases the numbers were based on films
submitted for censorship. In spite of minor inconsistencies, combining the three kinds of figures
provides a significant way of comparing film imports" (Danan 1991: 613). Other information concerning
the sources used in the chart can be found in Danan (1991)
2
At the end of the 20th century, the Acadmie is challenged with a new task. The French language has
a host of qualities which for two centuries have made it the language of the elites in the entire world. Its
area of influence is threatened by the expansion of English, or more precisely American English, which
has been encroaching on the minds, writings, and the world of audiovisual media. The spread of
English is often favoured by invasion of new technologies, rapidly developing sciences, unprecedented
'shrinking' of the world, which is facilitated by media and other communication means, and all other
factors revolutionizing traditional vocabulary and quickly imposing new words onto the language. On 4
August 1994 a law was enacted concerning the use of the French language (known as the 'Toubon
law'), which encourages the use of French in writings, public documents or agreements, in public
services,
conferences,
media,
etc."
(translated
by
Magdalena
Kaczorowska)
4
"Movie projection in a language other than Spanish is prohibited unless permission from the Ministry
of Industry and Commerce is granted; the films in question always must be dubbed. Dubbing shall be
done in Spanish studios located on Spanish territory and by Spanish personnel" (my translation).
5
One of the cornerstones of American foreign policy concerning, among other things, noncolonisation.
6
"blindly assuming that the whole world speaks French or English" (my translation)or any other
language used in dubbing, for that matter.