[New publication] Translatologia, Vol 2 No 1 (2018): Between Film and Translation: Synergies, Contexts, Intersections
Vol 2 No 1 (2018): Between Film and Translation: Synergies, Contexts, Intersections
Abstract: The article deals with the history of Slovak audiovisual translation (AVT) research. The author uses a bibliography of Slovak AVT resources, which he has been compiling since 2013, and combines the data with other relevant sources (microhistories, close reading of relevant articles, data from political and cultural history, etc.) to create a complex historiography that would retain the complexity of its object. In order to question the traditional paradigm of scientific research as progress, the author employs Foucault’s discourse analysis to critique the claim that more publications means a better field and rounds up his discussion by suggesting that Slovak AVT theory is suffering from genesis amnesia since it is by and large ignoring its past.
The rise of subtitling in dubbing Slovakia, by Emilia Perez
Abstract: Analysis of the preferred AVT modes in Central European countries indicates that Slovakia can be categorized as a country with a strong dubbing tradition. The generally acknowledged preference for dubbing over subtitling seems to be supported mainly by the dominant position of dubbing in TV broadcasting whilst the number of programmes with interlingual subtitles on television is negligible. Does that necessarily mean that Slovakia is a dubbing country? Probably yes, especially when focusing on TV broadcasting. However, a certain shift towards subtitling in media other than TV broadcast has been observed in several European countries (see Cintas 2017), and our continuous research shows Slovakia might be one of them. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of current AVT strategies in the country, taking into consideration recent developments in cinema as well as VOD. This quantitative study offers a different perspective on how much dubbing (and under what circumstances) is available to a Slovak audience in various contexts, whilst evaluating the possible causes of the observed phenomena.
Dubbing, subtitling and other lesser evils. The two versions of the series Vidago Palace, by Marta Pérez Pereiro and Marta Pérez Pereiro
Abstract: One of the aims contemplated in Law 1/2014, of 24 March, on the use of the Portuguese language and Ties with Lusophony, popularly known as the Paz Andrade Law, was for Galician Television to promote the exchange of audiovisual productions and collaborate in the creation of new projects. One of the few fruits of this Law is the co-production Vidago Palace, a miniseries set in 1936, with scenes filmed on both sides of the Galician-Portuguese border and in which the public broadcasters RTP and TVG participate financially. Filmed in Portuguese and Galician, it was shown in two versions: original version with subtitles in Galician for the Portuguese public broadcaster and dubbed in Galician for the Galician public broadcaster. As well as the usual practices involved in subtitling and dubbing for both broadcasters, the dual version offers a series of linguistic peculiarities. This paper analyses both in order to reveal the policies that the abovementioned broadcasters apply to a multilingual product, paying particular attention to the uses of Galician, as a minority language, in this fiction television programme. The proposal materialises within the scope of the research programme “EU-VOS. Intangible Cultural Heritage. For a European Programme for Subtitling in Non-Hegemonic Languages”, financed by the National Programme for Research Aimed at the Challenges of Society (AEI. Ref. CSO2016-76014-R) and ERDF funds.
Sex and religion: translating taboos for the Italian screen: A study on ideology and manipulation in the language of film and translation, by Valeria Giordano
Abstract: Taboo is a Polynesian word for any number of religious prohibitions which forbid specified behaviour, usually under the threat of some punishment. Many taboos of this type involve offenses towards the spirit world and religious customs. For this reason, taboo terms and coarse language are either suppressed or severely reduced in the Italian dubbed versions of American TV series, especially when referring to both religion and sex. Starting from a preliminary isolation of the cultural elements generating taboos connected to sex and religion, the paper discusses some differences between the US and Italy. Furthermore, the study offers a glimpse into some issues concerning obscenity, religious taboo, oaths and swearwords and discusses the sexuality of Christ between profanity and blasphemy as the ultimate taboo and point of connection between the taboos involving sex and religion. The research hypothesis is that in the comparison between American and Italian system of cultural values Italy remains a country in which religion and swearwords are two separate worlds and these ideological considerations end up shaping and affecting professional practice. The issues expressed in the paper find evidence in the script analysis provided. The investigation pays attention on the impact of ideology on the final product and provides examples in which ideological considerations manifest themselves in professional practice. The corpus is taken from the American TV series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, together with its respective Italian dubbed version. Back translations of key elements are also provided. The comparison is important to describe the different translation strategies followed in the presence of sex-related talk in religious issues. Some critical examples have been selected for their translation analysis as significant cases coming from a TV show dealing with taboo topics, but in which some words are even impossible to be chosen in the Italian version, including naming God.
When Time and Space Inspire: Audiovisual Translation in Contact with Interpreting, by Eva Reichwalderová
Abstract: This paper deals with cross-curricular activities and the opportunities of their development in a teaching process. It focuses on the relations between audiovisual translation and simultaneous or consecutive interpretation within the Translation and Interpretation field of study. This work is based on two assumptions: firstly, when our students work with audiovisual material in their practically oriented seminars, it has a positive impact on their motivation and secondly, subtitling as a form of audiovisual translation helps to improve the efficiency of economisation techniques in interpreting, which is essential for both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting modes. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the similarity of the process of interpreting and audiovisual translation (text reception, decoding and encoding phases, text interpretation) and to present possible innovations in the preparation of future translators and interpreters, especially within the Slovac-Spanish context, which is the field our investigation and pedagogical interest.