Retranslation in Dutch Film Subtitles - An Exploration of Cultural References in 90s Films

This thesis explores retranslation in subtitling by analysing and comparing subtitles used by or created for VHS and Netflix. To establish whether Dutch subtitling conventions have changed towards a more foreignised and source-oriented approach in the course of the last twenty-five years, extralinguistic cultural references (ECRs) in the films Forrest Gump and Dazed and Confused were analysed and labelled according to translation procedure. Examining two different translations of the same film showed how conventions have indeed changed. In more than one third of the cases, the retranslations appear to be more foreignising than the first translations with regard to their treatment of ECRs. What has caused this change has not been explored in this study, but, as other studies suggested, this may be caused by globalisation, technology, and a better knowledge of the English language and its cultures. One explanation for this, verified by the results, is the many omissions in the VHS...Show moreThis thesis explores retranslation in subtitling by analysing and comparing subtitles used by or created for VHS and Netflix. To establish whether Dutch subtitling conventions have changed towards a more foreignised and source-oriented approach in the course of the last twenty-five years, extralinguistic cultural references (ECRs) in the films Forrest Gump and Dazed and Confused were analysed and labelled according to translation procedure. Examining two different translations of the same film showed how conventions have indeed changed. In more than one third of the cases, the retranslations appear to be more foreignising than the first translations with regard to their treatment of ECRs. What has caused this change has not been explored in this study, but, as other studies suggested, this may be caused by globalisation, technology, and a better knowledge of the English language and its cultures. One explanation for this, verified by the results, is the many omissions in the VHS versions, which left no room for the retention of ECRs. In contrast, retention is the most common translation procedure in the retranslations. More research into retranslation in subtitling needs to be done to establish whether Dutch subtitles have really become more foreignising.Show less

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Retranslation in Dutch Film Subtitles - An Exploration of Cultural References in 90s Films