Introduction: The landscapes of Audiovisual Translation

The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 I n t r odu ct ion : Th e La n dsca pe s of Audiovisu a l Tr a n sla t ion Jor ge D ía z Cin t a s Roe h a m pt on Un ive r sit y, Lon don , UK Pila r Or e r o Un ive r sit a t Au t òn om a de Ba r ce lon a , Spa in Alin e Re m a e l Un ive r sit y Colle ge An t w e r p, Be lgiu m This issue of JoSTrans is devot ed t o Audiovisual Translat ion ( AVT) . The 14 papers t hat const it ut e t he volum e reflect t he pace and breadt h of research in t his field, which only a few years ago w as considered a m inorit y specialisat ion. Most art icles included here were present ed as papers at t he I nt ernat ional Conference Media for All, organised by t he int ernat ional research group TransMedia and held in Barcelona, from 6 t o 8 June 2005 ( www.ft i.uab.es/ t ransm edia) . The choice of JoSTrans as an out let for t his publicat ion seem ed obvious. First ly, t he online form at allows for t he inclusion of video clips wit h int erviews, hypert ext s, URL links, phot ographs, et c. I n short , all t he t ools needed for t he subj ect m at t er: audiovisual t ranslat ion. This should have a posit ive im pact on t he recept ion of t he art icles, since paper publicat ions in t his field som et im es have t o resort t o long- winded descript ions t o clarify t heir exam ples. Online publishing is also fast , and by now widely accept ed in academ ia as a publishing m edium t hat allows for a considerably short er t im espan bet ween t he product ion of art icles and t heir dissem inat ion. The need t o publish in peer reviewed j ournals and in t he short est possible t im e is a prim e considerat ion for scholars in t hose count ries where academ ic careers are m easured and j udged by publicat ions and im pact indexes. The free access which JoSTrans is st ill able t o offer t o all it s readers also ensures wide availabilit y and readership, which has im port ant im plicat ions for t he dist ribut ion of t he works present ed here. And, last but not least , JoSTrans is The Journal of Specialised Translat ion, and AVT is undoubt edly specialised t ranslat ion. The m at urit y of t he research in t his field is evidenced from t he fact t hat all t he art icles in t his collect ion self- assuredly place AVT wit hin t he field of Translat ion St udies ( TS) , but also reckon wit h it s very specific feat ures, which inevit ably have a m aj or im pact on research m et hodology. AVT is no longer approached from a purely linguist ic perspect ive t hat does not t ake t he subj ect m at t er’s sem iot ic com plexit y int o account , nor is it considered as an odd m an out from TS, since t he st udy of AVT also shares fundam ent al feat ures wit h t he st udy of t ranslat ion m ore generally, which is it self evolving at a t rem endous rat e. However, t he t erm ‘audiovisual t ranslat ion’ refers t o bot h t he t ranslat ion of t he form at – audiovisual – and of it s cont ent s. Wit h t he incipient 2 The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 general shift from analogue t o digit al t elevision t he m eaning of t he t erm will inevit ably expand, and will no longer refer t o a unique t ranslat ion m ode, but rat her t o an array of possibilit ies being delivered synchronically. Also, in t he digit al era t he num ber of available TV channels has grown exponent ially, and will presum ably carry on growing. At t he sam e t im e, audiences are rapidly changing t heir viewing habit s. Som e age bands – such as t eenagers – no longer spend all t heir t im e sit t ing in front of t he TV set , but rat her prefer t o spend t im e in front of t heir com put ers, wat ching t elevision program m es or DVDs. Television t ailored t o m obile phones and port able DVD players is also predict ed t o m ake a considerable im pact on t he way we consum e audiovisual program m es. Anot her new phenom enon which broadcast ers will have t o com e t o t erm s wit h is t hat som e viewers m ay prefer t o consum e audiovisual m at erial creat ed by t hem selves, post ed and shared on t he web, rat her t han wat ch com m ercially- produced program m es. The result m ay be a less professional – alm ost am at eur – product wit h a different set of qualit y st andards in t erm s of cont ent , form at , t echnology or present at ion. This developm ent m ay ent ail a furt her decline in t radit ional TV audiences and a pot ent ial growt h in m arginal or m inorit y audiovisual product s. An addit ional result of t his is t hat t radit ional t axonom ic classificat ions of bot h audiovisual t ransfer m odes and cont ent will soon be out dat ed and a com plex m ult iplicit y of real possibilit ies will becom e t he norm , as genres and form at s m erge, and new ones are creat ed. This obviously has farreaching im plicat ions. I f on t he one hand t he digit al era helps in t he handling, st orage and st udy of audiovisual m at erial, t he down side, or perhaps we should say, t he new challenge, will be t he need for m ore t echnical t raining and expert ise am ong t ranslat ion scholars. Cont ent always adapt s it self t o, or int eract s wit h, t he form at in which it is present ed and t he m arket is now flooded wit h t he com put er gam es of film s, t he official webpages of film s and TV series, and t he am at eur subt it les of som e film s, along wit h new AVT m odes aim ed at ensuring broader accessibilit y t hrough subt it ling for t he deaf and hard- of- hearing, audio descript ion, and sign language t o nam e but a few. I n t he present issue of JoSTrans we explore developm ent s in t he st udy of bot h m ore t radit ional and newer AVT genres, and t heir very specific approach t o issues som et im es shared wit h t ranslat ion, and som et im es wit h ot her research fields such as cult ural st udies, m edia st udies, soft ware developm ent , et c. Whilst early st udies t ended t o focus m ainly on t he t ranslat ion of film s, scholars and professionals are becom ing acut ely aware of t he im port ance t hat ot her genres have in our societ y, bot h econom ically and cult urally. AVT has finally com e of age and researchers in t he field feel m ore advent urous and ready t o ent er unchart ed t errit ory. This issue of JoSTrans bears wit ness t o t hese excit ing developm ent s as can be seen from t he inclusion in it of st udies discussing m any different audiovisual genres t hat have in t he past received lit t le t reat m ent . Such 3 The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 genres include video gam es, t elevision sit - com s, children’s program m es, and Japanese anim e. I n “ Ga m e Loca lisa t ion : Un le a sh in g I m a gin a t ion w it h ‘Re st r ict e d’ Tr a n sla t ion” Carm en Mangiron and Minako O’Hagan look at t he specific feat ures of a new AVT genre t hat has affinit ies wit h bot h soft ware localisat ion and AVT, m ore specifically wit h t he t ranslat ion of com ic books and anim at ion film s. Like soft ware localisat ion, gam e localisat ion com bines linguist ic t ransfer wit h soft ware engineering, and as in t he business soft ware indust ry it is com m only accept ed in t he gam e indust ry t hat localised product s should have t he ‘look and feel’ of locally m ade product s. Consequent ly, t he aut hors propose t he t ranslat ion m odel of ‘t ranscreat ion’, in order t o denot e t his very specific AVT variant which set s great st ore by creat ivit y and originalit y, for inst ance, when resolving cult ural issues. I n t he art icle “ On t h e Tr a n sla t ion of Vide o Ga m e s” , Miguel Bernal Merino t akes a look at t he t erm inology used in t he video gam es indust ry and at how it has been im port ed and appropriat ed, wit h m ore or less success, by scholars working in t he field of Translat ion St udies. Depart ing from a diachronic overview of t he video gam es indust ry, and t aking int o account t he powerful influence of econom ic forces, t he art icle focuses on t wo m aj or t erm inological areas, t hose of ‘gam e localisat ion’ and ‘t ranscreat ion’. Aft er som e argum ent at ion it seem s t hat m ore work needs t o be done in t his field in order t o coin a set of appropriat e t erm s which will encom pass m ore precisely t he processes involved in t he t ranslat ion of video gam es and it s successful int egrat ion in t he field of Translat ion St udies. “ Fa n su bs: Au diovisu a l Tr a nsla t ion in a n Am a t e u r En vir on m e n t ” or t he subt it ling of Japanese anim e program m es ‘by fans for fans’ of t he genre, t he ult im at e exam ple of t eam work in t ranslat ion, is t he t opic of t he art icle by Jorge Díaz Cint as and Pablo Muñoz Sánchez. The aut hors also dem onst rat e t he influence of m ult im edia developm ent s on so- called t radit ional AVT genres. Their cont ribut ion gives an overview of t he people and phases involved in t he fansubbing process, discusses issues of legalit y and et hics, as well as t ranslat ion qualit y, and present s som e unique t ranslat ion feat ures, which m ay or m ay not lead t o innovat ions in t he AVT indust ry. “ Fu n n y a n d Edu ca t ion a l a cr oss Cu lt u r e s: Su bt it lin g W in n ie Th e Pooh in t o I t a lia n ” by Adriana Tort oriello focuses on t he subt it ling of children’s program m es. The role of t he t ranslat or as m ediat or is cent ral in t his paper dealing wit h yet anot her t ype of cart oons. On t he one hand, on a pragm at ic level, t he t arget audience of t hese t ranslat ions is crucial when m aking t ranslat ion decisions, as is t he case for gam e localisat ion and fansubs; and on t he ot her, cart oons are rife wit h puns, songs, 4 The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 idiosyncrat ic language and neologism s t hat are produced by fict ional charact ers whose language and visual charact erisat ion are closely relat ed. I n ot her words, t he lexico- sem ant ic and visual signs of t he t ext are inext ricably linked. Tort oriello dem onst rat es how im port ant it is t o keep t he com plex sem iot ic nat ure of t he film t ext in m ind when analysing t ranslat ion problem s and solut ions. The sem iot ically com plex com posit ion of audiovisual product s cert ainly const it ut es a fundam ent al feat ure of AVT t hat is now also well- em bedded in universit y courses aim ing t o t rain audiovisual t ranslat ors. Moreover, t he st udy of AVT in all it s sem iot ic com plexit y is aided t oday by t echnological advances and applicat ions t hat have also been exert ing a m aj or influence in t ranslat ion st udies generally, i.e. t he use of larger elect ronically assem bled corpora and t ailor- m ade search t ools. I n “ A M u lt im e dia D a t a ba se for t h e Tr a in in g of Au diovisu a l Tr a n sla t or s” Crist ina Valent ini describes t he Forlì Corpus of Screen Translat ion, developed at t he Universit y of Bologna’s Depart m ent of I nt erdisciplinary St udies in Translat ion, Languages and Cult ure ( SI TLeC) . She dem onst rat es how t he sim ult aneous availabilit y of all t he channels of a film ic product has subst ant ial advant ages for t eaching, considering t he need t o cont inually cont ext ualise speech from a m ult im edia point of view, i.e. t aking int o considerat ion t he im ages t oo. The m ult im edia dat abase is act ually a corpus of 20 original and dubbed film s, fully indexed on t he basis of a set of predefined linguist ic, cult ural and pragm at ic cat egories, which allows users t o carry out searches for ready m ade solut ions, and offers a reposit ory of exam ples. I ndeed, t he t agging of t he corpus m akes it possible t o ext ract concordances in t he form of t ranscript s of film dialogues along wit h t he original audiovisual scenes. I n ot her words, t he dat abase is a valuable t ool t hat can be used in t he t raining of audiovisual t ranslat ors, whereas from a m et hodological viewpoint , it also provides an ideal resource on which t o ground em pirical and quant it at ive research. AVT m ay be exploring t ools and m et hods t hat were first t est ed in m ore linguist ically orient ed st udies in TS, such as t he st udy of elect ronically m anaged corpora, and now t he reverse is happening, as som e form s of AVT lead t o new developm ent s in research areas such as language t eaching. Subt it ling has long been believed t o be a m aj or fact or in foreign language acquisit ion and, in “ Au diovisu a l Tr a n sla t ion a n d La n gu a ge Le a r n in g: Th e Pr om ot ion of I n t r a lin gu a l Su bt it le s” , Annam aria Caim i looks closely at t he pot ent ial of int ralingual subt it ling in t his respect . She underscores t he double funct ion of int ralingual subt it les as a m eans for im proving accessibilit y and as a didact ic aid, while considering t hem from a linguist ic and cult ural perspect ive. Concret e exam ples dem onst rat e t he effect iveness of carefully prepared int ralingual subt it led videos as language learning t ools enhancing spoken word recognit ion and recognit ion m em ory. Em pirical and t heoret ical insight s are com plem ent ed 5 The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 by dat a from an experim ent al t eaching program m e being carried out at Pavia Universit y, I t aly. Such t ruly int erdisciplinary research is obviously one of t he ways forward for AVT, but anot her posit ive developm ent is t he increased flow of com m unicat ion bet ween academ ia and indust ry, as wit nessed at t he Barcelona conference. Such com m unicat ion and collaborat ion is relat ively new in t his field. Valent ini’s art icle ( cf. supra) discusses t he benefit s of m ult im edia dat abases for AVT t eaching, especially in dubbing, but Maria Pavesi and Elisa Perego’s survey of I t alian film t ranslat ors in “ Pr ofilin g Film Tr a nsla t or s I n I t a ly: A Pr e lim in a r y An a lysis” shows t hat not so long ago t he I t alian dubbing world was a rat her closed and self- t aught circle. The aut hors’ profile of film t ranslat ors in I t aly, as well as t heir brief hist ory of t he profession wit h it s com plex hierarchical st ruct ure, allows t hem t o draw connect ions bet ween working habit s and rout ines, and t he developm ent of linguist ic regularit ies and shared t ranslat ing behaviours in I t alian dubbing. Their analysis has been carried out using quant it at ive dat a about product ivit y, t oget her wit h qualit at ive dat a gat hered in int erviews wit h t he m ost highly successful and t herefore influent ial professionals. I n t he field of subt it ling, t he advent of m ult ilingual DVDs, especially t hose produced for t he Am erican film m aj ors in cent rally cont rolled circum st ances, is dram at ically changing working condit ions for t ranslat ors, as regional variat ion is gradually subsum ed under global product ion. As Panayot a Georgakopoulou, from t he European Capt ioning I nst it ut e in London, point s out in “ Su bt it lin g a n d Globa lisa t ion” , t he digit al form at is changing t he face of t he rapidly expanding subt it ling indust ry as new dem ands call for a new working m et hodology. This includes a different division of labour, in which subt it lers are no longer required t o do any spot t ing, and t he int roduct ion of English language ‘t em plat es’ from which ot her t ranslat ions are produced. Georgakopoulou’s descript ion of t he way t em plat e files are produced and used is an account of t he working m et hodology t hat has been developed at ECI Lt d, a London- based subt it ling com pany specialising in m ult ilingual DVD subt it ling. Even if t he t echnical responsibilit ies of audiovisual t ranslat ors m ay becom e m ore lim it ed, at least in som e quart ers, t heir creat ive and linguist ic abilit ies, as well as t heir capacit y t o m at ch words wit h bot h im ages and sounds cont inue t o be t est ed. This is confirm ed by t he challenges new genres pose, such as t he localisat ion of soft ware gam es or t he fansubbing of anim e discussed above, but also by AVT form s t hat have been around for som e t im e and will cont inue t o be for som e t im e t o com e. I ndeed, even m ainst ream Hollywood cinem a is willing t o break at least som e t aboos t hese days, and what was once considered foul language is now being unleashed quit e casually on cinem a audiences. Such once t aboo language, and m ore specifically t he t ranslat ion of t he word ‘fuck’ in 6 The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 Cat alan dubbed film s, is t he obj ect of invest igat ion in Dídac Puj ol’s “ Th e Tr a n sla t ion a n d D u bbin g of ‘Fuck ’ int o Ca t a la n: Th e Ca se of Fr om D u sk t ill D a w n” . Alt hough ‘fuck’ is t he vulgar word par excellence in English, it s t ranslat ion int o Cat alan has hardly ever been st udied. At a local level, Puj ol’s paper aim s t o be t he first syst em at ic analysis of t he t ranslat ion int o Cat alan of t his m uch heard word, as well as it s com pounds and derivat ives, especially as pract ised for dubbing by t he Cat alan nat ional t elevision, Televisió de Cat alunya. On a m ore global level, Puj ol’s st udy form s a useful fram e of reference for t ranslat ion scholars and fut ure t ranslat ors of one of t he coarsest and m ost t ransgressive words in t he English language. However, it also t ranscends it s one word scope by t he way it highlight s t he socio- cult ural im plicat ions involved in t he t ranslat ion of t aboos, and while linguist ic in approach, it also reckons wit h such fact ors as t he influence of int onat ion and ot her AVT param et ers. The corpus em ployed in t he st udy is t he 1996 film From Dusk t ill Dawn / Obert fins a la m at inada, direct ed by Robert Rodriguez wit h a script by Quent in Tarant ino. The linguist ics of dubbing and t he by now well- known ‘dubbese’ it is said t o produce ( cf. also Pavesi & Perego) are scrut inised by Pablo Rom ero Fresco in “ Th e Spa n ish D u bbe se : A Ca se of ( Un ) idiom a t ic Fr ie n ds” . Alt hough t he t erm ‘dubbese’ m ay have been around for som e t im e, Rom ero Fresco shows t hat t here is a danger in using it as a blanket concept . I n his approach t o t he language of dubbing, which has oft en been described as cont rived, st ilt ed and, in general, unidiom at ic, t he st udy of phraseological unit s t akes t he cent re st age, and it is used as a param et er t o assess t he idiom at icit y of t he Spanish dubbing language. The art icle dem onst rat es t hat t he concept of ‘calques’ and t he influence of Anglicism s do not suffice t o explain t he t ranslat ions’ inconsist encies. I t also illust rat es t he benefit of com bining quant it at ive research m et hods ( cf. Valent ini) wit h qualit at ive analysis, and displays a deep awareness of t he art ificial oralit y of ( source) film dialogue when describing som e of t he unidiom at ic feat ures recurrent in t he dubbed t ext s. The corpus analysed consist s of t ranscript s of a num ber of episodes of t he Am erican TV series Friends and t heir dubbed versions in Spanish. To conclude, a num ber of art icles report on research int o issues t hat will no doubt rem ain a challenge for TS generally. Translat ion always involves different form s of cult ural and ideological t ransfer and/ or rewrit ing, beside linguist ic t ransform at ions, and som e of t he above art icles ( see for inst ance Tort oriello, Puj ol, but also Mangiron & O’Hagan) have already dem onst rat ed t hat such m at t ers resurface wit h a special t wist in AVT. I nt ercult ural t ransfers are t he cent ral concern of Nat halie Ram ière’s “ Re a ch in g a For e ign Au die n ce : Cu lt u r a l Tr a n sfe r s in Au diovisu a l Tr a n sla t ion” , which focuses on t he difficult ies present ed by t he t ranslat ion of cult ural specifics, oft en considered t o be sim ply ‘unt ranslat able’. I n doing so it quest ions in part icular t he validit y of t he 7 The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 not ions of foreignisat ion and dom est icat ion as a concept ual fram ework t radit ionally used t o discuss t he st rat egies applied when t ranslat ing cult ural specifics. Drawing on t he findings of a pilot st udy, consist ing of t hree French film s dubbed and subt it led int o English, t his paper poses a t heoret ical challenge, proposing a m ore pragm at ic approach t o t he st udy of cult ural t ransfer in AVT. More part icularly, it exam ines whet her it is possible t o observe any form of consist ency in t he st rat egies used for t he t ranslat ion of cult urally- bound references and what t his im plies for t he dialogic relat ionship bet ween Self and Ot her, as well as t he represent at ion of alt erit y in AVT. Marcella De Marco’s “ Audiovisu a l Tr a n sla t ion fr om a Ge n de r Pe r spe ct ive ” int roduces a socio- cult ural angle t o her st udy of AVT t hat also has a longer t radit ion in t he cont ext of lit erary t ranslat ion st udies, but has been t he t opic of m uch debat e in film st udies as well. I n t his sense her art icle follows t he AVT t rend of building bridges bet ween disciplines ( cf. Mangiron & O’Hagan, and Díaz Cint as & Muñoz Sánchez) . I n t he case of film st udies, t his is m ost cert ainly a desirable developm ent , since t he gap bet ween t his area of st udy and AVT oft en appears quit e unbridgeable. Concret ely, De Marco’s cont ribut ion exam ines what t he dissim ilarit ies com ing out of t he dubbed and subt it led t ranslat ions of t hree Brit ish film s suggest in t erm s of how different count ries deal wit h gender issues, and t o what ext ent t hese t ranslat ions m ay m ould t he audiences’ underst anding of t hese issues, and t heir views on st ereot ypes or com m only held views on wom en and m en. The int ercult ural perspect ive is m aint ained by Silvia Brut i in “ Cr osscu lt u r a l Pr a gm a t ics: Th e Tr a n sla t ion of I m plicit Com plim e n t s in Su bt it le s” , which focuses on t he st rat egic funct ion of im plicit com plim ent s in everyday conversat ion and in film dialogue, aim ing t o evaluat e t heir cont ribut ion t o posit ive and negat ive polit eness in t he source t ext s as well as in t heir t ranslat ions in subt it les from English int o I t alian. I m plicit com plim ent s are viewed as exam ples of cult urallyconst rained speech act s of which t he im plicit m eaning can be accessed if one shares int erpersonal and cont ext ual knowledge. But can such a careful balancing act be m aint ained in a st rongly const rained subt it ling form at ? The int erpersonal feat ures of conversat ion, even in t he case of film dialogue t hat is writ t en t o be spoken, are oft en t he first t o be sacrificed, and even m inor delet ions can dim inish t he int ended effect , as illust rat ed by Brut i. The effect s of ut t erances on viewers is also cent ral t o our last cont ribut ion: “ Ve r ba lly Ex pr e sse d H u m ou r on Scr e e n: Re fle ct ion s on Tr a n sla t ion a n d Re ce pt ion ” by Delia Chiaro. This art icle set s out t o discuss t he sphere of VEH ( Verbally Expressed Hum our) on screen and how it is received by audiences who are exposed t o inst ances of VEH which are m ediat ed linguist ically by m eans of dubbing. However, t he 8 The Journal of Specialised Translat ion I ssue 6 – July 2006 aut hor expands t he discussion t o quest ions relat ing t o t he supposed int ernat ional nat ure of som e form s of hum our and t he im pact t hat t his universalit y m ay have on t he ease wit h which such hum our t ravels. She wonders whet her audiences worldwide laugh for t he sam e reasons and whet her or not t here are variables at play t hat t ranscend t he issue of qualit y t ranslat ion. A crucial quest ion put forward by Chiaro is whet her a posit ive hum orous response t o t ranslat ed VEH is dependent on cult ural differences, on individual differences or on t he t ranslat ion it self. She t herefore suggest s t hat a link wit h psychology research could present a useful course t o follow in TS, and t his suggest ion is reit erat ed in Caim i’s very different st udy of int ralingual subt it ling, language acquisit ion and t he st udy of relat ionships bet ween m em ory and knowledge. I nt erdisciplinary research is obviously t he way forward in AVT as is t he com binat ion of such research wit h feedback from forever m ult iplying professional, and even am at eur, AVT pract ices. The speed at which different form s of AVT develop, and exist ing ones undergo part ial or com plet e m et am orphoses, present s quit e a few challenges. I t has always been difficult for academ ic inst it ut ions t o keep up wit h ( t echnological) m arket developm ent s when t raining fut ure pract it ioners. The diversificat ion of t he discipline also m akes it increasingly difficult for one researcher t o have all t he required st at e- of- t he- art expert ise at his or her fingert ips. Several of t he above art icles are based on research by t wo or m ore scholars, or elaborat e on research proj ect s relying on t he expert ise of a group of individuals wit h different and com plem ent ary specialisat ions. Joint proj ect s and research groups allow scholars t o t ackle issues on a larger scale, collaborat e wit h professionals and find ways of financing research, including t he funding and developm ent of t echnology for conduct ing st udies in AVT from a qualit at ive and quant it at ive perspect ive, an approach t hat is gaining popularit y in TS across t he board. 9