The under-translation and self-censorship in English-Chinese subtitling
2
조회
0
다운로드
0
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
When the strong and sensitive elements in the source text are toned down or downgraded, the translating effect of under-translation is achieved. In subtitling translation, any translating strategy leading to under-translation is considered as the more insensible and imperceptible form of linguistic manipulation. Based on textual analyses to English-Chinese subtitles of selected films, this study finds out that sensitive elements in the original dialogues being modified over under-translation are mostly related to sexual sensitive elements, profanes, and swearing words and most observed strategies employed are using Chinese idiomatic expressions, register moving, and euphemism. It is arguably possible that the motivation behind under-translation is translator’s self-censorship, drawing on the paradox Chinese translators are facing: rigorous official censoring process, the absence of movie content classification systems, and Chinese audiences’ growing awareness of possible (self)censorship. Comparing with other effects of translation, under-translation invisibly intervenes Chinese film viewers’ watching experience and reinforces the power imbalance between them and institutional and individual censors.
Abstract
When the strong and sensitive elements in the source text are toned down or downgraded, the translating effect of under-translation is achieved. In subtitling translation, any translating strategy leading to under-translation is considered as the more insensible and imperceptible form of linguistic manipulation. Based on textual analyses to English-Chinese subtitles of selected films, this study finds out that sensitive elements in the original dialogues being modified over under-translation are mostly related to sexual sensitive elements, profanes, and swearing words and most observed strategies employed are using Chinese idiomatic expressions, register moving, and euphemism. It is arguably possible that the motivation behind under-translation is translator’s self-censorship, drawing on the paradox Chinese translators are facing: rigorous official censoring process, the absence of movie content classification systems, and Chinese audiences’ growing awareness of possible (self)censorship. Comparing with other effects of translation, under-translation invisibly intervenes Chinese film viewers’ watching experience and reinforces the power imbalance between them and institutional and individual censors.
참고문헌 (34)
- Ávila-Cabrera, J. J., "Subtitling Tarantino’s offensive and taboo dialogue exchanges into European Spanish: the case of Pulp Fiction", Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas, 10(1), pp.1~11 (2015)
- Ávila-Cabrera, J. J., "The subtitling of offensive and taboo language into Spanish of Inglourious Basterds", Babel, 62(2), pp.211~232 (2016)
- Allan, K., "Forbidden Words Taboo and the Censoring of Language" (2006), University Press
- Baker, M., "The Routledge Handbook of Applied Linguistics", pp.39~52 (2011), Routledge
- Billiani, F., "Modes of Censorship and Translation. National Contexts and Diverse Media", pp.1~25 (2007), St. Jerome
- Billiani, F., "Routledge Encyclopaedia of Translation Studies", pp.28~31 (2009), Routledge
- Biltereyst, D., "Silencing cinema: film censorship around the world", pp.1~9 (2013), Palgrave Macmillan
- Bou, P., "Método evaluativo de una traducción: aplicación a Wilt de Tom Sharpe", Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada, 8, pp.177~185 (1992)
- Brondeel, H., "Teaching subtitling routines", Meta, 39(1), pp.26~33 (1994)
- Bucaria, C., "Translation and censorship on Italian TV: an inevitable love affair?", VIAL. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6, pp.13~32 (2009)
- Castro, C. G., "Ideological manipulation in the form of official censorship: Audiovisual tie-ins of bestselling novels in Spain under Franco", Altre Modernità, pp.42~57 (2016)
- Chang, N. F., "Translation and Censorship in Different Times and Landscapes", pp.229~240 (2008), Cambridge Scholars Publishing
- Chen, C., "On the Hong Kong Chinese subtitling of English swearwords", Meta, 49(1), pp.135~147 (2004)
- Couvares, F. G., "Introduction: Hollywood, censorship, and American culture", American Quarterly, 44(4), pp.509~524 (1992)
- De Marco, M., "Audiovisual Translation through a Gender Lens" (2012), Rodopi
- Díaz Cintas, J., "Clearing the smoke to see the screen: Ideological manipulation in audiovisual translation", Meta, 57(2), pp.279~293 (2012)
- Díaz Cintas, J., "Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling" (2007), St Jerome
- Gambier, Y., "Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2 Papers from the Second Language International Conference, Elsinore, June 4-6, 1993", pp.275~283 (1993), John Benjamins
- Gambier, Y., "Between Text and Image: Updating research in screen translation", pp.11~35 (2008), John Benjamins
- Greenail, A. K., "Audiovisual Translation in Close-Up", pp.45~60 (2012), Peter Lang
- Hughes, G., "An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul language, and Ethnic Slurs in the English-Speaking World" (2006), M.E. Sharpe
- Ivarsson, J., "Subtitling" (1998), TransEdit
- Jian, L., "Ideological and aesthetic constraints on audio-visual translation: Mr. and Mrs. Smith in Chinese", Intercultural Communication Studies, 21(2), pp.77~93 (2012)
- Kenevisi, M. S., "Manipulation in dubbing: The translation of English-language films into", Altre Modernità: Rivista di studi letterari e culturali, 1, pp.201~214 (2016)
- Lung, R., "On mis-translating sexually suggestive elements in English-Chinese screen subtitling", Babel, 44(2), pp.97~109 (1998)
- Okyayuz, A. S., "Translating Humor: A Case of Censorship vs. Social Translation", European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 12(8), pp.204~224 (2016)
- Santaemilia, J., "The translation of sex-Related Language: The Danger(s) of Self-Censorship(s)", TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction, 21(2), pp.221~252 (2008)
- Scandura, G., "Sex, lies and TV: Censorship and subtitling", Meta, 49(1), pp.125~134 (2004)
- Tan, Z., "Censorship in translation: The case of the People’s Republic of China", Neohelicon, 42(1), pp.313~339 (2015)
- Taylor, C., "Multimodal transcription in the analysis, translation and subtitling of Italian films", The Translator, 9(2), pp.191~205 (2003)
- Thawabteh, M. A., "Censorship in English-Arabic subtitling", Babel, 63(4), pp.556~579 (2017)
- Von Flotow, L., "New Trends in Audiovisual Translation", pp.83~98 (2009), Multilingual Matters
- Xiao, Z. W., "Silencing cinema: film censorship around the world", pp.109~130 (2013), Palgrave Macmillan
- Zanotti, S., "Censorship or profit? The manipulation of dialogue in dubbed youth films", Meta, 57(2), pp.351~368 (2012)