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The Translation of Humour in the American Sitcom Modern Family

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The Translation of Humour in the American Sitcom Modern Family 2021 108 Noelia Marqués Cobeta The translation of humour in the american sitcom modern family Director/es Hornero Corisco, Ana María González Vera, María Pilar © Universidad de Zaragoza Servicio de Publicaciones ISSN 2254-7606 Tesis Doctoral THE TRANSLATION OF HUMOUR IN THE AMERICAN SITCOM MODERN FAMILY Autor Noelia Marqués Cobeta Director/es Hornero Corisco, Ana María González Vera, María Pilar UNIVERSIDAD DE ZARAGOZA Escuela de Doctorado Programa de Doctorado en Estudios Ingleses 2021 Repositorio de la Universidad de Zaragoza – Zaguan http://zaguan.unizar.es The translation of Humour in the American sitcom Modern Family PhD Thesis Noelia Marqués Cobeta Supervisors: Dr Ana María Hornero Corisco Dr Pilar González Vera The translation of Humour in the American sitcom Modern Family A PhD thesis by Noelia Marqués Cobeta supervised by Ana María Hornero Corisco Pilar González Vera FACULTY OF ARTS 2020 Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Dr Ana María Hornero Corisco and Dr Pilar González Vera for their continuous support to my PhD study and related research, as well as for their patience, encouragement, and immense knowledge. Their guidance has helped me throughout all the time devoted to the research and writing this thesis. I could not have imagined having better advisors and mentors for my PhD study. My sincere thanks also go to Branwen Val for her support. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my father and my sister, for supporting me spiritually during the writing of this thesis and in my life, in general. In particular, I am grateful to my husband and partner in life for his backing over all these years. i CONTENTS Acknowledgments i List of acronyms v List of symbols vi List of tables vi List of figures vii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION 12 2.1 Definition 12 2.2 The audiovisual market in the United States and Spain 25 2.3 Dubbing 28 2.3.1 Priorities and restrictions in the dubbing process 32 2.3.2 Synchrony 34 2.4 Subtitling 38 2.4.1 Priorities and restrictions in the subtitling process 43 2.4.2 Synchrony 46 3. HUMOUR 52 3.1 Types of humour 60 ii 3.2 Humour and translation 73 3.2.1 Factors in translating sitcoms 73 3.2.1.1 Priorities and restrictions in the translating process 76 3.2.2 Translating humour 81 3.2.3 Difficulties in translating humour 87 3.2.3.1 Translating jokes 97 4. METHODOLOGY AND CORPUS 101 4.1 Objectives 101 4.2 Methodology 102 4.3 Corpus 106 4.3.1 Sitcoms, an important genre in the United States and in Spain 106 4.3.2 Modern Family 108 5. ANALYSIS 125 5.1 Stereotypes 128 5.1.1 National stereotype 129 5.1.1.1 Gloria Delgado-Pritchett 130 5.1.1.2 Lily Tucker-Pritchett 158 5.1.1.3 Conclusions 161 5.1.2 Homosexual stereotype 164 5.1.2.1 Mitchell Pritchett 165 5.1.2.2 Cameron Tucker 167 iii 5.1.2.3 Lily Tucker-Pritchett 170 5.1.2.4 Conclusions 172 5.1.3 Age stereotype 174 5.1.3.1 Luke Dunphy 175 5.1.3.2 Conclusions 181 5.1.4 Gender stereotype 182 5.1.4.1 Phil Dunphy 183 5.1.4.2 Jay Pritchett 186 5.1.4.3 Conclusions 189 5.1.5 Bimbo stereotype 189 5.1.5.1 Haley Dunphy 190 5.1.5.2 Conclusions 193 5.1.6 Bumpkin stereotype 194 5.1.6.1 Lily Tucker-Pritchett 195 5.1.6.2 Conclusions 199 5.1.7 Conclusions of “Stereotypes” examples 200 5.2 Language 202 5.2.1 Conclusions of “Language” examples 293 6. FINAL CONCLUSIONS 298 BIBLIOGRAPHY 313 APPENDIX 325 iv LIST OF ACRONYMS The following list shows the common acronyms used in this study. Acronym Meaning CNMC Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia CPS Characters per second WPM Words per minute SO Script opposition LO Logical mechanism SI Situation ST Source text TT Target text SL Source language TL Target language VEH Verbally expressed humour CC Contextual case OV Original version DV Dubbed version SV Subtitled version CI Element about the Community and Institutions CSH Element about the Community Sense of Humour L Linguistic element V Visual element G Graphic element PL Paralinguistic element S Sound element NM Non-marked element H Hotchpotch element v LIST OF SYMBOLS The following list of symbols describes their function within the tables used for the transcription of the subtitled versions in Chapter 5, Analysis. These symbols indicate the way subtitles appear on screen. Symbol Meaning / End of line of subtitle // End of subtitle on screen /// End of the scene’s speech - Dialogue [--] No subtitle when there is a character talking -- Unfinished sentence … The sentence continues in the following subtitle Sentence The subtitle indicates the character is talking but s/he is not on screen “Sentence” The character remarks what s/he says LIST OF TABLES Table 1 (page 23) Oral and written paralinguistic elements Table 2 (page 127) Classification of examples and number of examples in each category Table 3 (page 128) Acronyms of the different elements used in the examples vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 (page 21) Characteristics of audiovisual texts Figure 2 (page 110) Modern Family’s family tree Figure 3 (page 198) Map of the United States regarding the use of “Y’all” vii 1. INTRODUCTION This study arose from the idea of comparing the corpus that is analysed, the situation comedy –or sitcom– Modern Family, with the text that is not only translated but also adapted to Spanish in the two most popular modes of audiovisual translation in our country, dubbing and subtitling. Focus is placed on analysing the humorous aspects that define this kind of genre and the possible changes that are necessary to match the target conventions and be accepted by the target audience. The choice of this series was not a random decision, since it was a sitcom that I already knew about and enjoyed watching in its Spanish dubbed version on television at home. The final decision to choose this corpus was made after confirming its great success in both the source and the target countries. By means of this analysis, some of the characteristics that define the corpus and that make it so appealing to the audience are expected to be discerned, in an attempt to justify the fantastic audience share this sitcom enjoys. The humour factor is an added difficulty because of cultural aspects, which may affect the strategies or solutions adopted. It is really interesting to see how a text can change in order to satisfy the cultural requirements of another country, while maintaining the same or similar characteristics that define it in order to preserve the same essence as in its source version, and which makes it so popular. It is always interesting to analyse how people communicate and interact with each other, not only through the use of a specific language, but also by using different registers, depending on who they are talking to. 1 This is the reason why I decided to study the Degree in Translation and Interpreting, not only to learn languages, but also to learn about the adaptations a text has to undergo in order to be accepted by the target readers. Although during my years as a student, my field of specialisation was a different one, when the time came to decide on the theme for my doctoral thesis, I was attracted by the idea of studying audiovisual translation. This decision was also motivated by the increase in audiovisual products brought about by the emergence of new television platforms, which increase the options of watching an audiovisual text, when, where and how the audience wishes. These options open up a new window of possibilities, and allow the production of new texts, which are accessible to more and more people, and which need to be translated to many more languages in order to be consumed. The increasing number of audiovisual products that are now available, thanks to the abovementioned multimedia platforms, create the need to teach and train new professional translators who are able to satisfy today’s needs. At the same time, and in order to train those professionals, it is crucial to revise existing literature on audiovisual translation, and study it in depth. New technologies create new needs and new points of view that should be studied and explored in order to respond to that new reality. Although in recent years translation studies in both printed and audiovisual texts have increased, further research in the latter field is still necessary. This is a relatively new area of study that may be very fruitful and profitable for everyone, from production companies to translators, and 2 even beneficial for consumers of any kind of audiovisual products. Indeed, the more specific the studies in this field of knowledge, the more precise the translated texts will be, as translators will be better prepared and trained to develop their jobs. Aims of the study The main aims of this study can be summarised in a few points: Research and review existing literature on audiovisual translation, as well as the concept of humour and its implications in the translation of audiovisual texts. Study the specific area of linguistic humour, the cornerstone on which the research will be based. Define the concept of stereotype and consider it as a source of humour. Identify the different humorous elements involved in the examples taken from the corpus, and compare them with the ones used in the dubbed and subtitled versions.
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