Offensive and taboo words are becoming more common in audiovisual texts. Consequently, a translator or subtitler is faced with the complexities of transferring this type of language into the target...Show moreOffensive and taboo words are becoming more common in audiovisual texts. Consequently, a translator or subtitler is faced with the complexities of transferring this type of language into the target text. This study is a qualitative and quantitative analysis of offensive and taboo words, their function, and the transfer of these components to the Dutch subtitles of Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012). An adapted version of Avila-Cabrera’s (2015a) taxonomy, who differentiates between offensive and taboo words, is used in this study. Pinker (2007) and Dynel’s (2012) typologies of function is used for the classification of function. The results show a frequent use of offensive and taboo words in both movies. There were significant differences in the offensive and taboo words found in the source texts and the target texts. For example, Inglourious Basterds contained offensive words comprised of references to diseases, whereas this was not the case in the source text. However, there were no significant differences in the subtitling of offensive and taboo words between the both movies. Overall, the results suggest that other reasons besides the harshness of the written offensive/taboo words, played a significant role in the translation choices made. Taboo words had more plot-pertinent functions than offensive words, and were therefore retained more often. Also, temporal and spatial constraints and the availability of certain offensive and taboo words in the target language affected the subtitling. In conclusion, the subtitling of offensive and taboo words might not always meet the viewers’ expectations and those of traditional translation, however, there are certain linguistic and cultural justifications associated with the subtitling’s choices.Show less
This dissertation investigated the occurrence of linguistic stereotypes regarding gender in the Japanese animated movie Kimi no Na Wa (君の名は) compared to the English dubbed-translated movie Your...Show moreThis dissertation investigated the occurrence of linguistic stereotypes regarding gender in the Japanese animated movie Kimi no Na Wa (君の名は) compared to the English dubbed-translated movie Your Name. The Japanese audio script functioned as the source text (ST) and the script of the English dub as the target text (TT). Based on previous research of Spiridon (2014), Okamoto (1995), and Lakoff (1973; 2004), stereotypically gendered language was listed for both the ST and the TT. This study researched whether the TT favoured transferring Japanese gender markers (foreignization), conforming to English gender stereotypes (domestication), or omitting ST gender markers (neutralization) as a translation strategy. Based on results from earlier studies (Inoue (2003), González Vera (2012), De Marco (2006), Pettit (2005)) and considering the role of dubbing constraints, it was hypothesized that neutralization would be the favoured option in Your Name and that few new gender markers would be introduced in the TT. The data analysis consisted of an ST analysis to determine the gender markers in the ST, a TT analysis to determine which translation strategies were applied in the rendering of the ST markers, and a TT analysis to determine whether any new gender markers had been introduced in the TT. The translation procedures of Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) were used to establish how the gendered items had been rendered in the TT. The results suggest that the hypothesis is confirmed, since only 32 out of 386 gender markers were rendered in the TT and 197 were newly introduced, which shows that neutralization was indeed the favoured translation type in the TT. Thereby, sentence-final particles were mostly represented in the ST versus hedging language in the TT. Some possibilities for future research include replicating this study for the subtitled script and investigating the characters’ pitch.Show less
This thesis explores the translation choices that have been made in the dubbing of the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The original film was approved for...Show moreThis thesis explores the translation choices that have been made in the dubbing of the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The original film was approved for audiences of 12 years and older. In the Netherlands, a Dutch spoken version was released which was approved for 6 years and older. Establishing whether the dubbed version of the film uses simpler language in order to cater for a younger audience than the original version, was done by comparing commonly used procedures in both the field of audiovisual translation and translation of children's literature. Translation theories by Mieke Desmet, B.J. Epstein, Frederic Chaume and Irene Ranzato form the foundation of the theoretical background.Show less
