Leiden University Student Repository

Sikkema, Eline 2014

Film and language: A comparative study of audiovisual translation of American movies for the deaf in Japan

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

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In the globalizing society we live in today, movies are made available to a broad and international audience through the translation of their contents – dubbing, voice-overs and subtitling. Of...Show moreIn the globalizing society we live in today, movies are made available to a broad and international audience through the translation of their contents – dubbing, voice-overs and subtitling. Of these, subtitling has proven to be an effective tool for the transmission of the core message to a different target audience without affecting the original too much. It is common practice in Japan to add Japanese subtitles to American film productions; regardless of genre, motion picture rating and popularity. The same is done for domestic Japanese cartoons (anime) and TV programs through the use of open captions. These types of subtitles are especially appropriate for hearing audiences of whom the people can hear the dialogues, sounds and background music themselves. Subtitles for non-hearing audiences, like deaf and hearing impaired viewers, need a different approach as the translation of sound to (written) language is also necessary. Only with this second layer of translation, can the deaf have a complete cinematic experience and be exposed to all cinematic clues. Nonetheless, in Japan this second layer of translation of American movies is insufficient, if not almost absent. In recent years, this issue has surfaced in the academic field of audiovisual translation studies in Japan. This thesis attempts to contribute to this nascent research area and takes a closer look at the subtitling options for a deaf Japanese target audience and tries to detect areas of improvement.Show less