This thesis examines body-part and non-body-part idiom translation by student translators from Japanese into English or Dutch. Several researches have been conducted regarding the perceived...Show moreThis thesis examines body-part and non-body-part idiom translation by student translators from Japanese into English or Dutch. Several researches have been conducted regarding the perceived translatability of body-part idioms, but the actual translation of these idioms as well as student translation has not been widely researched. Body parts are a major aspect of figurative language, but body-part idiom translation, the image of body parts in translation, is an area that is under researched. By examining the strategies student translators use as well as their reflections on the translations, this study argues that both body-part and non-body-part idioms are preferably translated using figurative language. In addition, body parts and their image (or other images) can and do play a part in the translation decision, however, no strong preference for body parts to be transferred can be detected in this study. However, this study also argues that other images, might play a role in the translation decision for student translators.Show less
As offensive and taboo language is becoming increasingly common in day-to-day life, this type of language has also become a part of our entertainment media, including in subtitles. Offensive and...Show moreAs offensive and taboo language is becoming increasingly common in day-to-day life, this type of language has also become a part of our entertainment media, including in subtitles. Offensive and taboo language can be used for many different reasons and to create many different effects in the source text. This means that offensive and taboo language can also be used for a character’s characterisation, meaning it will be a way for them to express their own personality, their intent, or to form a relationship with the people around them. However, subtitlers often deal with spatio-temporal constraints that will not allow them to retain every single instance of offensive and taboo language in the target text. This means offensive and taboo language is often the first to be omitted, and this could potentially negatively affect the characterisation of certain characters. This study is an analysis of the offensive and taboo language in the first season of Netflix’s Sex Education and the characterisation of four characters in the English and Dutch subtitles. Ávila-Cabrera’s (2016) taxonomy of offensive and taboo language was used to categorise the offensive and taboo language that was found in the target text. Pinker’s (2007) and Dynel’s (2012) typologies of function were used to classify the functions of the offensive and taboo language. Lastly, a combination of Vinay & Darbelnet’s (2000) and Díaz Cintas & Remael’s (2007) translation strategies were used. The results show that, even though all four characters had parts of their offensive or taboo language omitted during the translation process, their characterisation was not negatively affected. This entails that the Dutch subtitles did not portray an entirely different personality compared to the English source text.Show less
This BA thesis is a quantitative research on the micro- and macrostrategies used in the Dutch and Flemish song translations of the movie Tangled (2010) to determine whether the translators were...Show moreThis BA thesis is a quantitative research on the micro- and macrostrategies used in the Dutch and Flemish song translations of the movie Tangled (2010) to determine whether the translators were more source-oriented or target-oriented. Quantitative research based on Schjoldager‘s et.al (2008) theory of micro- and macrostrategies has been done on three songs. It was determined that the Dutch translator was more target-oriented, while the Flemish translator was more source-oriented. Furthermore, it was determined that further research should be done on other Dutch and Flemish song translations to give a conclusively give an answer to the question whether this is a general statement about Dutch and Flemish song translators.Show less
There is a distressing lack of Translation Studies research into analog game translation as well as practices of non-professional interpreting and translation (NPIT). Firstly, a Translation Studies...Show moreThere is a distressing lack of Translation Studies research into analog game translation as well as practices of non-professional interpreting and translation (NPIT). Firstly, a Translation Studies perspective is missing in the emerging interdisciplinary field of Role Playing Game Studies, even though language generally forms the main substance of such games. Secondly, NPIT research has so far largely neglected the study of non-institutional, non-crisis contexts. In bilingual play of the most well-known role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons in the Netherlands, practices of translation and translanguaging abound. This means there are previously neglected spaces of translation and interpreting which indicate major gaps in the research areas of Translation Studies and Game Studies alike. New perspectives and theoretical frameworks need to be developed to address those gaps and gain a better understanding of how the practice of translation occurs in spaces that have up to now been largely ignored.Show less
Songs are often translated for musical films and stage musicals. In order to gain more insight into this type of translation, research is needed. While there has been some research, there is still...Show moreSongs are often translated for musical films and stage musicals. In order to gain more insight into this type of translation, research is needed. While there has been some research, there is still a lot to be done in the field of song translation. There are, for example, hardly any comparative studies on different translations of the same song into the same language for different singable purposes. This thesis therefore compares the Dutch translations of songs from Disney’s The Lion King in both the film and the musical version, in order to see if the differences between these translations can be caused by a different focus. This was done by determining the overall translation approach in all songs using Franzon’s (2008) five choices in translation. Additionally, both versions were analysed for the aspects of Low’s (2005) Pentathlon Principle. It was then determined on which aspect the translations focussed. For the film translation, the factors of dubbing, i.e. the visuals and lip synchrony, were taken into account as well. The results show that both the film and the musical translation generally adapt the lyrics to the music. However, the results also show that the film translation generally stayed closer to the ST with regard to sense, compared to the musical translation. This could sometimes be explained by the visuals or the need for lip synchrony. We also see that the musical translation makes more use of singable vowels in long notes than the film translation. Still, the results show that both versions mainly seemed to focus on the rhyme.Show less
The research undertaken in this thesis was aimed at researching whether “logocentric” subtitles – literal, word-by-word translations – and “musicocentric” subtitles – translations that take rhyme,...Show moreThe research undertaken in this thesis was aimed at researching whether “logocentric” subtitles – literal, word-by-word translations – and “musicocentric” subtitles – translations that take rhyme, rhythm, singability, sense, and naturalness into account – of songs in English-language live action movie musicals would be appreciated equally by Dutch viewers. Because of the “gossiping effect” (Törnqvist, 1995) – which makes viewers react negatively to subtitles that do not show what they hear being said – the expectation was that viewers would appreciate logocentric subtitles more, as musicocentric subtitles would likely be deemed “wrong” by Dutch viewers with a command of the English language as they are not literal translations of the lyrics. The research used Franzon’s (2008) concepts of logocentric and musicocentric translation and Low’s (2003, 2005) “pentathlon principle” to create logocentric and musicocentric subtitles for excerpts from songs of four English-language live action movie musicals: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Burton, 2007), Les Misérables (Hooper, 2012), The Sound of Music (Wise, 1965), and West Side Story (Robbins & Wise, 1961). These excerpts – two of which were subtitled logocentrically and two of which were subtitled musicocentrically – were then shown to a sample of 90 respondents through the use of a survey. The survey asked the respondents to report – for each excerpt – whether they thought the subtitles were good, and how they would rate the subtitles. The respondents overwhelmingly reported that the logocentric subtitles were good, and that the musicocentric subtitles were not good; they also rated the logocentric subtitles high, and the musicocentric subtitles low. Thus, the logocentric and musicocentric subtitles were not appreciated equally: the logocentric subtitles were appreciated more, an outcome the gossiping effect likely influenced. As logocentric subtitles appear to be more appreciated, and easier to create, an implication of this research could be that Dutch subtitlers should create logocentric subtitles for songs in English-language live action movie musicals.Show less
This study will focus on translation between English and the Germanic language Dutch as well as English and the Romance language French by comparing the Dutch (1960) and French (1969) translation...Show moreThis study will focus on translation between English and the Germanic language Dutch as well as English and the Romance language French by comparing the Dutch (1960) and French (1969) translation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional work The Hobbit (1937). Earlier works within the field of translation were mainly concerned with linguistic approaches, attempting to construct taxonomies of the observed changes (e.g., Vinay and Darbelnet, 1958; Catford, 1965). Later scholars took a broader approach by increasingly taking culture and context into more consideration (e.g., Snell-Hornby, 1990; Nord 2005), but linguistic taxonomies have remained a useful framework for discussing translations. Tolkien’s work is presented as an interesting case within the field of translation, as the language he uses appears to be more challenging for translating into Romance Languages (Turner, 2006). Although genetically further away from French, the English language displays features belonging to both the Germanic and Romance languages. The aim of this study is thus to establish any potential structural differences between the Dutch and French translation of the English original text The Hobbit (1937). Tolkien’s use of language and avoidance of specific cultural references create the expectation that the Dutch translation will be closer to the English original compared to the French translation. This expectation was tested within the linguistic framework by applying Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1958) taxonomy of translation procedures and examining word order in Chapter XVI of Tolkien’s work of fiction. The results show that the Dutch and French translation are both quite literal and more similar than the literature would suggest. The French translation, however, is more inclined to use modulations when not translating literally. An analysis of word order illustrated that most changes were made out of necessity. This research shows that linguistic approaches can still be useful for looking at translations.Show less
The aim of this thesis was to test the hypothesis that teaching secondary students English by means of the audiovisual translation mode subtitling will increase students’ vocabulary on a...Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to test the hypothesis that teaching secondary students English by means of the audiovisual translation mode subtitling will increase students’ vocabulary on a predetermined topic. Little research on watching subtitled television programmes for English language acquisition has yet been conducted in the Netherlands and no research has been conducted in which the focus was on one specific topic of vocabulary. To test the hypothesis, a six-week study was held among secondary school students who watched an English-spoken programme either with or without English subtitles. The vocabulary used in this programme was similar to the vocabulary used in the course books at the school. One group of participants served as the control group and watched the programme without any subtitles, while another group of participants served as the experimental group and watched the programme with intralingual subtitles (subtitles in the same language as the soundtrack). The results of this six-week study show that watching an English-spoken programme with English subtitles is an effective approach to learning new vocabulary on a specific topic.Show less
A key part of what made both media and people talk about Trump seems to be his effective use of metaphors. Trump’s promises to ‘drain the swamp’ and end the ‘flood of refugees’ made for excellent...Show moreA key part of what made both media and people talk about Trump seems to be his effective use of metaphors. Trump’s promises to ‘drain the swamp’ and end the ‘flood of refugees’ made for excellent newspaper headlines. Despite this potent use of metaphors, it has been stated that Donald Trump “rarely uses live metaphors in his speeches”. In this thesis, I disprove this claim by analysing three of Trump's speeches, and provide empirical data on Trump's use of metaphors by applying the MIPVU method on said speeches.Show less
Song translation is a relatively under-researched field in Translation Studies (Susam-Sarajeva, 2008, p. 187). Most studies that do exist revolve around singability (Low, 2003; Stopar 2016),...Show moreSong translation is a relatively under-researched field in Translation Studies (Susam-Sarajeva, 2008, p. 187). Most studies that do exist revolve around singability (Low, 2003; Stopar 2016), singability and rhyme (Low, 2008), or fidelity to the source text (Franzon 2005). The combination of song translation theory and metaphor theory, however, is a virtually unresearched combination of fields. Low (2017) states: “[s]ong lyrics are often rich in metaphor” and he recommends that song translators, more than 'regular' translators, should “attempt to maintain the richness of metaphor” (p. 34). This thesis analyses three songs from musicals that have been translated from English to Dutch. These musicals are of different genres and for different audiences, to include the influence that these factors might have had on the choices of the translators. The musicals used in this study are drama musical Les Misérables (E: 1985; D: 1991), animated film musical Anastasia (1997) and romantic comedy musical Hairspray (E: 1988; D: 2003). Using the MIPVU (Metaphor Identification Procedure VU University Amsterdam [Steen et al., 2010]), this thesis analyses the metaphors in the three songs, in both the English source text and the Dutch target text. Subsequently, it attempts to establish how the translators dealt with the metaphors, and, ultimately, to see whether the fact that the target texts are singable translations of a song had any influence on the choices of the translator. This is endeavoured by answering two questions. Firstly, can the translations of the metaphors in songs be analysed by means of Newmark's (1981) and Schäffner's (2004) categorizations of procedures used in metaphor translation? Secondly, can singularities be explained through Low's pentathlon principle (2005) for song translation?Show less
Being J. R. R. Tolkien’s most celebrated work, The Lord of the Rings has been subject to a myriad of academic studies and analyses regarding both its language and its contents. For instance,...Show moreBeing J. R. R. Tolkien’s most celebrated work, The Lord of the Rings has been subject to a myriad of academic studies and analyses regarding both its language and its contents. For instance, scholars such as Provost have studied how the language elucidates the central conflict. Additionally, Agøy and Drout have examined the story’s themes through its stylistic attributes, as well as the general aesthetic effects of these stylistic choices. Meanwhile, feminist readings like those of Enright and Green discuss the number and roles of female characters in the books, countering common criticisms that their paucity betrays Tolkien’s supposed sexist stance. However, the language and contents of the trilogy have yet to be combined into a single systematic study, which is where this thesis comes in. Using the stylistic approach to Politeness Theory (Brown and Levinson), Speech-Act Theory (Searle), and keynoting (Carter and Nash), this thesis will examine the text surrounding female characters in an attempt to reveal how stylistic choices affect their presentation. By focussing on stylistic choices, this study aims to clarify how the characters are portrayed, which may not be as obvious from their actions or their role in the plot. This way, this study explores whether the criticism of too few bland female characters in The Lord of the Rings holds true by examining how language contributes to nuances in their characterization.Show less
This thesis reports on an empirical investigation of the language in both company posts and customer comments on the Dutch H&M Facebook page and on the results of a small-scale online self...Show moreThis thesis reports on an empirical investigation of the language in both company posts and customer comments on the Dutch H&M Facebook page and on the results of a small-scale online self-completion questionnaire on the appreciation and understanding of English words by Dutch Facebook users in order to investigate the role of the translator in online social media. After carrying out the case-study it became obvious that influences of the English language are evidently present on the H&M Facebook page as 89 per cent of the company posts and 37 per cent of the accompanying customer comments contained English and/or (standardised) loanwords. The results from the questionnaire remained open to different interpretations as comprehension of fashion related terminology was high but preferences and attitudes towards code-switching and the use of English, Dutch or hybrid one-liners that often appear in the H&M company posts varied depending on the phrasing of the specific questions in the questionnaire. However, the results do suggest that language mixing through hybrid posts is generally not recommendable as exclusively Dutch and exclusively English one-liners were often preferred by the participants of this study. Yet, the data did not provide a conclusive answer to whether English posts on social media should be translated or creatively re-written into Dutch but underlined that this depends on factors which are relevant when translating for online social media such as the specific target audience and the purpose of the translation.Show less
When it comes to scientific TV shows, there is bit of an information gap. There are some texts, but in pales in comparison to the amount of works concerning the subtitling of humor. With the many...Show moreWhen it comes to scientific TV shows, there is bit of an information gap. There are some texts, but in pales in comparison to the amount of works concerning the subtitling of humor. With the many crime shows out there, this is quite surprising. Even though there are not a lot of sources concerning scientific translation, there are plenty concerning technical translation, such as Montgomery and Desblache. I will be using these to create an overview of how experts advise translators to translate technical terms. In order to hopefully discover a pattern in how this genre is translated, I will do a case study on two different TV shows, both of which are scientific. The shows I will be using are CSI:NY, a fictional scientific crime drama, and The Real CSI, a non-fictional crime documentary. I will analyse the translation processes used in the official subtitles of both TV shows individually, to find out what procedures are used, using Chesterman’s model of translation, and analyse why these choices were made. Then, I will compare my analyses of the two shows and compare the procedures used in order to hopefully find a pattern in how these shows are subtitled.Show less
This thesis investigates the ongoing debate about the role of translation in second language learning. In the past, scholars and teachers alike assumed that translation caused interference and...Show moreThis thesis investigates the ongoing debate about the role of translation in second language learning. In the past, scholars and teachers alike assumed that translation caused interference and therefore halted a learner’s progress in learning a second or foreign language. More recent research, however, has attempted to counter common conceptions regarding translation’s ineffectiveness as a language-learning and language-teaching tool. My thesis provides an overview of past and current language acquisition theories and teaching methods, and explains why most of these theories and methods are considered to be flawed. The recently developed task-based teaching method aims to address these flaws, and calls for task-based language exercises, including task-based translation exercises. In a pilot study I investigated the value of task-based translation exercises when Dutch secondary school students are learning grammatical aspect (i.e. the present perfect) in English. Overall, the study showed that using task-based translation exercises enhances the use and understanding of grammatical aspect (i.e. the present perfect), although there appeared to be a discrepancy between HAVO and VWO participants.Show less
In this thesis, the main question was whether Dutch native speakers preferred a free or a literal translation. Both translators, students of the MA Translation in Theory and Practice at Leiden...Show moreIn this thesis, the main question was whether Dutch native speakers preferred a free or a literal translation. Both translators, students of the MA Translation in Theory and Practice at Leiden university, and a sample of a Dutch audience were asked about this directly and in an indirect manner. It seemed that their preference did not match, but a closer look at the outcome revealed that both the students and the Dutch audience preferred a more literal translation over a free one.Show less
This thesis examines the influence that the English language has on Dutch advertising. In this communicative process, lexical choices are fundamental. Code switching is a commonly-used resource...Show moreThis thesis examines the influence that the English language has on Dutch advertising. In this communicative process, lexical choices are fundamental. Code switching is a commonly-used resource when it comes to the objective of consumer persuasion. In the Netherlands, businesses often choose to use English loanwords in Dutch context to communicate a more dynamic sales pitch to the consumer. Nonetheless, the effects that the use of a non-native language has on brand evaluation are still quite indefinite. For this research, a group of 126 Dutch-speaking adolescents were brought together to fill out a questionnaire, to explore the involvement of educational levels in brand evaluation by consumers. For this purpose, the respondents evaluated different language versions of commercial advertisements. The results indicate that Dutch adolescents prefer the English language in advertising to their native tongue, as it yields more positive connotations. In conclusion, this study offers empirical support for the strategic choice of English language in advertisements that are targeted to an adolescent Dutch audience.Show less
