Multiculturalism on Screen −Subtitling and the Translation Of

The Otemon Journal of Australian Studies, vol.36, pp.97−109, 2010 ９７ Multiculturalism on Screen －subtitling and the translation of cultural differences Gay Hawkins Professor, The University of Queensland / 2009−2010 Visiting Professor Centre for Pacific and American Studies, Tokyo University Introduction One of the most significant legacies of successive migration policies in Australia has been the transformation of Australia’s linguistic landscape. Australia is a country where many different languages are spoken from Aboriginal languages still practiced in remote regional communities, to the use of homeland or first languages in many households. Today the most commonly spoken languages in Australia are English, Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Mandarin and Vietnamese. This linguistic diversity is at the heart of Australian multiculturalism. It is a powerful indicator of the complexities of cross-cultural interaction in hyper-diverse societies. Languages carry with them worldviews and values they are one of the most intimate markers of identity. While English may be the dominant or national language for many Australians it is often not the language of everyday life. Australia is multilingual and this reality presents a range of challenges to social communication. In this paper I want to explore how Australia’s multicultural broadcaster, SBS, functions as a plat- form for intercultural exchange: how it translates cultural differences or transfers linguistic and cultural elements across boundaries. The politics of translation is my central concern and I approach this term as both a literal or technical process and a metaphorical one: as a process of communication across difference that is inevitably caught up in certain degrees of incomprehension, confusion and incommensurability. In other words, I do not see translation as a transparent system of communication and reciprocity, as a mirror. Attempts to transfer linguistic and cultural meanings are al- ways accompanied by difficulties because communication is social, it is mediated by institutional, political, aesthetic and other dynamics that are difficult to contain. Analysis of the politics and practices of translation does not feature much in debates about multiculturalism in Australia. The history of multicultural policy has focused more on addressing the specific needs of migrant groups or on nurturing tolerance and openness to diversity amongst all ９８ Multiculturalism on Screen－subtitling and the translation of cultural differences Australians. Yet, in both these policy orientations translation is fundamental. It has been impossible to address and assist new arrivals without using their languages. It has also been impossible to help all Australians have a more expansive or tolerant outlook without making foreign languages and immigrant cultures less strange, and therefore more accessible, through the use of anything from subtitles, to ‘multicultural food days’ in schools, to harmony awards. For cultures to communicate across their differences a whole range of translation practices are required and in this process different identities are not so much exchanged as actively produced. As Meaghan Morris says in her essay on Naoki Sakai’s book Translation and Subjectivity ‘Sakai clearly shares with other theorists a conception of translation as a practice producing difference out of incommensurability (rather than equivalence out of difference) and of the “matter” of translation as heterogeneous all the way down’ (Morris, 2006, 177). Sakai’s theorization of the politico-ethical significance of translation is very valuable. It represents one of the most sophisticated approaches to translation within contemporary cultural theory and it shapes my analysis of SBS. In the rest of this paper I want to investigate various translation practices at work in this multicultural media institution with a focus on how particular techniques for enabling cross-cultural communication produce difference. The main translation practice I am going to focus on is subtitling which has been central to the development of SBS. However, subtitling is not a simple or straightforward technical process. It is thoroughly caught up in the wider institutional cultures of SBS, transnational flows of media content and the ways in which this media or- ganisation has approached or invented multiculturalism. Through the example of subtitling it is possible to learn a lot about the politics of translation within multicultural societies and the ways in which cultures attempt to understand each other. The first thing I will do is briefly set out the history of SBS for those of you who may be unfamil- iar with it. Then I want to examine three case studies where subtitles both produce and translate difference in distinct ways. The first example will be the case of the Japanese TV series the Iron Chef that has screened on SBS for over 10 years. When it was first screened it used English subtitles, more recently SBS has been using the American dubbed version. How do these two approaches to translation (dubbing and subtitles) produce ‘Japaneseness’ or a set of meaning for Japa- nese culture and identity? And what is the difference between hearing the Japanese language whilst reading English translation, or hearing American voiceovers that completely obliterate the sound of Japanese language? The second example will be an examination of World Watch an SBS program that screens unsubtitled domestic news bulletins from around the world. What are the effects of an absence of translation on making sense of foreign cultures? How does unsubtitled content that most Australians cannot understand sit within the wider politics and objectives of cross cultural aware- Gay Hawkins ９９ ness? Finally, I want to look briefly at the meanings of subtitling local content. How does the use of subtitles on Australian made programming unsettle comfortable notions of a ‘national language’ and linguistic homogeneity? Here the example will be Ten Canoes an award winning film sup- ported by SBS Independent, SBS’s commissioning arm. This film was shot entirely in indigenous language with English subtitles and voiceover, it explicitly addresses English speakers as foreign- ers. Background to SBS Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is the only multicultural public service broadcaster in the world. Set up by the Whitlam Labor government in 1975, SBS’s social remit was, and still is, to cater to the special communication needs of ethnic and Aboriginal minorities and to promote awareness and understanding of cultural diversity amongst all Australians. The creation of SBS was a response to the massive waves of migration Australia experienced after WW 11. Between 1945 and 1956 nearly 1 million new settlers arrived, over 50% of them of non- British decent. These new arrivals presented a range of challenges for government. For a long time policies of assimilation prevailed with the emphasis on integrating migrants from non-English language backgrounds into Australian society as fast as possible. There was, however, very little ac- tual government support for this process beyond meeting the immediate needs of settlement. In terms of media practice there was little acknowledgement of these new populations as potential audiences or citizens. Mainstream media, particularly the ABC and commercial TV broadcasters, remained resolutely ‘white’ or anglo in their orientation. There were a small cluster of shows on commercial radio in languages other than English targeting new arrivals and offering community information, homeland music and news etc. But this development of pockets of multilingual content on air was the exception not the norm. These radio shows also attracted some local criticism. Radio in different languages triggered complaints to the radio regulator from listeners who were disturbed to hear content they couldn’t understand. These listeners saw untranslated content as po- tentially subversive and against the policy of assimilation. Here we see a powerful example of how assimilation produces a one way politics of translation. In refusing to hear difference or expressing concern about the incomprehension of other cultures, assimilation denies diversity. Assimilation is not based on intercultural exchange or pluralisation but on the incorporation of difference. In the 1970s, with the election of the new progressive Labor government, debate about multiculturalism began. This debate shifted the emphasis away from policies of assimilation to policies fo- cusing on cross cultural relations, and the ways in which community relations in diverse societies １００ Multiculturalism on Screen－subtitling and the translation of cultural differences can be managed. The shift from assimilation to multiculturalism involved the creation of a whole array of new policy initiatives. These included, for example, the expansion of English language classes for migrants, the creation of multilingual government information and other programs that focused on addressing migrant social exclusion and disadvantage, and on making Anglo Australians more open to or tolerant of different cultures and identities. SBS emerges in this context. The immediate impetus for the creation of SBS was the introduction of a new national medical in- surance scheme, Medicare, which the government was very concerned migrants would not register for and access. So two radio stations－Radio Ethnic Australia－were set up in Sydney and Mel- bourne to provide key information

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