Leiden University Student Repository

Minnaard, Ames (2025)

Medical neologism translation and cognitive estrangement in Star Trek subtitles

Master thesis | Linguistics (MA)

In this descriptive, product-oriented study, the translation of medical neologisms in Dutch subtitles of Star Trek: The Next Generation was analyzed. A combined quantitative and qualitative approach was used to determine what translation procedures were used to translate these neologisms, and how the translations affected cognitive estrangement, an essential characteristic of the genre of science fiction. Medical neologisms in the ST were categorized into types and the way they produced cognitive estrangement was analyzed. Subsequently, the translation procedures used to translate these neologisms were analyzed, and the TT was compared to the ST in terms of cognitive estrangement. The results showed a strong tendency to retain neologisms and cognitive estrangement in the TT. Furthermore, most neologisms in the TT mirrored the ways in which the corresponding SL neologism type produced cognitive estrangement. The analysis showed that which translation procedures retain cognitive...Show moreIn this descriptive, product-oriented study, the translation of medical neologisms in Dutch subtitles of Star Trek: The Next Generation was analyzed. A combined quantitative and qualitative approach was used to determine what translation procedures were used to translate these neologisms, and how the translations affected cognitive estrangement, an essential characteristic of the genre of science fiction. Medical neologisms in the ST were categorized into types and the way they produced cognitive estrangement was analyzed. Subsequently, the translation procedures used to translate these neologisms were analyzed, and the TT was compared to the ST in terms of cognitive estrangement. The results showed a strong tendency to retain neologisms and cognitive estrangement in the TT. Furthermore, most neologisms in the TT mirrored the ways in which the corresponding SL neologism type produced cognitive estrangement. The analysis showed that which translation procedures retain cognitive estrangement depends on the SL neologism type, that the expectations and characteristics of medical translation play a role in the production of cognitive estrangement by medical neologisms, and that visuals and audio play an essential role in the production of cognitive estrangement by neologisms in audiovisual translation. By incorporating medical translation and audiovisual translation into an analysis of neologisms and cognitive estrangement, this study provides insight into the relationship between domain, medium and genre and new directions for future research on neologism translation in science fiction.Show less

Author

Minnaard, Ames

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Translation

Supervisors

Valdez, S.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en