Masaryk University Faculty of Arts
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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English-language Translation Taťána Marešová Towards Norms in Subtitling: Nonverbal Information Encoded in Subtitles Master‟s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Renata Kamenická, Ph.D. 2013 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author‟s signature Table of Contents List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 6 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 7 2 Focusing on subtitling ........................................................................................... 10 2.1 Semiotics ............................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Text and Audiovisual text from semiotic perspective ........................................... 11 2.3 Translation from semiotic perspective .................................................................. 12 2.4 Audiovisual translation from semiotic perspective ............................................... 14 2.5 Subtitling from the semiotic perspective ............................................................... 14 2.6 Subtitling method .................................................................................................. 15 2.7 Time and space constraints in subtitling ............................................................... 17 2.8 Problems arising in subtitling ................................................................................ 18 2.8.1 Intersemiotic shift .................................................................................................. 20 2.9 Redundant information and anchoring information .............................................. 22 2.9.1 Situational and linguistic redundancy, anchoring information ............................. 22 2.10 Means for message transfer in subtitling .............................................................. 24 2.11 Norms .................................................................................................................... 26 2.12 Norms in general ................................................................................................... 27 2.13 Taxonomy ............................................................................................................. 29 3 Method .................................................................................................................. 34 3.1 Possible means of nonverbal-meaning production in audiovisual text ................. 35 3.2 The method of research ......................................................................................... 37 3.2.1 Professional norms ................................................................................................ 38 3.2.2 Expectancy norms ................................................................................................. 39 4 Material ................................................................................................................. 43 4.1 Research material specifics ................................................................................... 43 4.2 Britcom .................................................................................................................. 44 5 Practical application .............................................................................................. 47 5.1 Czech television .................................................................................................... 47 5.2 Genre suitable for the present research ................................................................. 50 6 Research results ..................................................................................................... 52 6.1 Repeated nonverbal-meaning-productive translation solutions occurring regularly in the researched material .................................................................................................... 53 6.1.1 Dialogues ............................................................................................................... 54 6.1.2 Acoustic nonverbal channel .................................................................................. 61 6.1.3 Visual nonverbal channel ...................................................................................... 68 6.1.4 Visual verbal channel (inserts, intertitles, end credits, displays) .......................... 69 6.2 Expectancy norms investigation results ................................................................ 74 6.2.1 Accountability and Communication ..................................................................... 75 6.2.2 Relation norms ...................................................................................................... 79 6.2.2.1 Acoustic verbal channel ........................................................................................ 79 6.2.2.2 Acoustic nonverbal channel .................................................................................. 83 6.2.2.3 Visual nonverbal channel ...................................................................................... 92 6.2.2.4 Visual verbal channel ............................................................................................ 93 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 97 8 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 100 9 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 102 10 Anotace ............................................................................................................... 103 11 Appendix ............................................................................................................. 104 List of Abbreviations AV audiovisual AVT audiovisual translation BB Black Books CP communication principles CT Czech Television ITCK The IT Crowd (Kratochvíl) ITCZ The IT Crowd (Ţídek) O The Office ST source text TV television 6 1 Introduction Studies in audiovisual translation have introduced another point of view on the nature of the translated material in terms of its semiotic composition which brings about difficulties in subtitling. It is possible to find manifold recommendations or instructions dedicated to both prospective and professional subtitlers. The suggested solutions to problems brought by subtitling mostly aim at the improvement of translator‟s performance. Nevertheless, the issue of quality assessment in subtitling is a rather complex issue that can be fully described and understood within the context of norm theory. It is therefore the aim of this thesis to introduce theoretically the whole range of translation norms which, in fact, represent the evaluative criteria for quality assessment in subtitling with the focus on the description of norms governing the translation of audiovisual-text phenomena that seem to be out of the primary focus of the studies in subtitling. In semiotic terms, these are phenomena included in four semiotic channels of audiovisual text which tend to be incorporated into one semiotic channel of subtitles despite their possible redundancy (linguistic or situational). The present thesis will then approve or disapprove the central hypothesis according to which the presence of the phenomena inherent to the above-presented semiotic channels directly influences the resulting quality of subtitles. This embraces the investigation of professional 7 and expectancy norms. The degree of conformity to those norms determines the degree of professionalism in translator‟s performance. The present research hence defines the means for encoding nonverbal information into subtitles, as well as it identifies the situations in which it is necessary to include a portion of nonverbal meaning in order to achieve a quality translation product. British situation comedy, the material chosen for the present research, involves a high concentration of the phenomena on which the research focuses. These phenomena are mostly employed in order to create a humorous effect which means that they also often carry additional meaning. The research sample used for the investigation into professional subtitling norms consists of five episodes from three British situation comedies translated by four different teams (Black Books, The Office, and The IT Crowd). All the investigated material was translated and broadcasted within the Czech Television. The audience expectations were investigated via general questionnaire with open questions, and through practical questionnaire that included modified subtitles of the examined audiovisual material. The body of the present thesis is structured in the following way: First, it includes three introductory (rather theoretical) chapters focusing on the norm theory (first chapter), the theory of audiovisual translation in semiotic context (second chapter), and the description of the investigated material and the environment in which the translation took place (third chapter). Second, the practical section of the work (fourth chapter) includes a sub-chapter describing 8 regularities in translational behaviour that