The aim of this paper is to examine the translation of culture-bound language varieties such as dialects, ethnolects and socially connotated language in the subtitling of some Italian films into English. The three defining features of dialects, that are non-standard grammar, specific lexical features and a distinctive accent, are embedded in a regional and social group and represent a complex dynamic system. The translator/subtitler seams to walk a tightrope trying, on one hand, not to include too much linguistic variation that could impede communication and, on the other hand, not saying too little therefore losing the socio-cultural nuances of the source language. The empirical research starts from some basic questions: what are the translation strategies adopted and are there any specific ones used to convey features of intonation? Considering that subtitling is often associated to reduction and therefore to condensation, is it possible, in the translation of highly marked language, to spot an opposite tendency towards explicitation, in order to compensate for what is lost of the source text? Is there any consistency in the strategies chosen to achieve functional equivalence? It will be argued that as subtitling relates to a polysemiotic text, the co-presence of the different semiotic channels offers a certain degree of intersemiotic redundancy that can help the transfer of culture-specific information through different non-verbal channels.

Subtitling Dialects: Strategies of socio-cultural transfer from Italian into English

DE MEO, Mariagrazia
2012-01-01

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the translation of culture-bound language varieties such as dialects, ethnolects and socially connotated language in the subtitling of some Italian films into English. The three defining features of dialects, that are non-standard grammar, specific lexical features and a distinctive accent, are embedded in a regional and social group and represent a complex dynamic system. The translator/subtitler seams to walk a tightrope trying, on one hand, not to include too much linguistic variation that could impede communication and, on the other hand, not saying too little therefore losing the socio-cultural nuances of the source language. The empirical research starts from some basic questions: what are the translation strategies adopted and are there any specific ones used to convey features of intonation? Considering that subtitling is often associated to reduction and therefore to condensation, is it possible, in the translation of highly marked language, to spot an opposite tendency towards explicitation, in order to compensate for what is lost of the source text? Is there any consistency in the strategies chosen to achieve functional equivalence? It will be argued that as subtitling relates to a polysemiotic text, the co-presence of the different semiotic channels offers a certain degree of intersemiotic redundancy that can help the transfer of culture-specific information through different non-verbal channels.
2012
978-3-0343-0953-0
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/4026053
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