According to Michał Borodo (2015) Comic Translation is an “under-investigated topic” (p. 22), and even more so when we approach the topic of broken English in Comic Translation. For this reason,...Show moreAccording to Michał Borodo (2015) Comic Translation is an “under-investigated topic” (p. 22), and even more so when we approach the topic of broken English in Comic Translation. For this reason, this thesis examines whether different levels and functions of broken English can be identified within a comic, and which translation strategies and procedures should be applied in order to maintain in the target text the source text’s broken English level and function. In order to arrive to any significant conclusion regarding the level of broken English, a scale of levels has been designed based on the CEFR (Council of Europe, 2018a; 2018b) and ACTFL (ACTFL, 2018) scales. Moreover, two sub-questions have been formulated in order to gauge the function of broken English within the narrative. Also, the translation strategies and procedures coined by Newmark (1988), Vinay and Darbelnet (1995; 2008), and Venuti (2008b) have been compiled into a customised list containing the relevant strategies and procedures tied with the restrictions encountered in Comic Translation. These three models have been applied to the broken English of the Russian gangsters in Hawkeye (Fraction, 2013), Vladek in Maus (Spiegelman, 2003), and Yoda in Star Wars (Aaron, 2018). The gangsters’ broken English is characterised by its excessive use of the cultural expression “bro”, which becomes the object of the hero’s mockery. Gangsters are found to speak broken English as spoken by speakers of the lowest level of the scale of broken English. On the other hand, Vladek’s and Yoda’s broken English is characterised by their eccentric word order, which seems to be in tune with the role they play within their story. According to the scale of levels of broken English devised in this thesis, Yoda speaks according to the highest level on the scale, whereas Vladek’s level of broken English can be found in between the levels of Yoda and the Russian gangsters. Lastly, I have found that for each translation strategy, three different translation procedures occur most frequently and can be said to be characteristic of this strategy; the oblique translation strategy is characterised by the use of the procedures economy, semantic translation, and communicative translation, while usage of the procedures compensation, economy, and free translation characterise the foreignisation strategy.Show less
The Dutch television programme Langs de Oevers van de Yangtze (“Alongside the Yangtze Shores”; 2016) was a great success in the Netherlands with a million viewers weekly and a nomination for two...Show moreThe Dutch television programme Langs de Oevers van de Yangtze (“Alongside the Yangtze Shores”; 2016) was a great success in the Netherlands with a million viewers weekly and a nomination for two Dutch television awards (Lips, 2018). The programme concerns Chinese modern lifestyle and it is spoken in both Dutch and Chinese, the latter being subtitled in Dutch. Since this programme has a focus on Chinese culture, it is relevant for the audience to have a full grasp of the meaning of the Extralinguistic Cultural References (ECRs). Preliminary academic research has shown a gap in the study of both written and subtitled translation of ECRs from Chinese into a Germanic language. The aim of this research is therefore to investigate which translation strategies were used for the translation of cultural references in the subtitles of Langs de Oevers van de Yangtze. All the ECRs in the program have been categorized based on the taxonomy of ECRs provided by Nedergaard-Larsen (1993) and the translation strategy for each ECR has been determined according to Pedersen’s taxonomy for ECRs in subtitles (2011). The results showed that for the categories geography, society and culture, most of the used translation strategies are source-oriented, whereas for the history category both source-oriented strategies and target-oriented strategies are used the same number of times. For the categories society and culture the most used strategy is direct translation. Direct translation is also the most used strategy in the category history along with the translation strategy generalization. For the category geography, the most used translation strategy is retention. In addition, the results showed that the subtitler also uses the Dutch commentary as a strategy in translating ECRs.Show less
This thesis describes the development of Yiddish theatre which evolved in Eastern Europe and later moved to the United States of America as large groups of Eastern European Jews began to move to...Show moreThis thesis describes the development of Yiddish theatre which evolved in Eastern Europe and later moved to the United States of America as large groups of Eastern European Jews began to move to the United States in the 1880s and 1890s. American-Jewish authors and playwrights used the high status of Western canonical writers – mainly Shakespeare – in order to introduce their immigrant audiences to the new culture of their homeland. One of these playwrights was Joseph Bovshover, who published a translation of The Merchant of Venice in 1899. In it, he replaced many of the references to the classical mythology or to the Christian religion with Jewish concepts, in order to familiarise the readers with the play. He also applied a translation strategy of transference of references to Venetian culture in to create a sense of authenticity. In his translation he wrote a preface in which he described his appreciation of Shakespeare’s work and especially of Shylock as a tragic hero. This change of depiction was typical of Jewish adaptations of The Merchant of Venice, in which Shylock was consistently depicted as a tragic hero rather than a villain. Bovshover attempted to find a balance between presenting the audience with an authentic Shakespeare translation while at the same time allowing the audience to relate itself to the characters in the play. He did this by transferring the references to Venetian culture literally into Yiddish, while adapting most of the references to Christianity to the Jewish context from which the audience came.Show less
This thesis examines the Dutch subtitling of English-language pop-cultural references in season one, episode one, “Pilot” (2000) of the American dramedy TV series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), and...Show moreThis thesis examines the Dutch subtitling of English-language pop-cultural references in season one, episode one, “Pilot” (2000) of the American dramedy TV series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), and fills an academic gap that focuses on pop-cultural references whilst concentrating on English and Dutch as a language pair. This study explores how the pop-cultural references that tend to provoke a positive humour response are translated in Dutch subtitles. For textual cultural references, translators often apply explicitation. However, subtitlers are generally subject to time and spatial constraints. With this in mind, this study looks at the subtitling and purpose of pop-cultural references in Gilmore Girls, focusing on whether they appeal to the target audience or inform these viewers about the source language and culture. This study also investigates the preference of Dutch viewers with respect to extralinguistic (popular) culture-bound references in subtitles using a survey with 50 participants. The results indicate that even though the references to local institutions and toponyms were overall more focused on the source language and culture, the anthroponyms, fiction, and random references mostly underwent a subtitling approach aimed to suit the target audience. With respect to Dutch participants’ preference concerning extralinguistic (popular) culture-bound references, there is no straightforward answer, as this partly depends on their understanding of the references and their level of English. In turn, participants’ understanding depends on their age and in part on their level of education.Show less
