Towards a Model for Film Literacy in Audiovisual Translation: a Case Study of the Subtitling of a Classic Egyptian Film Into English

Towards a model for film literacy in audiovisual translation: A case study of the subtitling of a classic Egyptian film into English

Muhammad Y Gamal

A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

School of International Studies

Faculty of Arts and Social Science

March 2013

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet

Surname or Family name: GAMAL

First name: Muhammad Other name/s: Y.

Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD

School: International Studies Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences

Title: Towards a model for film literacy in audiovisual translation: a case study of the subtitling of a classic Egyptian film into English.

Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE)

The emergence of DVD technology prompted a surge in subtitling a large number of Egyptian films into English. Although subtitling has been around in Egypt since the early thirties of the past century, most of the activity has been into Arabic only. Most western universities have been debating audiovisual translation issues for the last decade. Yet contribution from Arabic has been virtually negligible. The increasing number of Egyptian films subtitled onto DVD has prompted the examination of subtitling Arabic language films.

In the current study, the subtitling of Egyptian classic films is examined. The study looks at the current professional practice, the quality of the subtitling and the teaching of screen translation in Egypt. The study will argue that the current subtitling practice is flawed as it remains oblivious to three significant factors that impact on the training of subtitlers and consequently on the quality of subtitling. These factors are 1) the lack of formal debate of subtitling in translation curricula, 2) the reliance on the dialogue list as an economical way of producing subtitles and 3) the lack of film literacy.

The research examines the first film produced by the DVD industry in Egypt. The film, featuring Omar Sharif, is widely considered an Egyptian classic. It applies a multimodal analysis of thirty significant scenes in the film and highlights the common challenges in the subtitling which were not met. It will argue that failure to meet the challenges is primarily due to the above three factors which seriously hamper the production of quality subtitling in Egypt.

The major conclusion reached is that film literacy is a must for audiovisual culture to take root in the country.

Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation

I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation.

I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only).

…………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… ……….……………………...…….… Signature Witness Date

The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research.

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award:

THIS SHEET IS TO BE GLUED TO THE INSIDE FRONT COVER OF THE THESIS

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT

‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’

Signed ……………………………………………......

Date ……………………………………………......

Abstract

The major conclusion reached is that film literacy is a must for audiovisual culture to take root in the country.

iii

Dedication

To Kazue, my darling wife,

Thank you for everything, the love and support and endless patience. Arigato!

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the effort of

All my supervisors at The University of New South Wales, Professor L. Stern, Dr R. Machali, Dr E. McDonalds, Professor P. Collins and Dr James Lee.

And particularly,

Mr Mounir Shawky, Cairo, who taught me English

Professor Marcel Thelen, Zuyd University, for his motivation

Professor Mamuru Tsuda, Osaka University for his encouragement

Professor David Widdowson, University of Canberra for his inspiration

Mr Abdel-Aziz Hamdy, American University in Cairo, for his brotherly care and concern

Mr Dale Redfern for his unfailing support, technical and editorial assistance and friendship

All my students, friends, family and Australian fans of Omar Sharif (in black and white)

Table of Contents

Dedication ...... iv Acknowledgements ...... v Part 1: Historical perspectives on audiovisual translation in Egypt ...... 1 Chapter One ...... 2 Introduction ...... 2 1.1 Deciphering meaning ...... 2 1.2 The new impetus for subtitling ...... 3 1.3 Audiovisual translation in the Arab world today ...... 3 1.4 Background to the current research ...... 4 1.5 Researching Egyptian films subtitled into English ...... 5 1.6 Hurdles before the present research ...... 6 1.7 Overcoming hurdles in researching DVD subtitling in Egypt ...... 7 1.8 Towards a theoretical framework for researching DVD subtitling ...... 8 1.9 Impact of the Digital Revolution on the young in Egypt ...... 10 1.10 Film language and literacy ...... 11 1.11 Classic films on DVD ...... 13 Chapter Two ...... 18 DVD Context in Egypt ...... 18 Introduction ...... 18 2.1 The digital age ...... 18 2.2 The new medium ...... 18 2.3 The Digital Versatile Disc ...... 19 2.4 Egyptian DVDs ...... 20 2.5 Specifications of the Egyptian DVD ...... 21 2.6 Cinema in Egypt ...... 22 2.7 Omar Sharif in Egyptian cinema ...... 22 2.8 Definition of classic ...... 23 2.9 The audiovisual scene in Egypt ...... 25 2.10 Subtitling commercially and academically ...... 26 2.11 DVD subtitling ...... 28 2.12 Comparative audiovisual translation studies ...... 30

2.13 Anis Ebaid: pioneer of Egyptian subtitling ...... 32 2.13.1 Anis Ebaid: the second generation ...... 33 2.13.2 Anis Ebaid at film festivals ...... 34 2.14 Significance of the DVD industry in today’s world ...... 36 2.15 Examining translation in the multimedia format ...... 36 Part 2: Issues in subtitling a classic Egyptain film ...... 38 Chapter Three ...... 39 Review of the Literature ...... 39 Introduction ...... 39 3.1 The nature of subtitles ...... 40 3.2 Criticism of subtitling ...... 41 3.3 Subtitling is not translation ...... 43 3.4 The task of the subtitler ...... 46 3.5 Subtitling is reductive translation ...... 47 3.6 The literature in Arabic ...... 48 3.6.1 Translation conferences and AVT ...... 49 3.6.2 Journalistic writing on subtitling in Egypt ...... 50 3.7 The scope for the present study ...... 50 3.7.1 Research question ...... 51 3.7.2 Research hypothesis ...... 51 3.7.3 Research methodology ...... 52 3.7.4 Research observations ...... 54 Chapter Four ...... 55 Data Analysis ...... 55 Introduction ...... 55 4.1 A Man in our House (1961) ...... 56 4.2 Historical background to A Man in our House ...... 57 4.3 The place of A Man in our House in Egyptian cinema...... 59 4.4 Omar Sharif ...... 59 4.5 The methodology ...... 60 4.6 Analysis of thirty selected scenes ...... 62 Chapter Five ...... 100 Discussion of the data analysis ...... 100 Introduction ...... 100 vii

5.1 Taxonomies and typologies ...... 100 5.2 The table of examples ...... 102 5.3 Categories of the examples...... 103 5.3.1 Legal warning ...... 103 5.3.2 The DVD case ...... 105 5.3.3 The documentary ...... 106 5.3.4 Geographic names ...... 107 5.3.5 Extra audio & visual features ...... 108 5.3.6 Modern Standard Arabic ...... 114 5.3.7 Religious references ...... 121 5.3.8 Spoken Arabic ...... 122 5.3.10 The end ...... 125 5.4 Other Omar Sharif films subtitled on DVD ...... 126 5.4.1 A Rumour of Love (1960) ...... 127 5.4.2 Date with the Unknown ...... 129 5.4.3 A Struggle on the Nile ...... 129 5.4.4 Sleepless ...... 131 5.4.5 Laughter, Games, Seriousness and Love ...... 132 5.4.6 Days of Sadat ...... 133 5.5 Entrenched DVD subtitling practice ...... 134 Part 3: Towards a model for film literacy in audiovisual translation ...... 136 Chapter Six ...... 137 Towards a model for film literacy in AVT ...... 137 Introduction ...... 137 6.1 Definition of film literacy ...... 139 6.2 Scope of film literacy ...... 140 6.3 Typological studies ...... 142 6.4 An Egyptian typology ...... 143 6.4.1 The Introduction ...... 145 6.4.2 Film title ...... 145 6.4.3 Cultural Specific Images (SCI) ...... 146 6.4.4 Translating the vernacular ...... 146 6.4.5 Non-verbal communication (NVC) ...... 147 6.4.6 Religious references ...... 148 viii

6.4.7 Humour ...... 149 6.4.8 Voices ...... 150 6.4.9 Egyptian names ...... 151 6.4.10 The End ...... 152 6.5 Film literacy as a means not an end ...... 153 6.6 Subtitling and the DVD industry in Egypt ...... 154 6.7 Cultivating an audiovisual culture in Egypt ...... 154 6.8 Audiovisual studies ...... 155 6.9 Debating audiovisual topics ...... 157 Chapter Seven ...... 158 Conclusions ...... 158 7.1 Subtitling is not translation ...... 158 7.2 Audiovisual translation applications ...... 159 7.3 Audiovisual translation is more than just subtitling ...... 162 7.4 Capitalising on the digital capabilities of the DVD ...... 163 7.5 Audiovisual climate ...... 164 References ...... 166 Newspaper and magazine articles consulted: ...... 181 Interviews...... 182 Appendices ...... 184 Appendix A ...... 185 List of Arabic examples ...... 185 Appendix B Filmography ...... 190

List of Tables

Table 1: Audiovisual according to Delabastita ...... 41 Table 2: Multimodal analysis for the audiovisual channels ...... 61 Table 3: Scene 1 – Legal warning ...... 65 Table 4: Scene 2 – DVD Menu ...... 66 Table 5: Scene 3 – Spelling of Omar Sharif ...... 67 Table 6: Scene 4 – Film title ...... 68 Table 7: Scene 5 – Scene Description ...... 69 Table 8: Scene 6 – Scene Description ...... 70 Table 9: Scene 7 – Scene Description ...... 71 Table 10: Scene 8 – Scene Description ...... 72 Table 11: Scene 9 – Scene Description ...... 73 Table 12: Scene 10 – Scene Description ...... 74 Table 13: Scene 11 – Scene Description ...... 75 Table 14: Scene 12 – Scene Description ...... 76 Table 15: Scene 13 – To Abdeen ...... 77 Table 16: Scene 14 – Nashed Salib ...... 78 Table 17: Scene 15 – Iftar Canon ...... 79 Table 18: Scene 16 – The police order ...... 80 Table 19: Scene 17 – Sotto voce ...... 81 Table 20: Scene 18 – Suhur ...... 82 Table 21: Scene 19 – The bar ...... 83 Table 22: Scene 20 – Couldn’t breathe ...... 85 Table 23: Scene 21 – Using diplomacy ...... 87 Table 24: Scene 22 – My flesh is bitter ...... 89 Table 25: Scene 23 – Graffiti ...... 91 Table 26: Scene 24 – Mural painting...... 92 Table 27: Scene 25 – Abdallah Nadim ...... 93 Table 28: Scene 26 – Alexandria dialect ...... 94 Table 29: Scene 27 – Voices ...... 95 Table 30: Scene 28 – Soliloquy ...... 96 Table 31: Scene 29 – An endless ocean ...... 97 x

Table 32: Scene 30 – The end ...... 98 Table 33: Grouping the thirty scenes into categories ...... 102 Table 34: A typology of ten categories ...... 103 Table 35: Extra audio & visual features ...... 109

Part 1: Historical perspectives on audiovisual translation in Egypt

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Deciphering meaning

When the Rosetta Stone was discovered by Napoleon’s soldiers near the Egyptian fishing village of Rosetta in 1799, the French were puzzled by the three texts on the stone. Able only to identify one, ancient Greek, the Stone had to wait for 23 years to be deciphered by a young philologist who later became the founding father of the modern science of Egyptology: Jean Francois Champollion (1790-1832). When Champollion announced the decipherment of the written form of the ancient Egyptian language ‘the Hieroglyphs’ in 1822, it became clear that the ancient Egyptians had spoken in more than one version of their ‘Egyptian’ language and knew several dialects as well. In addition to ancient Greek, the Stone had another language written in two varieties of Egyptian: the high variety and the low variety. Thanks to the Rosetta Stone, it is now clear that the ancient Egyptians had diglossia; a linguistic phenomenon where two different varieties of the same language exist side by side (Ferguson 1959). This means that the Hieroglyphs were the writing system of the High Variety of Egyptian spoken only by the elite, who were mostly the sacerdotal class, the scribes in addition to the royal family. The rest of the population, the illiterate masses who were not educated in reading or writing the Hiero-glyphs (sacred language) merely spoke the Low Variety of Ancient Egyptian; Demotic i.e., the language of the Demos or the public.

The ancient Egyptians recorded their achievements, rituals and daily transactions, whether liturgical or legal in writing. This can be seen on the walls of their temples and tombs, numerous obelisks and millions of ostraca. The writing system (the Hieroglyphs) was based on a verbo-visual form where pictures represented words which contained meaning-making features that expressed royal edicts, liturgical sermons as well as legal proceedings. The Hieroglyphs were initially carved into stone and painted with vivid colours, some of which can still be seen today at the Temple of Seti I in the city of Abydos in southern Egypt. The pictorial representation of the language is pleasing to the eye as it contains ideograms that stand for what they are as well as other more abstract ideas (Gardiner 1982). It is remarkable that Champollion was able to complete his work on the decipherment and translation of the Hieroglyphs without ever setting foot in Egypt. When he did in 1829, just three years before his death, he was able to look at the visuals and enjoy their intrinsic beauty but at the same time delve deeper into their images to appreciate their semantic meaning (Adkins and Adkins 2000). The example of Champollion standing at the Luxor Temple examining and comprehending the Hieroglyphs is akin to the work of subtitlers who look at the images in film and take all the visual elements into consideration prior to deciding on how to translate the film dialogue into a language that is not too archaic to be incomprehensible and yet not too modern to be divorced from its historical context.

1.2 The new impetus for subtitling

Subtitling foreign films into local languages is an old activity that began in 1929 with the talking cinema, but has only recently been given professional recognition and academic attention. The last decade of the past century witnessed some significant advances in telecommunication and technology, which by the time the world observed the centenary of cinema in 1995, the term ‘Global Village’ had taken on a new meaning. Digital technology made international films accessible not only through the several hundreds of television channels that are now available via satellite, the Internet and cable television but also on the remarkable invention in 1995 of the Digital Versatile Disc (DVD). The latter, the DVD, which began as a storage technology replacing its predecessor the Compact Disc (CD), was soon to become a product. It was not only portable, durable and affordable but it had a unique feature that made film translation more accessible than ever before: the availability of several translations of the same film on the same disc. There is no denying that American cinema benefited a great deal by making its already popular productions even more popular through accessible subtitles. Other major world cinemas with considerable following abroad, such as Italian, French and British films, have also benefited from the unique features of DVDs. By the turn of the century, American television drama began to appear subtitled into several languages (including Arabic). Suddenly, audiovisual translation began to appear as an academic pursuit taught as stand-alone postgraduate courses, debated at academic conferences and examined as a professional practice at international conferences dedicated only to language and the media and more precisely to audiovisual translation. It is significant to observe that the initiative was born in Western Europe and continues to be predominantly a western activity with its main centres in the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, Germany and Finland (Bruti and Di Giovanni 2012).

1.3 Audiovisual translation in the Arab world today

Film DVDs with subtitles in a variety of languages including Arabic, began to appear commercially as early as 2000 and since then technological advances have made subtitling more and more relevant. For instance, digital cameras now come with their menus translated into several languages, laptops come with their translated manuals already loaded and this is in addition to the more visible screens with multilingual menus seen at banks (ATMs), airports, public squares and during major film festivals, sports championships and major events such as the annual Muslim Haj to Mecca. The Haj, the world’s biggest event, utilises large multilingual screens to guide pilgrims to the major sites and the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Religious Affairs distributes a multilingual DVD to each pilgrim. The increasing presence of translations being consumed via screen, led in 2003 to the publication of a special issue of The Translator dedicated to Screen Translation (Gambier 2003a). In 1995 Gambier, one of the pioneering scholars in screen translation hosted the first conference on the relationship between cinema and translation (Audiovisual communication and language transfer) in Strasburg which gave the impetus for the new discipline of audiovisual translation.

The audiovisual scene in the Arab world (Gamal 2007b) is not homogenous with Egypt occupying the primary place of production both in film and television drama. As for subtitling

3 foreign television dramas into Arabic, almost every Arab television network has its own arrangements which can result in the same foreign program being subtitled in Alexandria, Beirut and Dubai simultaneously. The major change brought about by the digital revolution however is the proliferation of privately owned satellite channels that created a sudden and unprecedented demand for subtitled foreign programs to fill out the broadcasting hours which are now round the clock. By the end of the twentieth century, the increasing number of satellite channels (showing foreign and subtitled programs) was the major phenomenon in the once government-controlled media sector in the Arab world. This sudden demand for subtitling was not met by academia for a variety of reasons. Chief among them was and still is the fact that film translation has had no tradition in the translation curricula. It is not difficult to appreciate the reasons for the academic reluctance to examine audiovisual translation as it required technical knowledge which was lacking by faculty and as software programs became affordable the young student population was much faster in espousing them than the teaching staff. In his examination of the audiovisual scene in Egypt, Gamal (2008a) points out that despite the long history of film translation in the country, the activity has been a cottage industry initiated and controlled by a single dynasty (Anis Ebaid & Sons) for over seventy years. This however became a double-edged sword; for while the family invested in technology and training and reached successful levels, it shut out competition and more importantly examination by outsiders: professional and academic. Yet the fact remains that audiovisual translation prior to the digital revolution was a one-way street: subtitling into Arabic, and not from Arabic into foreign languages. In the second chapter, the audiovisual context in Egypt will be examined in more detail.

1.4 Background to the current research

Several cultural and linguistic factors underpin the current research which culminated with the birth of the DVD industry in Egypt in 2002. When Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz (1912- 2006) won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, the world discovered a novelist whose language was not “European” and subsequently his novels began to appear in several languages. The American University in Cairo (AUC) was actually his agent and had been publishing translations of some of his novels even prior to his Nobel Prize thus promoting translation of his works which now appear in more than 40 languages (www.aucpress.com). The significant observation to note is that while Mahfouz’s works were translated by native English-speaking translators supervised by a professional agency (the AUC Press) and supported by an academic institution (the AUC), his films do not enjoy the same treatment. Mahfouz enriched Egyptian cinema, with more than 41 novels turned into film in addition to him writing the script of 22 films (Qassem 2011). Today, many of his films are considered classics of Egyptian cinema not only by cineastes but also critics (Al Hadary 2007). Many Egyptian and Arab television channels show his films knowing that the name Naguib Mahfouz stands for quality that demands repeated viewing: one of the several conditions required before a film could be described as a classic (Abu Shadi 2006). However when his films appeared on DVD and were subtitled into English, they were not afforded the same attention. Several of his most popular films such as Chased by the Dogs (1962), Chitchat on the Nile

(1971) and My Lovely Amira (1974) appeared on DVD with subtitles that leave much to be desired. Given that the films are among the best Egyptian cinema produced and were based on Naguib Mahfouz’ novels, the subtitling appears to be not only rushed but also reflects a serious deficiency in appreciating the way meaning is constructed in film and a low level of proficiency in Egyptian cinematic langauge. It is therefore fair to say that the subtitling has tarnished, if not diminished, the artistic value of the master novelist.

Another factor is the Egyptian drive, if not thirst, for international recognition through translation, performance abroad or participation at world festivals, a dream that many Egyptians harbour and hope for achieving. Thus, poets, novelists, actors, producers and film directors all strive to be recognised abroad. Winning international awards translates into local success and world fame, and this applies to many professional Egyptologists as well as soccer players. The Egyptian cinema industry has been striving for such international acknowledgement since its first participation at an international film festival in 1936 when Zainab (1936) participated at the Venice Film Festival. For instance, Egyptian director Yousef Chahine (1920-2010) who is perhaps Egypt’s most well-known director abroad, insisted on subtitling his own films and his films adopted a cinematic language that had been different from that of his peers and contemporaries (Hosni 2009a). Quite often he argued that his films are too complex to be appreciated at present. Most of Egypt’s awards at international film festivals were won by Yousef Chahine’s films (Farid 2007). In 1997 he was awarded the Cannes Film Festival’s 50th Anniversary Prize for Lifetime Achievement. One of Chahine’s better known achievements is his discovery of a new actor by the name of Omar Sharif who starred in his 1954 classic Blazing Sun.

Omar Sharif (born in 1932) is Egyptian cinema’s success story and ever since his debut in Lawrence of Arabia in 1962, has been Egypt’s face and voice abroad. The DVD technology has brought about a rare opportunity for smaller and regional cinemas to promote themselves in ways never seen possible let alone imaginable. While American films will always seem to benefit more, due to their technical abilities, other films will at least have the opportunity of being accessible in a format that is portable and affordable. In this respect, Egyptian cinema now has the opportunity to promote itself abroad and achieve, in the digital age, what print translation has been unable to do: to promote Egyptian literature abroad. Living in the digital age where the image is supreme, subtitled films have the ability to achieve what Egyptian actors and directors always wished and hoped for: access to international audiences and markets. This can only be done if and when audiovisual translation takes root in Egypt and becomes a full-fledged academic pursuit not left in the hands of a small number of producers or promoters who regard subtitling as an extra expense and not as an essential part of film production.

1.5 Researching Egyptian films subtitled into English

The current research aims to highlight the significance of audiovisual translation as a branch in translation studies with a particular focus on subtitling. The significance can easily be gleaned from the simple fact that a decade since the birth of the DVD industry the concept of audiovisual translation remains an outlandish one that is never discussed at translation conferences, neither in Egypt nor in any other Arab country (Gamal 2012a). Over the past 5 decade, I have been following the DVD industry in the Arab world and have compiled a significant corpus of subtitled DVDs varying from tourist DVDs (Dubai, Egypt and Jordan), corporate DVDs and promotional DVDs, to feature films from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt. The examination of the corpus over a decade has led to some insightful observations, chief among them: that subtitling is not simply translation with the constraints imposed by the medium, and that training in subtitling is akin to training in any other specialisation be it poetry or the translation of personal documents. Each type of translation has its own characteristics, format and guidelines that need to be observed. In addition to the actual process of producing subtitles, the continuous examination of subtitled audiovisual material, particularly from Egypt, points to the fact that comparative subtitling studies are possible as there is filmic material that is subtitled twice (by more than one source).

Another observation, which proved to be common across all subtitled films on DVD in the corpus, is that Egyptian films attach more significance to the dialogue which makes it more difficult to subtitle. The latter point is extremely significant: the translation of the spoken variety of Arabic, “the vernacular”, is not examined at all either as a linguistic phenomenon or as a translation activity. This is mainly because attention is only given to the higher register of Arabic spoken by the educated in academic circles, international conferences and official functions. Furthermore, the language offered in the subtitles tends to be different from the original spoken dialogue and results in compromising the work. This point is significant: for in Arabic documentaries dubbed into English, the narration mimics the Arabic style of narration to professionally unacceptable levels. Likewise, the subtitling of spoken dialogues in some films is linguistically and culturally unsound to the point of not only undermining the source but eliminating any chance of target viewers watching the entire film.

1.6 Hurdles before the present research

What prompted this research is the birth of the DVD industry in Egypt (Gamal 2008a). The appearance of some of Egyptian cinema’s best known and loved films on restored, remastered and subtitled DVDs in 2002, launched the DVD subtitling activity that has become the concern of this research. The research focuses on subtitled films on original DVDs that are commercially available at DVD stores in Alexandria (Egypt) as well as in London. There is also a body of subtitled Egyptian films by hobbyists, commonly known as Fansubbers, who post their subtitled films online, but the focus of this research is on professionally-subtitled films that are produced and released commercially.

Over the past decade, I have been examining the subtitling style and quality of subtitled feature films on DVDs. As the quality has been consistently poor, I became keenly interested in exploring and researching the possible reasons behind the current practice, which instead of supporting Egyptian cinema abroad through multilingual subtitling, is actually undermining it. The DVD industry in Egypt is hardly regulated and is poorly documented and regrettably uncooperative with academic research. In view of the lack of publications on the subject in Egypt, it became imperative to embark on an activity that provides access to the industry and information on the process of subtitling Egyptian films into English. This meant that conducting field visits to subtitling centres in Egypt was essential. However, the several requests I made for information on the dates of production, the selection criteria for films, the selection and 6 engagement of subtitlers, the working conditions of subtitlers, the subtitling manual and operational guidelines for subtitlers, editors or checkers, the process of mounting subtitles onto the original after remastering, the part played by an editor or checker and the availability of any training or feedback given to subtitlers, were never answered. Repeated visits and requests made to Egypt’s primary subtitling company, Anis Ebaid & Sons, for information on subtitling practice were ignored or politely declined. It is regrettable that the DVD industry for over a decade has not seen any benefit in cooperating with academic research, despite the obvious benefits to both (Egoyan and Balfour 2004). Over the past decade, the industry has witnessed several operators, alliances and takeovers yet the reluctance by all players has been remarkably consistent (Gamal 2013b).

1.7 Overcoming hurdles in researching DVD subtitling in Egypt

Despite the lack of interest, if not rebuff by the DVD industry in Egypt, there was and has been another invaluable source of information and indeed inspiration. In 1995, the School of Continuing Education at the AUC began offering courses on Screen Translation with a strong focus on subtitling. The School has been more than interested in my personal experience as a subtitler of Egyptian films (and other Arabic-language television drama) into English having been trained by and having worked professionally for the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) in Sydney, as well as in my early research and publications (Gamal 1996a & 1996b) on the topic of subtitling that coincided with the teaching program at the AUC. Through direct contact with management, I have been invited to meet both lecturers and students of subtitling in Cairo on several occasions. The opportunity has been instrumental in gaining first-hand knowledge of the professional practice of DVD subtitling in Egypt, as most of the lecturers are practicing subtitlers working for Egyptian state television as well as for the various and fast-emerging privately-owned satellite channels.

As in many professional contexts in Western Europe, the practitioners of audiovisual translation are the tutors and instructors at academic institutions. Through various visits, meetings and seminars taking place at the AUC over the past eleven years, I have been able to observe and learn about the professional practice and context of film and DVD subtitling in Egypt. Over the past decade I have had the opportunity to visit the AUC on an annual basis and have shared more than 30 published and two unpublished (Gamal 2005a & 2005b) research papers on different aspects of Arabic subtitling with teachers, post-graduate students and researchers at some Egyptian universities. The feedback and questions I received on my research papers have been immensely helpful in understanding not only the context but also the process of DVD subtitling in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. This cooperation has been mutually beneficial and helpful not only in overcoming some of the hurdles posed by the industry but also in understanding the reasons behind them. As one instructor so candidly pointed out “the hurdle was not meant to be aggressive or personal but rather defensive and general” and when asked to elaborate, “Simple, you asked about the subtitling manual and there isn’t one”.

1.8 Towards a theoretical framework for researching DVD subtitling

Six fundamental aspects of the professional subtitling practice in Egypt inform the present research and have sharpened the focus on the methodology to be applied and the hypotheses to be tested in this research. They are intertwined and interdependent, and despite the seemingly intricate nature, each aspect can be isolated and described in the following manner. i. Subtitlers are freelancers

Almost all subtitling work in Egypt is located either in Alexandria or Cairo and the majority of subtitlers work on a freelance basis. Only the Egyptian Television in Cairo has a subtitling unit which is staffed with a small team of full-time subtitlers. All attempts to contact the unit and to seek permission to visit, tour and discuss the process of subtitling for the current research were politely declined. The nature of freelancing is that practitioners have to be flexible with their time and skilled in more than one area or simply have another job. The latter is actually the case, as most subtitlers in Cairo moonlight doing tasks related to translation and languages or totally different such as fixing computers. Most subtitlers work with a contract to do one film at a time (with no scheduling as films arrive at the last minute and quite often require immediate attention). ii. The Modus Operandi

All freelance subtitlers agree that the modus operandi is the Dialogue List provided by the agent who does not supply any briefing on the project apart from the terms of the contract and the deadline. Most subtitlers accept this arrangement as they see subtitling a dialogue list as a translation assignment not different from any other translation job they receive. Most of the subtitlers consulted indicated their first subtitling project was ‘cold’ as they were given a dialogue list and a contract and they agreed to do it by a deadline. With no training in or discussion on subtitling, very few freelancers doubted the current practice of dialogue translation thinking it is the correct and only way to translate film. In a tough competitive market, translating a film dialogue is seen as better than no job at all. iii. Lack of training in subtitling

Some of the freelance subtitlers who accepted the working method, and received more contracts, sought more experience and consequently decided to complete the Screen Translation course at the AUC. Prior to their engagement as subtitlers they did not consider doing the course as it was perceived as expensive, not employment- related like the more popular course on ‘legal translation’ and as someone so candidly commented “it was perceived as a literary luxury”. Very few subtitlers (and certainly the more experienced ones) indicated that they wished they had had an opportunity to receive full training in subtitling as no feedback, briefing or instructions are gived by the production or media agency. The important consideration here is that no agency offering subtitling contracts provides a training opportunity in subtitling.

8 iv. Subtitling is a form of translation

Most agencies want subtitles done quickly and cheaply, and to this effect they want translators who are ready and eager to work. Against this background, any graduate in English or French translation is ipso facto a subtitler and is therefore deemed qualified to translate a couple of lines of text into English or French or Arabic. Thus by virtue of completing a degree in translation, a written translator becomes a qualified subtitler and the industry is satisfied with this as a minimum requirement. This aspect has proved to be the most intricate aspect as it is deeply rooted in the translation culture in Arabic. To change this aspect has turned out to be a challenging task. v. Translating the Egyptian vernacular into English

Notwithstanding the significant and invaluable training offered at the AUC, the teaching assumes that their young trainee subtitlers are familiar with translating the vernacular and offers no training in this register/variety of (spoken) Arabic. This is a complex area that is not tackled or discussed at translation conferences in Egypt (or anywhere in the Arab world) and the mere mentioning of this aspect to colleagues at the AUC raised eyebrows and questions both for and against the teaching of the vernacular. It must be remembered that most academic institutions consider the vernacular to be unacademic and not worthy of teaching. Yet, one of the most striking observations I made through my talks with instructors and students, some of whom were already graduates of translation schools from Alexandria, Cairo and other major universities, was their serious lack of film understanding and appreciation. vi. Film literacy

This aspect requires a great deal of attention and examination. One of the debates I have had with the subtitling teaching staff at the AUC is the need to teach film literacy as an essential core subject on the grounds that it provides indispensable background knowledge to subtitlers. While some agreed with the notion of teaching film literacy, at least in principle, others pointed out the old adage ‘that practice makes perfect’ and that no amount of theoretical knowledge would replace the relevant and precious hours of practice. This discussion is almost déjà vu, as it happens in almost all forms and contexts of translation practice in Egypt, Europe and indeed in Australia. However there was a candid voice that although agreeing with the relevance and the obvious benefits of teaching film literacy noted the only impediment was how to teach it since most lecturers in Screen Translation did not receive any formal training in subtitling let alone film literacy.

These ‘professional conditions’ are not unusual as will be explained further in the next chapter. I have had first-hand experience, through visiting the leading subtitling company (Anis Ebaid & Sons) in Egypt in 1993 and 1994 just prior to the onset of the digital age, and have been surprised that the same conditions still prevail today. Furthermore, it would be naïve to believe that the subtitling industry in Western Europe grew overnight. It is insightful to examine the situation in several European countries only a decade or so ago and learn how the

9 profession developed (Nedergaard-Larsen 1993, Gottlieb 1992, Gambier 1995, Mera 1999, Mueller 2001, Tveit 2004, Carroll 2004, Sanchez 2001, Zabalbeascoa 2001).

1.9 Impact of the Digital Revolution on the young in Egypt

The digital revolution that initially manifested itself with CNN’s ability to televise the second Gulf War of 1991 as it happened was a sign of things to come (Gamal: 2008b). Within five years, the region witnessed a media revolution that manifested itself so clearly with satellite dishes on rooftops, internet modems and the emergence of Al Jazeera in 1996. Computers became faster and more accessible and the operating system Microsoft Windows 95 ushered in the new concept of multi-tasking and multimedia as it became more consumer-oriented with a number of features geared at ‘edutainment’. The Internet became widely available and by the end of the century all computers were internet-ready with built-in modems. In 1997, Microsoft PowerPoint was commercially released and with it the concept of ‘Infotainment’, i.e, entertaining while educating. Video games also became popular with Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Gameboy. In 1998 the first DVDs and DVD players began to appear in the market. However, the most obvious manifestation was the proliferation of satellite channels.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union ushered in a new age of globalisation, which despite its good intentions, meant that advanced technology would impact on weaker and less advanced cultures. Despite its many benefits, the Internet also brought also distraction and disillusion as the difference between the advanced and the not- so-advanced became visually and readily evident. The tremendous opportunities of the new age brought with it negative aspects such as shopping malls with unaffordable brand names (with some goods manufactured in sweatshops in Asia), pornography on the Internet and through satellite channels and the plethora of publications and web sites with a multitude of views and opinions. There is no denying that the Internet fed extremism and fanned religious fanaticism among a large sector in the population: the youth. The Internet opened many windows that young people used to look through and to compare and many found it difficult to cope. The much dreaded ‘cultural invasion’ of the sixties and seventies became an unmistakable reality as foreign fads appeared at almost all levels of social and economic life from clothes to fast food and from video clips to social media.

The cultural invasion blatantly manifested itself through the unjustifiably high levels of lexical borrowing from English. Arabic, like many languages, had been borrowing from English over the past century but the lexical items were almost justified: the borrowed items had no equivalent in Arabic. The unjustifiable borrowings in the age of globalisation reflected a psycho-linguistic tendency to associate with English through lexical items that already exist in Arabic! Moreover, the young started using the English alphabet to write messages in Arabic. Thus Romanised Arabic became the language of SMS and emails, particularly with the spread of Facebook which in Egypt was a lot more than just social media. The visual culture brought about by the Internet constituted a serious threat to young Egyptians who are historically averse to reading. Reading levels among young Egyptians have declined since the introduction of television in Egypt in 1960 (Al-Akhbar 1966). 10

These developments have resulted in the popularised use of the vernacular as the language of writing, and the endorsement of everything outlandish or foreign, resulting in a decline in the acquisition of the High Variety of Arabic among Egyptians. It is not surprising to see the proliferation of foreign universities in Egypt (American, British, Canadian, Russian, German, French and Japanese) as well as in many places in the Arab world, particularly in the Gulf States. This trend comes not just as a direct answer to the poor standards of local education but also as a sign of the desire by young people to acquire better and foreign cultural traits.

Demographic statistics show that 40% of the population in Egypt is under the age of 25. This simply means that subtitlers aged 25 to 40 grew up in the digital age and despite the endless opportunities that came along, the young suffer from distraction and lack of focus. While this applies to all societies, the difference lies in the cultural strength from literacy levels, education systems, social welfare and the stability of the local political system. This historical background must be taken into consideration if any attempt is made to understand the revealing observation as to why many subtitlers in Egypt lack a rudimentary knowledge or appreciation of the cinematic language of Egyptian films.

1.10 Film language and literacy

The Egyptian DVD industry began in 2002 with classic films in a bid to promote the product locally through restored and remastered classic films and abroad through subtitled films featuring well-known actors. Initially, DVDs and DVD players were new and expensive, a factor why DVDs were subtitled into English and French and were sold primarily in London, online and in large stores in Alexandria and other major Egyptian cities. The DVD industry has always been in private hands and no involvement by the Egyptian National Film Archive, Cinema Industry, Ministry of Culture or the Egyptian Tourist Board could be ascertained. To guarantee the success of the emerging product, the selection of films relied on the classics, some of which were forty or fifty years old and a large number of which were in black and white. Such considerations meant that the filmic material to be subtitled was simply too old for the young subtitler who was more familiar with contemporary Egyptian or indeed foreign films.

Contemporary Egyptian cinema went through a generational change (Radwan 2012) and critics refer to 1997 as the beginning of youthful cinema – characterised by young actors, young directors and youthful themes (Reda 2012). On the other hand, there was an equally strong campaign by critics promoting La Belle Époque (1945-1970) in Egyptian cinema and it was this period that produced the most of Egyptian cinema classics that were restored, remastered and subtitled on DVDs.

Despite its pioneering role in offering teaching and hands-on training opportunities in subtitling, the Screen Translation program offered by the AUC suffered two serious problems, if not deficiencies, that stopped short of offering a comprehensive training in subtitling. The first is that the training assumes that ‘film translators’ are familiar with the cinematic language of the film, which is not the case. To translate a film, subtitlers should be well-versed with the language they will translate from, and that is not the case either. In Egyptian film, the spoken

11 language is the vernacular which is a language that translation studies never tackle or examine (Muhawi 2002). Almost all Arabic translation programs in Egypt (and in the Arab world) adopt the higher variety of Arabic as the only form of language to translate from and into. The spoken language is never examined per se by Egyptians and consequently when translators work on translating the film dialogue they find themselves confronted with linguistic structures that they had never faced previously. The result is subtitling errors made in numerous films over the past decade that are not only linguistically unacceptable but pragmatically inappropriate, pointing to the film translator’s poor command of spoken Egyptian Arabic.

The subtitling of Love Street (1958), one of the most loved films which are repeatedly shown on almost all Arab satellite channels, provides a good example. The incorrect and inaccurate subtitles have actually undermined the artistic beauty of the film that teems with some of the most memorable love songs in Egyptian music. For instance, the geographic names are misunderstood and mistranslated. Egyptians refer to Cairo as Masr (which literally means Egypt), but when in Alexandria and the word Masr is used in reference to trains, the meaning is the Cairo train and not the Egyptian train. This is a worrying sign. Only a non-Egyptian would make this mistake, so why would a subtitler go for the literal translation? Numerous cases of inconsistent capitalisation also mar the subtitles and irritate the viewer. The spelling of moussaka is spelt the Egyptian way (where it is pronounced messsaka) and other Egyptian dishes are literally translated where they should have been described as beans, okra or stuffed vegetables rather than given their unknown and therefore unusual Egyptian names. Viewers will not remember the names and they are not central to the plot. As a matter of fact, target language viewers would have difficulty even seeing the subtitles in white colour in this black and white film.

To further undermine this classic film, some of the idiomatic structures and expressions are literally translated which would baffle the target viewer. In Egyptian vernacular the expression used to find out whether someone’s bid for something was successful is expressed in the formulaic question: “Tell me a lion or a wolf?” Naturally, the first signifies power, success and the lion’s share, whereas the latter expresses failure, loss and shame. In its simplest form it could be expressed as ‘Good news or bad news?’ However, the subtitler opted, yet again, for literal translation. Furthermore, in Egyptian vernacular someone whose hearing is ‘heavy’ means someone who is hard of hearing, but the subtitler thought that heavy hearing is an expression shared with English. A sentence later, in reply “You are not a bad listener, you’re deaf!” - a bad listener is nothing but the Egyptian original ‘I don’t hear well’ or more idiomatically I am ‘hard of hearing’.

The film is a comedy and makes reference to two other contemporary comic films whose titles are translated literally. One of the films is the romantic Empty Pillow (1957) which is translated literally and actually means ‘lonely bed’ and as the woman asks her beau to marry her, she tells him “I want you to fill my Empty Pillow”. The other example that shows lack of appreciation of film culture, film literacy and even history of Egypt is the spelling of ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ahmose (as Ohmess) who defeated the ancient Hyksos (as Hexsos). These are some of the examples that undermined the classic and compromised any chance of being well-received abroad. It is insightful to examine the subtitling and to conduct an error analysis in order to understand and appreciate why they happened. I asked the trainers at the AUC to 12 review the subtitling of Love Street and advised that in the absence of any feedback, it may be worthwhile to conduct a study on other subtitled DVDs. In this case, it is glaringly obvious that the subtitler lacks training and understanding of how the vernacular is structured and how to translate it into English. Being a native speaker of Egyptian Arabic does not ipso facto mean that a translator can fluently, let alone correctly, translate spoken Egyptian Arabic into English.

The second problem the teaching program has is the lack of training in film literacy. Films, like any subject matter, need knowledge and understanding so the translator can gain experience in deciphering its meaning. Adding text to image is not a simple process of translating the dialogue list into two lines of text and leaving a technician to superimpose them onto the image. Like Champollion looking at the Hieroglyphs on the walls of Egyptian temples, the professional subtitler needs to interpret the visual and delve deeply into the meaning-making features deployed and co-deployed throughout the film, and decide on what needs to be included in the two lines of text and what must be omitted. This literacy in film means exhibiting knowledge in reading cinematic language and the ability to determine the areas of complexity, while at the same time, exhibiting the ability to decide on the most appropriate translation strategy. In order to be able do this, subtitlers need to examine films as audiovisual texts. In this respect visual texts require more analysis than just viewing films. Fabe calls for an appreciation of the film’s visual language and convincingly argues that a shot-by-shot analysis appears to be the most appropriate method to teach appreciation of film making:

I have learned that viewers in close analysis of single film sequences are better able to see and appreciate the rich visual and aural complexity of the film medium. Close analysis unlocks the secrets of how film images, combined with sound, can have a profound effect on our minds and emotions (2004, p. xv)

Different directors of film use different techniques to create meaning in film and subtitlers need to possess the tools to identify these techniques. One of the best tools available to subtitlers is the ability to carry out analytical research of the film as a multi-modal text, accounting for the various features that make meaning and deciding on how best to translate these features. Subtitles must be unobtrusive and almost seamless, allowing the target viewer to understand and appreciate the source ‘foreign’ film (Gottlieb 1997a, 1997b). This can only be attained with a high level in film literacy as will be examined in chapter four through the analysis of DVD subtitling of a popular Egyptian film.

1.11 Classic films on DVD

For the purpose of this research, one of the early films to appear on DVD is selected for the examination of its subtitles into English. Omar Sharif’s A Man in our House (1961), which is widely considered an Egyptian classic, has been selected. The film is considered a classic as it appears in the list of the Best 100 Films produced by Egyptian cinema and is popularly one of the most loved films shown repeatedly on Egyptian television. The examination of the film is based on the concept of multimodal analysis with the view of highlighting how successful meaning-making features of the film were carried across into English. While it could be argued

13 that the first DVD to be released is not representative of the quality of subtitling (which should have improved through the years), the reality is that as the same modus operandi of subtitling continues, the same ‘translation’ quality is retained. Over the past decade and since A Man in our House and Days of Sadat, the first two films to appear on DVD, I have followed the releases and acquired a large number of the subtitled films on DVD to which I have been conducting an examination of the subtitling. Even in the latter release DVDs, the quality appears to be the same, exhibiting the same modus operandi of film subtitling. While subtitling is always open to criticism, due to the reductive nature of film translation imposed by the medium itself and the complexity of the scene that may force the subtitler to knowingly delete some information, the present research is far from playing “spot the error game” (Shochat and Stam 1985, p.46).

Over the past decade, the research has been focused on analysing subtitling and attempting to understand why errors are being made. These errors were discussed in translation classes while I was teaching translation and interpreting at undergraduate and graduate levels in Sydney. I was fortunate to have a class of students who came from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds: young and old, Egyptians and non-Egyptians, professionals and non- professionals, university graduates and post-graduates, native speakers of English (Arabs born in Australia) and near native etc. This opportunity, perhaps even unique opportunity, has been instrumental in testing how translation errors are made and why.

The argument that early DVD subtitling was deficient, but has improved over the years, is both weak and false due to the fact that the very same error types are committed ten years apart (Gamal, 2013c). This is confirmed through investigations of the modus operandi of engaging subtitlers, the working method and indeed the teaching of screen translation in Cairo. A Man in our House (1961) is not a particularly difficult film to subtitle as there are other films that are more complex although not commercially subtitled. However, other Omar Sharif films on DVD bear the same deficient subtitles as can be ascertained through the examination of Rumour of Love (1960), A Date with the Unknown (1959), Sleepless (1957) and Struggle on the Nile (1959). The same deficient subtitling can also be seen in the subtitled films by Naguib Mahfouz and particularly Ehssan Abdel-qudous, Egypt’s other prolific writer whose novels have been turned into films. To refute the claim that DVD subtitling has improved with time and with more contemporary films, one has to review the subtitling of The Yacoubian Building (2006) which was released on DVD in 2007. The subtitling shows all the hallmarks of the current DVD subtitling practice which is examined in this research. The Yacoubian Building features Egypt’s top actors, script writer and a prominent director. The film in 2006 had the highest production budget in Egyptian cinema and represented Egypt in the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. Later released DVDs continue to exhibit the same symptoms of poor translation style, weak subtitling strategies or simply the work of untrained subtitlers.

The DVD industry shifted its attention after 2007 to contemporary films and steered away from classic films but subtitling has not improved. The subtitling shows fundamental weakness in understanding the cinematic language and how subtitles operate. In its simplest form, subtitles must compliment the visual and not contradict it. This means that the subtitle must be in sync with the image, not before it and not after it. If the visual shows graffiti on the wall, a translation must be given and should there be a subtle reference in the film dialogue to a place, occasion or historical fact, the subtitles should account for it. This is indeed a complex 14 and painstaking process but then again, this is what is expected of a classic film and if it was well-received at home then every effort must be made to ensure it will receive the same appreciation by foreign viewers. While local success is indeed no guarantee of success in foreign contexts, subtitling should not be a factor in why a film is unsuccessful abroad. Morgan (2001, p. 164) is quite right when she concludes that “Good subtitles cannot save a bad film, but bad subtitles can spoil a good one”. The current research opted to focus on the films of Omar Sharif on the basis that his films are among the early films to be released on DVD and the very fact that they would be among the most desired films to be acquired and watched by foreign viewers who are familiar with the early films of Omar Sharif such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Dr Zhivago (1965), but are not familiar with his earlier Arabic language films released prior to his debut in international cinema.

1.12 Definitions of key terms

Audiovisual translation: The term audiovisual translation is used as an umbrella term that covers the translation of filmic material. It includes subtitling, dubbing, voice over, audio description and same language subtitling. Its main focus is on the interplay between text and image and the challenges the medium poses for translation.

Classic films: While film critics differ on the definition of a classic film, it is widely accepted that a classic film is one that commands repeated viewing, enjoys large viewership and transcends time and place.

Diglossia: Some languages have two varieties that co-exist side by side and at times used interchangeably. Arabic belongs to this group that has two varieties: a high variety that is thought of as the language of the educated, the intelligentsia and classic literature including religious texts. The best example of this variety is the news on television which is read in the high variety. The other variety is the Low variety spoken by the people in everyday conversations and is usually seen as unrefined in linguistic and literary taste. Native speakers of Arabic learn the Low Variety before they go to school where they are educated in the High variety. It is important to note that native speakers may speak in the vernacular but they usually write in the High Variety. Also, most translation schools usually use the High Variety as the language of choice.

Digital Versatile Disk (DVD): One of the major manifestations of the Digital Revolution is the Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) which was invented originally as a storage device to replace floppy disks. Films were initially stored on two Video Compact Discs (VCD) but with no extra features (subtitles, deleted scenes, interviews, photos, sound tracks, alternative ending, etc.). The advent of the DVD gave the film industry a boost: a single DVD can store not only the film and its Special Features but subtitling in almost 40 languages and the sound tracks in eight languages.

Digital literacy: The ability to understand, access and create information in digital format. This is fast becoming a significant skill as software programs and companies expect the

15 translator/subtitler to be able to produce the translation as a finished product and in a digital format that is ready to use.

Egyptian vernacular: The Egyptian dialect of Arabic spoken in Egypt and widely understood throughout the Arab world. The vernacular is the low variety of spoken Arabic and is the repository of historical, cultural, religious and linguistic heritage of the country. It is not examined or studied by Egyptians or nay native speaker of Arabic and for this reason it poses challenges to translators who rarely translate the spoken (low variety) Arabic. Moreover, film directors of almost all Egyptian films(except religious, historical or documentary films) rely heavily of the skill of dialogue writing which tends to add to the problem of subtitlers as they attempt to express meaning within the limits and limitations of the audiovisual medium.

Film literacy: Within the field of audiovisual translation, film literacy refers to the ability to appreciate the way meaning is constructed, deployed and co-deployed through the audio (dialogue) and visual (image) channels. Given the constraints of subtitling, this ability aids the subtitler to identify relevant meaning and the appropriate translation strategies.

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA): A style and register of Arabic that combines features from the two diglossic varieties of the language. It is not too steeped in the classic form of the language and at the same time it is not too colloquial. Although MSA is a contemporary form of the language it must nevertheless be acquired through formal instruction. As one of the oldest spoken languages and due to the vast geographical area, it has developed into regional dialects as well. MSA is understood by almost all speakers in every Arab country.

Multimodal analysis: A method of analysing audiovisual texts by paying close attention to the visual and the audio content of the text. In this respect the analysis describes all the features that contribute to meaning and attempts to describe how these features are deployed throughout the shot/scene to make meaning.

Quality: In subtitling; quality refers to the ability of the subtitles to be transparent attracting no attention to them. This allows the target viewer to understand and appreciate the foreign language film. Quality has two aspects linguistic and technical. The former refers to simple and smooth renditions of the audio-visual message whereas the latter refers to duration, size, font and colour of the subtitles.

Reductive translation: In subtitling, the translation has to fit the screen resulting in reduction of the original or source message. While this is considered a flaw in other translation contexts it is viewed as an inevitable and therefore acceptable strategy in subtitling.

Subtitling: The translation of a film or any audiovisual material where the translation appears as two lines of text at the bottom of the screen. Subtitling aims to help the viewer to understand what is happening in a foreign film but without undue distraction due to the superimposed two lines of text. It is therefore a fine balance between what is actually said and what is relevant to follow up the visual. In this respect subtitling becomes a reductive form of translation that is necessitated and governed by the medium.

Subtitling strategy: Translation strategies used in subtitling are concerned primarily with the other meaning-making features over and above the meaning produced through the audio channel. They are also subject to the constraints of the medium which force the subtitler to employ strategies such as deletion, compensation or contraction. This explains why subtitles that appear on the screen are not always a translation of what was said.

Screen translation: With the proliferation of satellite channels and the increasing number of applications using screens from ATMs to smart phones and games, the term Screen Translation came to denote a new specialisation in translation. Localisation, Teletext, subtitling, dubbing, audio description and voice over are some of the manifestations of translation that appears or is consumed over a screen. It became a specialization like literary or legal translation.

Chapter Two

DVD Context in Egypt

Introduction

This chapter aims to present a background overview of the DVD English subtitling of Egyptian films. In this respect it will concern itself with the history of DVDs which began in 1997 internationally and in 2002 in Egypt. The chapter does not intend to be a technical review focusing on the digital nature of the DVD but rather on the features digital technology offers audiovisual translation. The relevance of the chapter to the thesis lies in the fact that it provides a background to the examination of film translation on DVDs. Specifically, it treats film as a multisemiotic dynamic text that should be seen in light of its multimodality before any relevant and accurate translation of its meaning could be contemplated (Taylor 2003, Gambier 2006). It will conclude with an overview of the multimodal nature of significant films which are treated as classic films due to the complex nature of their meaning-making features. The chapter will state the research question: can DVD subtitling of significant films benefit from multimodal discourse analysis?

2.1 The digital age

The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed major changes to the way information is created, stored and accessed. This can be seen through the advancement in computer technology particularly multimedia and the emergence of digital technology. The Internet became popularised and the size of the computer hard disk has been rising since the early 1990s. Software programs appeared in almost every domain and by 1995, Microsoft offered integrated computing solutions for the average computer user through its Windows 95 operating system. By the mid-1990s, multimedia became the operative word with programs co-deploying text, image, colour, sound, motion, and video in a single medium began to appear. Software programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint (1997) had an impressive impact on the style of presentation not only in academic and educational settings but also in business, medical and the financial sectors. This development gave rise to multimodality as an area in linguistics that took the mono-dimensional Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics a step further (Baldry and Thibault 2006). Today, texts and discourse are characterised by their multisemiotic nature, and this in turn led to different approaches in text analysis which focus on the multimodality of the text whether in print, on the internet or on screen.

2.2 The new medium

While multimodality is not a totally new concept (since the ancient Egyptians employed a verbo-visual system of writing (the Hieroglyphs) and through to the last two centuries, 18 cartoons, children books, picture books, and advertisements have been using image and language to create meaning), the concept of multi-modal and dynamic text was born with the digital technology that enhanced the resources of meaning-making activities as can be seen today through interactive websites, commercials, educational programs and promotional material in electronic format. Today, the concept of infotainment is part and parcel of the cultural scene in the 21st century and is endorsed by the educational sector as well as the entertainment industry. The manifestation of this can also be seen in the complimentary DVDs that accompany books, magazines, newspapers and the promotional DVDs that business activities produce in a wide range of industries from tourism to investment.

2.3 The Digital Versatile Disc

The commercial appearance of the DVD in 1998 gave the broadcasting, cinema and television industries a unique advantage: accessibility. The invention of the DVD has been termed the most significant invention for film since the advent of sound (The Observer 2003).

The DVD differs from the CD-ROM (Compact Disc –Read Only Memory) in many ways as it stores up to 70 times the content of a normal CD-ROM but more importantly it can store video, text and sound. It can also arrange material into chapters which are searchable. The medium has been widely utilised by a large number of publications offering DVDs for specialised coverage. Magazines particularly make use of the new medium by presenting topics capitalising on the inclusive multimedia capability of DVDs. Corporate videos, which previously replaced print brochures and information packages, now appear on DVDs with several topics arranged in a searchable format and with multi-language versions. This last capability means that films could now be stored with subtitles in a large number of languages loaded on the same searchable disc. A single DVD disc can store subtitles in up to 40 languages and soundtracks for up to eight languages (Carroll 2004).

A typical feature film DVD has two sections: the film and the extra features. These extra features vary from film to film, but may include the film trailer, special scenes, deleted scenes, changed endings, bloopers, interviews with cast and crew, commentary on the film, the original film poster and more importantly, language options. This could take the form of either subtitles or language tracks. An average American film sold in Australia is typically subtitled into 12 to 20 languages and has sound tracks in about three to four languages. In addition to the bonus or extra features, there are several versions of the same subtitled film such as the standard release, the deluxe release with commentary, the anniversary release with deleted scenes, the box-set release with similarly themed pictures, and the aluminium box-set release with the director's other titles (Screen Magazine 2007).

National cinema industries began producing DVDs of their films with subtitles and dubbed sound tracks since 2000. The portability of DVDs meant that films could be available and accessible to wide audiences the world over (Gambier 2003b). Whereas American films have dominated the world market for many decades due, inter alia, to their technical specifications and distributing power, the new digital medium offers local cinemas an opportunity that was unattainable prior to 1998. Today, almost every cinema in the world has its own films available on DVD and many of them come with subtitles in at least in one foreign language: English. 19

2.4 Egyptian DVDs

The first Egyptian DVDs appeared in 2002 with two significant works: Days of Sadat (2001) and A Man in our House (1961). The former is a modern film that examines the life and times of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat (1918-1981) starring prominent Egyptian actor Ahmad Zaki. When Days of Sadat was released in 2001 it was a huge success coinciding with the twentieth anniversary of Sadat’s assassination. The popularity was not just among the viewers, who were mostly young, but more significantly among the critics who examined the script, the cast and the direction of a political film featuring a master of personification: Ahmad Zaki. The latter is a much older film starring Omar Sharif and is considered one of the Best 100 Films ever produced by Egyptian cinema (Tawfic 1969) and is also one of the Most Important 100 Films that reflect the development of the Egyptian cinema industry (Al Hadary 2007). The early history of the DVD industry in Egypt has not been documented and the little available information is neither complete nor official (Gamal 2007c).

The first collection of films to be produced on DVD was titled ‘Egyptian Cinema Classics’ which included a number of films that appeared in Tawfic’s (1969) initial list of the Best 100 Films, although it also contained a number of other popular and more contemporary films. The company Finoon produced about 100 titles before it was acquired by Rotana, a Saudi media company that also purchased the originals of almost one third of the Egyptian film library and remastered them for its free-to-air Rotana Cinema and Rotana Zaman – two satellite channels that specialise in showing current Egyptian films and older, mostly classic films, respectively. The viewership of Egyptian films exceeds 300 million in the Arab world (Buscombe 2003) and extends to Arabic-speaking communities almost everywhere in the world via satellite. The Arabic word Zaman means old, previous and before. However, one of the connotations of the word is ‘good old times’ and classic (Baalbaki 1991). Thus Rotana Zaman has come to signify classic Egyptian cinema. In May 2012, Rotana Company launched a new channel titled Rotana Classics which, in addition to showing old and classic Egyptian films, began showing old television interviews and live concerts mostly from Egypt. In this context the word classic came to mean old and archival programs. Insightfully, Rotana Classics uses the subtitle ‘Eternal Masterpieces’ as its slogan.

At their first appearance in 2002, Egyptian DVDs though remastered and produced in a portable format, were not intended for the local market – neither the Egyptian nor the regional Arabic-speaking market. This could be ascertained from several observations. Firstly, numerous paid and free-to-air satellite channels show and even specialise in showing Egyptian films, which by far is the primary cinema industry in the region (Hayward 2000). Secondly, in the most populated-Arab country, Egypt, the number of people under the age of 25 is approximately 40% (www.cia.gov) and it is this age group that tends to be more interested in contemporary films rather than classic films. Further, films were originally remastered for satellite broadcasting but with DVD technology, the subtitling was later added and DVDs were marketed in Europe first and then later in the Middle East. Finally, when the unmastered version of the film was being sold on CD-ROM for 11 Egyptian pounds (A$2.40), the DVD was being sold for 80 Egyptian pounds (then equivalent to the same cost of a DVD in Australia A$20). This price differential meant that the cost of the DVD was beyond the purchasing power

20 of the average Egyptian viewer. The subtitling of the films, old and new, was offered in English and French and with the remastering and marketing being conducted in London, the United Kingdom, it was almost certain that the DVD industry was intended for the ‘target’ viewer. Fineartfilm (www.fineartfilm.com) was formerly the major source for Egyptian films on DVD, with information on major manufacturers and distributors, but as the DVD industry faced serious troubles in late 2010, their web site became inactive.

2.5 Specifications of the Egyptian DVD

From the above examination of the birth of the first DVDs and indeed for the entire first decade of its existence, the DVD industry in Egypt appears to be geared as an export industry with the foreign, non-Arabic-speaking viewer as the primary consumer and not the local Arabic-speaking Egyptian viewer. Yet, despite the high cost of remastering the film and the production into the DVD format, the disc does not have the same specifications that average DVDs in Australia or the United States has. For example, the extra features do not include any video material and are confined to stills from the film, pictures of the actors and the original poster of the film. Throughout its first decade, no Egyptian DVD came with a second disc (of extra material) or an anniversary edition despite the many anniversaries that passed nor has there been a double pack of films by the same actor or the same director. Other features include text-based information, such as a list of other films by the director or the leading actor/actress and the subtitles. The latter feature, which is the primary concern here, includes English and French only. Quite often the date of the DVD release is not mentioned. The jewel case however includes a short blurb on the back, with translation, again into English and French.

The subtitling of Egyptian films into only two languages, despite the technical capacity of the same disc to contain at least another twenty languages, is difficult to explain. Translation schools at several universities in Egypt offer translation degrees in languages such as Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Hebrew, Portuguese, Greek, Korean and Japanese. Other African, Asian and European languages could be found at faculties of Arts at the bigger universities in Cairo, Alexandria and the Suez Canal. While English and French offer a good starting point for film subtitles, it remains inadequate given the portability of the DVD and the technical capacity it possesses (Gamal 1996c, Gamal 2010c). In the age of infotainment and globalisation, DVDs have the unique features of being portable, affordable and accessible (Gambier 2003b). For decades however, the official Egyptian translation policy relied solely on English and French, except in the tourist industry where translations are made available in the major languages of tourists visiting Egypt (Gamal 2010d). It appears that the idea of multilingual translations has not been adopted by major official or private companies in Egypt judging by the web sites of major government institutions such as: Cairo Airport, Cairo Museum, the Presidency, the Supreme Antiquities Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Al Azhar University (a religious university that offers teaching to students from the entire Muslim world) or even the very web site of the Faculty of Al Alsun (Foreign Languages) at Egypt’s second largest university, Ain Shams.

2.6 Cinema in Egypt

The Lumière brothers took their cinematograph to Alexandria, Egypt in 1896, the same year they were showing their early films at cafes in Paris (Abu Shadi 2004). Within a decade, and in 1907, Egypt would have dedicated buildings to showing films: a cinema theatre (Ali 2008). Egyptian silent films began as early as 1907 and the first feature silent films A Kiss in the Desert and Laila appeared in April and November of 1927 respectively. In 1932, the first Egyptian talkie Children of the Rich was montaged and subtitled into French in Paris. The first purpose- built studios were established in 1935 and Wedad (1936) was the first Egyptian film to participate abroad at the first session of the Venice International Film Festival of 1936. During its peak, Egyptian cinema was producing 80 films a year and since 1927 it has been the powerhouse of Arab cinema (Hassan 1995).

Soueif (2004) points out that in Egypt, films are described as either Arabic or foreign films. Yet, in all other Arabic-speaking countries films are described as either “Egyptian” or foreign films due to the fact that no Arab country has a viable film industry. In north Africa, where more films are made than anywhere else (except in Egypt), the films have no local audience and are largely viewed as ‘art films’ made for export and directed at the ‘target’ audience abroad and definitely not for the local market. Likewise in Syria, films are produced by the State Cinema Organisation at the rate of one film every two years for the purpose of participating at international film festivals. The rest of the Arab world watches ‘Egyptian’ films.

Today, the total number of Egyptian film titles is estimated to be over 4000, which predominantly feed Arab satellite channels (Qassem 2002). Some of these channels are dedicated solely to the broadcasting of Egyptian films. Shafik (2007) examines Arab cinema and points out that Egyptian cinema production far outnumbers all other Arab cinemas combined. Throughout its history, Egyptian cinema has participated at international film festivals and presented its work through some of the most gifted and internationally well- known directors such as Yousef Chahine, Henry Barakat and talented actors such as Omar Sharif.

2.7 Omar Sharif in Egyptian cinema

In Blazing Sun (1954), Omar Sharif made his Egyptian debut thanks to the opportunity given by his school mate and later Egypt’s prominent film director Yousef Chahine and the patronage of Egypt’s first female actress of the day: Faten Hamama. Sharif later married Hamama in 1955, the same year Anwar Wagdi, Egypt’s most popular male actor died. Sharif, through films with Hamama, soon became the most popular premier garcon of Egyptian cinema. Prior to his debut in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Egyptian actor Omar Sharif was already the top male actor in the country. Sharif had appeared in 22 Arabic-speaking Egyptian films in addition to other films in Lebanon and Tunisia where he acted in French. Since his move to Hollywood and subsequent residence in France, he participated in several local productions and acted in English, French and Italian. Yet despite his residence abroad, Sharif continued to be the voice of Egypt through his commentaries on National Geographic documentaries on Egyptian archaeological heritage, Egyptian documentaries and his presence at important functions both in Egypt and abroad. Politically, widely-known but never confirmed, Sharif 22 played a role in Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s endeavours to restore ties with the United States (1974) and to open diplomatic channels with Israel in 1977, as reported by Israeli media (Nahmias 2006). In 2004, the Egyptian Football Association enlisted Sharif to present Egypt’s case for the 2010 World Cup bid and he has been the honorary President of the Cairo International Film Festival since 2006. Most recently, Sharif provided the audio commentary for the ‘Treasures of Tut Ankh Amun’ exhibition held in Melbourne, Australia in 2011. While Sharif’s filmography since 1962 is well known and documented (for instance at the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), his filmography prior to 1962 is neither examined nor documented. This is mainly due to the fact that Sharif spoke Arabic, the films were not commercially available and most significantly they were not subtitled into western languages. When the Egyptian DVD industry began with an Omar Sharif film, it was addressing both the foreign audience by offering a film of a familiar face and the local audience by offering a repeatedly shown and often-watched film. The selected film for this research, A Man in our House, is widely considered one of the most loved Egyptian films, a classic in its own right.

2.8 Definition of classic

Over the past fifty-two years and since its first screening in April 1961 (Qassem 2002), A Man in our House has been shown several times a year in almost every Arab country. The film is directed by Henry Barakat (1912-1997), one of the foremost Egyptian directors of the fifties and sixties, a period commonly referred to as La Belle Époque of Egyptian cinema (Maarouf 2005). In casting the film, Barakat brings together some of the leading actors of the day who made the production a national document that is repeatedly viewed. The film takes as its main theme the struggle for liberation and independence from the British occupation, yet the real issue examined is the context of an average Egyptian family and its values. The film is based on a novel by a famous novelist Ehssan Abdel-qudous whose novels graced Egyptian cinema more often than Egypt’s prominent novelist and the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature Naguib Mahfouz. Yet, apart from the much admired cast and crew, the popular novel and the patriotic theme, it is the cinematic language employed by the director that created a national icon (Abu-Shadi 2005). Here, multisemiotic features are exemplified in the dialogue, décor, lighting, camera angles, and cultural semiotic features that are deployed and co-deployed in a particular fashion to create meaning and together create a film of significant form. Buckland (2003, p. 2) explains the meaning of the term:

“The art critic Clive Bell came up with the term ‘significant form’ to indicate what he believes distinguishes good art from bad art. When we say that a film has ‘significant form’, what we mean is that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The film’s parts add up to create a new entity that does not exist in each part.”

Furthermore, Stefan Sharff offers a clear definition of the term:

“Significant form is the opposite of pedestrian rendition… Images fit together so magnificently that they ascend to a higher level of visual meaning” (1982, p. 7).

Film critic and former Censor General in Egypt Abu Shadi (2005, 2010) examines fifty classic Egyptian films and offers a definition of classic films:

“Films that transcend time, place and language and command repeated viewing”( 2005:16).

In her attempt to define classic films, Anthony (2003) suggests:

“classic movies embody a method of storytelling that leaves something to the audience's imagination”.

While different views abound on the definition of a classic film, the fact remains that in Egypt A Man in our House is considered an Egyptian classic by virtue of its inclusion in the list of the Best 100 Films (Tawfic 1969) and in the list of the Most Important 100 Films (Al Hadary 2007). Moreover, its repeated broadcasting since 1961 on July 23rd (National Day of Egypt), on Victory Day since 1974, as well as during the Muslim month of Ramadan has bestowed, if not confirmed, a special place and position in modern Egyptian and Arab culture. For instance, the film was shown on Emirates Airlines flights as recent as October 2011. The fact that the DVD industry chose to launch its production with A Man in our House appears to be justified in attempting to address the local market despite the prohibitive cost of the DVD, as well as the non-Arabic viewer who is familiar with Sharif the Hollywood actor, but has never seen any of his earlier 22 Arabic-language films.

Prior to its release on DVD, A Man in our House was remastered for broadcasting on satellite channels like hundreds of other Egyptian films that were purchased by Arab media companies and shown on their satellite channels. The Rotana Media Company which was founded in 2002, launched its specialised Rotana Cinema and Rotana Zaman channels in 2004 offering round the clock ‘Egyptian’ films with the occasional film from Lebanon. In 2006, when Keif El-hal (How are you?), the first Saudi Arabian film was produced, it was given a courtesy showing by the Saudi owned company. Rotana purchased the originals of almost one-third of the Egyptian library of films and continued to release the remastered films on DVD. The other two-thirds of the Egyptian film library are in the hands of another Saudi Media Company that runs the original film channel ART (Arab Radio and Television) which was launched in 1991. The ‘foreign’ ownership of the negatives of Egyptian films, particularly the Egyptian cinema classics, prompted an Egyptian outcry and a call to ban the sale of originals/negatives and even called on the Egyptian parliament to initiate a national campaign to buy back Egyptian filmic heritage. Once again, the cost of the original film buyback proved to be prohibitive for the Egyptian Ministry of Investments which pulled out of the national campaign. Rotana replied by acknowledging Egyptian heritage stating that the purchase was legal from the various owners of the originals, that it had invested large sums of money in remastering the damaged negatives and most importantly the company was based in Cairo. This meant that it employed Egyptians, it has its originals in Egypt and it shows the Egyptian films round the clock on its free-to-air film channels.

The debate over the ownership of the negatives of Egyptian classic films raises some issues. By virtue of having remastered the film and having it broadcast in its original language, the media company has discharged a major part of its responsibility towards the Egyptian viewer. However, it is the subtitled version of the film (the DVD) that harms both the company and the reputation of Egyptian cinema abroad by virtue of its questionable subtitling. By offering inadequate subtitling, Rotana could be said to be subverting the cinema industry in Egypt. An

24 analogy to the translation of Egyptian literary classics is perhaps in order. If classic literature written by Egypt’s prominent novelists such as Naguib Mahfouz, Ehssan Abdel-qudous and Youssef Idris is translated by well-known and accomplished native English translators the like of Denys Johnson-Davis, William Hutchins and Humphrey Davies, shouldn’t the subtitling of films based on these novels merit the same treatment?

2.9 The audiovisual scene in Egypt

The argument on whether the subtitling of Egyptian classic films should be entrusted to experienced or accomplished subtitlers has not been examined in Egypt simply because the professional context is lacking. The demand for subtitled programs to feed the mushrooming satellite channels, all broadcasting around the clock, has not been mirrored by a demand for subtitling courses or subtitler training opportunities. Subtitling in Egypt has traditionally been a one-way street: subtitling foreign films and television drama into Arabic. Prior to the digital age of satellite channels there was one subtitling company in Egypt: Anis Ebaid & Sons, founded in the 1940s (Seif-Elnasr 1980). The proliferation of satellite channels created the demand for subtitled programs which in turn invited channels to hire more ‘translators’ to ‘translate films’ into Arabic. It is perhaps insightful to observe that Arabic does not have a word for subtitling but uses the combination ‘film translation’, even in the credits of a subtitled film one could read ‘Translated by…’ instead of ‘Subtitled by…’.

Despite the fact that subtitling into Arabic as a professional practice lacks both professional training and academic examination, it continues to respond to market needs on an ad hoc basis. This in turn has attracted some well-known and documented challenges by journalists and educational policy makers. Al-Jeryan is one of many voices in Egyptian and Arab media who questions the awkward structure, unusual words and the lost denotation of expressions in the subtitling of foreign films into Arabic. Al-Jeryan makes a point that in action films the dialogue may not be as significant as in other films where the dialogue plays a more important role. In the latter, he expects the ‘translator’ (notwithstanding the difficulty of transferring the “aesthetics of dialogue in the original”) to have the appropriate qualifications. Al-Jeryan sums up the status quo in English to Arabic subtitling and laments “the lost charm of cinema translation” (2004).

The subtitling of Egyptian programs and feature films into foreign languages, particularly Egyptian films of significant form, is a rare activity that had very little demand in Egypt prior to 1995. In a nutshell, Egypt has always been an importer of audiovisual material and subtitles very little of its own into English. The only subtitling of Egyptian films appears to be confined to international film festivals and in this case the subtitling is privately commissioned by the producer and/or director and is rarely examined. On the other hand, Swedish subtitler Ivarsson comments on the logistics of subtitling and points to the important but neglected area of exporting films or showing of films abroad: “directors do not care about what happens to their films overseas” (1992, p. ii).

In an interview with prominent Egyptian broadcaster Dr Hala Sarhan who presents the Hala Show on the Rotana Channel in Cairo in November 2006, she had just completed a three-hour interview with Omar Sharif. The issue of subtitling quality on Rotana commissioned DVDs was 25 discussed. Sarhan conceded that subtitling in Egypt is “shughlanat eli-maloush shughlana” (the jobless’ job) and agreed that Rotana should be accountable for their subtitled DVDs. However, as Sarhan (2006) confirmed, Rotana does not have a subtitling unit and outsources all its subtitling work. It is also insightful to observe that official translation programs in Egypt (and the rest of the Arab world) continue to disregard audiovisual translation, but rather focus on print translation. For instance, in 2011 several conferences were held by Arabic language academies in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to examine ways to strengthen Arabic in the age of globalisation and have suggested several strategies to boost the use of Arabic as well as the national translation programs. However, the world of multimedia, audiovisual culture and the Internet remain outside their immediate concern and ‘translation on screen’ does not merit even a mention. It is in this light that the subtitling of Egyptian films and particularly those deemed to be classic films of export quality, should be viewed and examined. Historically, there has been no opportunity neither for the training in or the examination of subtitling Arabic-language films into the English language.

2.10 Subtitling commercially and academically

Over the past twenty-three years, the present researcher has had the opportunity to visit the studios of Anis Ebaid & Sons in Cairo and meet with one of the managing directors (Ms Abla Ebaid in 1993). The visit came after almost a year of training and working for the subtitling unit at SBS in Sydney. A tour of the facility in 1993 showed the modus operandi: translators work in shifts, each at a desk working from the dialogue list supervised by a senior translator who also works on a film from a dialogue list. The supervisor being the more experienced offered advice and opinion on translation challenges when called upon. Several subsequent visits (post 2001) showed that the translators selected to work for the company can now work from home and send in their translation by email. The only training given was on how to create a translation that fits into two lines of text. The golden rule, or the rubric, is to reduce and simplify the translation. In a meeting with the managing director (Mr Adel Ebaid in 2006), he explained that the competition from emerging media companies that rely on software programs and digital technology is fierce and the competitive market is not conducive to invest in professional training since all ‘film translators’ are freelancers.

On the other hand, several meetings with the Translation Department at AUC where the only course on subtitling is taught (in Egypt and the entire Arab world) show that lack of funding is responsible for the paper-and-pen training method. Students learn subtitling by working essentially from the dialogue list. The students have access to the video and have personal computers in the class, but do not have a full set-up of subtitling units with the proper computer, software and equipment. This method, imposed by the lack of funds to install subtitling equipment, isolates the translator from the subtitling process at two levels: first, the blind translation of the film dialogue is damaging as the translator is bound to miss polysemiotic features that are essential in making meaning, and second, by eliminating the spotting task the translator will not develop the skills of seeing their work on the screen (or the final product). The trainers at the AUC are practitioners, as in almost all European universities that established AVT courses over the past two decades, and they ‘learn on the job’ since they were not academically trained to teach. Despite the effort to train translators in film

26 translation, in both directions, there remains a serious lack of debate in relation to subtitling, dubbing and voice over at the academic level in Egypt. The only reported discussion of subtitles is in the press and usually when an error has been committed. Shochat and Stam point out that “many viewers like to play spot-the-error game with subtitled programs” and without adequate understanding of the subtitling process and purpose, they criticise subtitlers (1985, p. 46).

It is significant for any worthwhile debate to acknowledge that subtitling is different from translation and must be judged differently (Nedergaard-Larsen 1993). The examination of these discussions in the Egyptian media (newspapers, magazines and now on internet forums and Facebook) are not however without their value for they point to some of the areas that Egyptian subtitlers tend to overlook or indeed not to appreciate. Jokes, for instance, are rigidly translated and some cultural-specific images are incorrectly rendered. This is in addition to the classic taboo of translating references that have religious, sexual or political tones. The translation of film titles is another issue that is repeatedly discussed. The translation of film titles from English into Arabic tends to be liberal whereas Arabic film titles translated into English tend to be literally translated. There are sociolinguistic issues that are involved in this practice: foreign (American or European) titles tend to enjoy a higher or powerful status than the local titles. On the other hand, the local titles employ various linguistic forms that make translating them a sophisticated process for the inexperienced translator. An examination of a collection of Egyptian film titles would show that the titles come from various sources: religious, cultural and historical which means that they carry a lot more meaning than linguistic alone. Another difficulty arises when the title is framed in the vernacular variety of Arabic, which poses a difficulty for the untrained translator due to its power and depth of meaning as opposed to the rigid of standard register of formal Arabic.

Unlike the situation in Western Europe in the late 1990s, translation schools in Egypt did not respond to the sudden increase in the demand for subtitled programs and the obvious need for ‘film translators’. Over the past decade, audio-visual translation has remained an area that Egyptian academia did not examine. This also explains why subtitling is not debated at Arab translation conferences which are being held annually and seem to be more focused on translating into Arabic and with a particular interest in literature (Gamal 1993a).

A significant conclusion was reached after a number of meetings with the students and trainers at the AUC: film literacy is not part of the training. Given the fairly young age of trainees who are now working on multimodal texts and various genres of Egyptian films that go back fifty years, the significance of this observation is far-reaching. The absence of film literacy in the training program in Cairo inhibits the development of the ‘audio-visual’ translation experience and confines it to ‘film translation’ sensu stricto which becomes a mono-dimensional, linear translation based almost solely on the dialogue list (Diaz Cintas 2008a, p. 5). Some students admitted that they find it easier and ‘quicker’ to translate from the dialogue list than through watching the video. By including elements from film literacy, audio description and multimodal text analysis, trainees would be given a wider scope of ‘audiovisual translation’ that prepares them to work on a wider variety of multisemiotic texts. Such texts include the localisation of websites and software programs, the translation of

27 commercials and promotional DVDs, translating the major headlines for news channels that now require simultaneous subtitling in the news bar etc.

2.11 DVD subtitling

A large number of the classic films that appeared throughout the past decade were actually produced, and subtitled, by the Saudi Company Rotana. However, other companies in the market also produce subtitled films on DVDs and these films tend to be the more contemporary production of what has been termed ‘youthful cinema’ (Al-Nahas 2008) in reference to the new wave of young actors who gave cinema in Egypt a shock, albeit a welcome one, in 1995. An examination of a collection of sixty Egyptian DVDs acquired in Egypt and in Australia over the period 2002-2012 shows that the DVD production technique has remained almost the same. This means that the DVD film is produced as a single disc with the feature film and a frugal amount of extra features and subtitles into two languages only which are always English and French. Although digital technology and the medium of the DVD offers scope for including a lot more information, that would add to the value of the film and would make the film more accessible by adding twenty other subtitled languages, the main concern here is the quality of the subtitles not the extra features or the second disc.

A full examination of the researcher’s corpus of sixty subtitled Egyptian films on DVD produced over the past decade show that the modus operandi of subtitling has not changed, let alone developed. This can be seen and ascertained from the following major observations: i. Translation of film titles

Quite often the subtitles bear a different translation from the title on the DVD case. While it appears to be an insignificant production technicality, it also points to the modus operandi of subtitling. ‘Film translators’ do not have a translation brief, do not see the original, do not work on the video and do not work with an editor. It is surprising that this anomaly applies to a fairly large number of the DVDs. What is more surprising is that this anomaly applies to DVDs acquired in 2002 as well as late in 2009. ii. Translation of non-verbal (spoken) communication

In a number of films, unspoken linguistic messages, such as sotto voce, body language, murals, graffiti, songs, newspaper headlines, and street names are not subtitled despite their kinetic importance, i.e., the camera focusing on them. While this may be attributed to unreasonable deadlines, it points clearly to the impoverished method of working from the dialogue text and not working from the video. It also shows that the subtitler is not part of post-production. iii. Variable quality of translation

Film, as a multimodal text, is a long document and subtitling is an intensive form of translation. Like any traditional translation, particularly longer projects, a translator may suffer from mental fatigue and produce less than optimal translations during certain parts of the film. This may lead to a distorting of the meaning and diminish the

quality of the film (Mera 1999). Such lapses of concentration, and therefore subtitling quality, mar the subtitling of a number of films in the research collection. This raises the question of quality control. This occurs in A Man in our House several times and also in a number of DVDs in the corpus. At times, the type and number of errors is so large that the hypothesis of more than one subtitler working on the same film gains strength. iv. Quality control

Subtitling Egyptian films into English (and French) by non-native speakers requires the assistance of a native editor, particularly when working with significant films. The world of subtitling and international cinema recall even today what Italian film director Federico Fellini did in 1987 when he was dissatisfied with the French company subtitling his film Intervista. Fellini sued the French company providing subtitling and dubbing of his film into French claiming that “the poor subtitling has distorted and diminished his work” (The New York Times, 6 January 1988). The quality of DVD subtitling has been examined by some scholars (Gottlieb 1998) who point out how international DVD production companies work on producing subtitles in 20 or 30 languages use the English dialogue list as a pivot. The same studies identify that translations into all other languages are commissioned as written translations. Given these studies, it is important for the nascent regional DVD industry in Egypt to explore means of quality control particularly with films that are considered significant or classic. v. Translation of Arabic into English

Arabic is a diglossic language which means it has two varieties. One for the everyday conversation - the vernacular - and the other the more elaborate and sophisticated language for literature, academia and religious studies, called Fusha. Naturally, the latter enjoys higher status and is examined closely by linguists, anthropologists and sociologists for its history, features and development (Haeri 2003). It is significant to observe that the vernacular is never examined or studied by native speakers of Arabic whereas the Fusha is actually acquired by formal learning from age six. DVD subtitling shows that the subtitler of the Egyptian vernacular Arabic has a problem translating from the spoken variety of Arabic into English (Kallaf 2007). This is not surprising since translation schools in the Arab world, and indeed here in Australia, do not examine translation from spoken language but only from written language which is almost always in the higher register, Fusha. Muhawi points out that the “attitude that glorifies the standard language and grants no status to the vernacular” results in social attitudes that play on the discripency such as metalinguistic jokes which abound in Arabic. (2002, p. 355). This fact accounts for the weak translations which tend to “distort meaning and diminish the filmic work” as Fellini found.

An examination of the subtitling of A Man in our House into French, which is available on the same DVD, shows that the French subtitles tend to be better informed. The subtitler exhibits control over the subtitles which are less verbose, more concise and accurate. This is mainly due to professional experience both as a translator and/or subtitler. However, the issue of film

29 literacy and the capturing of meaning-making semiotic features is still an issue that is glaringly lacking in the subtitles in both languages of the same classic film.

The above observations have been recorded during the viewing of a corpus of sixty subtitled films in the research collection. As explained above, the DVDs were acquired over a decade and even the more recently released DVDs still exhibit the same characteristics of the subtitling modus operandi. Having visited the premises and interviewed the managers of the leading subtitling/dubbing company in Egypt, visited the only academic institution in Egypt to teach subtitling, examined the teaching methodology and discussed the current market context and professional practice with professionally practicing subtitlers, it would seem a posteriori that the current DVD subtitling in Egypt is not operating under optimal conditions which negatively affects the quality of the subtitling.

Another example of the less-than-optimal ‘film translation’ is the DVD subtitling of Love Street (1958), a film by Egypt’s most popular male singer Abdel Haleem Hafez (1929-1977). Unlike A Man in our House which presents a complex visual document due to the experience of its director Henry Barakat and the sophisticated meaning-making features as exemplified in the adoption of a complex film language (camera angles, lighting, silence, scenes and frames, music, proxemics), Love Street on the other hand, is widely considered a classic film due to its music and popular short songs. The film examines the life and career of a street artist who writes and sings his own music and traces his rise to prominence, and contains some of the most loved short songs in Egyptian music.

To illustrate the significance of Abdel Haleem Hafez to Egyptian (and Arab) popular culture it would perhaps suffice to know that his songs, posthumously, still sell more than any living performing male vocalist. The subtitling of the film however is far more than what Nornes (2004:447) describes as subversive. The modus operandi is clearly a translation from the dialogue list with over-reliance on literal translation to the point of confusion. While Mona Baker (1992, p. 7) asserts “that every translation is open to improvement” the subtitling of Love Street is irredeemable due to its lack of film literacy, research, subtitling skills and editorial checking. The subtitling of Love Street provides an excellent example why film literacy and a multimodal discourse analysis are useful techniques for inexperienced, untrained or simply young subtitlers who lack both the life experience to be aware of multisemiotic channels and the several, quite often, indirect meaning-making features in film. The Love Street DVD is not produced by Rotana but by another lesser known media company which also raises the question of the moral responsibility of subtitling Egyptian films with significant form that collectively represent Egyptian culture and artistic heritage.

2.12 Comparative audiovisual translation studies

The proliferation of satellite channels in the Arab world (www.arabadvisers.com) and the increasing demand for subtitled programs to fill the broadcasting hours led some channels to subtitle some Arabic films into English, particularly Egypt’s ‘international’ channel Al Masriya (i.e., The Egyptian). Soon after CNN made its debut in the Middle East in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, Arab national channels capitalising on the digital revolution that ushered in satellite broadcasting, embarked on dedicating a channel that serves as an international façade of the 30 country in the increasingly borderless satellite world. It is perhaps insightful to observe that these ‘international’ satellite channels were originally terrestrial, government-controlled and uncompetitive. The significance of the observation would become clearer once the programing, selection of films and the modus operandi are investigated. Al Masriya, targeting world-wide viewers in its 24/7 broadcasting offers the news bulletin in English and French (again two languages only) but also addresses Egyptian communities worldwide by making Egyptian cinema classics available (and sometimes run twice a day). In this case, a popular film Mother of the Bride (1963) is subtitled into English.

The film examines the life of a large Egyptian working class family burdened with limited means and the high cost of arranging a wedding for their first daughter. The film is an Egyptian classic (Tawfic 1969, Al Hadary 2007) directed by Ateff Salem, an influential Egyptian director known for his superior cinematic language which employs various semiotic features such as clever dialogue, situational comedy, use of expressive proper names with extra semantic meanings, music, songs and complex camera shots. Some of these semiotic features are fleetingly shown rather than actually focused. Salem excelled in realism making him a leading director whose films were always sought after to represent Egyptian cinema abroad. Mother of the Bride was submitted for the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 1964 Oscars (Al Hadary 2007).

In 2007, Al Masriya showed Mother of the Bride with English subtitles and a recording was made of the film. The subtitled version of the film was examined and contrasted to the subtitling of the same film on DVD. It is insightful to observe that Mother of the Bride was produced in the Egyptian Cinema Classics series by the Finoon Media Company. A comparative study was carried out as part of the researcher’s corpus of subtitled Egyptian films on DVD. The study shows that while stylistic differences abound, the same style of subtitling remains. Of the salient features are a lack of appreciation of the visual channel, the apparent reliance on the dialogue list apparent through faithful rendition of the dialogue, insufficient attention to non-verbal communication, and verbosity resulting from literal translations of Egyptian cultural/idiomatic expressions. Moreover, the overall subtitling quality points to defective film literacy on the part of the subtitler gleaned from the errors or lacunae in the subtitling. In other words, the multimodal features of the overall meaning of some scenes were reduced to a single line.

Given the constraints of the medium of film subtitling, the subtitler should not necessarily give priority to the audio channel but should account for other meaning-making features in the film (O’Halloran 2004). This particular point is indeed a vexing problem for subtitlers who at the best of times struggle to reduce the dialogue to match the visual. However, it is when the audio does not support the visual that the subtitlers have to make a decision and assist the viewer to understand and appreciate the source film. Given the current practice of not viewing the film, it seems that the underlying theoretical approach is that subtitling is considered or treated as a form of mono-dimensional written translation, without consideration of the deployment and co-deployment of semiotic features that are combined and integrated to form meaning in the multi-semiotic dynamic text of film (Baldry 2000, 2004).

Unlike print translation and particularly in literary translation, dynamic texts (films) are rarely subtitled more than once and this does not offer the opportunity to examine various subtitles of the same film. Comparative studies of subtitles are therefore a rich, albeit rare, source of analysis particularly when semiotic features and meaning-making elements are concerned. Comparative subtitled texts offer an opportunity to conduct “a semiotic interpretation of meaning-making features” that are over and above the audio in film (Thibault 2000). A multimodal analysis of the two versions would enhance the examination of subtitling styles particularly with the use of post-production software such as Adobe Premiere.

2.13 Anis Ebaid: pioneer of Egyptian subtitling

Despite the fact that Egyptians have been watching films subtitled into Arabic since the advent of sound (1929) and subtitled TV drama since the coming of television (1960), there has been no systematic examination of the practice, let alone the quality, of subtitling foreign programs into Arabic. In this respect there are three very significant newspaper articles that relate to the same person, Anis Ebaid, the pioneering figure of subtitling in Egypt and the Arab world. The first, published in the Cairo daily Al Ahram newspaper, on 14 June 1980 and it contains an interview with Anis Ebaid who tells of the very beginning of his interest in subtitling, his early career, the hurdles of making subtitles mandatory in Egypt even during the British occupation of Egypt and most significantly his invention of a machine that allows the printing of subtitles on 16mm films. In this newspaper article, Anis Ebaid talks of the “art of subtitles” and the ultimate goal of making subtitles “condensed and focused so the viewer can read it in seconds” (Seif-Elnasr 1980). Despite the significance of this statement no study was ever carried out into the language Anis Ebaid developed and helped promote on Egyptian (and other) Arabic televisions for almost forty years. The language of Anis Ebaid became a type of “televese” (language on television that is repeatedly shown) that affects not only viewers, particularly younger ones, but also the subtitlers of the digital revolution who grew up consuming the television language Anis Ebaid developed. Gamal points out “As televese has gone unchallenged for forty years, it has continued and developed into a tradition of its own, where new subtitlers promote and adhere to it, as it is the “language of television” they grew up with” (2007b: 90). Ebaid spoke of his intention to write his memoirs as the doyen of subtitling in Egypt but he never did. He kept working till his death in 1988.

For more than 40 years, Anis Ebaid was an icon of film translation in Egypt as his name was clearly mentioned in the credits after each subtitled program. The phrase “Subtitled by Anis Ebaid studios in Cairo” has been a trade mark since the inception of television in Cairo on the 23rd of July 1960. However, this status of Egypt’s foremost subtitler contrasts sharply with the status of subtitlers elsewhere. Zabalbeascoa et al (2001) deplore the status of subtitlers in Spain (and indeed in many countries) when they point out

“The names of the translators are never shown to the viewers on the screen, so they never become household names. In Spain, translators are paid, not according to the number of words they translate but according to the footage of film. All of this suggests that the audiovisual translator’s social and professional standing is rather low” (2001, p. 107)

It is ironic that Anis Ebaid’s experience in Egypt coincided, almost exactly, with a similar experience in Japan when Shunji Shimizu (1906-1988), the doyen of Japanese subtitling began working on subtitling American films into Japanese in the early 1930s. It is ironic that neither pioneer was a translator, per se, as Ebaid studied engineering in France where as Shimizu studied economics at Tokyo University. Both graduates, early in their careers, were approached for their first subtitling assignment by Paramount Films and later each would become a leader in the field in his own respective country and chart a new road for a new form of translation: subtitling. Where in Japan Shimizu’s lead was picked up by his protégé Toda Natsuko who has been subtitling for over 50 years, Anis Ebaid’s legacy passed on to his six children. It is equally ironic that both pioneers of subtitling, worlds apart, died in the same year, 1988. One major difference between the Egyptian and Japanese subtitling pioneers lies in the documentation of their experience. Whereas Shimizu was more expressive and published numerous articles on the art, history and industry of subtitling in Japan during his lifetime, Ebaid never did. To date there has been no academic examination of the impact these two subtitlers have made on the visual culture in their respective countries. Neither is there a descriptive or comparative study of the rise and development of the career paths of these translators who became household names and shaped the taste of generations who grew up consuming subtitled programs.

2.13.1 Anis Ebaid: the second generation The second significant newspaper article comes almost 15 years after the death of Anis Ebaid. It is another interview with the managing director of the now “Anis Ebaid & Sons”, Adel Ebaid, the eldest son of Anis who has been working with his sister Aida Ebaid in managing the company since 1988. The interview was published in the Egyptian cultural magazine Rose-el Yousif and dated 11 November 2002. Adel Ebaid was leading the company in a different age, the digital age, where new satellite channels were starting to pop up each month and the DVD industry had just begun posing not only commercial but technical challenges to the seventy year old tradition of producing subtitles in Egypt. The major challenge has been the lost monopoly Anis Ebaid once had on Arab televisions and his style of subtitling is now being challenged by other styles of ‘foreign’ subtitles that the Egyptian viewer finds odd. Such subtitles are dubbed “imported” and although they are in Arabic and produced in other Arab countries they are thought of as “invading Egyptian public taste” (Hussein 2002). This actually means that the quality of the subtitles is not as good as the one previously produced by Anis Ebaid but more importantly, the language of the subtitles shows the local dialect of the producing country which also reflects a degree of liberal latitude in subtitling culture-specific images which Egyptian viewers found unacceptable.

Once again, it must be remembered that the interview with the new director of Anis Ebaid & Sons was focusing on subtitling foreign programs into Arabic, and not the subtitling of Arabic language films into foreign languages. Here, Adel Ebaid states that subtitling “is more than just a few words lined up together” and it is “a reflection of the life details in those countries”. There is more to the statement than it actually says as it sums up the philosophy of the work by a subtitling house that has shaped public taste for more than seventy years. Yet, by 2002 Anis Ebaid & Sons had lost its monopoly as numerous private translation agencies sprang up in Egypt and in almost all Arab capitals as the demand to feed satellite channels broadcasting 33

24/7 required more subtitled programs. This was also coupled with the fact that computer programs made subtitling easier with stand-alone subtitling software programs that made the production of subtitles a one-man show from spotting and cueing to translatinon and mounting. The interview with Adel Ebaid, however, cast light on the challenges of subtitles which “appear distorted bearing no relation to the dramatic structure of the film”. Again, the element of quality refers to the modus operandi as he continues “Not everyone who speaks two languages is capable of translating an artistic text”. He underscores the “difficulty to find good translators for dramatic works despite the huge numbers of graduates”. Finally, Ebaid stresses the importance of “watching the film” and the challenge in acting as a “filter” through which the foreign work passes before it is subtitled into Arabic. The last image of ‘filter’ was used by Ebaid to describe the role of the subtitler, not as a gatekeeper but more metaphorically, as processor or conduit (Hussein 2002).

As stated before in this chapter, the proliferation of satellite channels has created a huge demand for subtitlers. The volume of work is, however, into Arabic and not into foreign languages. Little commercial work is conducted into English and French despite some Egyptian films that appear subtitled on the international satellite channels in Egypt. This does not deny that the tourist industry, the Suez Canal Authority and the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce all produce corporate and promotional DVDs subtitled, and at times narrated, into English, French and other languages. However, the fact remains that such subtitled work remains inaccessible to Egyptian researchers which may explain the lack of interest by academia in subtitling Egyptian filmic material into foreign languages. The same applies to subtitled Egyptian films which compete at international film festivals abroad. Such an activity is seen as remote and elitist. In other words, there is no immediate experience of Egyptian subtitled material into foreign languages to warrant interest or investment in the examination of subtitled Arabic language filmic material into foreign languages at academic conferences or in the Egyptian media.

2.13.2 Anis Ebaid at film festivals However, a third newspaper article dated 14th of December 2005 and published in Al Masri Al- Youm newspaper, in Cairo, covers exactly the last point of subtitling an Egyptian film that competes at an international film festival. This time the festival was in Egypt and it dealt with the failure of the only Egyptian film participating at the 29th Cairo International Film Festival to win an award. The film, Laylat Suquot Baghdad (The Night Baghdad Fell, 2005) was subtitled, into English, by Anis Ebaid & Sons. The film is a comedy based on the American invasion of Baghdad and examines the question: what would Egyptians do if America decided to invade Egypt? The failure to win an award was debated by the Egyptian media for days and many reasons were cited and examined (Al-Jazzr: 2005). Some of the reasons were the nature of Egyptian humour which is hard for foreign (referees) to appreciate. Another was the idiomatic expressions used in the dialogue which are too steeped in the local Egyptian culture. It is easy to see how the last two reasons are closely related and it would be logical to conclude that there is an issue with the subtitling. Indeed, poor subtitling was actually named as a culprit as the film is “too Egyptian” and exhibiting “cultural traits that were too difficult to convey to the foreign members of the referee panel” (Al-Jazzar: 2005). This is a very significant claim and observation. Muharram (2002, p. 71) points to the importance, if not the supremacy the 34 dialogue has in Egyptian films and how it is crafted into “appealing to and pleasing the Egyptian ear”. In his list of the difficulties translating the dialogue of Egyptian films into English, Gamal (2007b, p. 492) mentions “idiomatic expressions and religious quotations” that permeate the dialogue of most Egyptian films. Indeed, the English subtitled version of The Night Baghdad Fell exhibits instances where the subtitler has been too keen to reflect Egyptian cultural images that the translations were too literal. It is insightful to observe that the director Mohamed Amin defended the film by saying “local images open the road to international fame”(Al-Jazzar: 2005). However, the fact remains that the language of the subtitles undermined the film as they did not help the viewers, in this case the judges, to follow the image as well as Amin would have liked. This incident sums up the situation of subtitling Egyptian films into foreign languages where subtitling is seen as linear translation carried out in isolation of the polysemiotic resources of the filmic text.

The Night Baghdad Fell (2005) reflects the methodology of subtitling Egyptian DVDs into English. As pointed earlier and in chapter one, the genre of translating multimodal texts is not examined by academia, not debated at conferences or taught at translation schools (Gamal 2004). This means that subtitlers have to work in a context that is commercial and not necessarily professional where quality ranks high. Gamal observes that DVD subtitling in Egypt is “an industry without a profession” due to the lack of interest by translation schools and lack of training opportunities by the industry (2007a: 85). In a meeting with the then President of the Cairo Film Festival Mr Sherif El-Shoubashi the situation of subtitling Egyptian films into foreign languages was discussed in detail. El-Shoubashi did not reveal secrets but confirmed symptoms that are shared by many cinema organisations in many parts of the world which are mentioned in the western literature on subtitling. Chief among these symptoms are the fact that subtitling, as a postproduction process is viewed as an added cost to the budget, that there is not adequate time given to subtitlers and most significantly subtitling for film festivals is too risky to leave to inexperienced subtitlers. As far as the film The Night Baghdad Fell, he explained that the subtitling was an after-thought and thus rushed. He also doubted the experience of subtitling Egyptian films into English, even if it was carried out by Anis Ebaid & Sons, simply because Egyptian films have a different cinematic language and the dialogue is sometimes more important than the image which is the opposite of western cinema. The President of the Cairo Film Festival did not wish to dwell on the experience of Egypt’s foremost subtitling house when it came to working from Arabic into English but he cited anecdotal evidence on some of the most serious errors in subtitling the Egyptian vernacular, literally, into English. The fact that the dialogue which employs the Egyptian vernacular is one of the major, if not essential, building blocks in the dramatic structure of Egyptian films is confirmed by Syrian director Najdat Anzour (2001) who describes Egyptian films as no more than “glorified radio serials”. The seriousness of the situation could be summed up in one sentence: film translators lack the prerequisite film literacy necessary to help them carry out reductive translation appropriately. For the purpose of this study film literacy means the ability to identify all the meaning-making resources in a film to be able to decide on reductive translation choices that enhance the understanding and viewing experience by target viewers.

2.14 Significance of the DVD industry in today’s world

While the term DVD is mostly associated with the distribution of feature films, it is increasingly becoming associated with the audiovisual translation world. In addition to subtitling and dubbing, audio-description for the deaf and hard of hearing viewers, it is also associated with the do-it-yourself or how-to books. Several books, including a book on audiovisual translation (Diaz Cintaz 2007), come with a DVD. As culture in the twenty-first century is increasingly becoming reliant on visual, online and digital technology, an increasing number of institutions have begun employing the multimedia format of the DVD as the most convenient format for presenting and storing information, and more significantly for making it accessible. DVDs are now used in almost every domain where accessibility through multilingual translation is required. This covers cinema, tourism, law, marketing, advertising, finance, health and investment to name but a few common areas. For emerging economies keen on attracting investments, a single DVD could provide the most convenient and affordable format for producing vital information that is portable, affordable and accessible.

2.15 Examining translation in the multimedia format

Digital technology over the past two decades has changed the way translation is produced and consumed (Gambier 2003b, Diaz Cintas 2007, 2008a & 2008b). Most translations are now produced and accessed on screen and are associated with more channels: visual, acoustic, video, colour and text. This multimodal format has in turn made translation a complex process that must account for these channels. Whereas traditional print translation was mono- dimensional in the sense that it relied almost solely on text, the current multimodal translation accounts for more. In the case of DVD translation and particularly in the case of feature films, subtitling is a lot more than just translation. The dean of Japanese subtitling Shimizu published a number of articles on the art of subtitling which were collected and published posthumously in 1992 under the title “Subtitling is not translation”. The dictum originally refers to the fact that in subtitling a film dialogue not everything said is necessarily translated due to the constraints imposed by the medium of film/screen. In the multimodal age, the dictum could be seen in a different light and this time it is not only seen as a reductive form of translation but as a more inclusive form that accounts for other meaning-making features of the medium. In film, and as Abe Mark Nornes (2004:466) explains, translation must be mindful not only of the words spoken, but also of the words unspoken (non-verbal communication), and the other meaning-making features of décor, cultural references, proxemics, kinesics and other features that contribute to the (target) viewer’s understanding of the subtitled film.

De Linde and Kay also observe that while native viewers are capable of processing meaning- making features in film “simultaneously”, target language viewers tend to process such features “serially” (1999:75). This means that subtitling must account for a lot more than just the dialogue. Multimodal discourse analysis (O’Hallaron 2006) offers subtitlers a modus operandi that enables them to capture these meaning-making features in a detailed fashion that would make translation easier to account for all features that are deemed necessary for translating meaning and not just the dialogue. Although, it is commonly believed that the dialogue is the one feature that carries most meaning in film, other meaning-making features

36 in film are equally significant and subtitlers need to develop awareness of them. In other words, the over-stated primacy of the dialogue over the image and what it contains ultimately diminishes the local colour of the film (Nedergaard-Larsen 1993). By reducing subtitling to being a simple translation of the dialogue list, to the exclusion of other features that viewers can clearly see in the visual such as body language, graffiti, signs, pictures, newspaper headlines and murals, the entire film is undermined. In order to develop an awareness of such risk, subtitlers are encouraged to explore multimodal analysis as a method of examining the various meaning-making channels in film (Lemke 2006).

While multimodal description is a slow process (Baldry and Thibault 2006), time-consuming and a commercially unviable (Taylor 2003) and even “costly and boring” (Lemke 2006), the purpose of multimodal analysis has significant relevance to the examination of multimodal documents such as film. One of the main advantages is that it identifies the diverse features that help in making meaning in film. The exploration of applying multimodal description to a single film is not an end in itself but used here as a stepping stone to develop a wider interest and literacy in film. O’Hagan and Ashworth concur that

“increasingly translators needed to become computer literate, and now it is becoming increasingly necessary for them to be literate with digital media so that they are able to process various digital content that is subject to language facilitation”. (2002, p. 132).

In the next chapter, I will be examining the literature on audiovisual translation and while most of the literature is written by non-Arabic-speaking scholars, I will be making a case for the multimodal examination of a classic Egyptian film pointing out the benefits of adopting and adapting such method to the analysis and the subsequent appropriate subtitling of an Egyptian classic film.

Part 2: Issues in subtitling a classic Egyptain film

Chapter Three

Review of the Literature

Introduction

As seen in the previous chapter, two of the major manifestations of the digital revolution that occurred in the last decade of the twentieth century are the proliferation of satellite channels and the invention of the DVD. The former created a need for subtitlers and the latter popularised the application of multilingual translation on screen in a way never seen since the advent of sound and the creation of talking films, or talkies, with The Jazz Singer in 1927. Over the past twenty years, and particularly since the first European Conference “Audiovisual Communication and Language Transfer”, was held in Strasbourg in 1995 to investigate the relation between translation and film on the centenary of cinema, numerous conferences, journals, web sites and postgraduate programs have been dedicated to the examination of subtitling (Gambier 2003a). Today, audiovisual translation has established itself as a discipline sui generis within the branch of Translation Studies with several European universities offering postgraduate studies particularly in Spain and the United Kingdom. Diaz Cintas, Matamala and Neves (2010, p. 11), some of the leading scholars in the new field assert:

Gone are the days when audiovisual translation (AVT) was seen as a minor area within the broader domain of translation. It has now grown to be considered a discipline in its own right thanks to the numerous publications, conferences, courses and research projects of recent years that have focused on it as the main object of study.

Originally, the term audiovisual translation referred to subtitling, dubbing, audio description for the deaf and hard of hearing but increasingly it came to cover simultaneous subtitling (for the news), opera subtitling and same language subtitling (particularly in India). Recent digital technology applications have capitalised on the possibility of multilingual translation as can be seen in the case of digital manuals (cameras) and translation for multilingual information screens such as at ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines). Since digital technology, in almost all of its applications requires a screen, the concept of translation appearing on a screen led to the term Screen Translation. In some parts of the world, such as in Egypt, where the focus is more on subtitling than on audio description or dubbing, the term that refers to subtitling is screen translation. French-cum-Finnish scholar Gambier (2003b, p. 189) observes that “we are surrounded by screens” and that more and more translation will be consumed via a screen. His observation holds true not only in Finland but in almost all countries and cultural settings where digital technology and its applications are available.

The English term ‘sub-titling’ is not translatable into Arabic, and the accepted translation is tarjamat al-aflam (film translation) (Gamal 2007a, p.81). The distinction is both subtle and significant. First, it encapsulates the genre of film translation as distinct from literary or legal translation. Second, it sets film translation as an activity different from traditional written 39 translation with its linear and mono-dimensional nature. Likewise, Arnaiz and within the Spanish context uses the same term “film translation” to highlight the significance of pragmatic equivalence and importance of “shared historical identity” (1996, p. 435).

3.1 The nature of subtitles

Subtitles are two lines of text added to a filmic material that is usually in a foreign language. In the same language subtitles, television stations may resort to subtitles when the accent of the speaker is heavy, unusual or difficult to follow. To view subtitles successfully they have to follow some technical guidelines pertaining to their length (a maximum of 40 characters) and duration (maximum of 6 seconds for two lines) (De Linde and Kay 1999). The duration governs how long a number of characters needs to stay on the screen for the viewer to be able to read them comfortably. Several scholars have examined the nature of the subtitling process which distinguishes the practice of ‘film translation’ from other types of translation such as literary, legal or technical translations. In this respect, subtitling seeks to provide translation of the film so foreign viewers can understand what is taking place in the film. It is significant and perhaps crucial to re-examine the last statement in order to appreciate the task of film translators, i.e., subtitlers. In seeking to provide translation of a film, subtitlers examine the source text and naturally focus on the spoken dialogue in order to translate it. Yet, viewers watching the film can clearly see numerous visual effects that contribute to the meaning-making process which is not solely available through the dialogue. In other words, the source text has more than one dimension to it which prompts Gottlieb to refer to film as a “polysemiotic” text (1998, p. 245). This means that a film has several semiotic resources that help viewers, both source and target, to make sense of what they see in addition to the dialogue. Therefore, an appreciation of the polysemiotic text is a condicio sine qua non of subtitling where the subtitler is able not only to hear the dialogue or just see the image but to understand how meaning is made by linking the translated dialogue to the visual in a way that would be easy for target viewers to appreciate and enjoy the film (Cavalieri 2008). This applies between any two foreign films but the subtitling process becomes more complex and more laborious when the source and target languages are too linguistically different and culturally dissimilar as in the case between Arabic and English. Later, in this chapter and in the chapters to follow, the full meaning of the previous statement will become evident as the examination of an Egyptian film, subtitled into English, is analized and examined.

From a subtitler’s point of view, Delabastita (1989, p. 198) examines filmic material and identifies the acoustic and visual channels that contribute to the making of meaning. In this respect the image complements the sound as viewers process the film. He breaks down each channel further by looking at the verbal component in each. According to Delabastita the four channels can be summed up in the following table:

No Channel Verbal content Example 1 Visual Verbal Linguistic signs: street names, newspaper 1.1 Non-Verbal Sunsetheadlines scene 2 Acoustic Verbal The film dialogue 2.1 Non-verbal Sound effects, music and noise

Table 1: Audiovisual according to Delabastita

The above table reflects the multi-modal nature of filmic material and points to the various channels that are potentially capable of making meaning. Its significance lies in the fact that understanding of these four channels will enable subtitlers to make sense of the context for the utterance they translate and offer subtitles for.

Schwarz (2002) describes subtitling as “translation in a confined space” and this underscores the ‘nature of film subtitling’ in the sense that it has to be compact (Accesed online 02/12/2013). The compactness of the translation (i.e, the subtitles) is dictated by the medium which requires subtitles to be in synchrony with the moving image. Since subtitles are translations only of the verbal acoustic channel, they have to be produced and presented in a way that makes following them not only feasible but easy. Subtitles that are roo long would run behind the action and too short subtitles would be puzzling for the target viewers and in both cases would ruin “the understanding and enjoyment of the film” (Cavalieri 2008, p. 170).

Given the spatial and temporal constraints imposed on the subtitler by the medium, the subtitler is faced with the task of analysing the source filmic material with the view of constructing meaning that complements both the acoustic and visual channels, at the same time (Roffe & Thorne 1994). This actually entails that the subtitler has to decide on what needs to be translated and what is to be left out (De Linde and Kay 1999, Nedergaard-Larsen 1993). On the other hand, Gottlieb shows that unlike traditional translation where accuracy and correctness rank high in the quality of translated works, subtitling actually employs deletion, summarising and addition as “legitimate translation strategies” (1997b, p. 333) in order to ensure that the two lines of text on the screen help the viewer understand and follow the film. It is these techniques, inter alia, that irk native viewers who watch their native films subtitled and who are oblivious of the constraints imposed by the medium and of the fact that subtitling is not translation in the traditional sense of the word.

3.2 Criticism of subtitling

In many cultural contexts, and since its early inception, subtitling as a form of translation has been attracting negative comments from viewers unhappy with the quality of the subtitles they read on the screen. For instance, in Egyptian media, letters to the editor frequently complain of the verbal and nonverbal translation errors made by ‘film translators’ of foreign, mostly American films, into Arabic. Here, in this instance, the comments deal with the subtitling of English filmic material into Arabic and the comments are that the ‘translator’ failed to understand or appreciate the English idiomatic structure or cultural reference and the rendition into the written form of Arabic was poor, unidiomatic or simply wrong. The experience in Egypt is echoed by Nornes who specialises in Japanese films and is of the opinion that subtitlers not only get it wrong but also damage the film calling the current practice of subtitling “subversive” (2004”449). Nornes sums up the hostile viewers’ feeling: “All of us have, at one time or another, left a movie theatre wanting to kill the translator. Our motive, the movie’s murder by incompetent ‘subtitle’ ”. (2004:447)

In Australia, Arabic-speaking viewers, repeatedly contact SBS and complain about the poor subtitling of Arabic language films shown subtitled on the SBS (McDonald 1993, McCormick 2010). It is insightful, in this case, to notice that Arabic-speaking viewers watch Arabic language films and find the practice of subtitling inadequate, impoverished or simply intolerable. Despite the fundamental differences that Sydney viewers are native speakers of the source language (Egyptian films) and the subtitling is done from the spoken variety of Arabic into written English, and notwithstanding the points raised in the complaints or even the errors committed in the subtitling, the issue of negative reaction to subtitling remains the same. In this context subtitling, as a translation activity, remains vulnerable. Gottlieb observes that it is the ‘nature of subtitling’, as a form of translation, that invites comparison and attracts criticism: “Subtitling is an overt translation, retaining the original version, thus laying itself bare to criticism from everybody with the slightest knowledge of the source language” (1994a, p. 102). Bogucki, observing the same practice in Poland, states that subtitles, due to the constraints of the medium, are “necessarily imperfect” and further points out that “Subtitling, where comparison of the original and the translation is immediate as long as the viewer has a working command of the source language, is continually subject to unprofessional ‘quality assessment’ on the part of the audience” (2004, p. 93). Likewise, Shochat and Stam pay attention to this category of viewers who are fluent in both languages and find “subtitles offer the pretext of a linguistic game of “spot the error”” (1985, p. 46). On more than one occasion, and over a twenty year period, SBS has declined the offer by the present researcher to examine the complaints against the subtitling of Arabic language films carried out by their in- house subtitler which would have provided insights into not only the nature of the errors but also invaluable insights into viewer perception of subtitling which is an area that is lacking in the broader field of audiovisual translation (Interview with Andrew McCormick, SBS 2009). However, the missed opportunity was compensated for through another. The teaching of an Arabic-language class in community interpreting where SBS-subtitled programs were discussed by interpreting students who provided invaluable feedback not only on subtitling errors but also on possible translation strategies, dialects and the invaluable insights into film literacy by the ‘average film viewer’ who has a varying degree of understanding of Egyptian Arabic culture.

The general negative perception of subtitling affects the genre of ‘film translation’ in many linguistic communities such as Argentina where subtitlers are not always “given the script and have to listen to the audio channel as they subtitle” (Scandura 1993, p. 447). Likewise, Zabalbeascoa examines the working conditions of subtitlers in Spain and points out the lack of recognition subtitlers receive and concludes that such low esteem contributes to the perception that “subtitling is a necessary evil” (1996, p. 235). The Daily Mail in the UK has recently covered the problems the BBC has had with its own subtitling quality. A spokesman for the BBC admits that subtitling is prone to have difficulties:

‘We recognise that subtitling it a hugely important service and we endeavour to ensure it is as accurate as possible. There are occasions, particularly during live broadcasts, when mistakes will happen but we do all we can to keep this to a minimum and are constantly striving to improve accuracy’ (The Daily Mail, 8 March 2012).

3.3 Subtitling is not translation

Unlike traditional translation which is mono-dimensional, mere text as noted above, a film is a multi-dimensional text that has more than one channel. These channels have meaning-making resources that contribute to the overall experience of watching and understanding. And, irrespective of the space/time constraints imposed by the medium, subtitlers have to be selective with the information they decide to translate and offer a subtitle that reflects both the meaning of the dialogue and the ‘visual’ development of the story. The yardstick for the success of subtitles is that they have to be unobtrusive: clearly an addition to the original yet invisible in the sense that they do not obstruct the experience of watching a subtitled film. This is not translation in the traditional sense. Bogucki questions whether subtitling is translation and points out the differences:

“First and foremost, the target text, albeit written, is not really a text sensu stricto. It is merely one component of what the audience are given upon a ticket to a cinema theatre in a country whose official language/s is/are different from that of the film dialogue. It is a tool, thanks to which they can comprehend the filmic message. The textual notion of coherence does not apply to subtitles unless they are seen in combination with other semiotic channels. Moreover, the target text does not substitute for the original; in its form, it does not even resemble the original, due to the shift in mode from spoken to written language.” (2004, p. 31).

Indeed, Delabastita expresses the opinion that subtitling is far from ‘film translation’ and sees it more as “film adaptation” (1989, p. 2004). Viewing subtitling holistically and not as a word- for-word translation that may include strategies such as summarising and paraphrasing, which are foreign if not taboo strategies to the traditional translator, Gambier concludes that subtitling “can also be called transadaptation, a term which might allow us to go beyond the dichotomy (literal/free translation, translation/adaptation, etc.,) and take target viewers into consideration more directly” (2003b, p. 178). Mindful of the difference in subtitling and the debate on adaptation, Karamitroglu observes that the constraints of subtitling “have made certain people even within the field of audiovisual translation regard their job as ‘adaptation’ rather than translation (Papadakis 1998, Delabastita 1999, pp. 213-214). But how can one define where translation stops and where adaptation begins?”(2000, p. 10). Scandura argues that “For some researchers, film translation does not exist. They prefer to call it adaptation. For others, it does exist, but has some characteristics of its own. Whether we adopt one point of view or the other, we cannot deny that film translation is a very complex activity (1993, p. 446).

Despite the debate on whether subtitling is adaptation or translation, the consensus of the subtitling community, from actual film translators to critics and researchers is that subtitling is not translation. This is not just because it cannot be technically done, since viewers need to ‘watch the film’ and not ‘read the film’ on screen. The difficulty is mainly attributed to the multi-modal nature of film. The interplay between the two channels forces subtitlers to listen to the dialogue and in their attempt to condense it into two lines (or less) they take the visuals into consideration. De Linde and Kay (1999) explain the purpose of subtitling is to make foreign 43 film accessible. Accessibility here refers not only to the fim dialogue but to all other significant features in the film from décor, sounds, signs, graffiti, sotto voce and other non-verbal communication. To do this, subtitlers need to be aware of what to choose and what to leave behind. This requires a body of translation strategies and a working method that is particular to film translation. Although subtitlers have a larger repertoire of translation strategies that is not available to their translation peers including strategies that are considered not only unorthodox but taboo such as deletion, paraphrasing, addition, compensation and expansion (Gottlieb 1994b, Nedergaard-Larsen 1993) subtitling remains problematic. Today, many film subtitles continue to be muddled (Royce 1998), shoddy (Wagner 2012)and mangled, as can be seen in the media coverage of poor subtitles from Federico Fellini’s 1987 Intervista covered in the New York Times (05/01/1988), where he asked a French court to stop the screening of his film because of the poor quality of the French translation, to the more recent coverage by the American NPR (National Public Radio) “ More than words: How some movies wind up with lousy subtitles” in July 2012. Equally, in Britain, the BBC came under national criticism for its poor subtitling practice in October 2011.

The reason for the perceived poor quality of subtitles is twofold. First, the poor working conditions where subtitlers are given unrealistic deadlines and to make matters worse only the dialogue list is provided (Sanchez 2001). Gottlieb points out that in many parts of the world subtitlers are not given the video and are requested to produce the translation of the master dialogue list which serves as “a pivot for several languages” (1994a, p. 117). This is coupled with the fact that subtitlers are not regarded as part of the film process but as an additional cost to an already finished product. Diaz Cintas explains further: “Subtitling, as dubbing, has to be understood as an integral part in the process of the artistic creation of film and not as a mere appendix subject to market forces” (2004, p. 207). Second, and with the increasing demand for subtitled programs, untrained subtitlers work on film translations with little understanding of film as an audiovisual polysemiotic text that is essentially different from traditional linear translation. Gottlieb who helped in setting up one of the earliest subtitling training programs in Denmark concludes “Excellent translation skills and fluency in the target language alone do not make for a good subtitler” (1994a, p. 108). One significant observation could be gleaned from the subtitling context in many parts of the world that despite the long professional practice of audiovisual translation it has attracted very little attention by either the cinema industry or academia. In one of the early influential papers titled “Subtitling: the long journey to academic acknowledgement” Diaz Cintas (2004) offers the following explanation:

One of the most commonly recurring complaints in AVT has been directed at the lack of interest shown by many academics towards our field. In some cases it has led to the discipline of translation being branded as elitist for been only interested in major works. In AVT, we run the same risk. Most studies into subtitling concentrate on films, forgetting a myriad of other audiovisual programmes that are considered inferior, such as documentaries, cartoons or series. This biased attitude has filtered through into the terminology that we have come to use. Curiously, much has been said about cinematographic translation, when films for the cinema are precisely the most difficult to analyse because of their format and the conditions in which they are projected. In

fact, the majority of studies are carried out with films recorded from television, distributed in VHS, or, more recently, on DVD.

Similarly, the practice of subtitling in the entire Arab world, and despite its long history in the region, remains unexamined either professionally or academically. Translation conferences in major Arab capitals do not examine audiovisual translation and the subject of screen translation is only taught at just one academic intuition in Egypt, namely the AUC (Gamal 2007a, 2007b, 2008a). Apart from Spain and the United Kingdom, there are very few academic institutions that actually teach courses in audiovisual translation and offer well-developed academic research in subtitling. There is little research coming from Russian, German, French, Brazilian, Korean, Chinese, African or Arab film contexts as can be seen in the country, language and academic institution of published research or presentations on subtitling at international audiovisual conferences in the last two decades. The little research that is carried out at Arab universities tends to centre mostly on English-Arabic subtitling and in this respect it focuses on translation proper issues in film subtitling such as the treatment of taboo words, cultural-specific idioms or the domestication/ foreignisation strategies in film subtitles (Mazid 2006).

Given the different levels of professional practice in many parts of the world, several researchers, even in Western Europe, point out that subtitling rules are very elastic. For example, Gambier (1994) argues that subtitling rules in Europe are not explicit and are imported from other countries. Others point out that subtitling guidelines are flexible and ad hoc (Nedergaard-Larsen 1993), do not have standardised terminology (Sanchez 2004), that each company tends to have its own in-house rules (Jaskanen 1999) or simply there are no specific rules (Mera 1999).

This state of professional practice led some scholars to examine film translation quality from a variety of angles focusing on approaches that would ensure the process of condensing the dialogue into two lines be a more credible and correct process (Zabalbeascoa 2010b). If we take it that the ultimate goal of film translation is to enable target language viewers who are not familiar with the language and culture of the source film to understand and appreciate the film. To achieve this goal some scholars began with a focus on subtitling strategies that suit the medium of film translation. Most of them focus their attention on the strategies of reductive translation (Gottlieb 1994a, Kovacic 1996) offering strategies such as ‘compensation’ and ‘relocation’ to make up for any loss of information during the film. Within the view of subtitling as ‘translation in a confined space’ (Schwarz 2004) and that the overriding constraints of time and space determine translation strategies, it would be logical and perhaps easier to examine film translation as a genre of translation that requires a delicate balance between the media and its perceived goal. Other scholars argue that familiarity with the source culture is essential. Nedergaard-Larsen states that film translation “is different from traditional translation and should be judged as such” (1993, p. 212) and she argues that the subtitler’s familiarity with the source culture is essential to developing effective subtitling strategies. In this respect she offers a typology of features that abound in (Danish) films and are known to cause problems in rendering them into the target language. Nedergaard-Larsen’s typology (1993, p. 211) has four main categories dedicated to: history, geography, society and culture. Each has several sub-categories that further expand the main category. Although her 45 typology is based on her work subtitling into Danish from mostly French and English films she is mindful of the importance of cultural difference particularly between distant cultures. This will be explained further in the following chapters when a subtitled Arabic-langauge film is examined. The notion of film literacy and understanding of the cinematic tradition of the souce culture will be foregrounded.

Nedergaard-Larsen’s typology of culture-bound problems in subtitling (1993) and subsequent examination of subtitling strategies draw attention to the need for the understanding of such culture-bound problems prior to determining their translation strategies. Her typology does not claim to be exhaustive or universal. On the contrary, she clearly points out: “ As a translator or subtitler you will therefore have to estimate the distance between the two languages and cultures, and you will obviously have to decide whether you want to be loyal to the author’s exact words or his intention” (1993, p. 222). Estimating such distance requires familiarity with the source text; film. In this respect, film analysis where the several channels highlighted by Delabastita (1989) and the strategies suggested by Gottlieb (1997b) and the examples cited by a large number of audiovisual visual researchers (Kovacic 1993 and 1996, De Linde and Kay 1999, Zabalbeascoa 2000, Diaz Cintas 2001, Orero 2004 and Gamal 2007a) would be digested and combined in a way that would lead to underscoring the importance of achieving a balance between the spatial/temporal constraints of the medium and translation strategies.

While different film genres (action, romance, detective, etc.) may highlight the relevance of some translation strategies, the audiovisual text with its own polysemiotic features, does not require any new translation strategies. Apart from reduction, deletion and addition which stand out as unorthodox strategies in traditional translation, it must be remembered that these ‘controversial’ strategies are actually employed by translators in the fields of cartoons, advertising, localisation and to a lesser degree in tourist brochures. Indeed, when audiovisual translation scholars debate subtitling strategies they not only use the same terminology used in the discussion of traditional translation but also use the very same translation strategies. Chaume-Varela explains that: “Audiovisual translation is just a modality of translation of special texts where two narrations, which use two different channels of communication, take place at the same time, thus forming a coherent and cohesive text, a multidimensional unit” (1997, p. 316). Thus audiovisual texts, characterised by their multimodality, synchrony and the addition of the translation to the original are the hallmarks of this special type of translation for which “the translator of audiovisual texts does not need to invent different translation strategies” (Chaume-Varela 1997, p. 316).

3.4 The task of the subtitler

While subtitling is unfairly judged by many critics on its inadequacy, inaccuracy and incompleteness, the fact remains that few appreciate the extent of the challenge. Film is a multimodal text with audio and visual channels, and as explained above, each channel has two sub-categories (Delabastita 1989). Given the two channels of the audiovisual text, the task of the subtitler is to work on one channel only (the audio) while remaining mindful of the other (the visual). This necessitates technical changes to the translation particularly when there is a camera change, multi-speakers or a white background. This entails shorter translation perhaps 46 to cope with the camera change triggering or indeed forcing compensation prior to or after the camera change. Similarly, when there is more than one speaker, creative strategies and decisions will have to be made to clarify the situation. Finally, with white background, the film technician would ensure that subtitles are either in yellow or in black. While viewers watch the translation, of only the audio channel, provided at the bottom of the screen in two lines, the subtitler has been focusing on the visual channel accounting for not only the image but for the feedback effect, which is time consuming but if well-appreciated becomes a useful tool in the rather confined context of subtitles. Feedback effect simply means the reference or feed-back from the visual channel which is on the screen and can support or substitute the audio channel. In other words, the image may make the translation of the audio track redundant (Gamal 1996b, p.23). This point, the feedback effect, led some researchers to examine the source, polysemiotic text and provide a multimodal analysis for the filmic text prior to its subtitling with the view of determining the translation problems and the suggested strategies. By examining film through frames, shots and phases which are the building blocks of any filmic text, and providing description for each, subtitlers can highlight the semiotic content in the two main channels: the audio and the visual. Taylor points out that multimodal analysis has the potential of assisting subtitlers where “the various meaning-making elements are seen to integrate with one another” (2003, p. 192). Although multi-modal description has been employed in various contexts, mostly teaching English as a second language and discourse analysis, it has direct relevance to subtitling through raising subtitlers level of film literacy. In this respect, film literacy is seen as the sine qua non of subtitling. This concept will be examined in more detail in the following two chapters with examples from a subtitled classic film into English. The case for film literacy as a stand-alone skill for subtitling will be made in the last chapter.

3.5 Subtitling is reductive translation

As seen above, the overriding translation strategy in subtitling is reduction. This is far from being a simple summarisation of the film dialogue in order to make it fit into two lines of text or less. The strategy of reduction is employed with the paramount objective of translating the dialogue into the target language in a way that is informative and is also in synchrony with the visual (Diaz Cintas 2007). To do this subtitlers apply the principles of equivalence and relevance. The former refers to translation proper and in the simplest definition of the term, equivalence stands for the same meaning it has for the source viewer (Toury 1980). In this respect equivalence has a communicative nature as defined by Reid (1991), functional as defined by Newmark (1988) and pragmatic equivalence as explained by Baker (2011). The latter, relevance, refers to pragmatics. Not unlike equivalence, though, the concept of relevance is not without its limitations. However, in the context of subtitling relevance is understood in light of the link between the visual and the audio channels. Since the visual channel cannot be manipulated and the audio channel is the only channel that can be manipulated then relevance means the degree of dialogue (audio) significance to the visual (Kovacic 1993). After all, tautology or generally speaking redundancy cannot be tolerated in the restrictive context of adding text to mage. In other words, the subtitle is, essentially, a translation of a segment in the dialogue, and notwithstanding the constraints imposed by the medium; it has to be equivalent and relevant to what is taking place in the film (said and seen). However the 47 principle of equivalence, in subtitling, is not understood in the same light traditional translators see. The principle of equivalence is more inclusive of other semiotic resources in the filmic text as explained above by Delabastita (1989), Gottlieb (1994b) and Diaz Cintas & Remael (2007). Likewise, the principle of relevance refers to the content of the dialogue and how relevant it is to the spot it will be cued to. Given that spoken language has a lot of redundancy; subtitlers find that it is essential to remove redundancies in order to create a subtitle that is correct and, most importantly, concise. In doing so, subtitlers do not have to invent new strategies as Chaume-Varela (1997) explained above but they have to examine the filmic text and work within the constraints of the medium.

Thus, the so-called “subtitling strategies” are not peculiar to translation but strategies that are dictated by the medium and its purpose. Nedergaard-Larsen (1993) points out that the medium prompts translators to develop their own strategies where the relevance of a spoken segment would determine its translation. It is interesting to observe that a number of subtitlers, mindful of the constraints, point rather repeatedly to the lack of footnotes in subtitling (Chaume-Varela 1997, De Linde and Kay 1999, Diaz Cintas 2007). In literary translation, or indeed in many other types of translation, translators quite often resort to footnotes to explain or to illuminate a point. This is considered a luxury that is unaffordable in subtitling and despite its absence subtitlers have to utilise the medium they work with. The only way to work the medium, successfully, is to be able to examine the film through its various channels and to identify the meaning-making resources which would empower the subtitler with efficient translation decisions (Taylor 2003).

Generally speaking, the literature on subtitling has been written mostly in English by practicing professionals who work, mainly, with European languages. Despite the obvious problems in subtitling from and into European languages the cultural background shared by these languages is great which tends to facilitate the subtitling process. It is therefore correct to state that the feedback effect, explained above, would be greater in subtitling a European film into another European language. Chaume-Varela (1997), like many other audiovisual scholars (Nedergaard-Larsen 1993), highlights the importance of cultural signs which would naturally abound in any multisemiotic text such as film. However, Chaume-Varela, who underscores the common cultural background “Fortunately, the western culture shares many of them such as colours, places, physical appearance, etc., most of which usually have the same meaning (1997, p. 324)”, clearly warns that subtitlers translating multisemiotic texts between different languages that have distant cultures may face an extra challenge as he points “exotic cultures may find real problems to understand certain signs, scripts or schemata” (1997, p. 324). Similarly, Diaz Cintas concurs that “when translating an American or French film, what may seem straightforward for a European audiovisual translator may not be so for a translator from an African or Asian country” (2004, p. 208). Likewise, an Arabic subtitler may find several linguistic and cultural signs, scripts and schemata when working between Arabic and English.

3.6 The literature in Arabic

Translation has a long history in the Arab world. In the pre-Islamic period (7th century AD), various regions and cultures from the Phoenicians to the Pharaohs had left monuments and artefacts attesting to the importance of translation and translators (Gardiner 1927). In the 48

Islamic period (post 622 AD), the Abbasside rule of Caliph Al Ma’mun saw the establishment of Darul Hekma (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad which was essentially a school of translation (Barnes 1965). During that period, Arab encyclopaedic writer Al Jahiz (776-868 AD) wrote on the nature of translation and what the qualifications of a translator should be. Al Jahiz’ treatise is thought of as the earliest theory on translation in Arabic. In modern times, the Madrasat Al Alsun (School of Languages) established in Cairo in 1835 by the founder of modern Egypt, Muhammad Ali (1769-1849) is considered to be the oldest still running school of translation in the world (Baker 2008). The volume of translation in the Arab world, and particularly in Egypt, is overwhelming as it covers all aspects of modern life from sport to cinema. Today, there are schools of translation that cater for all public and private departments and companies who help maintain the channels of communication between Egypt and the rest of the world. However, the number of translation schools and the volume of translation work must be seen in the right perspective. It is a one-way street: translation into Arabic. This covers a wide range of translation from technical reports and studies to literature and the subtitling of films and television drama. This is why the term ‘cultural invasion’ is widely used in Arabic cultural studies as a reaction to the amount of translations conducted in almost every field (Gamal 1993a). Very little Egyptian, or Arabic literature is translated into other languages unless it is commissioned by a specific country or company. However, tourist and maritime (the Suez Canal) sectors carry out a great deal of translation from Arabic into English and many other foreign langauges that change according to demand.

As seen in the previous chapter, the digital revolution and its biggest manifestation in Egypt, the DVD industry has been instrumental in shedding light on subtitling as a profession but not as an academic pursuit. Subtitling Arabic language filmic material into foreign languages is still fairly new both academically and professionally. Therefore the literature on audiovisual translation in Arabic is minuscule. This is despite the large consumption of subtitled foreign material on Egyptian television and cinemas as well as the frequent participation of Egyptian films at international film festivals or film weeks abroad (Gamal 1994). Subtitling important or significant national films for participation at international film festivals remains outside the scope of the local film industry and beyond the interests of academia. Despite the rarity of the literature in Arabic whether from Egypt or elsewhere in the Arab world, the following background is very relevant to the examination of subtitling in Egypt. This will become more evident when the subtitling of a popular Egyptian classic film is examined in the next chapter and discussed in chapters five and six.

3.6.1 Translation conferences and AVT Translation conferences in Egypt, and also in the Arab world, tend to debate issues relevant, if not confined to, culture, religion, literature and linguistics. Little attention has been given to the increasing interface of technology, particularly digital technology, with translation. For instance, a paper on “Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World’ delivered by the present researcher at The Arab Media Conference in Abu Dhabi in 2007 was scheduled under a session titled “That’s entertainment” and not under communication or translation. While, the internal programming of the huge conference may have necessitated such a decision, it reflects the attitude to audiovisual translation and subtitling in particular. It is perhaps not surprising that most translation conferences at Arab universities tend to be oblivious of audiovisual 49 translation for the simple reason that Audiovisual Translation is not taught either as a stand- alone specialisation or as a subject. This explains the small amount of postgraduate research carried out on subtitling. While it focuses mainly on subtitling into Arabic, as explained above, the fact is that the treatment of subtitling tends to point to the erroneous notion that subtitling is translation, in the mono-dimensional and linear fashion.

3.6.2 Journalistic writing on subtitling in Egypt As in many parts of the world, some Egyptian viewers like to play “spot the error game” with subtitles (Shochat & Stam 1985), yet some are serious cineastes and follow subtitled foreign programs regularly for various reasons. One of these reasons is English language acquisition and their instrumental motivation to acquire English language skills prompts them to pay special attention to the quality of subtitles. They tend to be good judges of the cuing, size, colour and the interplay between text and image. In other words, their opinion forms an essential part of viewer reception which is an area lacking in the examination of subtitles in Arab televisions. Egyptian newspapers frequently pay attention to subtitling errors and this takes the form of letters to the editor, complaints or some articles in the film section. There is a significant body of information that could be gleaned from the examination of newspaper coverage of subtitling. It must be pointed out that all these writings concern subtitling from foreign languages (mostly American) into Arabic. It is not surprising then that the only book on the subject of subtitling published in Arabic by Hussain Ashkinani, and titled Al Tarjamah Al Televizyuniah (Television Translation) examines only the subtitling of foreign programs into Arabic. In the small book published in Kuwait, Ashkinani (2007) focuses on the linguistic aspects of “film translation” rather than on the poly-semiotic nature of the filmic text. This is mainly because, as a television subtitler, he is mindful of the impact of the censor on the quality of the subtitles produced. Nevertheless, the small book is a welcome contribution to the almost non-existent literature on audiovisual translation in Arabic. In an interview with the present researcher published in Arabic in the Al Wasat magazine in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Gamal (2007c) casts light on the rising importance of audiovisual translation and how the new genre of screen translation will change the way we look at texts, translation and the analysis of polysemiotic texts . In an unpublished study, Gamal (2005b) examines a collection of these writings and identifies some of the salient features that irk Arabic-language viewers (reported in Gamal 2007b and 2008a). In his examination of a body of newspaper clippings over a twenty-five year period Gamal examines some issues that relate to the strategies of subtitling, the translation of film titles into Arabic and, inter alia, the translation of the film dialogue into Modern Standard Arabic. One of the insightful articles Gamal examined in the collection comes from the sports section in a newspaper where “a soccer manager rebukes his defenders for the constant mistakes they make that look like subtitling errors in every film” (2007b, p. 493).

3.7 The scope for the present study

As the Arabic-language literature on subtitling remains underdeveloped, it is hoped that the present study would stimulate the examination of subtitling Egyptian classic films into English (and other languages). The research focuses on the examination of an Egyptian filmic text by seeking to apply the principles of polysemiotic text analysis as suggested by Delabastita (1989), the analysis and description of film as a multimodal text as advanced by Thibault (2000), 50 adapted for subtitling by Taylor (1993), and further applied to the examination of multimodal pragmatic analysis of film discourse by Mubenga (2009). The scope of the research is the examination of a multisemiotic text that exhibits a high level of cinematic language where the audio and visual channels combine to produce meaning. While it is true that the cinematic experience includes both channels, the fact remains that certain genres and some films are more complex and exhibit a more sophisticated command in employing and deploying meaning-making features throughout the film. The decision, therefore, to select classic films and not mainstream films is due to the higher level of complexity which makes the examination of subtitling a small number of films a more feasible task.

In other words, the modus operandi suggested here is a table that shows the four channels in the polysemiotic text (Delabastita 1989) with columns that describe the multimodal filmic text accounting for the meaning-making resources that a subtitler would need to be aware of before deciding what is relevant and how to achieve equivalent translations within the limitations of the medium. The columns will also include a description of the nature of the challenge and a column dedicated to suggestions on how to meet the challenge. The rationale for developing such a methodology is to heighten the subtitler’s awareness of meaning-making resources in Arabic language films. Put simply, subtitlers’ literacy in Egyptian film is seen as one of the major assets in the repertoire of film translation techniques.

3.7.1 Research question

The present study sets out to examine the quality of the DVD subtitling of classic Egyptian films into English. It takes into consideration the short history of subtitling Arabic-language films into English in Egypt and focuses on a genre of films that has a highly-developed filmic structure where the audio and visual channels present a complex text. In other words, by focusing on classic films it steers away from mainstream cinema and particularly comedy where the entire success hinges on verbal humour. The research is concerned with the factors that influence the quality of subtitling Egyptian Arabic-language films into English. The research question, therefore, revolves around the degree of success attained by the subtitler in conveying the multisemiotic features present in Egyptian film into English. Given the current subtitling practice of translating the film dialogue, and without the video, the present research questions whether translation skills, alone, are sufficient to produce subtitles that are linguistically correct, culturally acceptable and pragmatically appropriate.

3.7.2 Research hypothesis

Having examined the academic setting where audiovisual translation is discussed and taught in the country as well as the professional context where subtitlers perform their task, the research formulated the following hypothesis:

The current practice of subtitling Egyptian classic films into English is not conducive to best practice and the current subtitling context in Egypt amounts “to an industry without a profession” (Gamal: 2007, p.85).

The hypothesis is based on professional training received and experience gained at SBS television in Sydney, the examination of professionally produced subtitles in Egypt, the teaching of Arabic translation at tertiary and vocational levels in Sydney for more than ten years, and first-hand knowledge of the academic and professional context in Egypt. This background, both personal and professional, is reflected in the number of academic publications I cite throughout this research. Their inclusion serves only as a reference to the aspects I dealt with in the examination of subtitling Arabic-language films into English and no narcissistic tendencies implied.

The hypothesis will be tested and proved through a diachronic examination of a corpus of 64 DVDs produced between 2002 and 2007 and cover a wide range of films of substantial form exhibiting a high degree of cinematic language. It will also rely on a synchronic analysis of a subtitled classic film that will serve as the main subject of the current research. The validation of the hypothesis will constitute a body of knowledge that is relevant to the teaching of subtitling and professional practice of subtitling. One of the major objectives of the research is explore the nature of decision making in subtitling i.e., what to keep and translate and what to leave out. The research will go further and will show that the ability to decide must be informed by a degree of film literacy. Put simply, film literacy is the knowledge of how to watch film and how to see and hear meaning in a film.

3.7.3 Research methodology

A corpus of 64 subtitled Egyptian films produced on DVD between 2002 and 2007 were viewed with the purpose of forming a preliminary professional opinion on the degree of success in subtitling Arabic language films into English. Initially, the method relied on collecting examples of obvious errors and mistakes in the subtitling or what Shochat and Stam call “playing spot- the-error game with subtitled programs” (1985, p.46). The data collected was then collated into tables and categories for ease of retrieval and research. Later, the research began to examine each category’s error within its scene with the objective of conducting an error- analysis study.

This study is informed by interest and experience in film studies otherwise known as ‘film literacy’. Although the concept of ‘film literacy’ in Egypt is confined to the domain of film studies and particularly the specialised area of film criticism, it has direct relevance to subtitling Egyptian films into English. This is due mainly to the cinematic language (Abu Shadi 2006b, 2010) employed by Egyptian directors which reflects cultural, technical, artistic and technological aspects of the local context. If a translator, in the traditional sense, is expected to be familiar with the topic they are translating, then it would follow that a subtitler ought to be familiar with the cinematic language employed in the local film industry. Monaco (2000, p. 152) explains the metaphor of film literacy and its relevance to understanding film by explaining

“People who are highly experienced in film-highly literate visually (or should we say “cinemate”?) – see more and hear more than people who seldom go to the movies. An education in the quasi-language of film opens up greater potential meaning for the 52

observer, so it is useful to use the metaphor of language to describe the phenomenon of film.”

The early report of the error analysis revealed a high percentage of incidents where the subtitler missed or did not see and/or hear a meaning-making feature that was essential in conveying meaning. Another observation was the high incidents of literal translation which is over and above standard translation errors. Standard errors, means those errors the subtitler made due to fatigue, haste, or mechanical errors such as misspellings such as piece/peace, rose/raws, etc,. This contrasts with critical errors where lack of knowledge, improper translation strategy or a wrong equivalent is used. The error analysis of the large corpus of 64 DVDs pointed to the modus operandi of subtitling as the probable cause of the high percentage of repeated errors in almost every DVD. To test the error analysis further, a multimodal analysis of the particular scene where the error occurred was conducted. The purpose was to identify any additional (non-linguistic) features that may have had an impact on the occurrence of the error. Once again, an overwhelming number of errors pointed to the fact that the subtitler missed obvious visual meaning-making features which meant that the only way to commit the error is not to have watched the film.

This led to the field trips and visits to the offices of Anis Ebaid in Cairo where the largest pool of subtitlers are employed. The visits also included the American University in Cairo where the only training opportunity in subtitling exists in the country. The field visits, discussions and fact-finding interviews yielded a better picture of the current practice of subtitling which is based on the translation of the film dialogue, with no recourse to the video and with no involvement of the subtitler in the production of subtitles after the translation has been submitted. Having established that the modus operandi of subtitling in Egypt is indeed confined to a ‘translating the film dialogue’ the research hypothesis was formed: despite the demand, the training opportunity and the amount of professional work in the country subtitling is actually an industry without a profession. For the purpose of this research, a classic film A Man in our House (1961) is selected for examination. The previous typological experience gained through the viewing of a large number of subtitled Egyptian films became very useful assisting in identifying scenes and shots that are problematic for the Arabic subtitler. A scene-by-scene analysis was conducted employing the theoretical framework of film as a polysemiotic text (Gottlieb 1994a) and describing each scene following the multimodal description model put forward by Thibault (2000). Then a list of thirty scenes/shots, representative of the major challenges present in the DVD subtitling of Egyptian films, was drawn. The research methodology is adopted from studies in multimodal description and analysis (Baldry and Thibault 2006) and is adapted for the purpose of highlighting meaning-making features in film (Taylor 2003) and with the subtitler in mind (Gambier 2006). It is significant to point out that while multimodal description was originally intended for purposes other than audiovisual translation, and despite the fact that many scholars in multimodal description have announced the method to be commercially unviable, time-consuming (Lemke 2006)and labour-intensive, Taylor (2003) points out that the method has direct relevance to subtitling. The very concept of multimodal analysis shows that subtitlers need to be aware of it , a priori, so it becomes part and parcel of their processing of the filmic text and the determination of 53 the subtitling strategies (2003, p. 192). Therefore, each scene/shot in this list is described in detail with the view of highlighting the inadequacy of the current practice of translating the film dialogue without the accessibility of the video. The challenge present in each example is described vis a vis its impact on the meaning and the inadequate subtitling offered in the DVD. The conclusions drawn are used in formulating the major contribution of this research; that film literacy is an indispensable skill in informing the decision-making process of subtitling.

3.7.4 Research observations

The research takes into account the prevailing professional context and conditions of subtitling in Egypt. The demand for subtitling from Arabic into English is very recent and the necessary preparations were not sufficiently made. To date the practice of subtitling Arabic-language filmic material into English (and French) is slightly longer than a decade. Despite the fact that the DVD industry in Egypt is not only confined to feature films no attempt by academia to examine audiovisual translation has been observed. The current research therefore aims to contribute to the debate on subtitling feature films, and other genres, and to stimulate the interest in audiovisual translation in Arabic despite its limitations. One of the major limitations of this research is its focus on classic films to the exclusion of other genres such as historical, documentary films, period or religious films. However, it is hoped that the methodology employed in this research could be employed and developed further. Another limitation in the current research is the examination of the dialogue in Egyptian films. This area is relevant since the only channel subtitling can manipulate is the audio channel, a better understanding of the dialogue becomes a skill in its own right. Such an examination is felt to be outside the immediate scope of this research but it is hoped that it will shed enough light on its importance. Another area that is not examined in this research is the relevance of train-the- trainer issue which would spearhead the interest in subtitling as a professional pursuit and an academic specialisation. It is felt that this is the domain of a dedicated national conference on audiovisual translation which is discussed further in chapter six. There is another area which is covered only briefly in this research namely multilingual subtitling. It would have been an interesting and insightful endeavour to apply the same model suggested in this research to both the English and French subtitles of the DVDs in the corpus. However, as the research question is only concerned with the subtitling from Arabic into English. Comparative subtitling studies are very rare in the audiovisual literature. In Arabic, it is feasible as many translators are fluent in both languages as well as informative. This would widen the scope of interest in audiovisual translations studies by engaging and inviting others whose French is their primary foreign language and have another language such as Spanish, Italian or German. This observation is highly relevant as many translation schools in Alexandria and Cairo offer translation studies in several European languages. In the following chapter, the data will be presented through a table of thirty selected scenes. The examination and analysis will highlight the significance of viewing the film prior to subtitling it and this will be underscored through ‘a reasonable degree in film literacy’ which the hypothesis puts forward. It will be shown later in chapters five and six that such a degree in film literacy is indispensable in the emerging field of audiovisual translation and particularly as digital culture is changing the way translation is produced and consumed: through a screen. 54

Chapter Four

Data Analysis

Introduction

It was pointed out, in the previous chapter that although subtitling had existed and has been practiced in Egypt since the early years of talking cinema the subtitling direction was only into Arabic. It was also brought to the fore that subtitling significant Egyptian films needs more care and attention when competing at international film festivals. Egyptian film critics rarely consider the subtitling quality of Egyptian films participating at international film festivals. The example of The Night Baghdad Fell (2005) discussed in the previous chapter is a case in point. Gamal (2006b) attempts to reconcile the Egyptian desire to win an international film award and the continued failure to do so. He points out that the lesson of subtitling The Night Baghdad Fell, a film that is steeped in Egyptian culture and dialogue, was not learnt. To this effect, he argues that the success of Egyptian cinema at the international level is inseparably linked to the quality of subtitling. He further examines the English subtitling of another significant film The Yacoubian Building (2006) shown at several international film festivals in 2006. Gamal points out that despite the massive film budget, the impressive cast and crew, the direction of the film by Marwan Hamed, an experienced director, there was something lacking in the film. Something that prevented the judges from the smooth identification with the film: quality subtitling that helps and not hinders the understanding and appreciation of the (foreign and exotic) film.

Considering that all national cinemas, including American cinema, seek recognition and success abroad, then it would follow that any film shown abroad must be presented in a way that will support and not sabotage its success. In the case of subtitling Egyptian films into English the issue of quality subtitling transcends translation skills and crosses over to understanding the language of Egyptian film. Film language means a lot more than understanding the dialogue in spoken Egyptian Arabic and goes beyond its vernacular, local dialects and sociolinguistic idiosyncrasies. It means having the ability to identify and appreciate the cinematic grammar of the director (Abu Shadi 2006b). This literally means knowledge of the artistic techniques employed to convey meaning in the film. Without fluency in these two, meaning-making features and film language, the subtitling is bound to be defective at best and damaging at worst. In order to appreciate the complex interplay between the dialogue (which is the only channel in the film to be subtitled) and the image (which has meaning but cannot be manipulated), the film needs to be analysed and described in a way that shows its meaning- making resources and how they are deployed throughout the different scenes and stages of the film in order to create meaning. Meaning in film, and contrary to many Egyptian viewers, critics and subtitlers, is not achieved through a strong dialogue (Muharram 2002). Film is a polysemiotic text that has several meaning-making resources that work individually or jointly to make the dialogue understood and appreciated (Cavalieri 2008). Naturally, the life experience of the viewer will always determine the level of understanding and appreciation; 55 however, the basic level of understanding would entail an appreciation of the several resources, over and above the dialogue. To illustrate this point a film will be examined and described applying the principles of multimodal description as postulated by Thibault (2000), further described by Baldry and Thibault (2006), applied to subtitling by Taylor (2003) and the analysis of film discourse in audiovisual translation (Mubenga 2009). The detailed description of a selected number of scenes (thirty in total) will show how various channels, individually and jointly, contribute meaning in film. The analysis is designed to clearly and synchronously present the various resources of meaning which coexist and are co-deployed in the film. The acquisition of this knowledge is seen as a fundamental prerequisite in the determination of appropriate subtitling strategies particularly when dealing with a classic film or a film of ‘significant form’ as discussed in chapter two. As it was inented initially, multimodal description has direct relevance to the introductory level of training in subtitling. In the next chapter, a detailed examination of how these resources affect the subtitling of the film will be discussed with the view of presenting a new modus operandi in subtitling Egyptian films with ‘significant form’ that is essentially based on multimodal description.

4.1 A Man in our House (1961)

For the purpose of this study an example from classic Egyptian cinema has been selected. The film is A Man in our House produced in 1961 and is widely considered a classic. It appears in the list of the Best 100 Films ever produced by Egyptian cinema (Tawfic 1969) and also in the Most Important 100 Films in Egyptian cinema (Al-Hadary 2007). Directed by one of Egypt’s foremost directors Henry Barakat and starring a galaxy of icons of Egyptian cinema such as Zebaida Tharwat, Hussein Riyad, Zahrat Eloula, Hassan Yousef, Tawfic Eldiken, Rushdie Abaza and Egypt’s best known actor abroad Omar Sharif. It is significant to note that the director Henry Barakat is the third director whose films are represented in the List of the Most Important Films in Egyptian Cinema (Al Hadary 2007). Barakat is also the most prolific and is referred to as the Sheik (dean) of Directors in Egypt (Diab 1997). Equally significant is the leading actress, Zebaida Tharwat, whose name appears before Omar Sharif’s in the Egyptian film poster and whose image also appears on the DVD cover. Rushdie Abaza, a leading multilingual actor, but with no international success joined Omar Sharif for their second film. Curiously, Abaza’s name appears in the film credits after all other actors but in equally large size like Tharwat and Sharif. However, his image appears second after Zebaida Tharwat and before Omar Sharif in the film poster. In Egypt, film poster design has a politics of its own which dictates the order of actor names and epithets as well as the order of their pictures (El Shinnawi 2012). More significant though is the fact that Abaza and Sharif meet for the second and last time after Struggle on the Nile (1959) where both met for the first time in a film directed by Anwar El-Shinnawi. Rushdi Abaza, who was fluent in English, French and Italian, was the first choice for David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia but he declined the camera test requested by Lean on the basis that he was already a well-established actor, a decision he later regretted.

The story is based on a novel by Ehssan Abdel-qudous (1919-1990) who gave Egyptian cinema more novels and plots than did Naguib Mahfouz (1912-2006), Egypt’s foremost novelist. The script is co-written by Henry Barakat and Youssef Issa and the dialogue by Youssef Issa

(Qassem 2002). The story was originally published in weekly instalments, in the wake of the Suez War of 1956, in the weekly Sabah El-Kheir magazine and was first published in book form in 1957. Its main theme is the Egyptian resistance of the British occupation of Egypt and revolves around the character of Ibrahim Hamdy (Omar Sharif), a freedom fighter who assassinates the prime minister, who was deemed a toy in the hands of the British frustrating Egyptian hopes for independence. After the assassination he escapes from the hospital where he was interned to receive treatment from police torture. The escape takes place in the month of Ramadan, at a crucial moment, and he resorts to one of his distant acquaintances at Cairo University where he sought shelter for four days. The film has two main plots, political and social. The first serves as a backdrop to the events of the film and the latter focuses on the major events of the film where he becomes “a man in the house” of the Zaher family. It is the latter that represents the social and the cultural contexts of the Egyptian people, at a time of hardship with conflicting loyalties. Ibrahim, the fugitive, takes refuge in the house of Zaher and meets his youngest daughter Nawal (Zebaida Tharwat) who falls in love with him. He also meets Samia (Zahrat El-Oula) the eldest daughter whose cousin Abdel-Hameed (Rushdie Abaza) has been wooing her but, due to his lack of academic qualifications and questionable business practices, was repeatedly refused. Abdel-Hameed’s frustration, and the sudden and secret departure of Ibrahim from the “house”, led him to consider reporting the Zaher family to the secret police and this brings the film plot to a crescendo. However, freedom fighters decide to take Ibrahim to Alexandria in a bid to smuggle him on a ship to France but he changes his mind contemplating “It is better to die in Egypt than to live in France”. He returns to Cairo and embarks on a major attack on the British barracks where he dies. The film ends with a caption, contrary to the usual “The End” saying “And this was the BEGINNING”. Here the capital letters of the word ‘beginning’ is a clear reference to the Nasser revolution of the 23rd of July 1952.

4.2 Historical background to A Man in our House

Abdel-qudous relies on modern Egyptian history to provide a strong political background to his novel. As the general theme of the novel centres on the struggle for freedom from the British occupation, he uses several political incidents to project his plot. The film foregrounds the main events, through the employment of eight graphic narrated plates, which provide a strong reminder of the political background: the opening of the Suez Canal and the beginning of European intervention in Egyptian financial affairs leading to the British military occupation. The occupation came after the army revolt by General Ahmad Arabi which led to the famous confrontation with the king and his foreign advisers outside the Royal Palace of Abdeen, commonly known in modern Egyptian history as the Arabi Revolution. During the 1880-1882 period the orator of the revolution was a literary man named Abdullah Al-Nadeem (1845- 1896). He came from Alexandria and lent his voice and pen to the revolting army officers. In the film, a fellow freedom fighter meets Ibrahim Hamdy in “Alexandria” where he plans his escape to France. His name is Abdullah Al-Nadeem. Although the scene in Alexandria with the local freedom fighter is very brief, the historical projection is significant. In this short, but compact, introduction, it further alludes to the British massacre of Egyptian farmers at the village of Denshawai after several British soldiers who could not take the strong Egyptian sun died of sun stroke. The Egyptian judge who tried the Egyptian farmers in the false case of 57 killing British soldiers found them guilty and sentenced them to death by public hanging at the village of Denshawai in 1906. George Bernard Shaw describes the incident as “A day of shame for Great Britain” (Heikal 1992). The incident contributed to the fermentation of Egyptian anger towards the British leading to the 1919 Revolution in the wake of the First World War. The Judge in the Denshawai Trial was Boutros Ghali (1864-1910), the grandfather of former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Boutros-Ghali 1997, p. 349). The judge later became the prime minister (1908-1910) and was assassinated in 1910 for his role in incriminating the four innocent farmers. Ghali was once described as “too British and too un- Egyptian” due to favouring British policies in Egypt and the Sudan. The murder of Boutros Ghali was the first political assassination in Egypt in the Twentieth Century and was committed by a 23 year old Egyptian doctor named Ibrahim Al-Wardani. It is clear that Abdel-qudous named his hero, Ibrahim Hamdy, after Boutros Ghali’s assassin. In the graphic plates and in the film there is a strong reference to the political upheavals in Egypt in the wake of the Great War (First World War) when the British reneged on their promise that should Egypt help Britain in the war, all British forces would leave Egypt. When faced with massive protestations the British employed “Divide and Rule” tactics, sowing the seeds of sedition between Egyptian Christians and Egyptian Muslims. The massive protests in 1919, commonly known as the 1919 Revolution, carried banners showing the Cross and the Crescent in one flag as the banners literally said the “Crescent hugs the Cross”. This is a very significant element in Egyptian cinema showing, time and again, that the two elements of the community are united. In the film, one of the freedom fighters is called Nashed Salib, easily recognized by Egyptians as a Christian name in Arabic, and its employment is semantically and semiotically significant: when it comes to facing common danger the Egyptians are united as one and nothing will separate them. Further, in the graphic plates and indeed in the early scenes of the film there is a reference to the students’ protest on the infamous Abbass Bridge. This is, again, a true story that took place in February 1946. The incident became the national Student Day in Egypt highlighting the significant contribution by (Cairo) university students in the contemporary political life in the country. However, it is not Boutros Ghali that is referred to in A Man in our House but Amin Othman, the finance minister in the Wafd Government in the 1940s who was assassinated (in January 1944) for being too complacent and complicit with the British (Abdel- ‘Aleem 1988). His political life and subsequent murder is played out in full details in the Days of Sadat (2001). Amin Othman was also the Chairman of the Anglo-Egyptian Friendship Society. There is a scene in Days of Sadat where Othman is giving a speech and saying “Egypt’s marriage to Britain is like a Catholic marriage: no divorce”. In the last scene of the film Ibrahim Hamdy dies during an operation attacking the British Army Barracks in Abbassiya in the centre of Cairo. This is where the army officers under Gamal Abdel Nasser launched their “Movement of the Free Officers” on July 23rd, 1952 toppling the corrupt government and dethroning the complacent King Farouk and thus “beginning” the negotiations with the British to leave Egypt. This is why the “end” of the film does not use the usual cliché “The End” but the more surprising and allegorical “And this was THE BEGINNING” where the emphasis is unmistakably enhanced by the large font size. The British eventually evacuated on June 18th 1956. Four months later, they came back in the Suez War, shortly after which Abdel-qudous wrote his memorable novel: A Man in our House.

4.3 The place of A Man in our House in Egyptian cinema

The film comes under the genre of ‘patriotic’ films and although it is not the only film that refers to the July 1952 Revolution (Sharaf-eldin 1992) it is, by far, considered the most popular. It won the Egyptian Catholic Institute Film Festival award in 1961 (Abu Shadi 2004) and is shown on national Egyptian television in July each year since 1962. It is also shown during other important national days such as the December Victory Day which was initiated on December 23rd 1957 after the withdrawal of the invading British, French and Israeli troops in the wake of the failed Suez War of 1956. It continued till the October War (Yom Kippur) of 1973 where October 6th Day of 1974 came to symbolise the new Victory Day in the wake of the crossing of the Suez Canal. Due to its clear and strong Ramadan theme, the film is also shown during the month of Ramadan thus guaranteeing it constant advertisement and promotion among different generations (Al-Nahas 1986). Critics in their definitions of a classic film place “demanding constant viewing” as one of the conditions that would qualify a film to be called a classic (Abu Shadi 2005). As pointed out earlier, the film was first mentioned in the list of the Best 100 Films in Egyptian cinema (Tawfic 1969) and was confirmed again in the list of the Most Important 100 Films in Egyptian cinema (Al-Hadary 2007).The dramatisation of Abdel- qudous novel by Omar Sharif gave the novel wider popularity. It was later turned into a radio drama, television series and a theatrical play. El-Saadani points out that in each form the novel was adapted into it enjoyed immediate success (2007, p. 97) The DVD cover of A Man in our House mentions on the back blurb “a film by Omar Sharif in one of his best ever roles in Egyptian cinema”. With more than 550 satellite channels broadcasting in Arabic, and with Egyptian cinema being the sole repertoire of Arab cinema, the Egyptian cinema classics have been given an unprecedented opportunity at public showing and Omar Sharif’s films come at the top of the list. When Omar Sharif is welcomed and feted in Egypt at official functions A Man in our House is almost always the film of choice to be used. Of all the 22 films in which he appeared prior to his international debut, A Man in our House is the film that springs to mind, viewers and critics alike. At the 9th National Egyptian Cinema Festival in April 2003, that was 42 years after it was first released, the film was selected to be shown at the closing ceremony as an example of one of the best films ever made in Egypt (Wadi 2003). Moreover, Arab airlines use Egyptian cinema classics as a staple stock on their inflight entertainment. The Emirates Airlines regularly screen Omar Sharif’s films on its Sydney-Dubai flights and A Man in our House was screened as recent as February 2012 (Personal travel to Cairo from Sydney). As explained in chapter two, the Egyptian DVD industry was launched with Omar Sharif’s A Man in our House (together with Days of Sadat) in 2002, which directly reflects not only the significance of the work but also the standing of the man.

4.4 Omar Sharif

Michel Shalhoub was born on the 12th of April 1932 in Alexandria and studied in Victoria College, an upper class boarding language school (Sharif 1977). His school mates included boys who later made history like King Hussein of Jordan, the Palestinian American scholar Edward Said and Yousef Chahine, Egypt’s international director. In the cosmopolitan environment of Egypt’s Alexandria in the forties and fifties, Michel liked languages, the theatre and acting. After graduating from Cairo University with a degree in Mathematics and Physics he joined his 59 father’s lumber business. In his interview with Hala Sarhan on Rotana Channel he tells of his career in cinema (Sarhan 2006). Bored with the family business, he contacted his school mate Yousef Chahine who had studied film direction in the US. He was offered a role in Chahine’s Struggle in the Valley (also known as Blazing Sun) (1954). Michel’s big problem however was the camera test requested by the leading actress of Egypt at the time, Faten Hamama. He tells of how he impressed her with his rendition of a Shakespearan role. He fell in love with Hamama and converted to Islam; changing his name not only to an Islamic name but also to the more cinematic-sounding Omar El-Sherif for his new career as a film actor. The current English spelling of his last name was slightly changed and shortened after his debut in international cinema. Sharif’s first three films in Egyptian cinema were directed by the rising film director Yousef Chahine who, after giving Sharif a solid start in Struggle in the Valley in 1954, cast him in Shaitan Al Sahara (Devil of the desert) in 1955 and in the romantic film with Faten Hamama again in Struggle at the Port (also known as Dark waters) in 1956. In 1955, Sharif and Hamama appeared for the second time in Our Happy Days, a light romantic film, before they got married in the same year. Sharif’s trilogy Struggle in the Valley, Struggle in the Port and Struggle on the Nile cemented his popularity in Egyptian cinema as the premier garçon particularly after the sudden death of Egypt’s leading male actor Anwar Wagdy in 1956. Omar Sharif appeared in other seminal works such as Rumour of Love (1960), River of Love (with his wife in 1960) and We the Students (1959). Before the fateful phone call from David Lean in 1961, Sharif had appeared in 21 Arabic language films in Egypt and two French language fims; one in Tunisia and one in Lebanon. His co-appearance with Faten Hamama in seven films (Struggle in the Valley (1954), Our Happy Days (1955), Struggle in the Port (1956), Land of Peace (1957), Sleepless (1957), Lady of the Palace (1957) and River of Love (1960)) has established an everlasting success and fame for the young promising actor. When Omar Sharif completed A Man in our House in 1961 he was already an icon of Egyptian cinema at the age of 29. After Lawrence of Arabia (1963), Sharif returned to Egypt briefly where he appeared in The Mamelukes (1964) but after Dr Zhivago (1965) he left Egypt where he resided in Paris pursuing his international career, but at the cost of his first and only marriage, appearing in more than 70 films with varying degrees of success such as Funny Girl, McKenna’s Gold, The Yellow Rolls Royce. Twenty years later, Sharif returned to Egypt for another film Ayoub (1984) and since the early nineties he made Cairo his base appearing in The Puppeteer (1989), Citizen Masri (1991) , Laughter, Games , Seriousness and Love (1993) Hasan and Morcos (2007) and The Traveller (2011). He also appeared in his only TV drama Haneen wa hanan (Longing and Caring) in 2009. Omar Sharif turned eighty in April 2012 and still resides in Cairo.

4.5 The methodology

The methodology employed in this chapter draws on previous work by several scholars from translation studies, audiovisual translation and multimodality. It presents a series of selected complex scenes and attempts to describe them with the view of highlighting areas in the filmic material that would normally pose a challenge to subtitlers. The identification and listing of the 30 scenes to be examined is neither haphazard nor lacking in purpose. It relies heavily on a twenty-year experience in subtitling, examining subtitled films from various sources and particularly the subtitling of classic Egyptian films produced on DVD since 2002. The list suggested here presupposes a higher-than-average degree of film literacy in Egyptian cinema. 60

This is significant as it will be argued later that such literacy is essential not only in appreciating challenges but also in meeting them. The methodology analyzes the subtitles offered on the DVD and examines the adequacy of the translation strategies against the meaning-making resources employed in the scene and deployed throughout the film. The nature of the challenge varies according to the scene and the description aims at explaining the area of difficulty as well as suggesting a solution.

The following scene analysis borrows from Delabastita’s framework (1989) for the analysis of filmic material for the purpose of making possible “the transfer of a film from source culture A into a target culture B” (1989, p. 195). Essentially, he argues that there are two channels in filmic material, visual and acoustic. Then he postulates that within each there is a subcategory where the channel could have a verbal or non-verbal sign. To elaborate this scheme, I propose the following explanation where I replace Delabastita’s outmoded term “acoustic” with the term “audio” since Translation Studies over the past two decades have now introduced and enhanced the use of the term Audiovisual Translation (AVT). Delabastita’s model can be seen in the following table:

Channel Sub-channel Explanation Example Visual Visual-verbal (V-v) Linguistic message seen or Film title. Newspaper heard. headlines. Road signs, credits, etc. Visual-nonverbal (V-nv) Sign with the meaning seen Film composition: in film. sunset scene.

Audio Audio-verbal (A-v) Linguistic message heard Dialogue. Audio-nonverbal (A-nv) Sound with no linguistic Music. Background meaning noises.

Table 2: Multimodal analysis for the audiovisual channels

For the purpose of the analysis I devised abbreviations for the Four Channels as follows: A for Audio, V for visual, v for verbal and nv for nonverbal. The abbreviations used after the name of the channel are in a ‘Capital-small’ letter format to denote the Primary Channel and its subcategory. For example, the Visual channel (Capital V) has two subcategories the verbal (small v) and the non-verbal (small nv) are represented as V-v (Visual –verbal) or V-nv (Visual- nonverbal). The same applies to the Audio channel and its sub-channels A-v and A-nv referring to the Audio-verbal and Audio-nonverbal, respectively.

Based on Delabastita’s (1989) analysis, Gottlieb (1998, p. 245) defines subtitling by two factors “semiotic composition, and time and duration”. He regards films as polysemiotic texts where the translator has four simultaneous channels to consider:

(a) The verbal auditory [the dialogue] (b) The non-verbal auditory [music and sound effects] 61

For the sake of clarity and consistency, the term verbal used here is meant to “consist of words either heard or seen”. It is interesting and insightful to see that in Gottlieb’s classification of the four channels, he actually reverses the order proposed by Delabastita by placing the emphasis on the linguistic channel. This is due to the primacy of the audio in subtitling since it is the only channel that can be manipulated. However, the integration of the audio and visual channels must be achieved as meaning is not made solely through the audio channel. Taylor (2003, p. 194) correctly postulates that “the meaning potential of a film far transcends the spoken dialogue, and that any translation of film material should pay heed to the other semiotic modalities interacting with the verbal”. Likewise, Gamal (2009a, p.11) argues that in subtitling there is non-verbal communication that needs to be accounted for and then incorporated in the subtitles where necessary. He lists sotto voce, graffiti, mural hanging and several cultural icons and symbols, varying from geographic place-names and references to buildings and even costumes and dialect. These non-verbal communication techniques are deployed and co-deployed throughout the film to denote meaning indirectly and are prime examples of what subtitlers need to be aware of in order to account for such meaning-making resources and to explicitly, if deemed necessary, “add text to the image”. In this respect he advocates intervention by the subtitler to disambiguate meaning particularly when subtitling Arabic-language films into English. This is primarily due to the cultural distance between Arabic and English. Cultural distance is an area that Nedergaard-Larsen (1993, p. 222) warns of: “As a translator or subtitler you will therefore have to estimate the distance between the two languages and cultures, and you will obviously have to decide whether you want to be loyal to the author’s exact words or his intentions”. This cultural distance with all its symbols and signs is an area rarely examined in the Arabic literature on translation. In the same vein, Chaume- Varela (1997) draws our attention to the significant importance of shared cultural background “Fortunately, the western culture shares many of them such as colour, places, physical appearance, etc. most of which usually have the same meaning. Exotic cultures may find real problems to understand certain signs, scripts or schemata” (1997: 324). In the case of Arabic and English, Dickens et al point out that “when the cultures are more distant from one another- for example British culture and Egyptian culrture-matters become more problematic. It is, for example, difficult to say what would be the British ‘equivalent’ of a peasant from southern Egypt, or of a populist Islamic preacher, just as one could hardly imagine the Egyptian equivalent of a New Age ‘guru’ ” (2002, p. 164).

4.6 Analysis of thirty selected scenes

The following table of scene analysis is inspired by the work carried out by Baldry and Thibault (2006) and also the work carried out by Kress and Van Leeuven (1996, 2006) in multimodality. As films exhibit multimodal meaning-making resources, it would be only natural to apply the principles of multimodal description to subtitling. Taylor (2003, p. 203) points out that the model suggested by Thibault (2000) and Baldry (2000) has invaluable resources for subtitlers as the method of describing scenes and highlighting areas of difficulties to help subtitlers decide on the most appropriate strategies “the multimodal transcription can assist the

62 subtitler in actually reducing the strictly verbal element, while maintaining the semantic content that is not covered by other semiotic modalities”. He also argues that the detailed description suggested by Baldry and Thibault (2006) could be modified as “different text types require very different degrees of analysis” (2003, p. 195). Likewise, Mubenga (2009) draws on the work of Baldry and Thibault (2006) to examine audiovisual texts employing his Multimodal Pragmatic Analysis of filmic discourse pointing to the benefits of identifying the visual, functional and cognitive information in film.

Paul Thibault (2000) and Anthony Baldry (2000) originally contributed two separate research papers to a volume on distance education in 2000. In this respect, it is perhaps insightful to bear in mind that their contribution was not meant to be intended for subtitling but rather for the acquisition of English as a second language. However, their method of description and analysis is relevant to audiovisual translation in as far as the meaning-making resources are described through shots and scenes. The work by Baldry and Thibault in 2006 gave multimodal description a welcome boost particularly at a time when digital technology made the interaction of text, image, video, and sound more widespread. However, some scholars questioned whether multimodality, with its over-reliance on minute description, is the answer to the audiovisual translation researcher’s questions. It is “long and time consuming” (Mubenga 2009, p. 480) and commercially unviable (Taylor 2003), and some scholars did not deny that “it is a boring task” (Lemke 2006) and “such an analysis which can be long (more than 30 pages for 60 seconds of a TV ad) is very useful for trainee subtitlers, for scholars, but not for professionals” (Gambier 2006, p.7). Forceville presents his examination and criticism of Baldry and Thibault focussing on the “infinite detail” and its relevance and the fact that the painstaking work of “these descriptions seldom result in non-trivial explanations why the texts convey what they supposedly do convey” (2007, p.1236).

The following scene description, therefore, bears the essential hallmarks of Baldry’s and Thibault’s important work but in a modified version, highlighting the challenges in the overall meaning the audio and the visual channels jointly produce in film. While native viewers are capable of processing more than one channel simultaneously, quite often target language viewers would be processing one channel at a time, for instance, the written subtitles, the visual image and then the music (De Linde and Kay 1999). This is why the task of the subtitler is to produce subtitles that are concise, correct but also credible. The 30 scenes selected for description and analysis aim to provide a picture of the subtitling challenges encountered in the DVD subtitling of an Arabic language film. The format employed is a table of five columns dedicated to: channel, expression, analysis, challenge and solutions. Each table has two sections dedicated to the visual and audio channels. In the first column, the channel, is identified and the symbols associated with verbal or non-verbal are mentioned , for example V-v for Visual channel with verbal content, V-nv is for Visual channel with no verbal content, i.e., camera rolling with no dialogue spoken or linguistic messages appearing such as street name. The same applies to the bottom half of the table dedicated to the audio channel. Here A-v refers to an audio channel with linguistic content such as dialogue, singing or A-nv which stands for audio channel with non-linguistic content such as sound effects or background music.

The second column, expression, describes what actually takes place with a minimum of description. This usually has either the original dialogue or an action which is mentioned for identification.

The third column is dedicated to the ‘challenge’ and this attracts more description as it highlights the nature of the challenge: where it happens, how it is dealt with by the DVD subtitler and what missing/added information is deemed necesary for full comprehension of the scene.

The fourth and last column is, suggestion, and here the solution to the challenge is entered. Solutions like strategies can be subjective, technically complex or commercially unviable. However, they are entered here for the purpose of examining what possible strategies could be employed to increase knowledge of the multi-modal nature of filmic texts. There is no doubt that this method is time consuming and not professionally viable. However, as Gambier (2006, 2009) points out, it is highly useful for trainees and scholars as they endeavour to analyse multi-modal filmic texts with the view of understanding how meaning is constructed in film, particularly films with significant form. Mubenga’s study advises that the multimodal description of a filmic text could be done prior or after the subtitling has been carried out. Mubenga’s choice, like the present one, is to examine the subtitling after they have been mounted to the image. In the following thirty examples, the examination of the subtitling strategies employed by the DVD subtitler will show that subtitling is not simply the task of adding two lines of text to the image. Furthermore, it will attempt to show that watching the video prior to subtitling and working with the image during the subtitling process, though essential, is no guarantee of better subtitling strategies. For informed subtitling strategies must be accompanied with a prior understanding and appreciation of how meaning is constructed in Egyptian films.

SCENE 1 Legal warning

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Warning by Finoon Arabic warning Legal texts are V-v Distribution precedes the English complex and too Would do a legal Company in Arabic translation. serious to take translation sensu followed by an lightly for items to stricto of the source English translation. At first glance the size be sold or text. of the two texts marketed abroad. Translation : appears to be If in doubt, different. translators should This copy is for home As there are check legal phrases exhibition only and it The Arabic version differences with legal experts. is prohibited to use differs from the between the for any broadcasting English. Clearly the Arabic and English, The exact purpose or public legal warning “can it is not clear which and content of the performance, result in severe is the source text. text must be distribution or criminal and civil negotiated with the editing. All rights of penalties” did not commissioner of this classification are appear in Arabic. the translation. reserved by Finoon Similarly, the Distribution ownership by Finoon Company. Distribution Company did not appear in English either. Audio

Table 3: Scene 1 – Legal warning 65

SCENE 2 DVD Menu

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The DVD front The translation of the film title Classic films Subtitlers are (V-v) screen divided into that appears on the DVD Case is and films of part of the 2 sections: the left the commonly used translation in significant form post- with the film title the literature. or of important production translated with the actors need team. photo of Omar Special Features are very limited additional Sharif. The right is a and contain no reference material. information to Contribute to bilingual menu with assist target the Special image of the Subtitles are available in English language Features of leading female star. and French only. viewers. the DVD.

(V-nv) The old Egyptian Dating the film to the Suez War The meaning of This could be (green) flag at the era. the flag is lost accounted for bottom left corner: as it is not in the Crescent and 3 accounted for background stars. in the subtitles. info in the It dates the film Second Disc to a particular (2D). period.

Audio Patriotic music. The film is (A-nv) Similar to the Suez closely related War music. to the Suez War and must be seen in this light.

(A-v) Nil

Table 4: Scene 2 – DVD Menu

SCENE 3 Spelling of Omar Sharif

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The name of Omar In all his 22 Egyptian films Translating works Omar Sharif V-v Sharif appears in Omar’s spelling is Sherif of famous persons Arabic and is or El-Sherif. requires special followed by the attention to their subtitle: Spelling of Sherif is names and the different from commonly common Omar Sherif known version abroad. translations in the Not wrong but not the English world. version Omar uses in the west. Locally he is known Subtitlers did not as Omar El-Sherif. check the spelling on the jewel case Arabic tolerates various that clearly says forms of spelling such as Omar Sharif. Mohamed, Mohammed, Muhammad, etc.

Dealing with famous actors.

Different translations and spelling particularly at the very beginning of an important film tend to damage credibility of the subtitled work.

Audio

Table 5: Scene 3 – Spelling of Omar Sharif

SCENE 4 Film title

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Film title in Arabic A different translation from Translation should by A Man in our (V-v) and its subtitle into the DVD cover is offered. consistent not only House. English: Here it reads: with the DVD cover A hero under our roof. but also with the * See example 1 in published version. appendix. The graphic style of the This tends to cast A hero under our roof Arabic title, very popular in doubt on the Egyptian cinema, denotes a credibility of subtitles serious topic. causing target viewers to feel distanced from The non-graphic, mono- the work. dimensional style of the translation fails to reflect The graphic style of the impact of the Arabic the title could be title. made to match the original.

The verbal-visual channel is as important as the Audio-verbal channel (i.e., dialogue). Audio Music Sound effects (A-nv)

Table 6: Scene 4 – Film title

SCENE 5

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The film begins with a The 8GPs serve as a The high-charged, Egypt suffered V-v series of complex Eight short documentary info-rich 70 oppressive Graphic Plates (8GPs). paving the way to the introduction needs years of British events of the film. the subtitles to occupation. The first graphic plate Each GP has on average complement the (1GP): The king of Egypt, 2 sentences. visuals. post the Suez Canal, is flanked by English and The first states the This is particularly French “advisers”. issue: “Egypt suffered difficult due to the 70 oppressive years”; visual information The Royal might is then proceeds to supplied by the GP. contrasted with the explain why. plight of Egyptians. Adding text to info- Then the documentary rich visuals requires employs a flashback selection of from the second GP translation which brings the focus strategies that are of the film: Egyptian able to interpret the resistance to foreign visuals. domination.

Audio Commentary in the Each PG is accompanied The voice of GM Higher register voice of Galal Muawad by a commentary in the adds another of English. (GM), president famous and strong semiotic dimension Nasser’s media voice of a popular to the information presenter. Radio/TV announcer in supplied by the the 50s/60s. commentary.

Table 7: Scene 5 – Scene Description

SCENE 6

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual A series of eight graphic plates are Source Each plate has 2 Egyptians (V-nv) accompanied by narration. viewers can sentences which resented British identify the though captured in agents in General Arabi, atop his horse, persons in the subtitles leaves government. speaks to the King of Egypt plate as it is significant info out. demanding a stop to foreign common Significance of intervention in Egypt. knowledge research for from history subtitling films of In the background is the Royal lessons in significant form. Palace of Abdeen. schools. Audio Narration providing a historical The narration 1. The effect of MSA Higher register (A-v) background to the situation in provides two needs to be carried of English could Egypt leading to the events of the extra- over into English. compensate for film. linguistic MSA effect on features: source viewer. Uniform identified and clearly inspired by a 1957 stamp where 1. It is in the Abdeen Palace can be seen in Modern the background. (Also, the 100th Standard

anniversary coin issued in 1982) Arabic which 2. GM’s here implies background power and needs seriousness. 2. Significance of explanation in GM’s voice. the 2D. 2. It is the voice of Galal Muawad (GM)

the “official voice” of the Nasser period.

Table 8: Scene 6 – Scene Description

SCENE 7

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The Graphic Plates The visual shows a lot Source viewers can British (V-nv) (GPs) continue. more than the 2- identify details and occupation sentence commentary. process them with the began in 1881. audio commentary The documentary effect simultaneously. Ships and British in the introduction soldiers at the port should be reflected in the city of Alexandria. subtitles. Need to offer a full The invasion of Egypt background to the after The Arabi film. revolution, the smoke denotes bombing of Alexandria.

The plate gets less than 10 seconds and the semiotic resources of the British army uniform and ships are only given a fleeting run time. Audio The subtitle reads: The language is in Higher register is The “managed to “It managed to Modern Standard Arabic required to separate” may separate Egyptians (MSA) which represents a compensate for GM’s be replaced by into factions”. higher register and voice and the power of the stronger and coupled with GM’s MSA. economical verb authoritative voice. “it divided”.

Table 9: Scene 7 – Scene Description

SCENE 8

Channe Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions l Visual The Graphic Plates Significance: Ensure visuals with Egyptians became (V-nv) (GPs) continue. Occupation of Egypt in extra-semiotic slaves in their own 1882. meaning are country. accounted for. The shadow of the The British flag is British flag covers the The info-rich Visual hoisted and British Egyptian land. The channel shows control imposed over Egyptian king is seen editors need to Egypt. isolated from the work closely with people. subtitlers.

The documentary effect Film literacy also in the introduction means superior should be reflected in research skills for the subtitles. films of significant form.

Audio Each GP gets approx. 2 MSA, GM’s voice Higher register is ‘Toptitles’ are not (A-v) sentences of audio compliments the GP required to unusual in commentary in GM’s which are processed compensate for documentary films, voice. instantly by source GM’s voice and the TV captions or in viewers. power of MSA. films of significant form.

Table 10: Scene 8 – Scene Description

SCENE 9

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The Graphic Plates Egypt drowns in foreign Audio does not Egyptian revolt by (V-nv) (GPs) continue. debt in the wake of the reflect the visual army generals Suez Canal opening. meaning processed was crushed in General Arabi and by source viewers. 1881. colleagues tried and Foreign influence and then sent into exile. intervention increases This scene will be in Egypt. contrasted with the final scene of the The army revolt was film: crushed and the leaders “The Beginning”. were exiled. Post-production: This in turn led to the Size of the subtitles British occupation of should be increased Rigorous editing is Egypt in 1882 which will and colour required to last for 70 years till 1952 enhanced into ensure subtitles which the end of the brighter yellow convey a film alludes to. especially on black meaningful and white films. sequence and in Source viewers can synchrony with identify the figures in the visuals of the the plate (the Arabi film. leaders and also the private foreign guards of the king. Audio Each GP gets approx. MSA, GM’s voice Higher register is (A-v) 2 sentences of audio compliments the GP required to commentary in GM’s which are processed compensate for voice. instantly by source GM’s voice and the viewers. power of MSA.

Table 11: Scene 9 – Scene Description

SCENE 10

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The Graphic Plates The plate has a poly-semiotic This is the most Christian and (V-v) (GPs) continue. structure: the plate is complex plate: De Muslim accompanied by only 2 Linde and Kay Egyptians The plate shows an sentences which though (1999) point out revolted against Egyptian protest. subtitled fails to reflect the that source the British in Men, women and entire meaning exhibited viewers process 1919. children. Muslim through the linguistic images in film and Christian messages, visual inside the simultaneously women are plate and the audio in the where target marching. Little girl background is over and above viewers serially. holds placard with the commentary. This shows that “Crescent hugging target viewers the Cross”. Source viewers can readily need to dismantle identify the popular photo of the image in Protestors hold the 1919 Revolution that took order to banners saying place after WWI. appreciate the “Freedom” and meaning-making “Long live Egypt”. features deployed in the GP.

Audio The narration by The background voices, The two audio It is possible to (A-v) GM continues but though concurrent, are channels are insert a third also, in the secondary to the narration equally important line which is not background, the and the subtitler opted to though only one a taboo in chants of the ignore them. can be accounted subtitling but protestors are for in the helps in heard saying “Long subtitles. demystifying live Egypt” but complex scenes. drowned by GM’s “Chants: Long voice. live Egypt”.

Table 12: Scene 10 – Scene Description 74

SCENE 11

Channe Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions l Visual The Graphic Plates The commentary is The subtitling Student (V-v) (GPs) continue. understood and accounts only for protest at appreciated by the source one channel, the University viewers, compliments the AUDIO, leaving the Bridge The plate shows a visuals which are processed interpretation of brutally bloody protest against simultaneously. the visuals to the crushed in the King and the experience of the 1946. British near a bridge. The GP refers to the Feb target viewers. British soldiers shoot 1946 student protest when and kill protestors. King Farouk ordered the The “Abbass Bridge” opening of the bridge incident is alluded Protestors carry during the protest thus to in the film in the placards saying “Down leading to the death of student protest with the Occupation”. many protestors. The scene on a bridge. incident became the Nat. Student Day in Egypt.

The visuals, the placards, the slogans date the GP: it is the Abbas Bridge Protest of 1946. Audio “Long live Egypt”. The narration by GM Colour and size of Editing: continues but also, in the the subtitles hard to Increase the background, the chants of see in a black and size and the protestors are heard white film. change the saying “long live Egypt”. colour to The documentary effect in white in the introduction should be black/dark reflected in the subtitles. scenes

Table 13: Scene 11 – Scene Description

SCENE 12

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The Graphic Plates The GPs successfully Subtitling is Nationalism was (V-nv) (GPs) continue. pave the way for the translation in a on the rise in the source viewer to confined space. wake of WWII. The plate shows the appreciate and enjoy daily humiliation of the dramatic events of Egyptians at the the film. The V-nv channel hands of British was sacrificed to soldiers Target viewers got only the A-v channel the 2 lines of the audio depriving target commentary. viewers of essential background info.

Audio The commentary GM’s voice, typical of The prosodic Higher register, (A-v) ends with the “spark his commentaries on features of GM’s typographic of freedom…”. the Radio and TV during voice are difficult manipulation may the 1950s and 1960s to convey. be employed such GM’s voice continues paves the way to the as font and colour. till the beginning of events of the film. Subtitles are by the film. their nature Editors need to GM’s voice is drowned subjective and work closely with by voices of protestors selective. subtitlers who which appear in the must have the “Down with following scene as the Subtitlers need to video available colonialism”. film begins. determine what to prior to starting ignore and what to the translation. The shouts of “Down reduce in order to with colonialism” were convey to target not subtitled although viewers a balanced heard by source translation. viewers.

Table 14: Scene 12 – Scene Description

SCENE 13 To Abdeen

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The opening scene Source viewers can easily Geographical, cultural starts with the identify the place: Cairo and institutional To the (V-nv) Dome of a University. names are not shared Palace. university. particularly between To the Students decide to go on a culturally distant Palace. protest to the Royal Palace of contexts. Abdeen.

This echoes the terrible Students gathering, student protest of 1946 when protesting and Cairo Uni. Students, responding to the protesting the Anglo-Egy. chants of a leader. Treaty, were on their way to Abdeen Palace and the police opened the Abbas Bridge leading to many deaths. Audio *See Arabic example Abdeen is the name of the * Abdeen is not (A-v) 3 in the Appendeix. Royal Palace and seat of “Buckingham”, government. though it has the To Abdeen , same function. To Abdeen Target viewers will not grasp the meaning of “Abdeen”. The audio is the only channel that is usually accounted for in subtitling but it does not have to be cumbersome.

Table 15: Scene 13 – To Abdeen

SCENE 14 Nashed Salib

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Freedom fighters The visual lacks the Christian Subtitlers of classic Top title: gather and talk dimension which is given in films need to do Christian about news of the dialogue and their homework on name. Ibrahim Hamdy. complements the the background of documentary 8GPs. films with significant form to help develop The Christian element is very better subtitling significant to the Egyptian strategies. context and audience.

Native viewers can process Target viewers will both the verbal and the extra miss the significance semantic meaning as the name per se simultaneously but target does not imply any viewers can only process the Christian affiliation. verbal translation of the dialogue.

Audio One says: Nashed Salib is one of the Ethnic names lose “Nashed Salib is freedom fighters. His name, in their meaning in the due any minute Arabic, is clearly a Christian subtitles and their now”. name which the significance needs to transliteration does not show be ‘spelt out’ for and the significance is lost. target viewers.

It is very significant in patriotic films in Egypt to reflect the national unity between Muslims and Christians.

Table 16: Scene 14 – Nashed Salib

SCENE 15 Iftar Canon

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The Minarets of a In Ramadan, Muslims fast A fine example to show Top title: (V-nv) mosque are lit at from sunrise to sunset. how the visual channel End of the same time the The signs of Iftar are can have meaning- fasting. canon strikes. numerous but chief among making resources. them are the audio-visual signs: when the ‘lights of Subtitling films from minarets’ are turned on ‘exotic’ cultures need a and when the Ramadan lot of explicitation and canon strikes. compensation strategies in order to deploy In the context of the film, meaning at times when Iftar (sunset) is the central the audio channel relies point in time and main on the visual one for events revolve around it making such meaning both ab initio and as the clear(er). film reaches a climax. The minarets are clearly This is intersected with identified by native scenes of a clock, viewers as the Citadel of reference to Iftar or the Cairo thus giving a time of the day. context to the film.

Audio Only the noise of There is no audio-verbal to Nothing to translate here Insert a (A-nv) the cannon is accompany the visuals yet the visuals are Toptitle: heard. which are understood and teeming with meaning- End of appreciated by source making resources that fasting viewers. This is a fine need to be accounted for. Or, Iftar example showing how a time. scene can have several layers of meaning.

Table 17: Scene 15 – Iftar Canon

SCENE 16 The police order

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual (V-nv) The worried face of the The frozen face of Zaher Subtitles need to Use higher father is seen listening (Visual) is juxtaposed by account for and register. attentively to the radio. the stern language reflect proxemics, (Audio) of the police kinesics, dermal and It is a police order for order. chemical reactions the arrest of the (sweat) of fugitive sitting in front Source viewers can characters. of him. process the two channels (Poyatos 1997). instantly but target viewers can only serially process the two channels.

Audio The police order The police order is read GM’s voice adds an Maintain same promises a reward of by GM. extra dimension to register when 5000 pounds and a the already grave the same warning against The language is in MSA. news highlighted by police order is harbouring the fugitive. the stern legal repeated again High-charged words are words. later. foregrounded in the police order and serve to Two semiotic heighten the context. resources are in use in the audio channel: The police words are recognized voice as stern and repulsive well as MSA. inviting sympathy for Zaher and his ‘guest’.

Table 18: Scene 16 – The police order

SCENE 17 Sotto voce

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Abdel-Hameed Sotto voce is clearly Understanding the Insert: Jerk. wooing his cousin captured, in context, by cinematic language is Samia who rejects native viewers. As the of paramount his passes with her words were not uttered importance. face showing signs the script may not reflect of rejection. them or inexperienced Kinesics subtitlers may deem them unimportant. They did on this occasion and no subtitles offered.

Audio *See example 4. Sotto voce, is an important Subtitlers need to Sotto voce is part of the kinesic features watch the film several part of the Samia utters in in dialogue and need to be times prior to dialogue and sotto voce the accounted for. embarking on subtitlers need Arabic words “Ya subtitling a classic. to pay attention sim” which means They occur in two other to the visual “jerk”. situations in the film. There are other channel that situations in the film contributes to Their significance lie in the where the dialogue meaning in film. importance they give to list will not account characterisation. for the verbal message such as in the Bar and Graffiti scenes later in the film (scenes 19 & 23).

Table 19: Scene 17 – Sotto voce

SCENE 18 Suhur

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The Messaharati is a Cultural traits and Dawn prayers! The Messaharati typical Ramadan images are difficult beating a drum character that takes to tackle in reductive walking alone late at care of waking up translation. night. people to perform a religious duty. Mainly There is no space or take their Suhur and place for footnotes in do the Dawn prayers. subtitling.

There is a song that Condensed goes with his drum translation must give beat. priority to image.

Here, all is condensed to one word Suhur and is given an explanation between brackets. Audio The Messaharati (the The song that goes Experience has an This is a fine caller to the pre- with the call to Suhur accumulative nature example of the fasting meal) calls the was left out and the to it and it is ability to carry faithful to the last main concept word examples like these over cultural night meal (Suhur) Suhur was maintained that subtitlers need images which are and dawn prayers. and given an to reflect upon to unknown to the explication that fits build their ‘expertise’ target culture. *See example 5. the purpose. in subtitling cultural images. It is not clear if There is a song that this is an editorial goes with the word interference, the Suhur: work of a second subtitler or a “O ye faithful, rise up, randomly chosen praise the lord…” strategy.

Table 20: Scene 18 – Suhur 82

SCENE 19 The bar

Channe Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions l Visual Abdel-Hameed at a This is the most ambiguous Subtitler dilemma: Use same (V-nv) bar, has a drink, goes scene in the film. (The Bar register for through a phone book scene) Here the two the police and jots down some channels are not order. phone numbers. True to his character, so far, working together as [The Bar Scene] Abdel-Hameed drinks, each is deploying a Or, contemplates betraying his different sign: uncle’s family by seeking to Decide on a contact the secret police. First, the visual is strategy to showing a character explain the The phone book is rather doing something. scene. thin (c.1961) but he is clearly seen taking down Second, the audio is some phone numbers. repeating the police order.

Audio No dialogue. The Police order is repeated Subtitles need to (A-v) again. Viewers are complement the However, the police reminded of the hunt for visuals. order is repeated over the fugitive while the the radio. ‘villain’ is hatching a plot to Since the police betray the protagonist(s). order is repeated subtitlers need to compensate for any loss from previous shot.

Table 21: Scene 19 – The bar

SCENE 20 Couldn’t breathe

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual * Zaher tells wife of his This is the crescendo of the Subtitles should I couldn’t (V-nv) conversation with his film with the most powerful complement the argue with nephew who dialogue in the entire film to visuals but here him. threatened to report follow. should allow the the family unless he visuals to tell the marries Samia. Wife The camera brings the entire story. angry, questions him Zaher family in a single shot on what he has with depth of field alluding Importance of promised his nephew. to the gravity of the characterisation situation. and choosing appropriate level of * The proxemics of the entire discourse. family in the same shot reflects tension.

Audio *See example 6. Wife asks “Did you agree to A classic example of (A-v) him marrying Samia?” subtitler falling Zaher: He wants to victim to the marry Samia? Zaher helplessly replies: tyranny of the source language: Wife: Did you accept? “I couldn’t breathe”. The subtitler Zaher: “I couldn’t Here the translation is too overwhelmed by breathe”! literal as it means: the power of the “He did not give me a dialogue in the chance to argue back”. vernacular.

Suggestion: “I couldn’t Familiarity with argue!” Arabic vernacular and its translation The vernacular expression into English is a skill “can’t breathe” will be used to be developed all again, albeit with a slight the time. 84

SCENE 20 Couldn’t breathe variation, but is equally mistranslated.

Throughout the film the subtitler appears to fall victim of the powerful dialogue in the vernacular which is a common pitfall in translating dialogues in Egyptian novels and in film. The vernacular needs to be analysed vis-à-vis the visuals to identify any redundancy (from tautology to repetition) and determine the salient features that need to be subtitled. While Egyptian films regard dialogue as a powerful element in the cinematic language, this should not be a prohibitive element in subtitling. Conducting scene analysis helps subtitlers to determine appropriate translation strategies that help and not hinder target viewers’ appreciation of the visual and the entire film.

Table 22: Scene 20 – Couldn’t breathe

SCENE 21 Using diplomacy

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Zaher tells family The crescendo continues Subtitles should Develop an image (V-nv) that he will have with the entire Zaher elucidate and not that compensates to go along with family in the same shot. confuse the visual for the double Abdel-Hameed till pleasure of meaning of Ibrahim leaves * The close proxemics of “watching” films. ‘Siyassa’ and home, then tell the entire family reflects maintain the him the wedding is anxiety and sustains the If the pun proves too same image in off. tension. cumbersome to the short maintain then an dialogue. Zaher uses the alternative must be expression “We must use found. politics” which is correctly translated as This is a fine example “diplomacy’. to illustrate the significance of film The clever dialogue literacy. In simple continues as Samia terms, it means the responds to her father’s sensitivity by expression of “ we must subtitlers to see the use politics” by visual and not pay too expanding the linguistic close attention to expression, saying: hearing the dialogue “Damn politics and damn which leads to the day we heard of translation that is politics”. distant from the visual it is meant to Samia shows chemical elucidate in the first reaction (tears) in her place. response.

Audio *See example 7. Samia responds to her Subtitlers must Zaher: “We have (A-v) father’s expression saying distance themselves to be patient with Zaher: “We must “Damn politics”, thus from the clever turn of your cousin”. use politics!” underscoring the phrase in the source 86

SCENE 21 Using diplomacy political issue of the language and seek Samia: “My patriotic film. simple strategies patience is Samia: relying on the image wearing thin”. “Damn politics However, the subtitling to elucidate the since the day we did not match the effect meaning. knew it”. implied in the dialogue. Thus the impression received by target viewers is less than that experienced by native viewers.

Where the subtitler managed the first half of the play on the word “politics” used by the father, they fell for the second part used by Samia and translated it literally.

The subtitler failed to carry over the play on words which marks the most important moment in the film.

As in the previous scene described here, translating the vernacular of Egyptian film dialogue requires patient description of the most important scenes in order to identify the relevant part of the dialogue that requires translating and the most appropriate translation strategies.

Table 23: Scene 21 – Using diplomacy

SCENE 22 My flesh is bitter

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Abdel-Hameed An angry scene where the Kinesics I can’t be V-v finds out Ibrahim’s dialogue employs the Features, gestures, fooled. gone and loses vernacular. Gaze, Body language temper. Dermal The subtitles stick literally Chemical Camera focuses on to the vernacular his face and body. There is a great deal My flesh is bitter! of redundancy in the Samia and Nawal in Egyptian spoken the same cadre but is an obscure image to the vernacular which submissively unable English reader. helps the subtitler to to do a thing. condense subtitles Literally it means “I am not using a suitable too easy to fool” or “I was strategy. not born yesterday”.

Audio Abdel-Hameed The dialogue reflects the Subtitling Arabic Subtitles A-v bursts : angry mood of the cousin. vernacular is the should make “No, my flesh prime challenge in full use of this wouldn’t be eaten Literally what he means is: subtitling Egyptian ‘live’ scene by for nothing. I will “1. I can’t be fooled. films. reducing the get you into 2. I’ll get you into trouble. amount of trouble. My flesh is 3. I’m not too easy to fool. Subtitles need not be subtitles in bitter. I’ll bring it 4. I will ruin you”. ‘complete’ but must favour of using down on your be concise and one idiomatic heads” As can be seen the ‘credible’. expression: outburst carries redundant elements as he repeats A scene description [I wasn’t born himself. It can easily be would ensure that yesterday!] seen that he repeats subtitlers gain a himself in 1 and 3 stating better understanding that he is too clever to be of the audio-visual fooled and again in 2 and 4 resources implied in 88

SCENE 22 My flesh is bitter he threatens to get them the filmic material. into trouble. Accordingly in A scene analysis would identifying the show this redundancy but relevant parts of the also the body language dialogue, the which merits watching translation strategies through fewer subtitles. should be identified Here the subtitler offered to synch with the three lines for the four visuals and not clutter sentences uttered but the screen with again the subtitles are subtitles that are redundant as “I can’t be ambiguous no matter fooled” is the same as the how clever they are in awkward “My flesh is the target language. bitter”. The vernacular has its Throughout the film charm but in examples of literal subtitling effort must translation can be seen be exerted to “resist” and this is not entirely due falling in owe with to poor translation skills such charm and but rather to poor film priority must be given literacy where subtitlers, to the screen: like most native viewers, Give more space to believe in the the visual by reducing unquestionable the amount of supremacy of the dialogue subtitles. in Egyptian films.

Table 24: Scene 22 – My flesh is bitter

SCENE 23 Graffiti

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Undercover police Lacunae in subtitling. Lacunae in subtitles Insert “Down V-v whitewash graffiti are considered a with colonialism”. on the wall that Target viewers can readily cardinal sin and reads: ‘Down with “see” a subtitle is missing! make one of the colonialism’. easiest “errors” Lacunae in subtitling occur picked up by when the visual clearly viewers who like to shows a verbal message “play spot the error that is not accounted for game”. which tends to deprive subtitling of credibility. Subtitlers working from the dialogue Lacunae are one of other list tend to miss situations in the film that unspoken shows the importance of utterances, sotto watching the video: others voce or other include sotto voce, mural kinesic gestures. paintings, decor and the use of ethnic, geographic This is a fine or historical names. example that shows that the video is an Films with significant form, integral part of whether suspense or subtitler’s tools and classic films, make use of must be made various meaning-making available to them resources that are despite the pressure deployed to create of time particularly meaning in at film festivals. unconventional ways.

The use of ‘Visual-verbal’ channel is one such technique and subtitlers need to conduct scene 90

SCENE 23 Graffiti analysis for such films until their film literacy has reached an advanced level. Audio While the image shows Film deploys Appreciating the action, and there is no meaning-making feedback effect is dialogue, subtitlers need resources over and a significant tool to be careful that visual- above the audio available to verbal resources must be channel. subtitlers despite accounted for. the constrained This scene contrasts context of ‘film with the bar scene translation’. where Abdel- Hameed was using the phone book to get numbers for the secret police. The bar scene has no visual-verbal message but the scene showed action that is meaningful to the plot.

Scene analysis, as can be seen from these two examples, highlight meaning that is rich in the cinematic language of particular directors who like to engage the viewers beyond the dialogue.

Table 25: Scene 23 – Graffiti

SCENE 24 Mural painting

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The distraught The Mural sums up the Murals are common V-v mother curses the faith of the family and resources used in “Say nothing Secret Police who reflects a moral dilemma. Egyptian films. shall befall us arrested her son. without God’s The verse is a safety net for Subtitlers need to will”. She is being Muslims who seek spiritual watch the video but comforted by strength at times of also be familiar with Top title: Koranic friends, as the hardship. the cinematic verse. camera moves language of the away it glances at The mural is juxtaposed by director (typical a mural of the the mother’s curse and the technique by H. Koran: serenity of the father (who Barakat). “Say nothing shall is actually faking befall us without composure). Use a religious God’s will”. quote but exercise Dialogue is overshadowed caution not to sound by the religious quote in too Christian. the mural.

The verse in the mural is unaccounted for in the subtitles. Audio Mother says: The subtitles do not reflect This scene contrasts A-v the psychological state of with the previous “May God deprive the family. scene where audio- them of their verbal channel is children as they Reliance on the dialogue accompanied by a did to me”. alone stops short of giving Visual-verbal (V-v) an exact feeling of the big resource that proves picture. to be equally significant. The subtitles given are too superficial and weak.

Table 26: Scene 24 – Mural painting 92

SCENE 25 Abdallah Nadim

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Ibrahim is introduced The action now moves to Ethnic/regional names Top title: V.nv to another freedom Alexandria. Nadim is a are difficult to reflect in Historical fighter from regional name from subtitles. In films of name. Alexandria. Alexandria and every historical nature this schoolboy in Egypt should be highlighted. Correct knows who he is. “resistor” to Also, the regional fighter. Spelling his name in full, dialect and accent of per se, does not Alexandria is difficult to underscore the carry over in writing. significance of his background.

Like Nached Salib above, ethnic names require special attention.

Audio Ibrahim is introduced Earlier, in the 8GPs, this As the film moves to A-v to: name was alluded to in Alexandria and is near the Arabi Revolution of the end, attention must “Abdulla Nadim a 1881. be maintained to freedom fighter from credible subtitles. Alexandria! ‘An Alexandrian resistor’ Fatigue or second The accent hints at does not solve Nadim subtitlers finishing off Alexandrian accent. problem and the word subtitling needs the “resistor” is awkward in careful attention of the English. editor.

Table 27: Scene 25 – Abdallah Nadim

SCENE 26 Alexandria dialect

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Ibrahim disguised as a Alexandrian dialect. Subtitling dialect is “We haven’t V-nv worker getting ready to one of the main got all day”. board the ship on his Dialect used to denote challenges in way to France. the location of the scene subtitling along with which is visible as a port. other linguistic features such as To native viewers it is a intonation. semiotic sign that adds to appreciation of the Translation of narrative as it develops. dialogue must not be too literal and at It is difficult to convey the expense of the dialect in subtitles and visual. here reference to Alexandria is already achieved through the scenery and the dialogue. Audio * see example 9. The subtitling adheres to Adding text to image A-v the original dialogue but is not required if the The dialogue employs an fails to convey the effect image conveys the Alexandrian expression desired (showing dialect). meaning. Subtitling “Must we get you a bike” is not translation to denote the locale. It is not clear that the and when it happens significance of the dialect it is reductive. merits the attempt to convey it and produces an irrelevant translation.

Table 28: Scene 26 – Alexandria dialect

SCENE 27 Voices

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Ibrahim already on board Flash backs are common Recognising voices: Nawal: write the ship has a moment cinematic techniques Nawal and Ibrahim. “there is no to reflect on his decision that bring forward a past god but to leave Egypt. moment in the film. There is a clash Allah”. between the visual He remembers a Native viewers can and audio channels conversation he had identify voices but this is which to target earlier with Nawal whom not available to target viewers do not add he has grown fond of. viewers who would find up. it difficult to know, or Ibrahim, through a remember, the voice flashback, remembers speaking in Arabic. the words Nawal said to him before leaving her The Arabic expression house: means “One shall come back or be reunited with the person who has the other half of the sentence”! Audio Target viewers are Subtitling the “ Write: there is no God unable to distinguish dialogue but Allah” voices in Arabic. The only irrespective of the resource they have is the visual creates a added subtitles which do vacuum that not identify the speakers. disturbs the viewing and their following The cultural image may of the events. benefit from neutralising by using an English term to the same effect.

Table 29: Scene 27 – Voices 95

SCENE 28 Soliloquay

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Ibrahim pondering Flashback/Soliloquy Recognising voices: Indicate his future reflects on Omar Sharif’s speaker his decision. He The scene follows from the enters into a previous one but this time Signs, scenes, places soliloquy and hears through soliloquy. Source and names; both his own voice. viewers can readily ethnic and geographic, recognise Ibrahim’s voice in are part of the visual Arabic. resources open to film directors. Recognition The audio-visual channels of these resources by complement each other to viewers is essential to target viewers but may need understanding and explicitation to target appreciation of the viewers unable to recognise film. voices. Audio He remembers his Target viewers will not be Equally important is last conversation able to recognise the voice the recognition of with Nashed Salib of Ibrahim in Arabic. sounds, songs and when he said: voices particularly The subtitling is reductive when soliloquy or “What is more but is pointed. However, the flashbacks are honourable for me; flashback effect may not be employed in the to live in France or to clear. cinematic language of die in Egypt?” the film.

Table 30: Scene 28 – Soliloquy

SCENE 29 An endless ocean

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual Ibrahim decides not to Only the “Mediterranean Subtitling is not “ An endless escape to France and Sea” separates Egypt and translation and sea”. returns to Cairo from France. using metaphors Alexandria. need to be carried The metaphor used sounds out with care. He shares his reluctance outlandish to target viewers to leave Egypt to France watching an Egyptian film. Subtitling with a fellow freedom strategies are fighter that organised his While the example may subjective and escape. sound trivial it is quite often translation these little mistakes that latitude must be can damage a good film at tested against the international film festivals. effect on the visual. This is a good example of how subtitles should be transparent. Audio Ibrahim can’t live abroad The Arabic word “sea” is Over-translation with “an endless sea” subtitled as ocean. between me and my homeland”. Perhaps the literal translation of the image used in Arabic is proper and sufficient.

Table 31: Scene 29 – An endless ocean

SCENE 30 The end

Channel Expression Analysis Challenges Solutions

Visual The last shot in the film “The Beginning” is in bold Different films use Use colour. is a strong visual-verbal large letters as there is no different types of sign: capitalisation in Arabic. “The End”. Some Increase font repeat the film size, use “And this was the The emphasis is on the title, others use a capitals and BEGINNING”. Beginning, in contrast to catch phrase. centre subtitle: the usual “End” written Attention is as films close, but here required to the THE The word “Beginning” symbolically referring to extra-semantic BEGINNING is in large font and in the beginning of a new meaning implied. the same graphic style age that culminates with like the film title at the the July Revolution. beginning of the film. Meaning lost: Capital Letters in Both graphic and Arabic. semantic Translating Target viewers should not graphics: be left wondering “the beginning of what?” or THE BEGINNING the significance of the large font.

Audio Patriotic music. Musical notes reflect the same tune of the Nasserist period (1952- 1970).

Table 32: Scene 30 – The end

The thirty scenes selected for examination above represent some of the major subtitling hurdles encountered in subtitling classic Egyptian films. They do not cover all the hurdles present in the film examined, A Man in our House. In the next chapter, the 30 scenes described above employing multimodal analysis will be further discussed bearing in mind the Egyptian context of Arabic translation, the DVD industry, screen translation and the absence of the field of audiovisual translation in the country. The discussion will focus on the shortcomings in the the DVD subtitling of A Man in our House and will argue that the best way to address these shortcomings is to challenge the status quo of the DVD subtitling practice. This will be attempted by foregrounding the significance of formal training in subtitling as a specialisation in translation studies. Specialisation is a fundamental notion of professionalism. Since the prevailing culture is erroneously based on the belief that ‘film translation’ (as the Arabic equivalent for subtitling reveals) is just another form of translation, it is totally oblivious of the polysemiotic nature of filmic texts. By challenging and changing the status quo it is hoped that the field of audiovisual translation will be disambiguated and will hopefully take root in Egyptian translation studies. The discussion in chapter five is based on the synchronic examination of both the audio and the visual channels. It will pay particular attention to the vexing problem of translating the spoken Egyptian vernacular into English. However, as the next chapter will show, any worthwhile discussion of subtitling issues is best informed by a minimum level of film literacy.

Chapter Five

Discussion of the data analysis

Introduction

In the previous chapter, 30 examples from A Man in our House were cited as problematic areas in the subtitling of a classic Egyptian film into English. The list presents various snapshots of different stages in the film, indeed starting with the DVD case (The Jewel case) and finishing with The End shot of the film. In the previous chapter multimodal analysis has been employed in order to highlight the various channels and meaning-making features that make up the audiovisual text. The data analysis highlighted areas of challenges and difficulties in the subtitling of Egyptian classic film into English. Difficulties varied according to the channel and the meaning-making feature employed. In each of the 30 examples examined, the difficulty is highlighted and explained and various suggestions offered. What is significant and, is still lacking in the academic literature on Arabic subtitling as well as in the professional context, is the knowledge of why difficulties arise, why errors are being committed and why challenges continue to be unmet. This opinion is based on the examination of subtitled Egyptian DVDs over a ten-year period, which actually marks the first decade of the DVD industry in Egypt as explained in Chapter Two.

5.1 Taxonomies and typologies

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss why the examples selected and included in the list of 30 scenes/shots are challenging in the first place and the means to better handle them in the subtitling of classic films. In this respect, the table of the 30 examples will be recalled by the heading of each example and then grouped in categories for ease of recognition and reference. This will enable a further illucidation of the challenge encountered and will shed light on the nature of the unmet challenge and the problem with the subtitling as encountered in the subtitles on the DVD. The use of tables of subtitling types and issues is not unusual in the examination of subtitling and several scholars in the field of audiovisual translation have used and called for taxonomies (Ramiere 2006) and typologies (Nedergaard-Larsen 1993) of translation issues and challenges. It is perhaps significant to distinguish between taxonomies and typologies at this point. The former, a taxonomy, means a collection of unrelated objects for example a coin, a key, a watch, a pen and a wallet. As can be seen all items could come from the personal belongings of any person and while they all belong to the same person they are intrinsically different. The latter, a typology would be the collection of different types of the same (and single) item. In this respect, if all the coins in the wallet were examined together this would make a typology of the coins. Here the 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent and 50 cent pieces would make a typology (with no odd items) of coins. In other words, any collection of

100 subtitling examples would be a taxonomy of subtitling issues till it is further examined and the various issues classified into a group of the same type (typology) with categories and subcategories for further study. While the two terms have been used interchangeably in the subtitling literature the main idea is to collect examples for further study and analysis as table 33 shows. Here it could be said that the taxonomy of 30 examples of subtitling difficulties are further grouped into a typology of ten categories of subtitling callenges.

Teaching experience shows that tables are useful in contextualising knowledge particularly when there are several aspects to the same issue. Equally, inexperienced and trainee subtitlers can take better control of their learning by monitoring their own collections and focusing on citing the correct example and finding the most appropriate translation strategy. As mentioned previously the multimodal analysis is not a skill in its own right but a fundamental technique that professional subtitlers need to do at least once before it becomes internalised. Given the lengthy and time-consuming descriptions in producing multimodal analysis it must be made clear that it is a means and not an end. When taught, trainees and students are not tested on the method but on the ability to employ it to practical solutions. The relevance can be seen in the fact that most subtitlers, in Egypt, are feelancers who have not received any formal training, academic or professional, and are not given any feedback on their translation of the film dialogue since there is a big professional gap between translation and post- production. The multimodal analysis suggested in the previous chapter is seen as an initial testing measure to explore the complexity of the classic film. It is not an exaggeration to say that subtitlers working on important films featuring an important actor or a film directed by a famous director or a film competing at a film festival must exercise caution before embarking on the task.

The DVD subtitling of some of the films produced in the initial Egyptain Cinema Classics series (Love Street) shows that the application of multimodal analysis as simplified and adapted to Egyptian films may have helped in avoiding some of the forced and unforced errors committed. To be fair to subtitlers, working conditions have a direct impact on the quality of their work. However, here it is significant to underscore the professional duty to approcah a classic film, for example, one based on a Naguib Mahfouz novel and directed by Hassan Al-Imam with great care. That combination, Mahfouz and Al-Imam, should strike fear in the heart of any subtitler, particularly those who have received no training in the principles of subtitling, who accepts to work without the video and has no first-hand knowledge of the cinematic language of AL-Imam who not only directed five Mahfouzian films including, the Cairo Trilogy, but is commonly known as “the director of masterpieces”.

The same thing applies to taxonomies and typologies. The purpose is not to search for scenes and examples and collect strategies for each but rather it is a schema for appreciating subtitling issues. Once enternalized it becomes a professional habit and an integral part of the ‘expertise’ of the subtitler who is able to identify the challenge and suggest a suitable solution. The examination of taxonomies and typologies in subtitling is a step forward in the establishment of a theoretical framework of subtitling which could lead to a culture of debating and researching the wider field of audiovisual translation studies.

101

5.2 The table of examples

visual features visual

& &

esign

arning

over

ocumentary

graphic names graphic

Graphic d Graphic

Spoken Arabic Spoken Voices

Legal Legal DVD Geo audio Extra Arabic Standard Modern references Religious

Scene Example

(1) (2) The (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) 1 Legal warning 2 DVD menu 3 O. Sharif spelling 4 Film title 5 Plate 1 6 Plate 2 7 Plate 3 8 Plate 4 9 Plate 5 10 Plate 6 11 Plate 7 12 Plate 8 13 To Abdeen 14 Nashed Salib 15 Iftar canon 16 Police Order 17 Sotto voce 18 Suhur 19 The bar 20 Can’t breathe 21 Using diplomacy 22 My flesh is bitter 23 Graffiti 24 Mural painting 25 Abdallah Nadim 26 Alexandra dialect 27 Religious 28 Soliloquy 29 An Endless ocean 30 The End

Table 33: Grouping the thirty scenes into categories

102

5.3 Categories of the examples

Table 33 shows the thirty examples as they appeared and examined in Chapter Four. It also follows the same order they appeared in which is chronologically-based reflecting the development of the plot through the scenes selected for examination. The table briefly mentions each example and then assigns a general category for each example. Having analysed the examples in the previous chapter in detail, table 34 focuses on the categories under which the examples could be grouped. This is important for ease of reference and examination of each category of challenges/errors. While examples may vary from film to film each category serves as an overall umbrella of possible instances or examples. Each of the following ten categories deserve further attention and examination with a list of various examples gleaned from analyzing a large collection of subtitled DVDs. This typology, then, is intended to focus the attention on the type of translation challenge encountered in the subtitling of A Man in our House. In the following examination each category will be defined in more detail.

No Category Scene number 1 Legal warning 1 2 DVD cover 2,3,4 3 The documentary 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 4 Geographic names 13 5 Extra audio & visual features 14,15,17,19, 23,24,25 6 Modern Standard Arabic 16 7 Religious references 18,27 8 Spoken Arabic 20,21,22-26,29 9 Voices (27), 28 10 Graphic design 30

Table 34: A typology of ten categories

What I intend to do next is to discuss each category of challenges in light of what was said in the previous chapter highlighting what could be done to meet the challenge and to avoid making the same mistake again when subtitling classic films. The discussion will inevitably refer to the subtitling context in Egypt discussed in Chapter Two and to the literature review discussed in Chapter Three. By the end of this chapter, it will become evident that a theoretical framework is presupposed for the better subtitling of classic Egyptian films as well as a reasonable level of film literacy. This assumption will be further proven throughout the discussion and particularly through other examples from A Man in our House and from other Omar Sharif’s films commercially available on subtitled DVDs.

5.3.1 Legal warning Legal warnings serve as a legal contract and while the language may be convoluted the message nevertheless needs to be clear. This is important because the mere opening and playing of the DVD implies that the person has agreed to the terms and conditions of the

103 manufacturing and/or distributing company. While it is true that Anti-piracy laws are not the same in different countries, it is now common knowledge that legal warnings are part of every DVD. Legal translation, apart from being complex, needs to be taken seriously by the subtitler.

The two texts of the legal warning as seen in the DVD are markedly different. The English version contains four sentences and reads:

1. Licensed for private home exhibition only. 2. Any public performance, copying, or other use is strictly prohibited. 3. All other rights reserved. 4. Unauthorised reproduction, exhibition or distribution of copyrighted material can result in severe criminal and civil penalties.

By contrast, the Arabic version of the warning has only three sentences and reads:

1. This copy is for home exhibition only 2. Its use in any broadcast, public performance, distribution or editing is prohibited. 3. All rights of this classification are reserved to Finoon Distribution Company. [My translation]

It is not clear which is the source text and which is the translation. The confusion comes from the fact that the producing company is Egyptian but the DVD is actually manufactured in the UK. The distribution company, Finoon, was essentially based in London before its acquisition by Rotana Company. Furthermore, the Arabic language warning text is presumably intended for Egypt (or any other Arab state where relevant Egyptian copyright laws are applicable). Copyright laws in Egypt are not extensive, not enforced and do not have the same legal extent as copyright laws in Australia for example. Put simply, DVD piracy is not illegal in Egypt. This may explain why the English version of the Warning is curiously longer. It has a warning that is too common in Australia (the fourth sentence) relating to copying and the applicable penalties. Thus the last segment of the English warning does not appear in the Arabic version of the warning at all:

Unauthorised reproduction, exhibition or distribution of copyrighted material can result in severe criminal and civil penalties.

Interestingly, where copying appears in the second sentence of the English Warning, there is no reference to ‘copying’ in the Arabic version of the warning. There are other sociol-linguistic elements in the drafting and translation of the Warning such as “private” in the English version ‘for private home use only” where the Arabic version does not include “private” in the home use. Equally interesting though not surprising is the absence of the adverb “strictly” in the Arabic version. While, the legal aspects of the Distribution are not within the scope of this research, it is surprising that the name of the Egyptian Company “Finoon” does not appear in the English version of the Warning.

104

Since the two texts are essentially different, it would appear that either the subtitler has nothing to do with the translation or it was manipulated by the legal department in the company. Since the types of errors in the translation are over and above the linguistic level, the latter suggestion appears to be more probable. As will be shown shortly when the second category (The DVD cover) is discussed, adequate briefing and clear instructions to the subtitler are essential in order to avoid some unnecessary embarrassment. Needless to say, the legal warning is too important to be taken lightly. A distribution company may miss out on a lot of rights if the legal warning is incorrectly translated into the target language market.

5.3.2 The DVD case The DVD case contains the cover that describes the film inside. It shows a large photo of Omar Sharif and a much smaller one of Zebaida Tharwat, the first actress in the film/heroine. In the bottom left corner is an image of the old green Egyptian flag. The flag is a very significant symbolic feature. It is the old flag of Egypt prior to the 1958 Union with Syria where it was changed to the three stripes of red, white and black and the two stars of the two united nations of Syria and Egypt. It is also the old flag of the Suez war and not too dissimilar to the Egyptian flag of the 1919 Revolution. It is a green flag with a white Crescent containing three five pointed stars. The significance lies in the fact that it dates the film to the post-WWII period and therefore the events of the film. This is quickly picked up by native Egyptian viewers or those familiar with the novel upon which the film is based or with the genre of political/patriotic films in Egyptian cinema. Non-Egyptian Arabic-speakers as well as foreign- language viewers are likely to miss this significant sign. There is also another important logo on the DVD Case and it appears on the top left corner. It is the logo of the first ever collection of Egyptian films to appear on DVD titled “Egyptian Cinema Classics”. As mentioned earlier, A Man in our House is the first Egyptian DVD to be produced.

The first screen once the DVD is played shows the controls: Play movie, Scene selection, Extra Material and Subtitles. It is interesting to observe that the third option Extra Material is actually the ‘Special Features’ that most American DVDs would have. It is peculiar that the term “Extra material” is used here as it, perhaps, reflects the concept producers of Egyptian DVDs think of. The Extra Material is actually only limited to text information and includes information on Omar Sharif’s filmography in Arabic and nothing else. This contrasts with the generous features that come with American films that sometimes have a Second Disc entirely dedicated to Special Features. Gamal (2007b, 2008a, 2010b) points out that the Special Features (or indeed the Second Disc) should be fruitfully used to include translated material or any filmic material that could enhance the appreciation and enjoyment of Egyptian classic films. As it stands the Extra Material/Special Features do not address target-language viewers neither in content nor in language. It is equally significant to observe that while the film is subtitled into English and French, English dominates the cover and content.

Once the film starts there are two big distractions that target viewers are faced with. First, the spelling of Omar Sharif on the screen is different from the one that is commonly known in the West and indeed different from the one used on the DVD case. We read the “Egyptian version” of spelling Omar Sharif’s name as “Omar Sherif”, with an ‘e’ rather than an ‘a’. This comes from the fact that Omar’s name in Arabic is actually pronounced as Omar El-Sherif. This point

105 highlights the need to do some research on the part of the subtitler prior to working with a classic film. The actor, in the first film to be produced on DVD, is a popular one who has been around for more than 50 years and his fame both in Egypt and abroad is already established. Classic films need to be treated with care and attention and not to be entrusted to beginners or inexperienced subtitlers (Mera 1999). Immediately linked to this and a few seconds later, target viewers see the film title in bold type in Arabic and underneath it the translation that reads “A hero under our roof” which is in stark difference to the film title on the DVD case. This is a serious anomaly that is more than just an error. It is a methodological error that shows the working method of subtitlers in Egypt (and indeed in many other countries) by which subtitlers are given only the dialogue list to work from and their involvement in the subtitles production begins and ends with the “translation” process of the printed dialogue with no opportunity to watch the video. Later in this discussion I will point out other examples that support this claim. Although the translation offered here is both linguistically correct and culturally appropriate, it is pragmatically unacceptable simply because the film is already known commercially as “A Man in our House” and consistency is vital in this area. This underscores the significance of briefing the subtitler.

Subtitlers of Classic films must work with an editor to check the production of the suitable subtitles for such an important film. Failure to do that undermines the entire cinema industry. Later, it will be shown that such cooperation will exceed linguistic issues and extend to suggestions on what else needs to be included in the Extra Material/Special Features that may help enlighten target and foreign viewers on aspects of Egyptian Culture and history. Only then, a subtitler who has worked with the video would be in a far better position to gain sufficient understanding of the level of difficulty the film has for target viewers and the degree of explication required by way of extra material to be included in the ‘Extra Material’

5.3.3 The documentary The film begins with a series of eight graphic plates accompanied by narration. The purpose of the graphic plates is to provide a context for this patriotic and quasi-historical film which documents an important period in modern Egyptian history: the resistance to the British occupation of Egypt which began in 1882. Thus, the graphic plates, for all intents and purposes, serve as a documentary film inside the feature film. Espasa points out that that “audiovisual translation has scarcely addressed the translation of documentaries” (2004, p. 183). The documentary therefore calls for particular attention to the images and to the commentary. Esapsa highlights some of the features that make subtitling documentaries challenging by pointing out that the audiovisual text in documentaries is written to be spoken. She alerts us to the problem of register; that of the “narrator” and of other persons in the documentary “the talking heads”. Her observation sums up the challenge “This brings about a diversity of registers in translation. The narrator’s register and diction tend to be more formal than that of the talking heads and social actors” (2004, p. 191). Naturally, this poses another challenge to the subtitler whose task is to primarily translate the audio track. Yet, the graphic plates are pregnant with visual meaning that appeals to Egyptian viewers who can easily pick up the significance of the visual information and store it in mind to be recalled later when the feature film starts. There is also another challenge: the commentary employs a high register of spoken Arabic that is usually employed in important occasions such as announcements or introduction 106 to important events. Certainly, this would impose pressure on the subtitler to match the rhetoric of the commentary. To complicate matters further, the commentary is actually in the voice of a popular radio/television announcer Mr Galal Mouawad who was closely associated with the Nasser period.

The director Henry Barakat employed this technique of using the eight graphic plates to produce a mini-film at the beginning of his creation. In this black and white classic, the mini- film serves as a documentary that prefaces his opera maestra. This technique, used as early as 1961, has had a powerful influence on a number of Egyptian film directors as can be seen in other classic and significant films that employ the same technique of a documentary to preface the film particularly A Little Bit of Fear (Hussein Kamal 1969) and The Land (Yousef Chahine 1970), both are listed among the Most Important 100 Films (Al-Hadary 2007).

This is another reason why classic films require research by the subtitler not only to prepare for the subtitling of the audio track of the film but also to identify all meaning-making features that contribute to its form and account for its local success. The task of the subtitler therefore is to attempt to convey as much of this meaning to the target viewer notwithstanding the common limitations imposed by the audiovisual medium. Trusting the significant film to a novice subtitler would do injustice to the artistic merit of the film.

The suggestions offered in the previous chapter call for the subtitles to be re-designed in order to account for the visual information while maintaining the spirit of the narration. In this respect it was suggested to focus on the British occupation, the Egyptian desire for independence and the attempts to call for the evacuation of the British through the events of the Arabi Revolution in 1981, the Revolution of 1919 and most significantly the students’ demonstrations on Abbass Bridge which is actually the prelude to the events of the film. The slight rewording of the commentary, and the foregrounding of the image, may help set the scene for the events of the film and therefore help viewers to appreciate the purpose of the documentary in the film.

5.3.4 Geographic names The problem with geographical names lies in the fact their knowledge embodies a great deal of meaning which takes a lot of text to express. In the previous chapter, scene 13, it was listed as one of the problematic examples. Very early in the film, students demonstrating at Cairo University are seen shouting “Ila Abdeen, Ila Abdeen” which literally means “To Abdeen, to Abdeen”. This literal translation is the actual subtitle offered. In a film of composite political, cultural and historical content such as A Man in our House, care must be taken to ensure not only the smooth understanding of the subtitles but also the uninterrupted following of the plot. Target language viewers must not stop and think “Where is Abdeen” or more precisely “What is Abdeen?”

It was suggested that the words “To the palace, to the palace” replace the offered subtitles in a bid for more clarity.

Throughout the film, there are several geographical references to locations, buildings, institutions as well as suburbs, cities and each one has meaning-making features that

107 contribute to the over-all understanding of the film. Failure to appreciate that Qasr Al-Aini is the name of the biggest public hospital in Cairo, where Ibrahim Hamdy is taken for medical attention after being arrested and tortured by the Secret Police, would weaken and limit the understanding of the subtitles. Literal translation of such names is not the only strategy available to the subtitler. Likewise, the police commanders preparing to confront the student protest reveal measures taken at various suburbs of Cairo which also give native viewers a heightened sense of the scene and a good understanding of what is happening on the ground. The reference to Garden City (the diplomatic suburb of Cairo), Abbassiya (middle-class suburb) and Masr El-Gedida (upper-class suburb) give native viewers a feeling of knowing where the action is taking place and affinity with the locale and the story unfolding before them. In subtitling classic films, as with any film, the emphasis is on the ease of following the subtitles and also enjoying watching- and not reading- the film. This requires a refined ability to link text to image (Gamal 2009c, p.6) by selecting a minimum of information to support the visuals. As explained above, not all suburb names are crucial to the development of the plot but an appreciation of their cultural meaning is essential to the selection of the most appropriate subtitles. Such appreciation ought to be seamlessly carried over. In order to do this the subtitler must have the video of the film and must be given the opportunity to watch it prior to subtitling. While this may sound as a fait accompli and a basic measure that all subtitlers do, the fact remains it is not even a common practice and the opposite is sadly the case. As explained in Chapter two, the DVD context in Egypt is very commercial and the modus operandi is not based on any professional guidelines in the absence of formal training and theoretical examination of the practice (Gamal 2007a, p.85). In Egypt, as indeed, in many other parts of the world the practice of working from the dialogue list remains the modus operandi in subtitling coupled with unreasonable deadlines (Diaz Cintas 2008a, p. 5).

5.3.5 Extra audio & visual features Of all the categories examined, and notwithstanding their obvious significance, this category is perhaps the most relevant to the actual métier of subtitling. The reason for this is that it relies on the experience of the subtitler ‘to spot’ the critical moments in the development of the plot where the linear translation process of adding two lines of text to the image would simply not suffice (Gamal 2009a, p.20). In addition, the components of this category are quite often expressed non-verbally and even when they are vocalised it is often the visual and not the audio channel that explicates their meaning. It is because of this that the words audio & visual are written with an ampersand between the two major components of audio-visual material. It is important to stress that the two channels, quite often though not always, work together and not in isolation of each other. Different film directors skilfully use this category to express meaning in a broad variety of techniques depending on the film genre. Awareness of this fact should be a fait accompli but as we have seen in the examples selected for discussion in the previous chapter it is not. The examples in this category not only underscore the dangerous practice of not giving subtitlers access to the video but also the need for subtitlers to be trained to ‘see and recognise’ meaning-making features in a shot and to identify the most appropriate strategy. Therefore, attention must be given to both channels at all times. Table 35 illustrates the examples that will be examined under this category.

108

No Type of feature 1 Ramadan iconography 2 Ethnic names 3 Sotto voce 4 Graffiti 5 Mural paintings 6 Historical names

Table 35: Extra audio & visual features

As established in the previous chapter, the film A Man in our House is a classic and has a composite form that is illustrated so evidently by the documentary element that is used as a mini film at the very beginning of this opus. To add to the significant form (Buckland 2003, Sharff 1982) of the film there is also the cinematic language of the director (Abu Shadi 2005). This means how Henry Barakat makes meaning in his films: directly and indirectly through dialogue, dialect, pun, connotation and denotation, symbolism, references and inferences, costume, décor, music, songs, the locale and geographical surroundings. A strong interest in and appreciation of the cinematic language of the director would be a great asset for the subtitler working on classic films of significant form such as this one.

In the following section, I shall point out what an experienced subtitler, with the aid of a video of the film and adequate research on the novel upon which the work of Henry Barakat is based would be able to do. Prior research of the classic film and the opportunity to view the video, a couple of times, would help identify significant meaning-making features that are typical of or present in the cinematic language of the director, the genre or period.

5.3.5.1 Ramadan iconography

The main events of A Man in our House take place during the month of Ramadan. Ibrahim Hamdy spends four nights at the Zahers’ apartment during Ramadan. The meaning of Ramadan religiously and culturally is significant with the latter more significant than the former. One of the most prominent icons of the holy month is the minaret which is lit to announce the end of fasting and dimmed to announce the beginning of fasting. In Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. In the film the minarets are lit at the same time the canon strikes. Over the hills in Cairo the ‘citadel canon’ strikes at sunset announcing ‘breaking the fast’. This symbol is both religious and cultural. For the events of the film the cultural meaning is significant for the following reason. At sunset, most persons who fast are understandably very weak and when the canon strikes and the minarets are lit there is nothing that can distract their attention from breaking their fast and understandably their primary focus is on eating their dinner. This is significant and failing to appreciate this would make the escape of Ibrahim Hamdy from Qasr Al Aini Hospital, where he was guarded by three policemen, a simple walk out. It is not. The timing is a crucial element, and as we watch, the protagonist has carefully chosen the moment of his escape. Equally, the hospital wards and corridors appear empty which may give the impression that the escape plan was unrealistic. The timing was well chosen. Similarly, the streets of Cairo appear deserted which to the target viewer unfamiliar 109 with the context of Ramadan may all seem too coincidental as the timing has been cleverly selected. In an earlier scene, Nachid Salib visits Ibrahim Hamdy in hospital and enquires about his plans to escape Hamdy replies:

I have examined their routines and I believe I’ll have a better chance during Ramadan.

Appreciation of this is indispensable to be able to understand meaning and to produce compact subtitles. The DVD subtitles failed to account for this understanding as it failed to account for other Ramadan features such as the greetings exchanged between Ibrahim Hamdy and his police guards. The successful portrayal of these Ramadan features, in the short span of four nights makes A Man in our House one of the best two films that presented the month in cinema. It is frequently pointed out in Egyptian cinematic literature that it was the Christian director Henry Barakat who directed one of the best films on Ramadan.

5.3.5.2 Ethnic names

In the sixth graphic plate in the introduction to the film there is a reference to the 1919 revolution. The most significant element in the Egyptian Revolution was the alliance between the Crescent and the Cross, the two main religions in the country. The alliance was tested by the British who thought their invariable practice of “divide and rule” would work. It didn’t. The Egyptians came out as one people holding banners and shouting the ‘Crescent and the Cross are united’. Since then, the Christian element in Egyptian cinema has been significant as a cultural symbol: either clearly stated or mentioned in a subtle way. More often than not it is the latter that dominates the treatment of the Christian element in Egyptian cinema.

Indeed, the name of the resistance fighter who visited Ibrahim Hamdy in hospital camouflaging as a nurse is no one but Nachid Salib. The word “Salib” in Arabic means cross as in the Christian cross. It is unmistakably a Christian name and its selection by the novelist and the director is culturally significant. The DVD subtitling appears to have missed it. The subtitler does not seem to be familiar with the political significance or the cultural importance of this filmic gesture in a patriotic film such as this. The subtitles offered make no effort to account for this meaning- making feature and offers a mono-dimensional linear translation that is devoid of all the social, cultural and pragmatic significance explained above:

Nached Salib will be here soon.

In order to reiterate the implied meaning in GP6 (Graphic Plate 6) in the documentary part of the film, reference to this information ought to be made clear. It is here that a top-title is suggested with the words: Nachid Salib is a Christian name. Likewise, when the film events take place in Alexandria, Ibrahim Hamdy is introduced to a freedom fighter from Alexandria whose name is Abdullah Al-Nadeem. This is not a coincidence that the novelist chose this very famous Alexandrian name. It is meant to be a historical projection on the fifth graphic plate which shows the leaders of the Arabi Revolution rounded up, tried and exiled from Egypt. One of the leaders is Abdullah Al-Nadeem who was the orator, speech writer, and mouthpiece of the revolution. This historical name, like the ethnic name of Nachid Salib, poses great difficulty for the inexperienced subtitler who probably is unaware of the historical significance of the character. Such information may be underscored by the experienced subtitler in a report and

110 submitted to the DVD Company with the view of clarifying the issues in the Extra Material or in the Second Disc.

5.3.5.3 Sotto voce

There are several reasons for the employment of sotto voce techniques in film dialogues. One of them is to engage the viewer into reading the character or to heighten the viewer’s attention by confronting them with complex facial gestures that could be read in more than one way. In A Man in our House, there is a scene where Abdel-Hameed is forcing himself on Samia, who until that moment could not stand him, rejects his advances saying in Arabic “Ya sim” which literally mean “O , poison” or simply meaning “Jerk”. Native viewers can clearly see the face of Samia as she turns away from her suitor to face them. Target viewers will inescapably see the same thing but without the ability to understand what was said. And because she didn’t actually utter any words there was no subtitle offered. The absence of the subtitle is due to the fact that the subtitler of the DVD did not work with the video but with the dialogue list, which does not account for body language or any unarticulated or unvoiced exchanges. There is another reason that may account for the absence of the subtitle and it is the lack of editorial revision and supervision.

Working with an editor is a sign of professionalism when subtitling films for an international audience. The Egyptian DVD industry did well by selecting a powerful film showing an already popular film star well-known internationally however, the subtitling of the film could have been better supervised to ensure that the subtitles do not undermine the value of the film and the name of the famous actor. Subtitling classic Egyptian films into English was the first choice by the DVD industry and providing inadequate subtitles damages the work of the novelist, the directors, the actors and the entire cinema industry. Naturally, it would reflect poorly on the DVD industry in the country. In my research of subtitled Egyptian films over the past decade, it can easily be concluded that the subtitling practice over the past ten years and the overall techniques have not changed and the attitude towards subtitling remains the same. This conclusion is supported by the same type of errors committed in the subtitling both linguistically and professionally, the same modus operandi of sending the dialogue list to translators, the lack of editing services, the absence of any academic courses in screen translation (apart from the American University which is not inexpensive) and most significantly the lack of debate of screen translation at translation conferences, in academic research or even at translation forums online.

5.3.5.4 Graffiti

In the previous point, I raised the issue of having an editor to work with the subtitler who is working into his second language (Chalier 1996). This is a measure of quality that must be imposed on the subtitling of classic films that will advertise the industry and the country abroad. While subtitling is regarded as a commercial enterprise and not a government project this suggestion will be debated for years to come. To prove the importance of having an editor, there is a scene in the film where undercover political police whitewash an anti-British slogan

111 written on a wall. They are clearly seen with a broad brush painting over the graffiti with white paint. Nothing was offered in the subtitles in the film.

Native viewers can see the Arabic graffiti and can easily read it “Down with colonialism”. Target viewers can only wonder what was on the wall that prompted the secret police to paint over it.

Film critics argue that film viewers can interpret and deduce meaning in a myriad of ways and each viewer sees different things in the film. This is true as we all have experienced this by watching the same film more than once whether at a particular age or watching the same film some years later. Yet, the point here is that film viewers do not and perhaps should not be allowed to develop the feeling of “something is missing” or is lost in the subtitling (Gambier 1998). This is indeed the primary task of the editor who is to check the correct mounting of the subtitles, exact spotting, and the appropriateness of the subtitles and that they actually account for the visual in the film. While some subtitles that account for the visual may be as perplexing, the fact remains that target viewers would find it irritating to see something being said or written in the visual and not accounted for in the subtitles. This irritation would make them stop and think and, in viewing a subtitled film, this is the last thing a professional subtitler would want. Indeed, it is the hallmark of good subtitling that no one notices the subtitles!

5.3.5.5 Mural Paintings

Qassem observes that almost every Egyptian home or shop has a mural painting that depicts some sort of philosophical or religious content and is expressed in a form of calligraphic writing which is a significant art form so widely appreciated (2011, p. 16). In the digital age, calligraphy still has its undisputed place due to its close affinity with abstract art which is the only form of art associated with the Islamic holy book. Thus the calligraphic content, which has six different artistic styles, is mainly from the Koran, the Bible, poetry or literature. The ‘painting’ derives its artistic merit from calligraphy rather than from painting proper. Quite often, real life situations imitate, prove, disprove, echo or refer to the mural and more often than not in ironical circumstances. Quite simply, as the character speaks or finishes saying something the camera moves away from them and takes the mural in its focus thus giving a fleeting focus on the mural which has, a posteriori, summed up or advertised the position of the character speaking. The use of the mural in a dialogue or as the plot thickens is a technique employed by some directors from the Realistic School in Egyptian cinema and has been successfully employed in some classic films such as Cairo 30 (Salah Abu Seif 1966), Bayoumi Affendi (Yousef Wahbi 1949) and others (Qassem 2002).

In the film, there is a scene where the Zaher family, devastated after the secret police have arrested their son Mohie and his cousin Abdel-Hameed. There was no news of their whereabouts or when they would be released. The family is seen being comforted by friends who are supportive of the two young men. The challenge in the scene stems from the discourse of Mrs Zaher whose “heart is torn” for her son. She is cursing the secret police saying she wished they taste the bitter taste of losing a son. As soon as she utters the curse, the camera moves away from her, her husband and the friends and takes in its focus a mural on

112 the guest room wall that reads “Say nothing shall befall us without God’s will”. The verse from the Koran is a common verse heard and used at times of hardship, death or loss and is intended to reiterate the submission to the will of God and to seek resolve and acceptance of the fact. This is a testing time for the faith the Zahers have and despite the apparent resolve of the father, whose words are stoic and composed his features give him away, reflecting a man who is tired and torn apart.

In order to account for this feature of the cinematic language of the director there must be a high level of film literacy. It is the kind of literacy people speak of when they mention computers, the environment, the stock market or any specific topic. Such literacy means the ability to appreciate and be aware of the meaning-making features in film and the techniques a certain director is likely to employ and how he or she employs them. In order to meet the challenge here, the subtitler should be able, ab initio, to identify the challenge, in other words, be able to notice it. Then, to account for the mural, the subtitler would, probably, have to take the last sentence said by the mother and the verse in the Mural and to analyse them pragmatically not semantically and to come up with a subtitle that links the two. In this case, the curse by the mother may be replaced by a supplication:

- God only knows how I feel.

It is equally possible to use the same verse as the words of the mother, thus:

- My heart aches, but it’s the will of God.

There is no subtitle offered for this shot. To be able to offer a subtitle that accounts for the mural and its significance to the scene there must be some awareness of the filmic language used by Henry Barakat. In a nutshell, to be able to account for this cultural meaning, subtitlers need to be aware of it in the first place. This is an example of what film literacy means. The training of subtitlers needs to account for this technique employed by some directors which in the case of mural paintings tends to be one of the most employed techniques of representing religious beliefs in Egyptian cinema (Qassem 2004).

5.3.5.6 Historical Names

In scene 25 examined in the previous chapter, Ibrahim Hamdy is taken to Alexandria by his colleagues who prepared his escape to France. He is introduced to a freedom fighter from Alexandria whose name is Abdulla Al-Nadeem. Immediately, the name strikes a chord with Egyptians who are familiar with the famous historical name from Alexandria. Every school boy, in Egypt knows that the Arabi Revolution of 1881 had an orator who mobilised the masses with his speeches, poems and that he was from Alexandria. Indeed, in the graphic plates of the documentary one can see Al-Nadeem with General Arabi after they were captured and exiled (Graphic Plate 5).

Subtitlers, of classic films and films of significant form whether narrative films or historical films, need to do their homework and research the film. In this context, the subtitler did not seem to be aware of the significance of the name and did not account for it. In suggesting that subtitlers should research a film prior to subtitling, it is not intended to be seen as a prohibitive

113 condition or an arduous task. As the multimodal approach employed in the film analysis, subtitlers, with proper training, would watch the video once prior to subtitling and initially take notes of the salient features and with more practice they would sub-consciously analyse the film employing the multimodal analysis technique taking note of the challenges. Likewise, film literacy here is understood to be a background knowledge that subtitlers acquire with practice. However, they need to know what film literacy is and how to deconstruct a film from a subtitling point of view.

In films of such importance and since the native viewer can get extra meaning from the visual and the audio, it might be worthwhile to think of a solution to enhance the meaning of the subtitles by adding a top title on the left hand side that says:

*Historical name.

Such a solution, the equivalent to a translator’s footnote, may solve the problem when an extra space is needed to clarify an issue that adds so much to the meaning of the developing story. This may sound like an unorthodox technique but then again, the entire practice of subtitling classic films is a specialised genre that requires fresh and unconventional techniques. Egyptian subtitlers, both practitioners and scholars need to reflect on practice and to keep testing new techniques all the time. This shows the need for the Egyptian (and equally the Arab) audiovisual translation profession to espouse audiovisual translation studies as early as possible before wrong practices take root and become difficult to challenge. For eighty unchallenged years, Anis Ebaid & Sons have been producing a genre of Arabic subtitles that became standard despite the criticism, concerns and even jokes about the style the company adopted and enforced on the viewership in Egypt and the entire Arab world. Despite the not infrequent voiced concerns, neither academia nor the profession questioned the practice simply because there was no theoretical framework for the examination of subtitling in the country (Gamal 2013c).

Historical names abound in the spoken variety of Egyptian Arabic at all levels covering a wide scope of topics from history to politics, religion, culture, arts and sport. They are frequently evoked in everyday parlance, in the media, comics and cartoons, in religious contexts, literary settings and cultural events, in television dramas and in films whether historical or even comic which is a good reason why the examination of their translation and the compensation for their pragmatic value in film is paramount.

5.3.6 Modern Standard Arabic Arabic is a diglossic language that tolerates two distinct varieties (Badawi 1973). The two varieties are used interchangeably and are differentiated as high variety and low variety (Ferguson 1959). The high variety is used in formal contexts whereas the low variety is confined to everyday usage of language particularly the vernacular of everyday conversation. Naturally, the high variety is ‘acquired’ through schooling to tertiary level, and more often than not, in the humanities with a strong emphasis on linguistics, literature or religious studies. Tertiary students who specialise in the hard sciences such as medicine, chemistry, engineering and naturally Information Technology complete their university degrees in English. This acquired variety of Arabic is commonly referred to as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) which is

114 not to be confused with classical Arabic, an older variety of the language which requires personal interest and academic specialisation. On the other hand, the spoken vernacular, or the low variety, is only ‘attained’ at home and is passively ‘picked up’ by young children as they grow up. In this respect, it is safe to say that Egyptian children at age six have already attained one variety of Arabic before they attend school to learn another variety of Arabic through formal language acquisition. It has been suggested over the years by numerous linguists both Arab and non-Arab that this situation is akin to children learning two close, but essentially different, languages (Wilmsen 2006). This linguistic fact is very significant as it has a direct bearing on the quality of subtitling from Arabic into foreign languages.

The difference between MSA and the vernacular exhibits itself also in the way Egyptians speak and write. In speaking they invariably use the vernacular, the spoken (low) variety of Arabic. However, when they write they usually use the MSA (high) variety of the language. Linguistic command, like any other cognitive ability varies from person to person, profession to profession and generation to generation. The Internet and digital technology have had a devastating impact on Arabic acquisition, practice, use and usage. The young (under 25 years of age) population in Egypt which accounts for 40% of the total population today has grown accustomed to using the vernacular in writing on Facebook, email and SMS. Even some of the prominent publications in Cairo and Alexandria have tolerated the vernacular in writing which was used sparingly only a generation ago. The debate on this phenomenon is almost a daily staple on Arabic web sites, magazines and newspapers. Given that the Internet became commercially available in the early 1990s and when it did, computers were still expensive in Egypt, the internet connection was costly and therefore only employed university graduates would have access to the digital age. This means that subtitlers who are aged even 35 to 40 have been accustomed to reading the vernacular in the newspapers and on line for the last twenty years.

Against this background of the rise of the vernacular we must take note of what translation schools do and how they teach translation. Only Modern Standard Arabic is used in the teaching of both translation and interpreting. Most of the training focuses on political, literary, religious, economics and international law, or what universities generally call United Nations topics. These topics reflect the areas where translation graduates are likely to find employment. As mentioned earlier, by the time young children go to school at age six, they have already attained one variety of Arabic and begin to learn another. Teachers may resort to the low variety, to explain complex ideas be it grammar or mathematics. Since the vernacular is attained and used by all there has never been an interest in examining it, let alone studying it (Sneed 2012). The only people who do study spoken Arabic are foreigners who learn how to speak the dialect of Egyptian Arabic. The image of a foreigner speaking in Egyptian Arabic is almost always a comic scene in Egyptian films as the foreigner is shown speaking in ‘broken Egyptian Arabic’ getting his or her tenses wrong, mispronouncing words and confusing plural with dual, feminine with masculine and using idiomatic expressions incorrectly and inappropriately. This image is equally contrasted with Egyptian characters trying to speak Arabic properly, employing MSA and the message is that no one speaks (Modern Standard) Arabic perfectly!

115

This, as mentioned above, has a direct bearing on subtitlers and the quality of subtitling. When an idiomatic expression in the vernacular is mentioned, subtitlers tend to have two strategies to deal with it. The first is literal translation which more often than not is neither correct nor accurate and stands out as a glaring subtitling error. The second is to translate it into MSA before they search for an equivalent in their repertoire acquired through previous translation experience. I have drawn this conclusion from two experiences. The first has been through the examination of subtitled Egyptian films on DVD over the past decade where the translation error almost invariably points to this strategy. The second has been through the teaching of Arabic interpreting at TAFE Colleges in Sydney particularly between the years 1995-2007. Before the launch of the first subtitled DVDs in 2002, Arabic language films were shown with subtitles on SBS TV channel in Sydney. In the community interpreting class students are taught how to interpret during interviews and meetings with professionals and in this context only the vernacular is used. Since the spoken variety has never been examined in the Arabic education system and we at colleges do not examine the structure of spoken Arabic, students have been forced to devise translation strategies that would enable them to cope with the vernacular. One of these strategies is translating (or paraphrasing) the vernacular back to Modern Standard Arabic. This strategy proved to be practically successful albeit not professionally efficient, particularly when the interpreter is working with a client who speaks with ‘an unfamiliar’ Arabic dialect such as Algerian or Iraqi (Gamal 1993a, 1993b, 1993c). The assumption here is that the interpreter is either Lebanese or Egyptian; being the two larger Arabic communities in Sydney. This interpreting strategy has not been examined in the translation literature and is worth studying as it can shed light on how community interpreters deal with the (regional) vernacular particularly in the two sensitive settings of health and legal interpreting in Australia.

In A Man in our House, MSA has been used five times, four of which are written letters narrated (read out) by the character who wrote them for the benefit of the viewer. The fifth and last occasion is the police order announced on the radio (and played twice during the film). Apart from the fact that writing is an acquired skill and requires a good command of MSA, the effect it produces is that of a formal occasion, solemn event and usually gives the impression serious consequences will follow. A close examination of how the four letters are drafted will show how meaning-making features are employed. Here, clearly, the higher register of the language is used to the maximum. Even within that feature there are other social features such as appealing to mother, asking for her prayers, sacrifice, dying for the country and a reference to the Koran. Here is how the four letters were ‘designed’ for effect:

i. Letter from Ibrahim Hamdy to his mother before carrying out the assassination of the PM.

“Ukabiul yaddai waledati al-habiba wa arju an tatawajeh il-allah bi-da’awatiha al- saliha. Enni muqilun ‘ala ‘amal bi-wahi min damiri min ajl masr wa min ajl kul um misreyyah turid an takun umman li-ahrar la umman li-‘abeed. Hafazaki allah li-ibnik. Ibrahim.”

“I kiss the hands of my dear mother. I beg that she will be making her good prayers to the Almighty. I am about to carry out a task inspired by my own conscience for the 116

sake of Egypt and for the sake of every Egyptian mother striving to be a mother for free people not for slaves. May God keep you for your son. Ibrahim.”

Here the play is on the word “mother” as is highlted in bold. Kissing the hands of one’s mother is a sign of dutifulness, respect, humility and supplication. Ibrahim Hamdy wants justification for his deed so he contacts his mother first and though he does not ask for permission he begs for her prayers for him. There is another element that is combined with mother. For Egyptians, “Egypt is the mother of the world” and the nationalistic cliché is often repeated at times of joy and triumph as well as at times of loss and defeat. Although he does not tell what his action will be viewers can see a hand gun on the table. The use of the narration in MSA jolts the native viewer to a higher level as the plot thickens. When MSA is used native speakers usually realise that they have to listen up. The dramatic effect created through the letter is that the action becomes immediately justified. The subtle combination of mother and Egypt proved to be too deep for the subtitler who opted for the full “correct and accurate” rendition of the entire letter. As mentioned previously viewing the video is important but as these examples show a multimodal analysis of the various meaning-making features is indispensable for the identification of appropriate subtitling strategies which endeavour to give a maximum of meaning to the visual but with a minimum of textual input.

ii. Letter from Ibrahim Hamdy from his hospital bed to his friends.

“ Asdikai al-a’izaa. Itmainu, ana bi-kheir. Nuqiltu ila al-kasr al-‘ini li-u’alij min athar al- darb al-mubrih. Wa kad tamathaltu ilil-shifa wal hamdu lil-lah. Wa ana alqa huna mu’amala hasina. Wa in’aqadat sadaqa tayyeba baini wa baina al-dabet al-mukallaf bi-hirasati. Inahu shab muhathab wa la yaqilu wattaniya ‘anni wa in ikhtalafa fi wajibihi. Wa nahnu nuhawilu da’imann an naqtula al-waqt ma’ann. Fa-ana sajeen bisifa rassmiyah wa-hua bihukmi mihnatuhu sajeen ma’i.”

“My dear friends don’t worry. I am alright. I was transferred to Kasr El-Aini for treatment as a result of the severe beatings. I am almost recovered thank God. I am receiving good treatment here. I became friends with the officer in charge of my security. He is a fine young man no less patriotic than me although with a different duty. We are trying to kill time together. I am officially a prisoner and he is ex officio a prisoner like me.”

The second letter comes after the assassination and arrest of Ibrahim Hamdy. He tells his friends about his whereabouts and his condition. There are two significant issues here. First, the Christian colleague Nashed Salib begins reading the letter that begins with “My dear friends”. This is again a subtle reference to the national unity between Muslims and Christians the way the British did not want it to be. Nashed Salib reads the first sentence before a camera change and Ibrahim Hamdy is seen in the picture not talking into the camera but his voice is narrating the message. While native viewers can recognise Ibrahim Hamdy’s voice and follow the camera change, target viewers may find it difficult. However, the more important issue here is the dramatic effect of MSA which is underscored by the reference to officer and prisoner (highlighted in bold). The dramatic effect is heightened as the letter foretells what will

117 happen and uses a much higher register than the one used in the rest of the film. Once again, the subtitles are remarkably consistent: full and almost literal translation without an effort to elucidate the extra linguistic meaning implied in the letter. This reflects the prevailing modus operandi of treating subtitling as an exercise in translating the film dialogue.

iii. Letter from Abdel Hameed to Samia warning her of the secret police watching her family.

“ Itadaha li ma’ al-assaf inna ma qalathu Nawal saheeh. Wa inni fi’lann muraqab. Wa lizalika ufadilu alla azourakum fil bait hatta ab’idu al- shubuhat a’nkum. Ittmaini, wa akhbiri Mohie Annani lann azourakum illa iza rufi’at al-muraqaba al-sakhifa anni. Wa A’malu ann yakuna zalika fil al-qareeb al-‘ajil. Harami el Baskaut.”

“Unfortunately, I realised what Nawal said turned out to be true. I am actually under surveillance. Therefore it is best that I do not visit you in the house in order to deflect suspicions off you. Don’t panic. Tell Mohie that I will not visit you till after the ridiculous surveillance is lifted. I hope this will be in the near future. The biscuit thief.”

The third letter is from Abdel-Hameed, the wicked cousin, who so far has been portrayed as bad if not evil. A street-wise man, who did not want to get his High School Certificate and go on to university to receive proper education, is nothing but an opportunity hunter. Indeed he has contemplated reporting the Zaher family to the dreaded secret police. The letter is subtle in more ways than one and its subtlety comes at a dramatic point in the plot where the entire Zaher family was at risk. Designed in MSA, the letter has a fast tempo, does not have complex lexical items, does not refer to God, and is straightforward. It even ends with a colloquial word for thief “harami”. This last gesture is meant to be a joke as Abdel-Hameed signs off with the name Samia used to call him when he was younger. However, at this time of tension its impact is not funny but subtle. Abdel-Hameed is redeeming himself and he is now accepted by native viewers as villain no more. Rather than opting for short sentences, lower register in English, the subtitler stuck to their guns: full and literal translation of the entire letter.

iv. Letter from Ibrahim Hamdy asking Nawal not to weep for him and to look out for Free Egypt.

“ Aktibu illayki wal- eid ‘ala al-abwab li-u’aidiki wa li-uwadi’uki fi nafss el-waqt.. Inna al-eid al-haqiqi yom yatakhalasu watanana min al-ihtilal. Wa qad qarrartu an ahiba nafsi fida’ann li-watani. Fala takbi wala tahzani. Bal attimi risalatiki fil haya wa ‘allemi awaladik anna man istushhida fi sabila biladihi lam yamut wa-anna al-hurriya aghla min al-hayat.”

“I write to you and Eid is round the corner to wish you happy Eid and at the same time to bid you farewell. The real celebration will be when our land is free from occupation. I have decided to offer myself for the sake of my country. Don’t cry and do not mourn. Complete your mission in life and teach your children that he who dies a martyr for his country has not parted dead and that freedom is dearer than life.”

118

This is the fourth and final letter in the film. It is narrated, yet again, by Ibrahim Hamdy. The higher register of Modern Standard Arabic is employed for dramatic effect. This is achieved through the play on the word Eid (feast) and the word celebration (feast). It must be remembered that the entire film takes place during the month of Ramadan and Eid comes at the end of the month. For more dramatic effect there is a reference to the Koranic verse “Think not of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord and they have provision” (The Koran 3:169). Native viewers can easily identify with the images and respond to the effect brought about by Modern Standard Arabic and the clear reference to the Koranic verse. For the target viewer attention must be exerted to cleverly pack the meaning designed in the narration in the short space and span of the narration. The last sentence in the letter actually contains the last words in the film. It is surprising that the meaning-making feature of employing narration in the MSA has escaped the attention of the subtitler who did not account for its pragmatic employment in the film.

As discussed above, all the letters in A Man in our House are expressed in Modern Standard Arabic and their effect, to native Arabic language viewers, is neither missed as too difficult nor dismissed as unimportant. The subtitling, and notwithstanding the constraints of the medium, sacrificed, if not impoverished, the effect MSA produces as consciously employed by the director. For instance, register, forcefulness, politeness, tempo, religious references, pun and humour are all sacrificed for the sake of correct and accurate translation. This, however, was achieved through literal translation that trimmed all the above-mentioned discourse features. Foreign films are not always easy to follow especially those from “exotic cultures” and the subtitler’s task is to ensure that foreign films are not read but actually watched.

v. The police order

The problem of missing the pragmatic effect produced by the use of MSA becomes too obvious when the Police Order (subtitled as Communique) is read out on the radio. The powerful wording of the police order is translated, yet again, literally with little awareness or effort to show the heavy impact the words produced on the Zaher family. In the scene when the family is listening to the police order over the radio it is too clear how it affected everyone: Mr Zaher’s face went pale and long, Ibrahim could not face them and left the room, and finally Mohie who followed him asked, literally: Are you afraid? The mere fact that Mohie asked the question reiterates the effect designed by the script writer and manipulated by the director (through short, medium and long shots as well as a close up of Ibrahim Hamdy) and is not missed by the native viewers. This particular scene and the wording of the police order need a great deal of examination to choose a strategy that analyses the police order into segments that would observe the rules and constraints of subtitling but at the same time create subtitles that complement the visual.

“Sayedati wa sadati. Nuzi’u alaikumu akhbarann hamma. Jaana al-bayan al-tali min wizarat ad-dakhiliya:

Istata’a Ibrahim Hamdi, al-muttaham al-awwal fi qadiyat al-marhum Abdel-Raheem Pasha Shukri al-harab haza al-massa min mustashfa Qasr el-Ainin. Wa y’ulinu wazir ad-

119

dakhiliya an mukafa qadruha khamsat alaaf gunieh li-kul man yaqbidu ‘alihi aw yudli bi-ma’lumat tusa’idu fil qabdi ‘ala al-muttaham al-mazkour.

Kama asdara al-hakimu al-‘askari amrann bi-mu’aqabat kul man yusa’id al-muttaham fi harbihi aw yamtani’u ‘ann al-idlaa bima ladihi min ma’loumat bil-sijini li-mudat la tazidu an talat sanawat. Wa ilaikum nass al-ammr al-‘askari…”

Ladies and gentlemen. We broadcast to you important news. We have just received the following statement from the Ministry of Interior:

The first suspect in the case of the late Abdul-Raheem Pasha Shukri managed to escape this evening from the Kasr Al-Aini hospital. The Minister of Interior announces a five thousand pound reward for anyone who captures him or has information that may lead to the capture of the above mentioned suspect.

The Military Governor has also issued an order to punish each one who aids the accused to escape or abstains from revealing information about the prisoner with imprisonment for no less than three years. Here is the full text of the military order…”

Experienced viewers, with a developed level of film literacy, would recognise the effect of using Modern Standard Arabic on native viewers and would be able to identify the effect and how it manifests itself throughout the film. This skill would and could help subtitlers save valuable space on the screen by choosing better or at least different words that would free screen space for target viewers to watch the film. The long Police Order is actually subtitled in toto and it has, as expected, diminished the powerful message it has. Target viewers probably got the feeling that it is a police warrant for Ibrahim’s arrest and that there was a reward of five thousand pounds. It is a lot more than that. By using the Modern Standard Arabic as opposed to the vernacular there is an immediate distance between the people and the state. This them-against-us position is very relevant to the plot. It would have been, perhaps, wiser, to examine the wording of the Police Order by the subtitler, and to decide on which elements to keep and translate. There is no need to translate the entire text of the order particularly, as we know, that the same Police Order will be repeated, albeit under different circumstances, later in the ‘Bar Scene’.

The ‘Bar Scene’ is one of the most interesting scenes in the film from an audiovisual translation point of view. This is because the two channels do not contribute one meaning or work together towards a single message. In audiovisual translation, the more experienced subtitlers (particularly those who contributed to the audiovisual literature in the 1990s) would say that the medium solves a great deal of translation problems because quite often what is said is actually seen. So it would be redundant to repeat the obvious. However, in the bar scene Abdel-Hameed is seen at a bar, having a drink and is going through a rather thin book and taking down some notes. There is no audio except the police order being played again but not in full as previously. What most viewers (including young Egyptian subtitling students at the AUC) missed is that Abdel-Hameed was actually going through the phone book looking for the phone numbers of the Secret Police as he was angry with the Zaher family. Suddenly we now remember what he meant by “My flesh is bitter”, that he was not born yesterday and he cannot be fooled. Now he is about to carry out his threat “I’ll ruin you”. The scene is a classic 120 example of how polysemiotic a film can be because the two channels give two different, if not conflicting, messages. Should the subtitler translate the audio then the viewer is denied the meaning of the visual message and vice versa. Here the subtitler opted for the stronger (heard) channel and subtitled the less significant audio channel!

5.3.7 Religious references A Man in our House, as mentioned above, is one of the best two films in Egyptian cinema that features Ramadan which is a very important month in the Muslim calendar. The subtitling did fairly well in dealing with the cultural features of Ramadan despite the missed meaning-making features of the minaret and the canon examined above in category five.

There are two scenes in this category that point to the need for special attention in dealing with religious features. Scene 18 shows the drummer calling the faithful to the Dawn Prayers. In Ramadan, there is also another important reason for the drummer: eating Suhur. Futur and Suhur are the two main meals in Ramadan, the Break-fast meal at sunset (also translated as Iftar) and the last meal before beginning the fast, Suhur. In this scene, it is insightful to watch what happens and see what the subtitler did. The drummer beats his drum and sings a song “O ye faithful, wake up, praise the Lord. Suhur”. For this song the subtitler offers

Suhur! (Pre-fasting meal)

The subtitler opted to summarize and focus on Suhur, being the more important aspect in the shot. However, due to its Arabic name they felt a paraphrase was in order adding a second line between brackets (Pre-dawn meal). While the technique of adding a paraphrase is acceptable on this occasion, the decision does not help the image. Introducing new concepts in subtitling is a risky decision particularly if there are not visual or conceptual reasons to back it up. Suhur is simply such a concept that has little relevance to the development and progress of the plot. A simpler choice that is less ambiguous would be:

Dawn payers

At least, the subtitler would not feel obliged to embark on the unusual practice of having to include a footnote explaining what the meaning of Suhur is.

Religious references abound in the Arabic vernacular to the point where it is hardly possible not to have one or two religious references. This covers greetings, wishes, warnings, praying or being thankful and grateful. Even in times of sadness, loss, death or misfortune a religious reference is cited. This is a complex area as quite often the pragmatic effect is confused with the religious effect of the reference.

The other scene in this category is scene 27. This is a complex scene where the viewer hears voices of more than one character but not all of them appear in the shot as discussed in the previous category. However, it also falls under this category due to religious theme. It is the practice of sharing half of one of the most significant sentences in the Muslim religion:

There is no god but Allah and, Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.

121

To Muslims, this sums up the essence of the Islamic faith which is based on monotheism and that Muhammad is the prophet (with a mission) and messenger (with a book) of God. Thus the phrase with its two essential tenets signifies two fundamental beliefs. In other words, its two parts will always be together and if divided, the two parts will be reunited. Hence the practice of sharing it, physically, so lovers, close family members or friends will always be reunited. The religious image per se is interesting to learn about and to compare to other cultures. However, in the unenviable limited space allowed, it might be wise to consider changing the subtitle to one that would readily offer the same effect. The decision to alter the religious reference here, and contrary to traditional translation ethos of fidelity and completeness to the original, is governed by the constraints of the medium. The image is not relevant to the development or progress of the plot in this patriotic/political film. Had it been in a film that examines Islam or any religious theme, the image would be highly relevant. A simple alternative would be:

We will never be separated, God willing.

5.3.8 Spoken Arabic This category complements category 6 which deals with Modern Standard Arabic. The scenes in this category and particularly scenes 20 and 21 embody the most memorable lines of the film and contain the dialogue that reflects the plot. In the vernacular, which, as established, is a register of Arabic that is not examined at translation schools is a register that translators are never trained in. This is why a very large number of the Egyptian films subtitled on DVD in the past ten years exhibit weaknesses that are directly related to the fact that the translation is from the low variety (spoken vernacular) and not from the high register of written language.

In scene 20, examined in more detail in the previous chapter, the Egyptian Arabic vernacular idiom of /having difficulty to breathe/ when discussing or meeting someone has no medical connotation at all but figuratively means ‘one could not argue back’ or simply ‘not having an opportunity to express one’s opinion’. The difficulty here is that the subtitler, due to lack of experience, lack of the video and lack of editorial assistance committed a school boy’s translation error by falling for the literal meaning of the expression. Under normal circumstances, a subtitler would recognise the figurative expression and identify the appropriate English equivalence but perhaps the pressure of meeting the deadline clouded the vision of the subtitler, a pressure not uncommon in subtitling. However, the expression is used twice in two different parts of the film and the same literal translation is offered.

The other example, scene 21 in this category comes a moment or two later in the film, where the camera zooms out to include the entire Zaher family in the same shot, a popular technique of Henry Barakat’s employed more than once in this film. The first time he used this technique the shot is silent when Abdel Hameed discovers that his uncle is harbouring the fugitive Ibrahim Hamdy. The second there is a very powerful dialogue. The memorable line of the film revolves around the word ‘Siyassa’ which means politics. In Arabic, the expression Nakhdu bil Siyassa literally means ‘to deal with someone politically’ which pragmatically means ‘to deal diplomatically with someone’. In spoken vernacular Arabic, the difference between politics and diplomacy is blurred and the two words are used interchangeably with politics appropriating

122 the connotations of diplomacy. The subtitler did well using the pragmatic English equivalent. However, the subtitler, did not include the second part of the dialogue when Samia, feeling the pressure and angry with her father’s weak position, bursts:

I’milu kul elli intu ‘awzinu

Dahia teta’ el siyassa min yom ma ‘rifnaha

Literal translation:

Do whatever you want to do Damn politics from the day we knew it

Pragmatic translation:

Do whatever you want. Damn politics.

What happens here is that the clever dialogue in Arabic fails to make the same impact on the target viewer. The play on the word ‘Siyassa’ has two parts: the father’s advice to deal with him “politically” and Samia’s curse “damn politics” But the subtitler fails to carry over the entire impact into English. As can be seen, the problem here is that the subtitler is processing each subtitle as a separate unit with no apparent technique to test and see how each subtitle is linked to the previous or following one. This is part of the subtitler’s duty, and the editor’s task, will be discussed later.

Essentially, the issue here is that the subtitler appears to be struggling in their translation from the spoken Arabic and as has been suggested on numerous occasions that Egyptians just like to hear their own dialect and its rich, varied and colourful idioms (Muharram 2002). This explains how subtitlers fall victim to the charm of their own spoken variety and the tyranny of the vernacular limits the choices of the subtitler who should be able to exhibit some flexibility in dealing with the complex and apparently un-translatable expressions into English. This inability to distance themselves from the vernacular leaves subtitlers stuck to the charm of their own language as can be seen in every subtitled DVD produced in the past ten years. Interestingly, Gottlieb observes the same ‘syndrome’ in the subtitling of English into Danish “Subtitlers’ fears of departing from the word order of the original dialogue often lead to un-natural sounding clones of English phrases and constructions” (2001a, p. 252). On the other hand, Gambier perceptively poses the question of “linguistic insecurity” on the part of the subtitler “Does their relative linguistic insecurity contribute to their desire to stick more closely to certain traditions of written discourse?” (1994a, p. 280).

Likewise, in scene 22, Abdel Hameed bursts into anger and comes into his true street-wise elements. Though fuming his language is “clean” and suitable for the screen as he uses acceptable earthy language that connotes his surprise, anger at being outfoxed and insult for not being consulted about Ibrahim Hamdy’s departure. On top of that he knows that the Zaher family are “diplomatically dealing with him” and that he will not marry Samia. He yells his memorable phrase:

123

Ana Ma yendihikshi alaya. Ana ha awariku. Ana lahmi murr.

Literal translation:

I cannot be fooled. I will show you. My flesh is bitter.

Pragmatic translation:

I can’t be fooled. You will see.

As can be seen, the Arabic has three sentences that essentially express one idea: Abdel Hameed is too smart to be outfoxed. Rather than appreciate the idea and opt for brevity of expression and let the visual tell the story by using a single line: I wasn’t born yesterday! Or simply ‘You’ll be sorry for this’.

The subtitles offered:

I can’t be fooled; I’ll show you. My flesh is bitter.

Once again, the subtitler falls for the charm of the Egyptian expression and decides to carry the vernacular expression “my flesh is bitter”, in toto, and literally which is a recurring problem in subtitling Egyptian ‘classic’ films into English on DVD. This example shows how the subtitler is treating the dialogue list as an exercise in written translation: everything has to be translated accurately and faithfully. It shows also that the subtitler does not have access to the video and that they are not part of the process of mounting subtitles on the film and definitely have no part whatsoever in the process of post-production.

5.3.9 Voices

In the 27th and 28th scenes examined in the previous chapter we see the image of Ibrahim Hamdy (Omar Sharif) contemplating his fate and future on board the ship at the port in Alexandria. The two examples (from the same scene) are extremely significant as they present the subtitler with a different challenge. Once again, in the scene we see Omar Sharif contemplating whether he should leave Egypt to France or stay in the country. In this soul- searching moment he remembers things that were said before both by him and by others. While native viewers, Arab and Egyptian, can readily recognise his voice speaking in Arabic, target viewers may not. This is primarily because target viewers would not have the same familiarity with Omar Sharif’s voice -speaking in Arabic- unless they have watched a number of his other films subtitled into English or even in Arabic. However, one must recall that this is the first time ever any of Omar Sharif’s earlier all-Arabic language films has ever been, commercially, available to target viewers.

The difficulty, in Scene 27, is that one “hears” a flashback when Nawal asks Ibrahim Hamdy to write the words “There is no god but Allah…” on a piece of paper which she will tear into two halves and each will keep one half and yet the camera has only the face of Omar Sharif reflecting. The action is something that many Muslims do before they part on the hope that the verse will keep them safe till they meet again. Apart from the subtitling difficulty,

124 explaining the pragmatic meaning of the phrase, there is the difficulty of recognising voices. In the scene we hear:

Nawal: Write; there is no god but Allah.

Ibrahim: Why?

Nawal: Mum and dad always do this when dad travels so they will meet again.

While it could be argued that this part of the dialogue took place earlier in the film and notwithstanding the difficulty of recognising the voices, target viewers would not have too much trouble knowing who is intended in this soliloquy, it may still be a problem for the inexperienced viewer. In this respect, it is perhaps prudent to add the names of the speakers as the segment of dialogue above illustrates so viewers would follow the plot and not get distracted by whose voice it was. A little bit of redundancy may be harmless however a little bit of distraction may prove to be too damaging to the understanding and appreciation of the classic film.

5.3.10 The end The End is an essential part of the film both narratively and graphically. In A Man in our House, the end of the film actually ends with a graphic manipulation of the visual. In Arabic, the last shot in the film ends with Arabic words written on two lines and employing two different font sizes

And this was the BEGINNING

This poses a challenge which has been mentioned in the data examined in the previous chapter. Here the challenge is two-fold. The word ‘beginning’ refers to the new dawn that will soon rise in Egypt ushering in the “end” of the British occupation of Egypt and the “beginning” of a new era when Egyptians govern themselves as exemplified by the 1952 Revolution under president Gamal Abdel Nasser, the leader who will abolish the Kingdom and announce the modern Egyptian Republic. For native viewers, this is what the word “beginning” refers to and for them it is not too difficult to deduce by the end of the film. This is another good reason why the subtitler must watch the video a couple of times prior to subtitling and several times when working with a classic film.

The other problem is the graphic form and effect employed by the director but sacrificed in the subtitles offered:

And this was the beginning.

This unwitty linear presentation of the visual and the ensuing under-translation of the verbal effect of the Arabic graphic in the film reveals the subtitler’s working method of translating directly from the dialogue list. While the subtitles offered in the DVD subtitles are indeed correct and accurate it must be remembered that the medium is totally different from print translation and that it demands a different set of film literacy skills that pays attention to the link between text and image. 125

Subtitling needs to be attentive to the visual and this is a very good example to show how the subtitle should respond to the challenges imposed by the medium. It is now feasible by subtitlers to suggest a manipulated version of the subtitle through software available commercially. More importantly though, is the need to work closely with the post-production team that supervises the subtitling. Quite often, as mentioned in Chapter two, the film industry in Egypt regards subtitling as an afterthought, a task that is remembered at the last minute and as a necessary evil. It regards subtitling as a cost and not as a professional value- added service. This accounts for the rushed, poor quality (Royce 1998), mangled subtitles produced by untrained translators who are pressed for time (Alberge 2009). This particular example shows that subtitling must be regarded as a professional service, a multilingual service that enhances classic films and is an operation that is carried out with great care and diligence (Rosenberg 2007). It has a team of experts and one of them is the subtitler who makes suggestions for the technical team on how to manipulate the linguistic message graphically to produce the desired effects as discussed for ‘the end’ of the film. Given that the film is black and white, one of the suggestions is to make the last subtitle in colour: perhaps red where the contrast would highlight the significance of the new beginning. A reasonably animated subtitle at the end of this classic film would not detract from its value but would enhance its significance as one of the greatest Egyptian films of all time.

5.4 Other Omar Sharif films subtitled on DVD

In the first decade of the Egyptian DVD industry six Omar Sharif films were released on DVD and subtitled into English and French (Gamal 2012c). The first one is A Man in our House in 2002. The others were acquired subsequently and there are no available records of the release date. However, the acquisition dates of the films are in the following order: A Rumour of Love, Date with the Unknown, A Struggle on the Nile and Sleepless. A more contemporary film by Omar Sharif produced in 1993 was later released titled Laughter, Games, Seriousness and Love. The first five DVDs were released in the earlier period of the DVD industry under the series Egyptian Cinema Classics which is roughly between 2002 and 2005.

The examination of the subtitling of the four DVDs in the Egyptian Cinema Classics series produced by Finoon Company is significant to determine the style and quality of DVD subtitling. It is perhaps insightful to observe that the Egyptian Cinema Classics is not based on critical acclaim but only on commercial or other productions factors as the films A Rumour of Love and Date with the Unknown did not feature in any of the two lists of the Best 100 Films (1969) and the list of the Most Important 100 Films (2007). However, the purpose of examining the other Sharif films is to explore whether a special subtitling policy, loosly defined, has been in place for work on classic films. The initial hypothesis of this research is that the absence of a subtitling method and manual does not only apply to classic films but also covers all genres of film, classic or otherwise. One comment from a subtitling trainer at the AUC was that the subtitling of the first film in any series or in any project is likely to be fraught with some teething problems and that the examination of the subtitling should therefore be treated as a pilot study not judged too harshly. Notwithstanding the claims made by the production company and the media hype of the new product and the benefits it offers the Egyptian cinema industry, the comment is in stark contrast with professional subtitling principles. Since

126 the commentator is actually a practicing subtitler, there was a serious doubt on the quality of the subtitling given the picture gained from the current subtitling practice in Egypt. The comment, however, led to a rethinking of the methodology applied in this research and opened the scope for a more comprehensive analysis of the other DVD that was released with A Man in our House in 2002, Days of Sadat. To explore the subtitling method and style further, a partial comparative study of the English and French subtitling of A Man in our House was conducted. The purpose, again, is to allow for the initial glitches that accompany a new project particularly as subtitling in Egypt, and since the inception of film subtitling in the late Twenties of the last century, has been a one-way street: subtitling foreign films into Arabic.

The following examination is of the other four Omar Sharif films released on DVD and subtitled into English. The method employed is similar to that of A Man in our House, a multimodal scene analysis of a predetermined list of scenes which are deemed problematic due to the various meaning-making features and how they are subtitled. It must be pointed out here, that the analysis assumes an above-average level of film literacy that allows for the predetermined list of scenes to be identified and examined. The film literacy referred to here is attained through formal training and work experience for over two decades. Finally, it is perhaps redundant but the purpose here is not to play spot-the-error game but rather to support the hypotheses that the current practice of subtitling Egyptian DVDs into English is flawed as it solely relies on the dialogue list without access to the video or the inclusion of the subtitler in post-production activities and in the absence of any professional training opportunities in Arabic-English subtitling.

5.4.1 A Rumour of Love (1960) Like A Man in our House, the film is in black and white and though marketed among the Egyptian Cinema Classics series it does not actually feature in either lists of the Best 100 Films (Tawfic 1969) or the Most Important 100 Films (Al Hadary 2007). The film is a comedy that centres on the attempt of a rich businessman to wed ‘Samiha’ his attractive and worldly daughter to Hussein his unsophisticated, bookish and narrow-minded nephew despite the resistance of his wife who prefers her nephew, Lucie, who lived abroad, speaks several languages and has obtained in a master’s degree in Modern Dance.

The DVD begins with the same legal warning drafted in two different versions for the Arabic and English texts. Typical of the modus operandi of separating the subtitler from the production team there is a serious mistake where the translation of the film title that appears on the DVD is different from the title on the DVD case. We read in the opening scene “A rumor of a love affair” [American spelling]. There is another serious anomaly in the opening scene and in translating the credits which could have legal or at least professional, consequences. The Arabic credits acknowledge the source of the screen play by stating: “Based on the play “The Talk of Town” by John Emerson and Anita Loos” which is not subtitled. The Talk of Town is actually “The whole town’s talking” published by Emerson and his wife Anita Loos in 1924 by Longman. Another important issue is perhaps the unusual cameo appearance of two very popular Egyptians in the film who play themselves. Both Hind Rostum, the Marilyn Monroe of Egypt, and Adel Heikal, the then top goalkeeper of the Egyptian national team, play significant roles in the film. The first was introduced as “Guest starring: Hind Rostum” while the other as

127 soccer star: Adel Heikal. While the decision to highlight their significance to the Egyptian audience may not be as important in the target language, the point here is the absence of policy on translating film credits. Furthermore, the rich business man is actually Yusef Wahbe who the credits tell us in Arabic: The dean of theatre and cinema actor: Yusef Wahbe, but the translation deletes the titles. One thing in the credits that is correctly translated is the spelling of Omar Sharif.

Subtitles should be transparent and not attract attention to themselves and achieve the double purpose of helping target viewers understand and also appreciate the film (Cavaliere 2008). The film opens with a voice imitation scene and while native viewers can distinguish the voice of Yousef Wahbe, target viewers can only rely on the subtitles, which in this case are no more than the translation of the dialogue list. The voice imitation scene is repeated again later in the film but this time it is Hind Rostum’s voice that is imitated and it is a source of comic reaction to the native viewer. Yousef Wahbe is known in Egypt as a theatre actor with a powerful voice who dramatised almost all major western plays and he is very well- remembered for his emotional role of Othello. There is a scene in the film where he pretends to discover the relationship between his nephew (Omar Sharif) and the sexy actress Hind Rostum and he delves into one of his trade mark roles ‘over-dramatising’ the discovery that he hatched in the first place. Subtitling such scenes is too difficult and must be analysed otherwise target viewers would find the emotional burst of Yousef Wahbe an overkill!

The film, being a comedy, relies heavily on the vernacular and is replete with colloquialisms and idiomatic structures and cultural-specific imagery that call for a multi-modal analysis of a number of scenes. The purpose is to examine the scene more closely and to determine the most appropriate subtitling strategy. A multi-modal analysis would prove a necessity not a luxury in this composite film particularly when songs, voices, languages, quotations, idiomatic structures are manipulated to great effect. The songs used in the film, and particularly through the phone are relevant as they are popular romantic songs by a very popular male singer Abdel Haleem Hafez.

Non-verbal communication abounds in the film such as sotto voce, mural paintings, signs, and proper names among others. Yet, comedy is an area that has received little research in the Arabic translation literature and, once again, from the Arabic vernacular into English. While all types of humour are difficult to translate, in this film it is the language-based humour where the joke is a play on Arabic, French or English. The character of Lucie, the westernised young man who spent many years in Europe learning how to sing, dance and also to speak English, French, Italian, Spanish and Turkish. His linguistic talent becomes evident through jokes, cultural phrases and clichés and the subtitler has to be mindful of the variety of languages spoken. While it is easy to pick the pass he is making at the girls “Quanto belle sono tutte!”[How pretty (the girls) all are!], it is a common pitfall to translate the French Formidable into the seemingly English equivalent formidable. This is a case of false friends where it should be translated as “Wonderful”.

Proper names, in this film, play a significant cultural role. Both ‘Samiha’ and ‘Hussein’ are traditional names of middle-class families and this is in contrast with the ‘ultra-modern’, westernised and effeminate character of Lucie who takes life as a song and dance. This 128 appreciation would facilitate the tug-of-war between the father and the mother who each claims to hail from a more traditional family.

As in A Man in our House, code switching between the low variety and the high variety of Arabic is a feature of modern Arabic spoken by all native speakers of Arabic (Dickens et al 2002). When Hind sends a signed photo of herself with a comment to Hussein, she writes in a mixture of the vernacular and Modern Standard Arabic but with a heavy dose of romantic references. The subtitler does not seem to have made an effort to carry over the romantic feelings which are the subject of the comedy; Hussein does not know that it was his uncle who concocted the whole thing to make Samiha feel jealous and start believing that he is not the bookish introvert but an experienced man of the world with lots of affairs with pretty and important women.

5.4.2 Date with the Unknown Directed by Atef Salem, Date with the Unknown (1958) is the third Omar Sharif film subtitled on DVD that were released in the Egyptian Cinema Classics Series by Finoon Distribution Company. Like all Egyptian DVDs it is subtitled only in English and French. The film does not appear on the list of the Best 100 Films (Tawfic 1969) or the list of the Most Important Films (Al Hadary 2007).

The film is described in the blurb as a detective film but it may be classified as a detective film only due to its investigative nature. It is perhaps one of the least known films of Omar Sharif in Arabic. The film is about a man who investigates the suspicious death of his brother.

The modus operandi of translating the dialogue list without access to the video is yet again obvious. Although the spelling of Omar Sharif (western form) is correctly used, the translation of the film title is not consistent with the title on the DVD case. This is a recurring error in the current practice of DVD subtitling. While the DVD case bears the title ‘Date with the Unknown’, the film subtitle shows Encounter with the Unknown which points to the practice of not briefing the subtitler and not including the subtitler in the postproduction process.

The director employs the narration technique where Magdy (Omar Sharif) introduces the film and reveals the plot. It is in the vernacular and employs simple direct style. At times it is rather difficult to ascertain whether the narrator is talking to the viewer or to himself. The film title is repeated several times throughout the film. The same weaknesses in the subtitling discussed in chapter four are evident again in the subtitles on this DVD: the lack of subtitles of road signs, shop signs and murals which obviously are not vocalised and therefore did not appear in the dialogue list. The subtitling could have been improved had the subtitler had the opportunity to watch their subtitles mounted on the film or had an editor checked the subtitles. One area that needed the attention of the editor was to ensure that subtitles are consistent throughout the film.

5.4.3 A Struggle on the Nile A Struggle on the Nile is a black and white classic film that appears both in the old list of the Best 100 Films (Tawfic 1969) and in the modern list of the most important films (Al Hadary 2007). The film is directed by Atef Salem and is the last of the trilogy that bears the name A

129

Struggle. The first was Omar Sharf’s first film in Egyptian Cinema A Struggle in the Valley (1954) also known as Blazing Sun, the second is the most popular A Struggle in the Port (1956) also known as Dark Waters and the last is A Struggle on the Nile (1959). The trilogy is a significant work in Egyptian cinema despite the little attention it received. A Struggle in the Port features Omar Sharif with his wife Faten Hamama and Ahmad Ramzy with whom they doubled up to act on some of the most significant films in the fifties.

The title A Struggle on the Nile is subtitled incorrectly yet again, a common error that plagues the DVD subtitling in Egypt. On the DVD cover one reads A Struggle on the Nile yet in the subtitles we read Conflict on the Nile. It is interesting to note the original Arabic title was translated into French as Tempte sur le Nil (Storm on the Nile). There is a serious anomaly here as the English and French translations of the Arabic on the DVD case are both different from the translations that appear in the film. Furthermore, the spelling of Omar Sharif is again incorrectly spelt as Omar El Cherif. Interestingly, the film poster shows the Arabic name followed by a transliteration of the Arabic title (Siraa fil Nil) followed by its French translation, Lutte sur le Nil (Struggle on the Nile), which was a common practice in Egypt till the end of the fifties. However, Gamal, in his unpublished study of the translation of Egyptian film titles into English, argues that although the word ‘struggle’ connotes an inner struggle of good vs evil in all films in the Trilogy a better translation would , perhaps, be Conflict in the Valley, Conflict at Port and Conflict on the Nile, respectively (Gamal 2005b). It is a fairly long film with 120 minutes featuring two very important actors in the fifties Hind Rostum and the trilingual Rushdi Abaza. The latter was to appear with Omar Sharif in two other films Sleepless and A man in our house.

The film revolves around a struggle between Mehasseb (Omar Sharif) and his older and wiser cousin Megahed (Rushdi Abaza) who tries to spare Mehasseb the agony of falling in love with a gypsy dancer who would steal his money.

The film takes place in Luxor in southern Egypt where the southern farming accent is very clear. It is not only that Omar Sharif speaks with a thick southern accent, he also uses lexical and syntactic structures that advertise his social status and provenance and this is hard to carry over in the subtitles. The dialogue is replete with terminology relating to river boats, skippers’ language and songs, types of ferries and requires some reflection on the professional practice of driving motor boats. In subtitling Egyptian film dialogues spoken in the vernacular, there is the added problem of paying attention to politeness as well as social hierarchy which transcends the Tu/Vous in French to include titles like Mr, officer of the law, official in the government, Lords, etc. The subtitling of this film is a good example why an academic stand- alone course in translating the vernacular into English (or other langauges) is necessary.

As the film is long and has several stages in the development of the plot, the dialogue reflects such dramatic changes and the subtitling would certainly benefit from some scene analysis based on multimodal description. This could be optimised through watching the video first then identifying composite scenes and working on the multimodal description in order to select the most appropriate strategies (Taylor 2003) which would have to be consistent throughout the film. In subtitling, not everything said is relevant particularly when the visual has some information that can easily be picked up by the target viewers. However, it is the 130 culturally-specific images, the references to peoples and places in Egypt, the language-based jokes and the cultural mannerisms that are relevant to the development of the plot but difficult for the target viewer to understand that need the careful attention of and examination by the subtitler.

5.4.4 Sleepless Sleepless is one of the rare classic Egyptian films that boasts eight great film stars including the young Omar Sharif. It is listed in the Most Important 100 Films (Al-Hadary 2007) and is one of the first films to be produced in colour. It is interesting to see that Omar Sharif’s name appears last after all the seven main actors. As the film credits appear in Arabic and French we read the Romanised name of Omar spelt as Omar el Cherif as he is known in Egypt and prior to the Americanisation of his name to Omar Sharif after Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. Sleepless (1957) is based on a novel by Egyptian novelist Ehssan Abdel-qudous, who wrote A Man in our House, and directed by Salah Abu Seif. The plot is fairly simple, Nadia (Faten Hamama), a daughter of a divorced couple enamoured of her father, hates to see another woman take him away from her. This Electra complex theme is played out through the sinister games and tricks by Nadia who later regrets her wicked deeds and suffers from insomnia.

The star-studded film is fairly long at 127 minutes. It opens with a narration in Modern Standard Arabic by Nadia who tells of her life and her troubles and the trailer ends with the sentence “This is why I could not sleep”. Soon after, the title of the film appears in Arabic saying exactly that “I don’t Sleep”, in large font with graphics like those employed in A Man in our House. The Film, typical of the fifties style, has its title translated into French as Nuit sans lendemain (A night without a day after) which could mean a long night. The English subtitle appears on the film as Sleepless and without any graphic manipulation. While it is the same name used on the DVD case it is, however, debatable that the translation of the film title was actually a successful one. The introductory narration shows Nadia is unable to sleep due to her conscious tormenting her after her wicked deeds. It would perhaps be more successful it the title was rendered into Insomnia, Sleepless nights or even the more descriptive Unable to sleep. The decision to choose the translation of a film title is purely commercial and academic research on this area remains minuscule. However, given the narration which introduces the film title, it can provide a very good scene for training subtitlers and explain why Sleep Apnoea, while medically correct and symptomatic of Nadia’s condition, is not pragmatically correct.

It is insightful to observe that the film is high on visuals and low on audio in the sense that, unlike most Egyptian films, the camera has the upper hand and not the dialogue. The long film is interspersed with Nadia’s soliloquys and narrations in Modern Standard Arabic, and the camera has a much bigger role in depicting the picture of the wealthy family and their aristocratic life style. We see the boarding school Nadia goes to in the rich Cairo suburb of Maadi, their large mansion in the affluent Cairo suburb of Dokki and their life style: ballroom dances, afternoon tea, evening dresses, alcohol consumption, convertible cars and the frequent Bonjour, Bonsoir and Au revoir as well as Merci. The visual channel in the film carries most of the meaning-making features and the dialogue is only secondary to it and is actually devoid of the intricacies of the vernacular. Quite often the vernacular, the low variety of spoken Arabic, is imbued with idiomatic expressions and cultural images that make it too

131 colourful and too sophisticated for the untrained translator to render into English. In Egypt, as elsewhere, the lower the social register of the language the higher the imagery and the more colourful the idiomatic expressions used. This is obviously lacking in Sleepless as throughout the two hours we see Nadia speak Bourgeois Arabic interspersed with French while she is dancing, drinking or eating her dinner served by two servants. Bourgeois Arabic is a term used here to denote the style of language used by the ultra-rich who used to live in Egypt in the fifties and upon whose lifestyle the film is produced. It is not a level of Arabic as proposed by Badawi (1985) who classifies Egyptian Arabic into five levels: two classic levels of Koranic heritage and Modern literary studies and three colloquial levels of the Illiterate, the Literate and the educated. This division of levels of Arabic is not only relevant but useful for subtitlers to understand and distinguish between the levels of the speaker in order to determine a suitable subtitling strategy. Because of this, the film offers unique material for training subtitlers: it is a popular film with superior visuals that offer subtitlers a unique opportunity to watch how subtitles are designed to contribute to meaning without being rushed by a fast tempo or drowned in the idiomatic structures and cultural imagery of a clever dialogue.

5.4.5 Laughter, Games, Seriousness and Love Unlike all other Omar Sharif Egyptian DVDs, Laughter, Games, Seriousness and Love produced in 1993 and directed by Tarek El-Telmesani, shows Omar Sharif after his return to Egypt from his self-imposed exile in Europe. The film is released in the Egyptian Cinema Classics Series by Finoon although it does not feature in any of the two lists of the best and most important Egyptian films. The film is directed at young people at a time when Egyptian cinema was at one of its low-productive years and Omar Sharif’s role is rather of minor. He plays the father of a young man torn after the military defeat in the 1967 and finds his sense of achievement in a sexual affair with an older woman.

The subtitling of the film title is too literal as is the case with the translation of all Egyptian film titles. It echoes a very popular song of the fifties by Abdel Haleem Hafez who died in March 1977. Hafez’s songs are still as popular today as they were in the fifties to the seventies and they still sell millions of records. Yet, the title is treated as print translation (correct and accurate and in full) and not as the name of an artistic product that will be promoted abroad and online. Nedergaard-Larsen (1993) alerts subtitlers that subtitles should not be treated as print translations and subtitlers ought to appreciate the medium and the purpose of the subtitles.

The dialogue is typically intensive with vernacular features that forced the subtitles to be literal with a strong Egyptian flavour and idiomatic structures. Apart from the difficulty of translating the vernacular the film language is complex with the use of flashbacks in the form of the political language of the sixties and songs, both popular ones from the sixties and contemporary songs that serve as a backdrop to the action of the film. The decision has been made to subtitle the songs, which on this occasion is correct, as they have an added function over and above the music and lyrics. However, the translation stopped short of giving the denotations of national songs particularly the song played at the start of the film. Sung by Abdel-Haleem Hafez it boosted the morale of the defeated nation in 1967.

132

5.4.6 Days of Sadat This is the second ever Egyptian film to be released and subtitled onto DVD. Unlike the first, A Man in our House, this film was originally released only a year earlier in 2001. The film tells the life story of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat (1918-1981) who ruled Egypt from 1970 till his assassination in 1981. Actor Ahmad Zaki plays Anwar Sadat and the film is directed by Mohamed Khan. The fact that the film is a lot more modern and contemporary is very relevant to the examination of the quality of subtitling of this documentary-like film which is not a classic per se but is a modern political film masterpiece (Qassem 2013). The subtitlers who were engaged by Finoon and other distributing companies may have actually seen the film at the Alexandria or Cairo theatres and would have been more familiar with the story and the cultural and political background than the struggle against the British, the politics prior to the 1952 Revolution and the political background of Ehssan Abdel-qudous’s story published in the wake of the Suez Canal crisis fifty years earlier.

However, the subtitling of the film shows features, strategies and indeed errors consistent with those made in the subtitling of all other films released on DVD in Egypt. The common practice of subtitling the film from a dialogue list and not working with the video is clearly manifested at several stages in the film. The subtitler’s weakness in translating the vernacular into English is symptomatic of the current translation teaching policy in Egypt and the lack of editorial checking are also evident (Chalier 1996, p.444). If Egyptians are too proud and fond of their dialect (Amin 2000) then it would be forthcoming to conclude that subtitlers are also keen to show the expressiveness of their vernacular by insisting on translating its idiomatic structures, almost literally, into English. Another reason, naturally, would be the lack of training in translating the low variety of Arabic into English (Dickens et al 2002). In addition to the audio channel there are the challenges associated with the visual channel. Days of Sadat is a highly “visual experience” that engages and appeals to the Egyptian and Arab viewer familiar with Egyptian politics. Visuals such as military uniforms, flags, vehicle models, newspaper headlines, historical and geographical references are replete in the film and play a significant part in conveying meaning. It is insightful to observe the scene where the audio clashed with the visual in the first scene when Sadat sits at his desk in the Republican Palace and signs his name as “President of the Arab Republic of Egypt”. This example will be discussed further in chapter six. Here the subtitler, as expected, opted for the audio (since the task of the subtitler is to translate the dialogue) and neglected the visual. The dialogue is insignificant and could have been easily compensated for earlier or later and make room for the fact that Sadat is now, internally convinced, he was the president of Egypt.

The film is long, too wordy and is complex to translate due to its documentary nature. It requires a great deal of research on the part of the subtitler, despite its fairly modern historical content, and requires editorial checking (Chalier 1996, p.446). The director makes use of flash backs which are designed to stimulate the interest of the (native) viewer and to actively engage their attention. For target language viewers the flashbacks may not be readily accessible and helpful, due to different culture and history, and in their pursuit of understanding and appreciating the film (Cavaliere 2008) they should not be burdened with the added task of following awkward subtitles. Scholars who examine viewer reception of

133 subtitled films warn against such burden and Hajmohammadi (2004) argues for sparing the viewers this undesirable task

“Instead of taking the book or the screenplay away for a comfortable read, moviegoers brave queues and crowds to watch the live version. In this context, subtitles should be designed to give viewers the gist of dialogues and let them get through the reading quickly to turn their attention to the image.”

There are scenes where persons speak in different Egyptian dialects (farming community in the Delta, fishing community in the Suez Canal) in addition to a German speaking in Egyptian Arabic with a heavy German accent, as well as persons speaking in English, German, Hebrew and Russian. The film abounds with military jargon and a large number of Egyptianisms that would require the subtitler’s attention to the extra-linguistic meaning designed by the script writer.

5.5 Entrenched DVD subtitling practice

The English subtitling of the above six films has been presented to refute the claim that the subtitling of A Man in our House was a pilot project and as with any new professional endeavour there are likely to be some teething problems. Having observed the current professional practice at Egypt’s leading subtitling company Anis Ebaid & Sons for almost two decades and with close consultations with professional subtitling practitioners and academic instructors in Cairo and Alexandria, which informed this research, it became clear that the subtitling culture is professionally unsound and strategically unsustainable. The argument that subtitling would have to get better over time is also indefensible as the investigation into working conditions reveals that most subtitlers have been able to get a small number of subtitling contracts and very few would consider calling themselves ‘professional’ subtitlers. Gamal (2010b, p. 10) makes a distinction between formative and incremental experience and points out that professional development requires enough work over a reasonably long period of time to allow practitioners to “reflect on practice”. This condition proved to be lacking in the current freelance subtitling context in Cairo. In the same vein, Wilss makes a case for a practice-oriented approach to teaching (1996, p. 192). The examination of the English subtitling of the above six films points to the issue which has been consistently evident in the subtitling of the first subtitled film on DVD: lack of training in subtitling. The main issues in the analysis of these films as well as the brief analysis of Love Street described in the first chapter, in addition to the examination of over 60 other DVDs subtitled into English over the past ten years, clearly show that subtitling is not translation. The task is far from being able to reduce the dialogue into two lines of text. As discussed in chapter two and with particular reference to the six aspects of the current DVD subtitling practice in Egypt there is a dire need to cultivate an interest in audiovisual translation as a discipline sui generis and not as an odd translation project that is left entirely to market forces. Kussmaul convincingly argues that “Professionalism implies the ability to rationalise one’s decision-making processes in an objective way, and the models offered by translation studies can provide the basis for acquiring this ability” (1995, p. 33). In this chapter the examination of subtitling issues and the design of a typology of challenges is seen as an organised way to contextualise challenges and strategies commonly encountered in subtitling Egyptian films. When presented at a subtitling 134 workshop organized by the AUC it was received as a tool that enables subtitlers to compartmentalize and categorize subtitling issues and challenges. For the more experienced subtitler it equally offers a model for reflecting on experience through the constant updating of the typology. What was argued during the workshop, however, is how best to highlight these issues to inexperienced or trainee subtitlers. Throughout this research the focus has been on the ability to translate from the Egyptian vernacular into English and the acquisition of a superior level of analysing audiovisual texts. This is the domain of film literacy.

135

Part 3: Towards a model for film literacy in audiovisual translation

136

Chapter Six

Towards a model for film literacy in AVT

Introduction

In Chapter four, the major subtitling challenges encountered in subtitling a classic Egyptian film were identified in order to underscore the need for better subtitling strategies that account for all relevant meaning-making features employed by the director. To this purpose 30 scenes were selected for analysis. In chapter five the subtitling strategies were discussed with the view of foregrounding one very significant concept: film literacy. In subtitling classic Egyptian films the approach must be different as these films form a different category by virtue of their local and international status, the awards they collected, the directors who made them or simply because of their cultural status. Classic films differ from main stream films which tend to be local in their scope and more often than not focus on comedy or local themes that would not necessarily have the artistic merit to be shown abroad. It must be remembered that in Egypt most of the film audience are the youth aged between 15 and 25 and therefore most of the commercial production is directed at them. Quite often the only artistic measure of these films is driven by the dialogue which primarily focuses on clever dialogue writing (Gamal 2006b). Over the past eleven years the phenomenal commercial success of actor Mohamed Saad’s comic films attests to the fact. Several film critics and directors, both Egyptian and non- Egyptian, have criticised this genre of dialogue-based films as explained in Chapter two. Film literacy requires that the subtitler be familiar with Egyptian cinematic language and how meaning is produced through the composite audio and visual channels, not solely through the dialogue, how the film background has a relevant impact on the dialogue and to what extent the subtitler should endeavour to include the meaning-making features and cultural clues employed in the spoken dialogue. Understanding the cinematic language and, more precisely, the visual in Egyptian film is central to film literacy.

Subtitled films expose subtitlers to immediate criticism due to the existence of the source and target texts. Apart from the inevitable “spot the error game” (Shochat and Stam 1985, p. 46) most of the subtitles, at least in Egypt, could be done better if subtitlers are given time and tools. Nornes (2004:448) quite succinctly observes “It is likely that no one has ever come away from a foreign film admiring the translation”. This observation will continue for as long as the current status quo remains unchallenged and unchanged. However, what is insightful is that the current academic practice of teaching, training and even researching audiovisual translation and particularly subtitling tends to be either too general or too narrowly focused. The former describes what subtitles should be whereas the latter on issues such as the treatment of a single problem in film for example subtitling from a minority language (Roffe and Thorne 1994) , dialects (Ranzato 2010), jokes (Zabalbeascoa 1996) or cultural specific

137 imagery (Nedergaard-Larsen 1993), case studies (Cavaliere 2008) or country studies such as “The subtitling profession in Croatia” (Nicolic 2010). The issue of the subtitler’s knowledge of film literacy in general and film language in particular is referred to en passant or is excluded from academic attention. Ramiere (2006) examines cultural transfers in audiovisual translation and points out the significance of cultural familiarity in the same way other scholars stressed the importance of ‘cultural proximity” (Poyatos 1997) and shared common ground (Chaume 1997). Although Chaume confirms that “familiarising audiences with potentially unfamiliar content, although these are obviously important to better understanding of how a film reaches a foreign audience and affects cultural representations”, she stops short of getting into the heart of the problem and concedes that “it was beyond the scope of this paper to examine the applicability” of her strategies which she bases on Lawrence Venuti’s foreignisation and domestication approach. Film literacy does not appear to be a module or a course in major audiovisual programs in Europe and when discussed at the AUC the staff seemed surprised at the notion. Though interested in including it in their program they did not know how or precisely who should teach it. It is therefore significant to turn attention to the subtitler’s familiarity with Egyptian cinema and how to empower them with such knowledge, to make them literate in the cinematic culture, genre and language of Egyptian films.

This research suggests that film literacy should be made the backbone of any academic and/or professional examination of subtitling. Having noted that the task of subtitling spoken Arabic into English has been a rare practice in Egypt since the advent of cinema and that the little work that was available had been carried out by only one company for almost seventy years, the current and indeed sudden commercial demand has not only surpassed but also obscured the significance of research and training in Arabic-English subtitling simply due to time and cost factors. Throughout this research it has been argued that subtitlers need to have a solid theoretical framework in audiovisual translation. This would enable them to appreciate the relation between the audio and visual elements in film on the one hand and to develop a practical appreciation of the process of adding text to image on the other. The DVD industry will continue to produce different subtitled film genres on DVD and this practice calls for a deeper appreciation of how different the cinematic language for each genre is. While it is conceded that Egyptian films rely, rather heavily, on clever dialogues, attention must always be given to the under-researched area of translating the vernacular (El-Battal 2000). Furthermore, it must be made clear that film literacy can also be acquired by reviewing the film with the subtitles mounted. This should be carried out by the subtitler with the help of the editor. This process will give the subtitler (and the editor/trainer) the opportunity to see how the final product appears and will be useful in appreciating to what extent subtitling strategies are successful. It is practically no use suggesting theoretical models or training subtitlers on the process of subtitling without giving them the opportunity to test the model or to show them how well the strategies work in the end. Reviewing the final version of the subtitled film offers both subtitlers and editors the opportunity to judge the ‘product’ of subtitling and to reflect on practice.

138

6.1 Definition of film literacy

For the purpose of this chapter, the term film literacy means the ability to identify meaning- making features in film as employed by different directors in a variety of film genres. In its simplest form, film literacy, means the ability to see and hear things that a disinterested, untrained or inexperienced film viewer would not see or hear because of a lack of interest in film, inexperience in critical studies of film or simply inadequate exposure to film as a literary form (Forsdale and Forsdale 1970). For audiovisual translators, film literacy is not a luxury and must not be seen as such. The purpose is not to make subtitlers film critics or experts on any given genre or the filmography of a particular director but rather to develop a heightened awareness of the film language (Abu Shadi 2006b) employed by Egyptian directors and to assist in the acquisition of a larger repertoire of subtitling strategies. Such repertoire can only be enlarged by knowing what the subtitling challenges are and the continuous discussion and testing of translation and subtitling strategies. As discussed in the beginning of Chapter Four, the multimodal analysis scheme suggested by Baldry and Thibault (2006) could be adapted to suit the needs and purposes of subtitlers (Taylor 2003). By training subtitlers to conduct a multimodal analysis of at least one complete film, the method would have been covered and the point made that attention must be given to the various meaning-making features that transcend the dialogue, no matter how clever it is. Likewise, film literacy is a framework that helps subtitlers to appreciate and identify these meaning-making features that are deployed throughout the film and not only in challenging scenes. Poyatos (1997, p.4), who examines non-verbal modes of communication, alerts us that “These would become stumbling blocks for the serious translators (the others would not even acknowledge such obvious problems)”. Therefore, film literacy is not a skill or a technique per se but a cognitive analytical framework that enables subtitlers to apply to whichever film they work on. While it could be argued that in the commercial context of subtitling and in the absence of formal teaching and training of subtitlers, it would suffice to have a limited number of editors trained in this area since they are the ones who have the authority and experience to make all the necessary changes after the film has been subtitled. The point could be conceded if only editors existed. And, if they did, it would still be economical and professional to train subtitlers in film literacy since the practice of giving subtitlers unreasonable deadlines is not likely to change any time soon. To underscore the professional importance of editors, Australian subtitler Chantal Chalier from SBS Subtitling Unit points out

“We value our editors because they help us polish our scripts. After all writing in a natural, idiomatic style isn’t a gift that should be expected automatically of subtitlers. When subtitling a humourous scene, or one verging on the untranslatable (as with refrences to institutions non existent in the English-speaking world), when all of this has to be conveyed in a concise form that can be grasped by all Australians, our editors make all the difference.” (1996, p.446)

Egyptian cinema, since its first talking film in 1932, has been producing films, importing films and subtitling films into Arabic. The lack of examination of subtitling Egyptian films into English and French as a branch of translation studies has had a negative impact on the quality of subtitling which will have serious repercussions on the reception Egyptian films have abroad,

139 the export of Egyptian classic films, the chances of films winning at international film festivals as well as on the desired impact Egyptian film weeks have abroad. The current practice of treating subtitling as a mono-dimensional, linear process of linguistic transfer carried out on paper is not only short-sighted but equally dangerous as the print translation process does not support the audiovisual medium. It has been amply shown throughout the discussion of the thirty examples, in chapters four and five, that awareness of the film, and not merely the video but also the cinematic language and background of the film, is an essential prerequisite in subtitling films of significant form. As discussed in chapter two, the history of the DVD industry in Egypt is only ten years old and the industry is still young. However, it is paramount to have a theoretical model of audiovisual translation that accounts for what happens when subtitlers work on such films by describing the challenges and accounting for the strategies employed. Over the past decade, there has been a small number of research papers carried out on Arabic subtitling that dealt with the area of subtitling classic Egyptian films and almost all of them were by the same author (Gamal 2006a, 2007a, 2008b, 2009c, 2010a, 2011, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c). The topic is relevant to the academic study of translation both traditional (print) and audiovisual translation (subtitling) as well as cinema and film studies. Film literacy also shares a great deal with literary criticism particularly in the ‘audio-visual’ age brought about by digital technology from DVDs to YouTube, smart phones and tablet computers.

6.2 Scope of film literacy

Piper makes a clear distinction between films and movies

The purpose of this book is to help you get more out of the movies and films in your life. Movies and films? We Americans don’t use those terms interchangeably. We seem to want to “save” film for motion pictures that are somehow more serious than mere movies, which are just for entertainment. This distinction explains why the American Film Institute is not the American Movie Institute. And it explains why universities never offer movie courses or have movie departments: they offer film courses and have film departments (2008, p. xi)

Film literacy for subtitlers can only be achieved through the purposeful study of films and the examination of different film genres and the repeated viewing of some popular films. It is not surprising that many viewers who claim knowledge of or affinity with a certain film genre or filmography of a particular director or actor lack the tools and even knowledge to analyse and discuss films. Many viewers, as I discovered and tested through teaching community interpreting in Sydney and discussions with students of screen translation at the AUC, tend to confuse knowledge of what happens in film with how it did happen. In other words, the superficial knowledge of the mono-dimensional storyline derived at either by reading the novel or even watching the film but without knowing how the story was acted out is, indeed, film il-literacy (Forsdale and Forsdale 1970).

In this respect, film literacy focuses on the audio and the visual channels in film and how the two are utilised together, though not always in concordance as seen in Example 19 (the Bar scene) discussed in Chapter four. Film literate subtitlers are akin to their colleagues who specialise in translating chemistry, poetry or any other branch where specialisation means 140 knowledge of the subject matter and expertise in translating it. The scope of Egyptian film literacy for subtitlers will be, by necessity focused on subtitling and specific translation issues, and therefore may be limited in scope compared to the general film literacy where critics deal with the cinematic and artistic issues involved in the production of Egyptian cinema in general. Thus, with subtitling in mind, the scope of film literacy, as defined for the purpose of this research, would begin with the image and the type of shots and the visual development of the plot. It is important to point to inexperienced subtitlers how meaning is structured through the image and how it could be direct or indirect. Thus a newspaper headline in the background carries as much meaning as the spoken word. It is perhaps significant to explain the meaning of motion picture to translators of film and ensure a clear understanding that cinema is primarily about images and that viewers go to the cinema to watch a film not listen to a story. After satisfactory initiation into the visual channel and how meaning can be constructed through shots (long and medium and close up) and lighting, décor and montage, the audio channel is introduced. Film dialogue is a lot more than just a conversation in film and should be examined in its Egyptian context (Hosni 2009b). Thus the language of the dialogue and its associated issues of spoken vs. Modern Standard Arabic, distinguishing designed dialogue structures from the desired communicative effect and ultimately translating the vernacular are the major points to be examined. This will be followed by a closer examination of complex scenes where the visual channel is employed to suggest meaning either singularly (with one sign) or plurally (with more than one sign). In film, verbal and visual images intertwine and create meaning and more often than not they do so together.

This foregrounds the issue of who will, or can, teach film literacy to subtitlers? While the element of experience is not to be discounted as subtitlers will eventually gain more experience as they subtitle more and more Egyptian films. However, should the current practice continue unchecked the cost to the DVD industry can be prohibitive. A decade after the launch of the DVD industry in Egypt the audiovisual translation profession has not witnessed any development and the cost to the AVT industry can be, without exaggeration, crippling. As most of the Egyptian cinema classics have been under-translated, the professional practice of agreeing to translate a dialogue list without seeing the video, accepting translated subtitles without checking with an editor, leaving subtitling in the hands of generalist translators and treating subtitling as an extra expense to be disposed of and done at the last minute are all unprofessional practices that are being entrenched and accepted as a fait accompli. To counter this culture, film literacy needs to be seen as indispensable and fundamental by way of introduction to screen translation programs. The philosophy is based on exposure to a wide variety of scenes, situations and strategies. The person to do this is naturally someone who has the experience to highlight how meaning is made in film and how translation works on screen. In case this is not attainable then a combination of a film critic and a subtitling specialist who work in tandem to highlight how film multimodal analysis as Taylor suggested (2003) will enhance the work of subtitlers. In this way, film literacy would benefit a great deal from a typological study of the various scenes and situations in Egyptian film that require multimodal analysis.

141

6.3 Typological studies

It is insightful to observe that the now established discipline of audiovisual translation in the West was spearheaded by practicing subtitlers. Early practitioners such as Jan Ivarsson from Sweden, Brigitte Nedergaard-Larsen from Denmark, Irena Kovacic from Slovenia, Yves Gambier from France and Henrik Gottlieb from Denmark were among the pioneers who actually reflected on practice and documented their experience in the early 1990s. When Ivarsson published the first ever book on audiovisual translation ‘Subtitling’ in 1992, it was a great success that ran out of print within a short period of time. In the Foreword to the second revised edition he made in collaboration with Mary Carroll in 1998, they refer to the international demand:

At the first EBU Conference on Dubbing and Subtitling, held in Stockholm in the summer of 1987, I was asked by several colleagues from different countries to translate Sveriges Televison‘s (SVT’s) handbook for new subtitlers into English, since the lack of such manual was keenly felt in many quarters. I didn’t think it was a feasible idea because the handbook in question was tailor-made for SVT requirements (Ivarsson and Carroll: 1998, p. v).

When I met Ivarsson at the Berlin Language and Media Conference in October 2006 I asked him about the foreign colleagues who had asked for the translation of his book. Surprisingly, Ivarsson pointed out that it was actually Mr Gilbert Sant, from SBS Television in Australia who had asked for the English translation. When I worked for SBS for almost two years (1992-1993) Mr Sant was the director of the Subtitling Unit at SBS in Milsons Point prior to moving to its current premises in Artarmon in January 1993. In the training sessions Mr Sant acknowledged the pioneering work of Scandinavian television particularly Sweden. The common joke in the Subtitling Unit when there was a technical glitch or a “curly” problem to which there was no satisfactory answer was “The Swedes did not think about that”. In a private interview with Ivarsson alongside the Berlin conference I asked him about the nature of subtitling experience and how it differs from translation experience. Ivarsson maintains that typological studies (situations and scenes) must be carried out early on in a subtitler’s career, and it is the only way a subtitler can gain experience and confidence. In his web site (www.transedit.se), Jan Ivarsson (born in 1931) still maintains active communications and shares his thoughts at conferences and phone calls. Likewise, Nedergaard-Larsen (1992) suggests a typology of some of the problematic areas in subtitling which subtitlers should be aware of as discussed in Chapter three. Such attempts at discreetly describing challenges in film subtitling are conducive to a better understanding of what is involved in subtitling. In other words, they serve as an introduction to the nature of subtitling as the process of adding text to image which is far from being a simple translation task in the traditional sense.

Translating such typologies to be examined in other linguistic and cultural contexts is beneficial in as far as transplanting the idea but it does not cancel the need of proper research and reflection on the source film culture and its cinematic language (Abu Shadi 2006a, 2006b). In the absence of any academic research on Egyptian subtitling (Gamal 2013a, 2013b, 2013c) the need for typological studies is paramount. As established above, the task is not as simple as transferring Danish or Swedish ideas to Egypt and applying them nor is it a call to re-invent the 142 subtitling wheel in Egypt. On the contrary, Egypt has a long cinematic legacy and an equally long history with subtitling which would make it a fertile ground for the establishment of audiovisual studies with a special focus on subtitling.

6.4 An Egyptian typology

A typology of challenges is by its very nature a list of different types of problematic areas that the practitioner/researcher wants to examine. For the purpose of this research I propose the following typology which builds on the list of examples discussed in the previous two chapters. The typology is informed by research conducted by several audiovisual scholars namely the work of Nedergaard-Larsen (1993), Gottlieb (1994a) and Gonzalez (2008). The proposed typology is based on the close examination of a large number of subtitled Egyptian classic films. The typology has ten categories that cover the various stages of subtitling a film from beginning to end. While each category is significant in its own right the typology is by no means fixed to only ten categories which could be enlarged or combined and new categories added as the practitioner’s experience increases. It is hoped that each category in the table could be taken up in further academic research to widen the scope of the typology. Ultimately, the typology would assist in developing a broad theoretical framework for the subtitling of classic Egyptian films into English.

In the following table there are four columns; number, name of category, description of the category and a selected film as a representative example for the category. The description column offers brief description of the category and in the final column the film listed as an example is only a suggestion. Researchers and practicing subtitlers are invited to use this table as a model to scaffold their experience by examining each category in a numerical order from one to ten. Alternatively, those who already have some experience in subtitling classic Egyptian films may wish to explore a category of their interest and test their knowledge with different film examples. Likewise, trainers may wish to enlarge each category with more film examples building a data base of scenes that support the category with detailed description of the challenge encountered in each scene. Ultimately, the more categories examined and more examples collected the larger the body of knowledge and hopefully the sooner the general interest in Arabic audiovisual translation will come about. The suggested typology therefore must not be seen as an end in itself and should be used as a pedagogic tool with clear learning objectives. To this end, trainee subtitlers and students should not be tested on the typology but should be evaluated on how to deal with the subtitling challenges commonly encountered in translating an ‘Egyptian film title’ as listed in the typology. Thus it is the technique and not the category that trainees are taught and trained to examine and suggest solutions.

143

No Type Description Film example 1 Introduction The graphic introduction to the film. Its A Man in our House relevance to the plot. Any documentary element used at the beginning or throughout the film. 2 Film Title The commercial and artistic considerations of A Little Bit of Fear translating the title. Remakes. Is the title repeated in the dialogue? 3 CSI All Cultural Specific Images (CSI) from personal Love Street names to geographical, historical or physical places. Cultural references. Early identification translation strategies. 4 The vernacular Identifying the likely challenges in translating Between Heaven and the spoken dialect of Egypt (and the regional Earth varieties). Also, idiolects. Mixing English with Arabic. Translation of idioms & proverbs. 5 Non-verbal Non-verbal communication (NVC): Days of Sadat communication The six pack of: Murals, Graffiti, Sotto voce, Ethnic names, Décor, Body Language. Murals make one of the most difficult features to translate. 6 Religious Translating Islamic/ Coptic Christian references Mother of the Bride into English. Relevance and pragmatic effect.

7 Humour Jokes. One-liners. Come backs. Linguistics Rumour of Love jokes including broken Arabic spoken by foreigners. Also, physical gestures including body language. Skill in unpacking jokes to turn designed dialogue effect into desired effect.

8 Voices The use of different voices in film. Participating Sleepless and non-participating characters in a scene. Soliloquy. Narration. 9 Names Proper names. Descriptive proper names Citizen Masri relevant to role. Historical, geographical names. Relevance & pragmatic effect desired. 10 The End How the film ends and the expression of the River of Love END. Graphic element, humor, repletion and other innovative styles. Appropriate strategies to use.

Table 36 - An Egyptian typology of subtitling challenges

144

In the following paragraphs I will comment on each category listed in the table above.

6.4.1 The Introduction The ‘introduction’ to some Egyptian films could be problematic in the sense that it may contain some linguistic or cultural messages that are foregrounded in the initial scenes of the film. As seen in A Man in our House, the film starts with the credits (as opposed to western films) and particularly the acknowledgement of the assistance the film crew received from the Governorate of Cairo and the Ministry of Interior. Furthermore, the film employs a documentary (of eight graphic plates) by way of introduction to the main event. This mini-film calls for careful examination to determine its meaning-making features and decide on the appropriate translation strategies. In some films the introduction has a song which sets the scene for the events. The song and the music score will be repeated later to reinforce the message divulged at the beginning. Different film genres employ different meaning-making features that require attention and examination. Getting it right at the start makes it easier to determine the subtitling strategy so that target viewers understand and appreciate the film.

6.4.2 Film title Film titles are so brief and yet carry so much meaning that sum up 100 minutes or more of an audiovisual text. Gamal (2007b) observes that Egyptian translators tend to be literal when they translate Egyptian film titles into English but liberal when they translate foreign films into Arabic. Attention has to be given to the meaning embodied in the film title and how it will be translated taking into consideration a number of factors over and above the linguistic and cultural references of the title. This is significant as most film plots will slowly evolve till a moment when the film title suddenly makes sense. This cinematic moment should not be missed, let alone lost through inadequate under-translation. In some Egyptian films the title will be repeated several times. In The Enemy of Women (1966) it is repeated sixteen times. Naturally, the subtitler has to decide how to deal with this phenomenon and can decide on a strategy to save some space on the screen. Some Egyptian films derive their names from Koranic verses and the message is both subtle and culturally complex as in A Little Bit of Fear (1969) and Till Better Times (2007). This category is perhaps one of the least examined areas in Egyptian audiovisual studies. Moreover, some Egyptian film titles may have names that are already used in foreign or more precisely American films such as Al-mumya (The Mummy) by Shadi Abdel-Salam (1975). A decision has to be made to distinguish between Abel-Salam’s film and the more popular American film by Karl Freund (1932) starring Boris Karloff and even the more recent horror film by Stephen Sommers (1999). To avoid the confusion and to stress the artistic standing of Shadi Abdel-Salam’s creation which The World Cinema Foundation (2013) regards as “commonly and rightfully acknowledged as one of the greatest Egyptian films ever made”, the original Arabic name, Al-mumya, should be retained and used. The film’s original title is ‘The night of counting the years, the mummy’. In this situation, it is perhaps more prudent to keep the first and longer half of the title than opt for the shorter and more dramatic Mumya (the Mummy).

While creativity and independence are the hallmarks of the experienced subtitler working on a freelance basis, it is equally important to liaise with the production company to enquire about any commercial names the film may have or is registered under. 145

6.4.3 Cultural Specific Images (SCI) This is one of the richest and largest categories in any typology prepared and examined by subtitlers (Nedergaard-Larsen 1992, Ramiere 2006) and it accounts for a large number of case studies examined by various subtitlers in various linguistic and cultural settings. Essentially, it encompasses all cultural images whether expressed in the dialogue or seen in the visual. The problem is that these images are intertwined between text and image so intricately and quite often with no dialogue yet native viewers can (in most cases) process them simultaneously as discussed in chapter four in the Ramadan iconography employed by the director (the canon, the minaret, the drummer boy, the children song). However, target language viewers may need assistance to understand the cultural specific image in order to appreciate the film. This issue applies to all types of audiovisual material whether television drama, documentaries, mainstream films or the classics. Naturally, subtitlers of films participating at film festivals need to be particularly aware of this complex issue. This category in the typology provides a wide scope for examining subtitling quality, strategies and issues. It teems with research ideas, topics and questions. In training subtitlers it can be further examined with subcategories that examine further topics in more detail. For instance, subcategories may include: geographical names. For instance, there is a scene where an angry man returns home and tells his wife “I was transferred to Assyout!” On the Egyptian map, Assyout is not only 700 kilometres south of Cairo but socially it means outside of the capital and civilisation. For a public servant to be transferred south is taken as a disciplinary action or punishment. The city name, Assyout is therefore insignificant to the target viewer (particularly when the events of the film do not take place in Assyout) and the reference is therefore marginal to the plot. The decision to replace the unfamiliar name by a more familiar one to minimise the lexical burden on the target viewer may be an appropriate one, for example: “I was transferred to the middle of nowhere” or if the punishment was intended “I am exiled out of Cairo” or should the administrative directive meant keeping him away from the action, then, “I am banished to nowhere”.

6.4.4 Translating the vernacular The spoken dialogue employed in Egyptian film is designed for effect. It is written by experienced dialogue writers to achieve a certain dramatic effect. Remael correctly observes that “Good film dialogue is appreciated by all, but studied by few” (2004, p. 103). Quite often, it has discoursal features that can be identified as repetitive. Repetition is one of the discoursal devices employed to stress or clarify meaning and more often than not could be trimmed. In the previous chapter, the Eighth category of Spoken Arabic examined the outburst of Abdel- Hammed (Scene 22) when he said:

I can’t be fooled. I’ll show you. My flesh is bitter.

It can be seen that the main idea expressed in the first sentence amounts to “I cannot be fooled” and that a secondary idea follows “I’ll show you”. It can also be seen that the Egyptian idiomatic expression (My flesh is bitter) is the cinematic effect designed by the dialogue writer. This deconstruction of this segment could be said to apply to a large percentage of the cases when Egyptian idiomatic expressions, similar to this one, are used in film. As explained previously, the colourful Egyptian idiomatic expression is actually redundant for the purposes

146 of subtitling. What subtitlers need to be aware of is the difference between the desired effect and the designed effect. The latter, is designed with the source viewer in mind, and as established before, it is to please Egyptian viewers who enjoy a good dialogue. It is however, not relevant to the plot and is not to be translated. Training in appreciating how dialogue works (designed v desired) and how it complements the image takes time and requires lots of examples from a wide pool of scenes from various films. The ‘designed v desired meaning in dialogue’ can be seen in a large number of scenes that vary in complexity from linguistic to intersemiotic. To enhance this skill in analysing Egyptian dialogue prior to subtitling it is paramount that subtitlers be given the opportunity to watch their previously subtitled films to test the viability of their translation and subtitling strategies. Only then would subtitlers acquire the minimum literacy required for determining what needs to be subtitled and what strategy works best.

6.4.5 Non-verbal communication (NVC) Unlike most Egyptian television drama, films have lots of scenes with shots taken in a large number of locations. Films are also faster in tempo than TV drama and are, by necessity full of signs and symbols that contribute to meaning. While famous landmarks such as the pyramids would suggest Cairo and the Citadel on the beach would suggest Alexandria, subtitlers would have to pay attention to what else is inside the picture and be sensitive to visual meaning- making features. For instance, in Naguib Mahfouz’s Quails of Autumn (1967) when Issa, the main character, returns to Cairo to visit his sick mother the camera shows him getting out of a taxi not far from his apartment building. As the camera focuses on his face we see a man who acknowledges that his mother has already passed away. This is gleaned a second later as the camera changes from a close up to a long shot showing funerary service men preparing for the service: bringing chairs, placing a carpet and setting up a tent-like marquee to receive mourners. Here the only channel is the visual with no linguistic input.

The category requires a higher degree of film literacy and experience in viewing Egyptian films and the ability to identify meaning-making features. It presupposes experience in the previous category of examining cultural specific imageries in film which tend to be more expressive, mostly through the dialogue, and through cultural icons expressed through décor, costumes, locations, music and songs. Non-verbal communication, on the other hand, is more subtle as it allows one channel to override the other as discussed in chapter four in the discussion of the eight graphic plates and specifically in the Bar Scene. Another relevant example of the audio channel overriding the visual channel can be seen early in Mohamed Khan’s film Days of Sadat when the newly elected president reflects on his background and how he got to be the governor of all Egypt. In the first scene of Sadat as president of Egypt he is seen talking to his secretary who reads the day’s commitments while asking for his signature on some correspondence. The camera zooms in to the bottom of the page where native viewers can read:

Muhammad Anwar Sadat ………………………………………..

President of the United Arab Republic

147

They see President Sadat sign his name in Arabic. This can be processed simultaneously by native viewers (and speakers of Arabic) but target language viewers, busy focusing on reading the subtitles of what the Secretary is saying would most likely miss out the significance of Sadat signing his name as the President of the United Arab Republic (the old name of Egypt from 1956-1971). Like in the previous scene, the subtitler needs to be aware of the several meaning-making features and to decide on which feature that needs to be kept and subtitled.

It is these issues that film critics, particularly at film festivals, highlight and bring to the fore. Quality in film subtitling is a lot more than translating the film’s dialogue and transcends it to creating a subtitle that enhances the viewing experience. The challenge is that a subtitle has to be short enough to allow watching the images but meaningful enough to help understand and appreciate the foreign work.

Non-verbal communication in film is rich with scenes and situations that can stimulate and indeed challenge trainee (and practicing) subtitlers to reflect on practice and revisit their repertoire of subtitling strategies. It also provides research ideas, topics and questions for further examination of subtitling Egyptian classic films into English (and into other languages as well).

6.4.6 Religious references Religious references abound in Egyptian films (Qassem 2004). Salah-Eldin perceptively sums up the representation of religion in Egyptian cinema “there is hardly an Egyptian film that does not show a mosque, a dome or a minaret in the main action or in the background which serves as a symbol of the place and the close association the film has with the Egyptian society” (1998, p. 213). Apart from religious films that deal with Islamic religion, history or personalities, some very popular feature films deal with common issues from an Islamic point of view such as Al- zawgah Al-thaniyah (The Second Wife) (1967). The film examines divorce from social, political and religious perspectives with a focus on a corrupt clergy who misinterprets the Koran to serve the interests of his superior, the mayor of the village. Apart from knowledge of religious terms and how to translate Koranic verses, the subtitler needs also to be aware of the cultural imagery, body language and proxemics in the shot/scene structure as the clergy appears positioned to show his influence on the simple farmer who is forced to divorce his wife so that the mayor can marry her. Adham Al –Sharqawi (1964) is a patriotic film that centres on the struggle between good and evil and against a background of the British occupation of Egypt in the early Twentieth century. In a scene when the Robin Hood-like figure of Adham decides to return to the village to attend his mother’s funeral he walks into the house where a sheikh is seen reading verses from the Koran. Translating verses from the Koran is another difficult challenge to subtitlers due to the constraints of the medium and also, quite often, in their zeal to fit the translations into a subtitle, the translations sound like verses from the Bible. In the scene, the Koranic recitations revolve around life and death and how “every human life will come to an end”. Yet, when Adham walks in the mourners are caught in the dilemma of respecting the occasion and welcoming Adham back. However, to make matters worse and more intense, British soldiers have been expecting his return and have surrounded the village. The Muslim sheikh’s decision to warn Adham was rather clever as he changed the chapter and verse he was reading from and used a verse that has a more motivating effect “O prophet,

148 instigate the faithful to fight” which was picked up by Adham as a sign that the British have arrived. The issue here is not that subtitlers need to learn how to translate important or significant verses or sentences but how to watch film and how to identify meaning-making features and the way they are designed and deployed throughout the film.

Jewish references also feature in Egyptian films, both earlier and contemporary, albeit with a political denotation rather than a religious connotation. The references are significant and serve a purpose and are employed throughout the film in a subtle manner that varies from proper names to symbols such as the Star of David, the Hanukkah Lamp and the Jewish hat (Kippa). Such references abound in some of the films that appear in the list of Best 100 Films (Tawfic 1969) and the Most Important 100 Films (Al-Hadary 2007). Although such references may be shared with non-Egyptian viewers familiar with Hollywood films, a decision has to be made regarding the designed or desired meaning.

By the same token, Christian (Egyptian Coptic Church) references abound, and particularly recently, in Egyptian films. While some are designed to be subtle such as proper names or indirect fleeting references such as crosses, church towers, bearded priests some are direct quotations from the Bible or Christian terminology. These, in some films, carry a lot more than what they stand for: they are Christian references, not merely religious references so the connotations and denotations of such religious references ought to be accounted for by the subtitler. There is a scene in Al-millionaire Al-muzayeaf (The Fake Millionaire) in which a Christian solicitor visits the residence of one of his clients in the month of Ramadan. The solicitor smells lentil soup in the house and asks if could have some. The servant says “Wait until the canon has struck and I will serve you soup”. The solicitor replies “My name is Hosni Matta Almegharbel”. The servant unwittingly asks “Aren’t you fasting Ramadan?” The solicitor spells his name again and slowly “Son, my name is Hosni… Matta … Almegharbel!”. Clearly the name is a Christian one but the servant was oblivious of the fact! This category requires attention to subtle meaning and presupposes a solid ground in the translation of religious references and exegtic texts. The subtitle here may contain a reference to the Christian background.

6.4.7 Humour One of the many reasons why Egyptian Cinema is very popular in the Arab world is due firstly to the dialect and secondly to humour. There is no shortage of support for this last statement which is echoed in every corner in the Arab world. Obaidou (2006) examines the history of cinema in Morocco and acknowledges the “undeniable Egyptian influence on Moroccan cinema culture from the film title to the dialogue”(Accessed 05/12/2013). Egyptian films are replete with humour and jokes. The problem with humour is that it is very complex to translate (Zabalbeascoa 1994, 1996). Egyptian humour like any other humour is deeply rooted in the language and its culture and this is the reason why it is rather complex to translate jokes across languages. As Poyatos (1997) points out, the lack of ‘common cultural background’ between societies tends to heighten the problem of translation. Egyptian humour typically relies on logic and language. Egyptian logic is determined by the local Egyptian culture which may be understood but not shared by many other cultures. Furthermore, Egyptian jokes play on the Arabic language and stretch and swing semantics in whichever way that serves the joke.

149

Subtitlers appreciate that translating a source language joke into another language is fraught with challenges the most significant of them is that the target language translation is not as funny. This is a problem that translators and subtitlers must work hard so as to approximate the meaning. After all, it is hard to pretend that there was no joke since target viewers can easily see people are having stiches and their body language clearly indicate something is funny in the scene. One added dimension to the problem of translating jokes is that the language is almost entirely based on the vernacular which is not only different from Modern Standard Arabic but also has its own terminology and semantic levels. As pointed out previously Egyptian vernacular speakers grew up speaking the vernacular and didn’t stop for one term, let alone one hour, to reflect on the structure of their language (the spoken vernacular). This is simply the reason why translating the vernacular, humorous or otherwise, is really difficult and without labouring the point it amounts to translating from a language the translator understands but is rather unfamiliar with. Attia examines jokes in contemporary Egyptian films and is quite justified in pointing out that more often than not the humour is too verbal and “amounts to nonsensical exchanges that defy language and logic” and, though funny, is soon forgotten (2003, p. 90). It is this kind of humour that is the most difficult to translate. Zabalbeascoa identifies six types of jokes: the international joke, the national- culture-and institutions joke, the national sense-of-humour joke, the language-dependent joke and finally the visual joke. He also alerts us to the fact that any of the above could be combined together which leads to seventh type “the complex joke” (1994, p.97).

Egyptian humour, like Egyptian vernacular, has received little attention by Arabic translation scholars and in the field of subtitling it is of significant importance due to its prevalence not only as a meaning-making feature (humour) but also its inclusion as a cinematic technique (the dialogue). This category should appeal to many students and trainee subtitlers, and informed by the list suggested by Zabalbeascoa and other studies on humour by translation scholars (Chiaro 2010) could be enlarged by creating sub-categories that examine the types of jokes with particular focus on Egyptian-culture jokes and the verbal jokes identified by Attia above in a bid to deconstruct the jokes to their linguistic and logic elements. In this, the language based jokes could be divided into three sub-categories: Egyptian language jokes (a play on features of Arabic and the Egyptian vernacular), English language jokes (a play on English words and their more-often-than-not literal translation into Arabic) and finally, the least examined type, Foreigner’s Arabic (when foreigners are shown speaking in broken Arabic and the type of mistakes they make that prove to be a source of humour).

6.4.8 Voices Film literacy, broadly speaking, means that subtitlers can account for meaning-making features in films. Throughout this research, it has been pointed out that the current practice in Egypt is to send the dialogue list to subtitlers to translate the dialogue which would then be mounted on the film by a technician. It has been pointed out that this practice is not only faulty but also amounts to false economy, contrary to the prevailing commercial wisdom. By denying the subtitler access to the video, the subtitling quality is immediately compromised. The following examples clearly illustrate this point. In The Ladies Barber (1960), the film starts with a narration that introduces the three main characters of the film and the plot. It is very short telling viewers about the men who were just released from jail and decided to start a business 150 together. Though the narration is in Modern Standard Arabic it exhibits no difficulty. The only problem however is that the voice of the narrator is Omar Sharif’s although he does not appear in the film. Subtitlers would have to decide whether the knowledge that the voice of the narrator is that of Omar Sharif is relevant to the target viewer or not. If it were relevant, then a strategy for adding this information needs to be first designed and second tested.

In Cairo Station (1958) the film begins with a narration in the vernacular. The warm voice of Hassan El-baroudi tells viewers of what the film is about. El-baroudi is one of the main characters of the film and native viewers associate his warm and trembling voice with his image as a helpless old man, a character he often played. This cinematic awareness is relevant to the subtitler and when contrasted to The Sin (1965) where the film begins with a narration in Modern Standard Arabic introducing the film which deals with rape of a peasant woman it creates an extra-linguistic dimension. The problem here is that the narration introduces the plot in such a manner that subconsciously makes viewers take the side of the farm woman for the voice of the narrator is that of Hussein Riyad the actor who best characterised the role of the father in Egyptian cinema. Likewise, Adham Alsharqawi (1964) is a patriotic film that examines the life of Adham Al-Sharqawi in whose name a famous ballad was written and sung by many singers. The film begins with a graphic introduction to the background of the film by way of graphic stills as we saw in A Man in our House but more importantly it begins with a musical narration that would be developed into full songs and a ballad throughout the film. The challenge here is that the voice of the singer is that of Abdel Haleem Hafez, the popular male vocalist of the Nasser Period of the fifties and sixties, who sang some of the most memorable romantic and patriotic songs.

6.4.9 Egyptian names In chapter four, scene 14 dealt with the Christian name of Nashed Salib and in scene 25 the historical and Alexandrian name of Abdullah Al-Nadeem. Most Egyptian names are expressive and have abstract meanings. For instance male proper names such as Adel (Just), Nabil (nobel), Karim (generous), Amir (prince), Saad (happiness) Said (happy) and Masri (Egyptian). Equally, female proper names such as Sanaa (height), Wafaa (Faithfulness), Amina (honesty), and Khdra (green) have their abstract meanings as well and serve as nouns. Naturally, the proper name would not have any other connotations unless evoked or provoked by a situation, an action by the person or a comment by another person and when this happens, more often than not, it is for comic effect. The challenge for subtitlers here is first to pick up the connotation, understand the denotation and to determine a strategy to translate the meaning into the target language. However, the challenge is to decide whether such information is relevant and can be translated in a way that conforms to the constraints of the audiovisual medium.

In Beggars Strike (1967) the main character is a young female whose name is Shakal (trouble) and she is the leader of the beggars. Throughout the film, her role and demeanor is to stir trouble with people in order to rob them. In My Wife is the CEO (1966) the rumour monger in the company is a man whose name Abu-El Kheir (father of goodness) and in Bayoumi Effendi (1949) the ungrateful son Nabil (nobel), who protests his sister marrying a man because of his lowly background, is actually a bastard child. While it could be argued that though such a linguistic feature is significant to the source language viewer but its relevance to the target

151 language viewer may be not as important. In subtitling there is loss of some features. In classic films such as The Price of Freedom (1964), which deals with the resistance to the British occupation of Egypt, the main character who personifies resistance is Muhammad El-Masri. In a film of significant form, the subtle meaning-making features need to be given prominence in the target language as they appear in the source language. Here the surname El-Masri is very significant for it means the Egyptian. Later, in 1991, Omar Sharif appeared in Citizen Masri, a political film that examines the Nasser period and the main character is Masri (Egyptian) who serves in the army instead of the mayor’s pampered son. Masri takes on the mayor’s name but gets killed in the war and the family of Masri is left without any recompense or even the honour of saying their son died for his country. In this film, Masri represents the entire population of Egypt hence the title Citizen Masri. As pointed above, film literacy is not intended to make subtitlers film critics but simply to sharpen their focus on meaning-making features in film.

6.4.10 The End Not all Egyptian films reach their finale with the traditional ending “The End”. Some directors decide to use a different technique to express the conclusion of their masterpiece. Apart from the use of different font, size, colour or any other graphic manipulation of the cliché “The end”, there are other several techniques that subtitlers need to be aware of. Some films end with a verse from the Koran and this brings the category of religious references (category six) into focus particularly as the verse has an added symbolic meaning that sums up the film. For instance, Naguib Mahfouz’s masterpiece Miramar written in 1967 and turned into a film by the same name in 1969 is an example of Egyptian political films. Miramar was written and produced at a very critical time in Egypt in the wake of the Six Day War of 1967. El-Shami points out the difficulty with the Koranic verse that ends the film which some critics intereprerted as an example of how religion was the cause of defeat while others saw the opposite: drifting away from religion brought a worldly disaster (2007:111). Here the significance of the verse is, perhaps, of very little relevance to target viewers but Arab and particularly Muslim viewers would debate the meaning of the verse. Different directors, on the other hand, may decide to use a light-hearted cliché that is quoted from the dialogue. Other films end with a musical note from a popular song which enforces the message of the film. Quite often, the film title is repeated and in others a reference to the next film in the trilogy, sequel or part of the series is made. The point here is that some meaning is intended and may be deemed important to underscore in the subtitle for the target viewer. On rare occasions, the film title is repeated with a translation either in English or in French which may be a blessing for the subtitler but sometimes it is a French translation which is different from the English. Knowledge of the English translation of the film title used by the producer or director as in Yousef Chahine’s film in which he introduced Omar Sharif Struggle in the Valley (1954). The film is widely known in English literature as Blazing Sun and appears in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) under this title. As seen in the translation of A Man in our House on the DVD cover subtitlers need to be aware of the commercial version used by the director or the distributor and need to do some background research.

152

6.5 Film literacy as a means not an end

Meaning is achieved through various means in film and it requires a higher degree of exposure to film and film literacy to appreciate the significance of sign and its relation to the developing story (Abu-Shadi 1984). Similarly, Monaco argues

As a medium, film needs to be considered as a phenomenon very much like language. It has no codified grammar, it has no enumerated vocabulary, it doesn’t even have very specific rules of usage, so it is very clearly not a language system like written or spoken English; but it nevertheless does perform many of the same functions of communication as language does. It would then be very useful if we could describe the way film operates with a degree of logical precision. (2000, p. 64) (Italics in the original)

Meaning can easily be achieved through visuals only and this may be direct or indirect as in the form of the headline of a newspaper preceding or following an event or the simple but symbolic action such as the release of a bird from its cage to symbolise freedom (El-Shami 2007, p.117) or the end of government controls as in the case of Yousef Chahine’s political film The Sparrow (1973). Likewise, meaning could be underscored without dialogue by way of graffiti, a poster, a book title or a musical note. In Citizen Masri, as we see soldiers going to the Suez Canal they pass by the tomb of President Nasser in Cairo and we hear a musical note of one of the popular songs during his period. Understanding how meaning is deployed through signs, symbols and gestures helps the subtitler in identifying the features that bear meaning and decide on whether they need to be subtitled and how. Film literacy, not unlike translation theory, is not supposed to tell subtitlers or translators what to do but its main function is to increase awareness of what they do and why (Shuttleworth and Cowie 1997). Film literacy does not substitute experience and reflection on practice and subtitlers will have to continue searching for more and more examples to analyse and to devise subtitling strategies. They must learn that watching their subtitles on the video is an essential part of their professional development and not a waste of time.

As pointed out, translation schools in Egypt do not examine the vernacular and it is through the vernacular that jokes and funny statements are expressed. Likewise, children’s literature, cartoons, songs, advertisements, clever catch phrases used in journalistic writing are not examined in the undergraduate programs and are only examined at the postgraduate level by researchers who mostly become academics with little or no opportunity to apply the results of their research professionally. Film literacy, within the specialisation of audiovisual translation studies opens the field of traditional translation wider by examining the translation of the Egyptian vernacular into English and the quality of such translation. In this respect audiovisual translation studies in Arabic, as a specialised field, would focus on the relevant Arabic language-related issues in a bid to map out the field of AVT studies. One of the most relevant priorities, perhaps, is to apply film literacy skills to typological studies that examine problematic issues in subtitling Egyptian classic films into English. Gambier reminds us that the task of the subtitler is “to appeal and captivate the spectator’s senses, that is the ability to hear and to read and to stimulate the spectator’s interest” (1994, p.282).

153

6.6 Subtitling and the DVD industry in Egypt

As mentioned in chapter two the Egyptian DVD industry began in 2002 with the Egyptian Cinema Classics series and it relied heavily on the list of the Best 100 Films to promote its remastered and subtitled films. The quality of the subtitling exhibits signs of weak command of English and poor appreciation of the cinematic language of Egyptian films. This led Gamal (2007, p.85) to observe that the “DVD industry in Egypt is an industry without a profession”. This observation was made almost five years after the launch of the subtitling activity and in 2009 it was tested further on other equally significant films released on DVD after 2007. As a matter of fact, other more contemporary films were examined. These films belong to the youthful cinema that began in the latter half of 1990s. They are mostly comedy and, as expected, rely heavily on the cleverly-designed dialogue. The findings of the subtitling quality study are not surprising. Most significantly the same modus operandi in Egypt remained unchanged and subtitlers were treated as print translators who work from the dialogue list.

By 2009 the number of new subtitled DVDs in Egypt was markedly lower and by 2010 there appears to have been a halt to the release of Egyptian films, classic or otherwise, on DVDs. Gamal (2013b) argues that the demise of the Egyptian DVD industry is in no small part due to the quality of the subtitles. While the legal issues of acquisition by Saudi owned company Rotana has had a serious impact on the number of DVD releases, the lack of anti-piracy laws in the country, the free to air broadcasting of remastered films on Rotana channels and the subsequent availability of Egyptian films on YouTube have all contributed to the non-viability of the subtitled DVD enterprise. There is one factor that is worth-examining here: the quality of the subtitles which remains, as mentioned previously, outside the scope or interest of translation schools in Egypt and the Arab world despite the vast opportunities brought about by digital technology.

6.7 Cultivating an audiovisual culture in Egypt

Some private Egyptian universities (Misr International University, MIU) began to offer a subject on subtitling in their translation courses. However, students do the translation of the dialogue on paper then mount it on video and the focus is on digital media rather than on audio & visual translation as explained in chapter five. With hundreds of satellite channels broadcasting subtitled foreign programs into Arabic around the clock, the demand for subtitlers is likely to increase. The subtitled programs cover a wide range of topics which have a direct impact on the Arabic language. Gamal (2008b: 95) explains that “the football terminology in Egypt took root in Arabic through an audiovisual journey”. He argues that the English football terminology, though borrowed in its entirety initially began to be domesticated as different media tackled the subject. The journey began with the print media then through the radio, the television (black and white, colour) and later Satellite Channels (delayed telecast then live broadcasting). The terminology became more domesticated as technology such as goal replay and slow- motion created a forum for discussion. And finally the popularisation of the football commentary from a single commentator to dozens of commentators with various educational and cultural backgrounds and knowledge of the sport ensured that the masses began using the terminology in the local language. Today, almost all football terminology has been

154 domesticated except for “hattrick” (2008b, p. 97). Although it was a long journey that began at least with the official foundation of Egypt’s first football club in 1907, it means that audiovisual culture is now impacting on almost all aspects of our life from education and entertainment to government business and shopping, personal banking and travel. Digital technology will ensure that from now on most activities will be done on a screen as Gambier said a decade earlier “we are surrounded by screens” (2003b, p. 171).

The youthful population of Egypt is increasingly growing adept at digital technology and has had since childhood GameBoy, Sony PlayStation I, II and III and will soon have PS IV. In their adolescence they began using digital cameras and Smart phones and can download a film (mostly illegally), copy and distribute pirated DVDs, upload a video clip on YouTube and participate in Fan-subbing activities on the numerous Arab web sites dedicated to fan subbing. From this generation researchers in audiovisual translation will eventually come and then, perhaps only then, audiovisual translation could be said to have taken root in Egypt. At the moment, the reluctance of Egyptian academia is not entirely due to lack of funds or technical knowledge in the translation departments but rather to the supremacy of the print culture which sees digital cultural and the age of the Internet and online accessibility as too ‘virtual’, transient and too ‘visual’ to be truly academic. It is the same attitude that still shuns the vernacular and does not consider it worthy of academic study and examination (Kallaf 2007). It is a generational issue that time will iron out in due course. While it is insightful that Egyptians have been watching Egyptian and foreign films and consuming subtitles for almost seventy years before the actual rise in the demand for subtitling into Arabic (by satellite channels) and into English and French (by the DVD industry). It is against this audiovisual background that the development of audiovisual translation programs at Egyptian universities will follow and very quickly. The supremacy of digital technology will ensure that digital culture will take root and will demand its tools (Zabalbeascoa 2010a). Other successful initiatives at digitising Egyptian film heritage (The digital memory of Egypt) at the Library of Alexandria is indeed an encouraging sign which has led to the inevitable question of the Arabic content on the Internet which is still inadequate given the size of the Arabic-speaking population.

6.8 Audiovisual studies

In the age of multi-literacies, visual literacy assumes a significant position in the curricula at all levels from primary to tertiary education and beyond (Anderson and Jefferson 2009). The Internet, particularly YouTube, offers a wide opportunity for watching video clips, promotional and educational videos as well as documentaries (Gottlieb 2004). In Egypt ( as in the Arab world generally) a great deal of filmic material is subtitled into Arabic and a large number of the ever-increasing Arabic-language satellite channels are offering subtitled programs into other foreign languages (mostly English, French, Spanish and Hebrew). It is, therefore, not surprising to use the term visual or audiovisual literacy in the age of infotainment and edutainment. To enhance audiovisual literacy, at least for professional translators wishing to deal with audiovisual texts, it is perhaps best to begin with a solid grounding of how meaning is constructed in Egyptian film using the typological table offered above. There is room to include examples from various film genres and to further examine each category by building a list of subcategories. Gamal examines the use of film in teaching the complex area of professional

155 ethics to community interpreters and finds that films offer a unique context by examining scenes showing interpreters at work (2009d).This naturally requires a dedicated researcher and/or the collective work of the teaching staff to share their knowledge and contribute to the database at the teaching centre. Likewise Elwan (2011) examines the history of cinema in Arab culture and argues that film should be made an essential element in Arab culture through critical studies taught at all levels. However, in a competitive, individualised context based on a freelance context it is highly unlikely that such a culture would be established with the help of part-time teaching staff alone. Academic institutions need to espouse audiovisual studies both officially and wholeheartedly for the culture to be cultivated, to take root and to yield specialisations.

One of these specialisations is the comparative examination of subtitled films. It is not difficult to obtain two different translations of the same filmic material. One could easily be obtained from a DVD and the other from the many television channels and particularly the Egyptian terrestrial television channels. These texts offer a unique opportunity to conduct a comparative analysis of the subtitling of the same audiovisual text. Comparative studies could be conducted individually at any stage or may be examined in class to elicit response to strategies used and the justification for the answers. Experience shows that such a stage where trainees are able to identify the challenge, nominate the strategy and justify the selections is the sign of professional maturity. Since all Egyptian DVDs come with subtitles into English and French, comparative subtitling studies could also be conducted on the same DVD provided the subtitler is fluent in both English and French. For instance, the French subtitling of A Man in our House show the same weaknesses the English subtitles show. Clearly the same modus operandi was followed and the subtitler did not have access to the video. However, the subtitles do show a more mature subtitler and this is evident in the economy of the subtitles, the less literal translations and the smoother renditions into French.

The scope of audiovisual studies is broad but in subtitling into English emphasis should be placed on the technical aspect of providing translations in a constrained environment which naturally presupposes a superior linguistic command of the target language. It seems awkward that Egyptian subtitlers, and irrespective of the training programs in traditional print-based translation or in the more specific Screen Translation, need to focus on their two languages which both appear to be foreign languages. Yet, the truth is, teaching programs need to treat Spoken Egyptian as a language in its own right that needs descriptive studies to examine how meaning is structured at its various levels (Badawi 1973). As explained above, repetition using different lexical items or even syntactic structures does not always add to the meaning but adds only to the pragmatic force of the message and subtitlers, conscious of time and space, need to determine which part of the statement could be deleted. Lastly, combined projects between translation schools and film institutes in Egypt could lead to better understanding of how meaning is structured in audiovisual texts. Above all, in Egyptian cinema’s pursuit for world recognition, a great deal has been said about the themes examined, the acting skills, the directing abilities and the technical aspects of equipment and quality of the film but very little has been given to the way a film is subtitled and how foreign or target language viewers receive the film (Gottlieb 2004).

156

6.9 Debating audiovisual topics

Tourists in Egypt can attend a dramatic audiovisual show at the foot of the Great Pyramid and in front of the Sphinx where colour lights and narration coupled with music tell the story of ancient Egypt. This Son et Lumiere (Sound and Light) Show is one of the major tourist attractions in Egypt. The show is impressive as it employs cleverly designed dialogues and narration with a masterful use of colour lights that are cast on various monuments in front of the three pyramids. The Sphinx is the host and narrator of the 50-minute show that is carefully choreographed to entertain and educate. It is against this background, literally, that the first Egyptian conference on audiovisual translation should take place.

Up till March 2013, there have been a very small number of published research papers on any aspect of the subtitling of Egyptian film in Arabic or in English save those by the present researcher. However, Alabbasi looks at “the imbalance in subtitling” arguing that Arab viewers watch far more subtitled foreign programs than there are Arabic programs subtitled into foreign langauges (2009, p.180).On the other hand, Thawabteh (2011) in his examination of English-Arabic subtitling problems, concurs with Gamal that the literature on audiovisual translation is very rare in Arabic. This is despite the audiovisual legacy and the existing potential the country has. Between 2004 and the end of 2007, I contributed to professional forums dedicated to audiovisual translation and despite the many issues I raised on subtitling difficulties, strategies, issues, theory and policy and the local practice in some Arab countries the response by the participating contributors was very disappointing particularly at the Arabic Translation and Intercultural Dialogue Association (ATIDA) where I discovered the members’ young age, poor linguistic command in translating from the vernacular, non-existent film literacy and the total lack of understating the nature and purpose of audiovisual translation. Despite the superficial level of participation which showed the dominance of print translation such forums are necessary for the audiovisual culture to take root. However, a more serious effort that is professionally inspired and academically organised is required. Egypt’s first conference on audiovisual translation needs a realistic theme that is selected to reflect the need to espouse the new specialisation of audiovisual translation. It is not a fad or an academic luxury but an academic discipline in its own right that is linked to a powerful industry with a huge market. Orero makes a clear case for audiovisual translation “I don’t think there is any longer a need to justify the inclusion of Audiovisual Translation within the field of Translation Studies on its own merits” (2004, p. xi). A conference theme that reflects the need and desire to create a suitable environment should be drafted. Even if it is direct and blunt: “Domesticating audiovisual translation in Egypt”. The topics of the conference should also address the real issues that impact on subtitling in Egypt, but more precisely on subtitling Egypt to the world. This inevitably will touch on what to subtitle, into how many languages, who will subtitle, who will train subtitlers and most significantly how to link research to practice (Gambier 1994, 2003b, 2009). In a profession that is dominated by freelance work and competitive translators, the context can do without research papers that are devoid of the skills and strategies that practitioners use and need for everyday practice (Gamal 2010b). Such events are not difficult to organise, provided the political will exists, and it is the only way audiovisual translation will take root. Anything else will be cosmetic at best or a pale imitation of a foreign idea at worst.

157

Chapter Seven

Conclusions

7.1 Subtitling is not translation

In chapter five, the problematic areas in the subtitling of an Egyptian classic film were discussed. The discussion showed that the Arabic equivalent for subtitling – ‘film translation’ – is misleading or at least unhelpful. It became evident that subtitling is not simply the translation of the film dialogue. The translation of two lines of text, which may seem a simple task, is far from being simple when taking into consideration the complexity of the audiovisual text itself and the constraints of the medium. The issues that were raised, namely film literacy, the translation of the vernacular, English language skills, and the inadequate training of subtitlers, are serious issues that feature film subtitling in Egypt (and in Arabic generally) needs to thoroughly address.

The examination of film subtitling in Egypt both on satellite channels and on DVD over the past decade shows that there has been a serious deficiency in the appreciation of the scope and context of audiovisual translation. The very fact that the modus operandi of subtitling has been systematically reduced to the written translation of the dialogue list without recourse to the video is a serious one (Diaz Cintas 2008a). The practice amounts to professional negligence as audiovisual texts are treated as print texts. The examples cited in this research from several films, incidents, events and practices point to the need to develop audiovisual translation skills, strategies and literature that is based on case studies (Gottlieb 2001c). This in turn calls for more academic research on the conditions and constraints of subtitling audiovisual texts as an area sui generis and distinct from literature.

With the DVD industry in Egypt now more than ten years old, the time for the translation profession to organise the first ever conference on audiovisual translation is overdue. I have been observing the cultural change brought about by the digital revolution in Egypt in the mid- nineties of the last century and the subsequent proliferation of media companies offering subtitling. Against this backdrop, there has been a systematic reluctance, if not rejection, by all media companies to share or even talk about the selection, induction, training and feedback for subtitlers, or even allowing the sighting of a style manual. Such action led me to conclude that “DVD subtitling in Egypt is an industry without a profession” (Gamal: 2007: 85). The basis for this conclusion, as explained in chapters one, two and six, lies in the fact that subtitling into English is a new domain that is not regulated or examined by the industry, the government or by the translation profession (Pym 2004). Admittedly, the subtitling of Egyptian films, classic or otherwise, is not intended for the local market. This is precisely why it should not escape the rigorous examination by the film industry and the translation department.

158

As explained in chapter two where the subtitling context in Egypt is examined, Egyptian classic films are the best Egyptian cinema has produced and if Egyptian culture is to be exported, promoted or simply shown abroad it ought to be done with great care: anything less than that damages the product and undermines any chances for the promotion of cultural heritage abroad. The lack of interest in subtitling Arabic-language films into English is unsustainable on more than one level. In the age where dialogue between civilisations and in particular inter- faith dialogue is assuming a much greater significance than ever before, cultural and artistic exchange comes at the forefront of all activities (Gottlieb 2001b). Furthermore, as raised in the first chapter, Egyptian translation authorities (The Egyptian Ministry of Culture, the National Translation Centre and the Supreme Council of Culture) need to pay attention to the fact that subtitling Naguib Mahfouz’s films is no less significant than translating his novels, and that the same process of selecting professional translators with native-like command of the target language must be applied to subtitlers.

This point was discussed with Gaber Asfour, the founder and former Chairman of the National Translation Centre (NTC) in Egypt during a meeting in 2007. Asfour appreciated the rising importance of the visual culture in Egypt but argued the book is still the primary medium of the NTC as it does not have any experience in producing audiovisual material. When the notion of AVT becoming a discipline in its own right in translation studies was raised (Orero 2004), Asfour counter-argued that digital culture in the country was still in its infancy and is almost confined to the young as the main consumers (personal communication). While Asfour is a very well-respected literary critic in the Arab world, as a government official, he is misinformed. It was obvious that the concept of audiovisual translation was novel to the NTC and despite the lack of resources, both physical and human; the concept of AVT has not penetrated government policy walls (Gamal 2010a). The very web site of the National Translation Centre is inadequately translated and poorly maintained with sections that are still ‘under construction’ since it was launched. The undeveloped concept of audiovisual translation and online presence does not only apply to the NTC but extends to other institutions that should know better.

7.2 Audiovisual translation applications

One of the major conclusions of this research is that audiovisual translation is not confined to subtitling and dubbing, but extends to a wider range of applications. The range varies from subtitled DVDs to subtitles shown on public screens – from ATMs to sporting stadia. Thus the use of audiovisual translation is not only for private use, as in the case of pre-loaded language manuals of a digital camera, but for public use as seen on large screens during functions. Increasingly there are more and more applications for the use of text on screen (Gambier 2003b, Orero 2004, Diaz Cintas et al 2010). The number of screens vying for our attention is increasing: while at work, at home, being entertained or even while driving the car. The provision of audio-description for the deaf and the hard of hearing community is becoming a priority for many government programs and television channels. A recent statistic in Egypt shows that out of 88 million Egyptians, approximately 10 million are identified as persons with disability – including 3 million deaf or those hard of hearing (Al-Hebal 2012). Likewise, the use of computers and iPads in education, and the development of educational programs as well as games, require an advanced capability to manipulate text and image.

159

Arabic Language Academies in major Arab capitals have been discussing and debating the wide-scale invasion of foreign (mostly American) English words into Arabic, the rising use of the vernacular in the print media, the changing language of the young and most seriously the effects of the Internet and digital technology on the use of Arabic. In 2011, Arabic language academies in Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Dubai and Tunis described the problem, correctly identified the source of the challenge and analysed the effects on Arabic. However, the academies stopped short of practical solutions that would engage with the source problem (digital technology) and learn how to adapt the technology to suit their own goal. So far, digital and online technology appear to be outside the scope of Arabic language academies to the point that Al-Hammar (2012) called for the “Introduction of an Arab ministry for linguistic affairs” in order to preserve the Arabic language and design practical solutions.

Another significant conclusion of this research on the subtitling of classic films is to increase film literacy and to engage translators in the ‘new’ field of audiovisual translation. This could have direct implications for stimulating the interest in Arabic language skills among native speaker particularly the young. One of the more relevant examples is Same Language Subtitling (SLS) which is widely used in India, and in a country like Egypt with 40% of the population under 25, the idea seems not only plausible but also worthwhile. This is indeed relevant as the country is suffering from a digital divide between the Delta and the Valley, where the north is more alphabetically-literate as well as computer-literate, more knowledgeable and more employable. In Egypt, illiteracy and low reading levels are serious problems and the printed book is still more important than the Internet, which is in stark constrast to the situation in Western Europe or in Korea and Japan. The increasing number of well-established publications that have ceased their print issue, such as the Newsweek magazine which announced that the December 31, 2012 issue would be the last and that it will only be produced electronically thereafter, is yet another indication. The call for all curricula to be uploaded/downloaded onto an iPad in schools (mostly in the United States) is also another sign of how audiovisual applications will be shaping the way translation is produced and consumed.

As there is no direct translation for the word subtitling in Arabic, there is no direct translation for the word ‘infotainment’ either (Gamal 2011, 2012c). While subtitling into Arabic has been around in Egypt for over 80 years now (Maluf 2005), the culture has found the approximation ‘film translation’ as an acceptable term. With infotainment, the concept remains foreign to both the education and entertainment industries in Egypt. Notwithstanding the fact that most of the infotainment DVDs are produced through close cooperation with the information technology industry (software companies) the concept in Egypt remains outlandish. So much so, that there is no noticeable production of commercially available documentaries or general education DVDs that could be used in class or examined at home by students, young people or the public at large.

The notion of edutainment/infotainment was absent on 07/07/07 when the world, mobilised by young people, celebrated the on-line voting for the new Seven Wonders of the World (www.new7wonders.com). The competition, as the title stipulated, looked at the new Seven Wonders; but Egyptians appeared to be offended that the Great Pyramid was excluded from the voting. The then Chairman of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Professor Zahi 160

Hawas, declared there were no new Seven Wonders and that the Egyptian Pyramid does not need any voting on its rightful place in history. Professor Hawas was both misinformed and wrong. He was misinformed about the power of social media and how the young have espoused digital technology and its audiovisual culture. He was equally wrong as he grossly underestimated the significance of tourism to the country where revenue from tourism accounts for 12% of the national economy! More importantly the 12 million tourists who visit Egypt annually employ approximately 12% of the labour force. During the national affront, some opinions called for new stamp issues showing images of the Pyramids with as many languages as possible. Others suggested cleverly-designed postcards of the Great Pyramid with multi-lingual messages. While both suggestions are indeed interesting, and with clever graphic design could turn the verbo-visual message into a medium of information, they are culturally and technologically out-dated. Government policies must learn to speak the language of the young and to espouse digital technology and its audiovisual culture. In this respect audiovisual translation is the answer to mass media in both broadcasting and as Gambier cleverly puts it “narrow-casting” (2003b: 182).

This is the scope for audiovisual translation in Egypt; where translation schools need to espouse visual culture and engage with information technology in the classroom (Gamal 2009b, Anderson & Jefferson 2009). Through personal observation and contact with students, academic staff, researchers and scholars in the Arab world, as well as practicing translators and subtitlers, the level of training in information technology and the acquisition of computer skills (both hardware and software), has always been an individual initiative and not a formal policy of the translation school. This is, perhaps, one of several reasons why audiovisual translation has not taken root in Egypt despite the long and successful history of film and television production as well as the long history of subtitling foreign programs into Arabic (Shafik 2007).

As stressed throughout this research, and particularly in chapter six, audiovisual translation is different from mono-dimensional and linear print translation. In order to illustrate this fact, one need only consider the Egyptian bid for the 2010 World Cup presented at the World Football Federation (FIFA) in Switzerland. In May 2004, Omar Sharif was enlisted by the Egyptian Football Federation to join the Egyptian Committee putting forward Egypt’s bid for the 2010 World Cup. At FIFA headquarters in Zurich, each bidding committee made a presentation to the twenty four members of the FIFA Council and it was televised live on Egyptian television. In addition to speeches by various committee members, including one by Omar Sharif, there was an audiovisual presentation which included audio, video, images and text. While Omar Sharif provided both a ‘voice and an image’ that was immediately recognisable and familiar to the world soccer body, the audiovisual presentation failed to complement and capitalise on the presence of Omar Sharif. The audiovisual effect was less than impressive: too much text on the screen, insufficient time to read the subtitles and there was no subtitling where it was expected. Furthermore, there were images that didn’t support the commentary and excessive information that made the clever speech by Omar Sharif ineffective. In other words, the audiovisual presentation failed the Egyptian bid.

There were two other contenders with Egypt competing for the 24 votes: South Africa and Morocco. When all was said and done, South Africa received 14 votes, Morocco 10 votes and Egypt nil. With the Egyptian bid receiving no votes, it became a national sporting disgrace 161 known in Egyptian Arabic as Zero el-mundiale (the World Cup Zero). The lesson of the failed bid is clear: audio-visual translation is a complex, multi-faceted activity not to be left in the hands of well-intentioned amateurs or inexperienced professionals. While the failure of the bid was examined by the media and specialists at the policy level, surprisingly little attention was given to the part played by the subversive audiovisual translation.

7.3 Audiovisual translation is more than just subtitling

Apart from subtitling Egyptian films for the DVD industry, international film festivals, the television industry, or the ever-increasing number of satellite channels, audiovisual translation has numerous applications for well-trained professional subtitlers capable of creating professional subtitles in many foreign languages, not solely English and French (Gamal: 2010d). As explained in this research, subtitling into English is a challenge to many Egyptian subtitlers due to the distance and lack of opportunities to practice English language skills. Subtitlers in Europe have the geographic, political and economic ability to live and work in the United Kingdom to gain native or near-native language skills. In Egypt however, the situation is different and understandably more difficult, and is an area that translation schools need to pay greater attention to. Professional audiovisual translators with superior English translation skills would find opportunities in the wider audiovisual translation field that transcends feature films. For instance, corporate DVDs are now a new medium in business promotion, education and infotainment. The corporate world is not confined to multinational companies but to any company that needs to open up and be accessible to the public. In Egypt such corporations include the Alexandria Film Festival, the Port Authority of Alexandria, the Library of Alexandria, the Cairo Opera House, the new Cairo Museum, the Egyptian Antiquities Council, the Suez Canal Authority, the Tourism Board, Cairo International Airport, EgyptAir etc. Such institutions are among the major corporations that present an opportunity for excellent audiovisual translators. The production of these multilingual corporate DVDs is increasingly replacing print brochures, bilingual catalogues and the mono-lingual company video.

Tourism is one relevant field, and with a long history like Egypt’s, the scope for tourist DVDs to cover all the sites from Alexandria to Abu Simbel – a distance of 1500 kilometres – is sufficient to convince the most reluctant director of a translation school to introduce audiovisual translation as a stand-alone specialisation (Diaz Cintas 2004, Orero 2004). Furthermore, Egypt’s plans for modernisation and attempts to attract foreign investment, demands that information be accessible not only in clear, concise and business-like English but also in a professionally designed multimedia format. This ultimately means that the professional subtitler cannot afford to be a ‘text translator’ working from a dialogue list or script alone, but rather a full-fledged professional audiovisual translator capable of dealing with an audiovisual text and an ability to manipulate (free and commercial) software programs. In the media sector, audiovisual translators with knowledge of online media systems would find their translation skills greatly and professionally appreciated. Foreign investment and multinational projects require translators to be more than linguists – they must have the ability to translate documents, interpret during meetings, translate PowerPoint presentations at short notice and subtitle promotional, corporate or training videos.

162

There is a translation department at every university in Egypt which could stimulate creativity and cooperation. It is insightful that translation schools in Egypt do not teach even basic audiovisual translation skills despite the fact that almost every computer comes with preloaded software that allows teachers and students to learn the basic skills of audiovisual translation and subtitling. The software, Microsoft Moviemaker, is bundled with the Microsoft Office suite. In addition there are also comprehensive subtitle-editing programs available freely online, such as Subtitle Workshop (http://subtitle-workshop.en.softonic.com/).

7.4 Capitalising on the digital capabilities of the DVD

Unlike American DVDs, Egyptian feature film DVDs have subtitles in two languages only: English and French. This is in comparison to the average twelve languages available on many American films on DVD commercially available in Australia. The point here is that the digital medium allows for a lot more than just subtitles (Kayahara 2005). As explained in chapter two, a single DVD can hold subtitles in up to 40 languages (Carroll 2004).

The Special Features on Egyptian DVDs is another area that could be further developed with cooperation between the translation profession and the film industry as pointed out by numerous scholars (Diaz Cintas 2004, Zabalbeascoa 1996). There is a lot that could be included to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Egyptian DVDs, both feature films and documentaries (tourist, educational, etc.). In the 40th anniversary DVD of Dr Zhivago promoted in Japan, Omar Sharif introduces the DVD and for few minutes talks about the film and his views on the opus before he invites viewers to watch the film. The idea of enlisting Omar Sharif to do the same for his own earlier, black and white Arabic language films escaped the manufacturers’ attention. This is due simply to the lack of DVD culture in the country.

Over the past decade almost all DVDs have had the same format with nothing particularly ‘exotic’ in the Special Features of Omar Sharif’s films. Although A Man in our House has two different editions the only difference appears in the jewel case with a different cover. However, Omar Sharif’s latest film to be released on DVD, Laughter, Games, Seriousness and Love includes some scenes about the making of the film. Strangely however, it does not include any interviews with Omar Sharif. The Egyptian DVD industry did not release any anniversary edition DVDs despite some of the best films having celebrated their 25th or 50th anniversaries such as Struggle in the Valley (1954), Struggle on the Nile (1959) , A Man in our House (1961) and Naguib Mahfouz’s Midaq Alley (1963). One of the major issues this research attempted to underscore is the relevance and application of audiovisual translation to modern Egyptian society. With a long history there is no shortage of events and anniversaries that could be documented on DVD in sound Arabic and subtitled into twenty languages. Diaz Cintas, Matamala and Neves are quite right in concluding that “Just as it is true that AVT is now to be found in every conceivable context, it is equally true to say that the challenges that each new context poses share common ground with the more traditional ones and paves the way to new avenues of research” (2010:13). More to the point, in a society with a young population such as Egypt and with very poor reading levels, audiovisual translation must be seriously examined.

163

7.5 Audiovisual climate

Despite the initial expense involved in setting up an Audiovisual Translation Unit at translation schools, audiovisual translation as an activity is a sound investment (Diaz Cintas 2008a). Most translation schools at Egyptian universities teach ten or more foreign languages. Zabalbeascoa is quite right when he calls for a new type of literacy, audiovisual literacy:

Bookshops and libraries can no longer afford not to include audiovisual material, which begs the question as to whether or not to implement new literacy standards that include a degree of audiovisual literacy. We need to ask the question to what extent are people ‘educated’ if they have not seen ‘essential’ filmography, and if they are incapable of ‘reading’ an audiovisual text, in the sense of interpreting its symbolism, connotations, its intertexual relations, and so on. (2010b: 32)

With translations required for the tourist and maritime contexts in Egypt, investment in audiovisual translation by a translation institution appears to be justified. The typology suggested in this research could be applied to any field. Subject-matter expertise, like in any translation subject, would benefit from a multi-modal analysis as explained in chapter four. For many decades, translation programs in European languages at Egyptian universities have lost ground to English despite the political, economic and diplomatic significance of Western Europe to Egypt. Other languages, including Eastern European, Russian and Asian languages (particularly Japanese, Korean and Chinese) have received little attention despite their actual existence, albeit as small departments. Curiously no one mentions African languages as if the Dark Continent does not exist. Gamal (2004) makes a case for translation departments in Egypt to rethink their policies and reorganize their priorities in the new age of digital technology. The digital revolution has created more translation opportunities and more importantly has helped in bringing about change. Such change can be seen in the rise in popularity of Korean drama through the Middle East, and most significantly, dubbing has become an acceptable practice as can be seen in the dubbed Turkish drama Wreath of Flowers, Lost Years and Noor that swept the Arab world for a number of years in the last decade. In the past, multilingual translation has always been available, but in a limited number of languages and each language required a separate printing. Now, a dozen or more languages can be stored on the same DVD. As explained in the previous chapter, the digital age has its own ‘audiovisual’ culture and while the hardware can be imported to Egypt, the appropriate climate must be allowed to evolve.

The multimodal analysis of A Man in our House employed in this research points to the significance of film literacy. The appreciation of how Egyptian film directors employ various meaning-making features helps the subtitler not only select the most appropriate word but also identify the appropriate translation strategy (Taylor 2003). This skill is useful in working with other filmic material such as documentaries and particularly in the field of tourism which relies heavily on knowledge of archaeological heritage and requires more than basic knowledge of the promotional discourse of tourism. To date, there is a minuscule number of documentaries available on Egypt and an even smaller number of subtitles which are mostly in western languages (English, French, Italian, German and Spanish). The same applies to major Egyptian websites with translations available only in a small number of languages. When tourism is an important element to a country then documentaries and promotional material 164 should be made available in a large number of languages. This also applies to related online services such as airports, major local airlines and sea ports, the Suez Canal, museums, Nile cruises and transport companies, as well as the ministries. Web site translation is an area closely related to audiovisual translation and is one that is peculiarly under-researched at translation schools in Egypt. Localisation as an industry is equally related to audiovisual translation as can be attested by the number of international conferences that combine audiovisual translation with localisation. However, to embrace digital technology and audiovisual translation there must be an appropriate culture with the appropriate tools. This however, does not mean that localization does not happen in the country or the region it merely points out that the activity is not examined and is under-researched academically.

In this research, the subtitling of a classic Omar Sharif film was examined. As mentioned in the introduction and throughout the research, a film of Omar Sharif in his early Egyptian period – prior to his international debut in western cinema – is a prized film that is perhaps more important, or at least equal to, an already well-known novel by Naguib Mahfouz. The subtitling of classic films needs to be examined carefully and a model to do so has been suggested in this research. Omar Sharif provides a perfect example of the link between East and West (Gamal 2012b).

165

References

Abdel-‘Aleem, A. (1988) Al-ightiyalat al-sisyassiya fil cinema al masriya (Political assassination in Egyptian cinema). Maktabat Madbouli. Cairo.

Abdel-qudous, E. (1957) Fi baitina ragul (A Man in our House). Dar Roseul- Yosef. Cairo.

Abu-Shadi, A. (1984) Al-cinema wal ahdath al-kubra fi misr (1967-1984) (Cinema and major events in Egypt from 1967 to 1984). Al Hilal magazine. November 1984 issue. Cairo.

Abu-Shadi, A. (2004) Waqai’ el cinema el masriyah (Annals of Egyptian cinema). Arab Book Organization. Cairo.

Abu-Shadi, A. (2005) Khamsoun Amann min kalssikiyat al cinema al masriyah (Fifty years of Egyptian cinema classics) Seventh Art Series. Ministry of Culture. Damascus.

Abu-Shadi, A. (2006a) Sihr el cinema (The magic of cinema). Family Library. Cairo

Abu-Shadi, A. (2006b) Lughat al cinema (The language of cinema). Seventh Art Series. Ministry of Culture. Damascus.

Abu-Shadi, A. (2010) Khamsouna filmann min kalssikiyat al cinema al masriyah Vol.2 (Fifty classic films of Egyptian cinema vol.2). Al Safir. Beirut.

Adkins, L. & R. Adkins (2000) The keys of Egypt: the race to read the Hieroglyphs. Harper Collins Publishers. London.

Alabbasi, A. (2009) ‘Towards a constructive cultural interaction via audio-visual translation(Arabic-English). In Omar, H., H. Haroon and A. Ghani (eds) of the Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Translation “Sustainability of the translation field” held in Penang in August 2009. Persatuan Penterjemah Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur.

Al-Akhbar Newspaper. (1966) ‘Muqabala ma’a Taha Hussein’ (An interview with Taha Hussein). Issue No 4241. 2/2/1966. Cairo.

Alberge, D. (2009) ‘Greatest stories ever filmed (mangled by outsourced subtitles)’. Article available at: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1533920.ece

Al-Hadary, A. (2007) Aham me’at film fil cinema al-masriya (The Most Important one hundred films in Egyptian Cinema). Library of Alexandria. Alexandria.

Al-Hammar, M. (2012) ‘Fal-nastahdeth wizara Arabiya li-shi’uon al-lugha’ (Let’s introduce an Arab ministry for linguistic affairs). middleeast-online.com. (27 November 2012) Article available at http://www.middle-east-online.com/?id=144122

166

Al-Hebal, A. (2012) ‘Ma’sat 3 melyon assam amam al-shahr al-‘ikari wal-mahakem’ (The tragedy of 3 million deaf before the Land Titles Office and the courts) in Al-Masri Alyoum newspaper. Cairo. Available at: http://www.alMasrialyoum.com/node/1148676

Ali, M. (2008) ‘Fajrul cinema fi misr’ (The dawn of cinema in Egypt). Cultural Development Fund. Cairo.

Al-Jazzar, A. (2005) Al-qissa al-kamila li fashal “Laylat suquot baghdad” fil faw bi ai jaiza fi mahrajan al-qahira al-cinemaie (The full story why The Night Baghdad Fell failed to win a prize at cairo film festival). Article published in Al-masry al-youm newspaper on 14/12/2005. Cairo. Available at: http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=26417&IssueID=376

Al-Jeryan, H. (2004) ‘Al-sihr al-‘dai’ fil tarjamah al-cinemaiyah’ (The lost charm in cinema translation). Asharqalawsat Newspaper 19 March 2004. (Issue No 9243) London.

Al-Nahas, H. (1986) ‘Al-haweyya al-qawmeyya fi el-cinema al-‘arabiyya’ (National identity in Arab cinema). General Book Organization. Cairo.

Al-Nahas, H. (2008) ‘Al-cinema Al-shabba: al mawja al-jadida fil cinema al-masriyah’(Youthful cinema: tshe new wave in Egyptian cinema). Cinema Horizon Series. General Organisation for Culture Palaces. Cairo.

Amin, H. (2000) ‘Media and power in Egypt’. In Amin, H. & J. Napoli (eds) Dewesternising Media Studies. Routledge. London.

Anderson, M. & Jefferson, M. (2009) Teaching the screen: Film education for generation next. Allen & Unwin. Sydney.

Anthony, E. (2003) ‘Defining classic movies’. Article available at: http://www.reelclassics.com/Articles/General/definingclassic-article.htm

Anzour, N. (2001) ‘La yujad ‘indina kuttab scenario’ (We don’t have script writers). In Asharqalawsat Newspaper. London. http://www.aawsat.com.

Arnaiz, C. (1996) ‘Film translation and the cultural space’. In the Proceedings of the XIV World Congress of FIT held in February 1996 in Melbourne Vol.1. AUSIT. Melbourne

Ashkinani, H. (2006) Al- Tarjamah al- televizioniyah (Translation for television). Abhath House. Kuwait City. Kuwait.

As-Sabban, R. (1987) ‘Al-cinema al-masriya fi ‘iyoon al-aganeb’ (Egyptian cinema in the eyes of foreigners) in Al-Hilal magazine. November issue. Cairo.

Attia, H. (2003) Al-cinema fi mir’at al-waie (Cinema in the mirror of consciousness). Cinema Horizons Series. No 33. Cairo.

Baalbaki, R. (1991) Al Mawrid. A modern Arabic-English dictionary. Dar El-ilm Lilmalayin. Beirut. 167

Badawi, E. (1973) Mustawayat al- ‘arabiyya al-mu’asira fi misr (Levels of modern Arabic in Egypt). Dar Al-mar’aif. Cairo.

Badawi, E. (1985) ‘Educated spoken Arabic: A problem in teaching Arabic as a foreign language’. In Jankowsky, K. (ed) Scientific and Humanistic Dimensions of language. Washington, Georgetown University Press.

Baldry, B. (Ed) (2000) Multimodality and Multimediality in the Distance Learning Age. Campobasso: Palladiano Editore.

Baldry, A. (2004) ‘Concordancing film corpora: the role of MCA in multimodal discourse analysis’. In Carol Taylor, Maria Grazia Busà, Sara Gesuato (eds.), Proceedings of the Seminar, Linguatel: Progetto telematico di lingua e mediazione interlinguistica, 9-10 May 2002 – University of Padua, Padova, Unipress.

Baldry, A. & Thibault, P. (2006) Multimodal transcription and text analysis: a multimedia tool kit and coursework. Equinox. London.

Baker, M. (1992) In other words. Routledge . London.

Baker, M. (ed.) (2008) Routledge Encyclopaedia of translation Studies. Routledge. London.

Baker, M. (2011) In other words. 2nd Edition. Routledge. London.

Barnes, H. (1965) An intellectual and cultural history of the western world. Constable & Co. London.

Bogucki, L. (2004) A relevance framework for constraints on cinema subtitling. University of Lodz. Lodz.

Boutros-Ghali, B. (1997) Egypt’s road to Jerusalem. Random House. New York.

Bruti, S. and Di Giovanni, E. (eds.) (2012) Audiovisual translation across Europe: an ever- changing landscape. New trends in Translation Studies Vol.7. Oxford. Peter Lang.

Buckland, W. (2003) Film studies. Hodder & Stoughton. London.

Buscombe, E. (2003) Cinema Today. Phaidon. London.

Carroll, M. (2004) ‘Subtitling: Changing standards for new media?’ Article available at: http://www.translationdirectory.com/article422.htm

Cavaliere, F. (2008) ‘Measuring the perception of the screen translation of Un Posto at Sole’. In Chiaro, D, C.Heiss & C. Bucharria (Eds.) Between Text and Image: updating research in screen translation. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Chalier, C. (1996) “If I read you well, you promise me the world: the challenge of subtitling for Australian TV today”. In the proceedings of the XIV FIT World Congress of the International Federation of Translators held in Melbourne 9-11 Februray 1996. AUSIT. Melbourne.

168

Chaume, F. (2004) ‘Film studies and translation studies: two disciplines at stake in audiovisual translation’. In Meta Translators Journal Vol. 49, No1.

Chaume-Varela, F. (1997) Translating non-verbal information in dubbing. In Poyatos (Ed) Non Verbal Communication and Translation. John Benjamin. Amsterdam.

Chiaro, D. (Ed) (2010) Translation, humour and the media. Continuum International. London.

Delabastita, D. (1989) ‘Translation and Mass-Communication: Film and TV Translation as Evidence of Cultural Dynamics’. Babel Vol. 35, No.4.

Diaz Cintas, J. (2001) ‘Striving for quality in subtitling: the role of a good dialogue list’. In Gambier, Y & H. Gottlieb (Eds) (Multi)Media Translation. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Diaz Cintas, J. (2004) ‘Subtitling: the long journey to academic acknowledgement’. In the Journal of Specialized translation. Issue 1. Available at http://www.jostrans.org

Diaz Cintas, J.(ed) (2008a) The Didactics of Audiovisual Translation. John Benjamin. Amsterdam.

Diaz Cintas, J. (2008b) ‘Audiovisual Translation comes of Age’. In Chiaro, D, C. Heiss & C. Bucharria (Eds.) Between Text and Image: updating research in screen translation. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Diaz Cintas, J., Matamala, A. & Neves, J. (Eds.) (2010) New Insights into Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility. Rodopi. Amsterdam.

Diaz Cintas, J. & Remael, A. (2007) Audiovisual translation: subtitling. St Jerome Publishing. Manchester.

De Linde, Z. & Kay, N. (1999) The Semiotics of Subtitling. St Jerome Publishing. Manchester.

Diab, M. (1997) ‘Al-mukhrej al-masri al-waheed allazi rushiha lahu film li-jaizat al-oscar: Mushwar henry barakt al-fanni in’ikas li-tareekh al-cinema al-masriya’ (The only Egyptian director to have film nominated for the Oscars: Henry Barakat’s artistic path is a reflection of the history of Egyptian cinema). Al Hayat Newspaper30 June 1997. Issue 12540, page 22. Beirut.

Dickens, J., Hervey, S. & I. Higgins (2002) Thinking Arabic Translation: A course in translation method, Arabic to English. Routledge. London.

Egoyan, A. & Balfour, I. (Eds) (2004) Subtitles: on the foreignness of film. MIT and Alphabet city media. USA.

El-Battal, M. (2000) A dictionary of idioms. Egyptian Arabic –English. Egyptian International publishing Company-Longman. Cairo.

169

El-Saadani, E. (2007) ‘Ma’at sanna cinema’ (A hundred years of cinema). Kitab Elyom Series. October 2007. Dar Akhbar Elyom. Cairo

El-Shami, S. (2007) ‘Gamaliyat al-film al-siassyi al-masri’ (The aesthetics of political films in Egypt) Cinema Horizons Series. General organisation for Culture palaces. Cairo.

El-Shinnawi, T. (2012) ‘Muqata’at al film al Amerikani fil maharjanat alaraiya laysat heya al- hal’(Boycotting American films in Arab festivals is not the solution). In Asharqalawsat, London 21 Setember 2012.

Elwan, T. (2011) ‘Mata yadkhul al-film fi jesim al-thaqafa al-‘arabiyah’ (When will film be part of Arab culture). In Al Hayat newspaper. 08/07/2011. Beirut.

Espasa, E. (2004) ‘Myths about documentary translation’. In Orero, P.(ed) Topics in audiovisual translation. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Fabe, M. (2004) Closely watched films: An introduction to the art of narrative film technique. Berkley, CA. University of California Press.

Farid, M. (1978) ‘Muzakarati ba’d al hijra 1904-1919’ (My memoirs after immigration: 1904- 1919). Volume One. General Book Organisation. Cairo.

Farid, S. (2007) ‘Eskandariya leh?’ (Alexandria, why?). In El-Hadary, A. (2007) Aham me’at film fil cinema al-masriya (The Most Important one hundred films in Egyptian Cinema). Library of Alexandria. Alexandria.

Ferguson, C. (1959) ‘Diglossia’. In Word 15, pp 225-245.

Forsdale, L & J. Forsdale (1970) ‘Film Literacy’. AV Communication Review, Vol 18. No.3. Springer.

Forceville, C. (2007) ‘Review of Anthony Baldry & Paul Thibault, Multimodal Transcription and Text Analysis: A Multimodal Toolkit and Coursebook (Equinox 2006)’. In Journal of Pragmatics 39: 1235-1238.

Gamal, M. (1993a) ‘The Teaching of into L1 Translation in L2 Environment’. In the Proceedings of the XIII FIT world Congress in Brighton. The Institute of Translation and Interpreting. London.

Gamal, M. (1993b) ‘Taheya ila sheikh al-mutargimeen al-masriyeen fi yom al targamah al- a’lami. Harakat al targamah fi masr’ (A salute to the doyen of Egyptian translators on the international day of translation. The Translation movement in Egypt) .In Al-Ahram Daily. 15 October 1993.

Gamal, M. (1993c) ‘Hal yatzakr al mutargimoon fi yawmahom al-‘alami dawr al-arab alhadari fil targamah?’ On the international day of translation will translators remember the pioneering role of Arab translators? Al Ahram Daily. 28 September 1993. Cairo.

Gamal, M. (1994) ‘Al targamah wa ahameytuha fi haitina. Risala min Australia’ (The significance of translation in our life. A message from Australia).Al-Ahram Daily. 11 January 1994. Cairo. 170

Gamal, M. (1996a) ‘Subtitling and culture-specific imagery: the implications for translation pedagogy’. In the proceedings of the 2nd Meeting of Interpreters and Translators from the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe held in Budmerice, Slovakia 21-24 April 1994. JTP. Prague.

Gamal, M. (1996b) ‘Producing translation for television: subtitling’. In the Journal of the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators Antipodes, No.1. AUSIT. Melbourne.

Gamal, M. (1996c) ‘Is there a translation theory in Arabic’. In the Conference Proceedings of the XIV FIT World Congress in Melbourne. AUSIT. Vol.2 Melbourne.

Gamal, M. (2004) ‘Al arab da’ou fil targamah (Arabs Lost in Translation). In Weghat Nazar. September 2004 issue. Cairo.

Gamal, M. (2005a) ‘Unpublished study on viewer perception of subtitled programs in Egypt, and some Arab countries, between 1980 and 2005’. Paper submitted to the School of Languages at the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Gamal, M. (2005b) ‘Unpublished study on the translation of film titles in Egypt’. Paper submitted to the School of Languages at the University of New South Wales. Sydney.

Gamal, M. (2006a) ‘Omar Sharif abroad: challenges of subtitling’. Extended abstract published in the Book of Abstract of the Languages and the Media 6 Conference in Berlin (October 2006).

Gamal, M (2006b) ‘La cinema alamiya bidoun tagamah alamiya’ (No world cinema without quality subtitling). In Weghat Nazar , December 2006 issue. Cairo.

Gamal, M. (2007a) ‘Audiovisual Translation in the Arab world: a changing scene’ in Translation Watch Quarterly. Vol.3, No.2 (June 2007). Translations Standards Institute. Melbourne. Australia.

Gamal, M. (2007b) ‘Issues in Arabic Subtitling’ in Thelen, M & B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (Eds.) Translation and Meaning Part 7. Masstricht School of International Communication. Maastricht. The Netherlands.

Gamal, M. (2007c) ‘Aflam Omar Sharif fi risalat doctorah fi Australia’ (Omar Sharif films in an Australian doctoral research), published in Arabic in Al Wasat newspaper in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Issue 1693 (26/04/207)

Gamal, M. (2008a) ‘Egypt’s audiovisual scene’ published on the Arab Media and Society website: http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=675

Gamal, M. (2008b) ‘The final whistle: how football terminology took root in Arabic’. In Lavric, E, G. Pisek, A. Skinner and W. Stadler (eds) The Linguistics of Football. Gunter Narr Verlag. Tubingen.

Gamal, M. (2009a) ‘Adding text to image’. In Journal of Multicultural Research. Vol.1, No.1. American Press Corporation. Salt Lake City.

171

Gamal, M. (2009b) ‘Interpreters in film: finding contexts for training interpreters’. In the Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Conference of KATS (The Korean Assoccaition of Translation Studies. October 2009. KATS. Seoul.

Gamal, M. (2009c) ‘Foreign movies in Egypt: subtitling, dubbing and adaptation’. In Goldstein, A. & B. Golubovic (eds) Foreign Language Movies- Dubbing vs. Subtitling. Verlag Dr. Kovac. Hamburg.

Gamal, M. (2010a) ‘Audiovisual Translation in Emerging Economies’. Published in the Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Translation & Interpreation: “Translating and Interpreting in a Multilingual Context”. Bangkok. The Chalermprakiat Centre of Translation and Interpretation. Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn Univesrity. Bangkok.

Gamal, M. (2010b) ‘Examining Translation Experience’, American Journal of Translation Studies. Vol.2 No.4. American Academic Press. Salt Lake City.

Gamal, M. (2010c) ‘On the bridge between east and west which lane is fastest’. In the proceedings of the inaugural Conference on the Arts and Humanities, Osaka, June 2010. http://www.iafor.org/ACAH_ACSS_2010.pdf

Gamal, M. (2010d) ‘On the bridge between two cultures: it’s a two way-traffic’. Paper published in the book of abstracts of the Translation and Discourse Conference, University of Malaya, June 2010.

Gamal, M. (2011) ‘Embracing challenges in subtitling Egyptian classic films’. Published in the proceedings of LACOMM Conference in Malaysia. Paper available at: https://sites.google.com/a/kliuc.edu.my/lancomm2011/home

Gamal, M. (2012a) ‘Audiovisual translation as an educational tool in new Egypt’. In the official proceedings of the Asian Conference on Education (ACE). Available at http://www.iafor.org.

Gamal, M. (2012b) ‘Omar Sharif as an example of encounter’s between East and West’. ACAH Conference in Osaka, April 2012. Paper published in the conference proceedings and available at: http://iafor.org/ACAH2012_proceedings_reduced.pdf

Gamal, M. (2012c) ‘The DVD technology as a tool in sustainable education: Egypt as a model’. In the Casa 2012 Proccedings of the The Conference on Anthropology and Sustaianable in Asia. Thailand December 2012. Paper available at http://www.casa12.org

Gamal, M. (2013a) ‘AVT in the Arab world v.03’. In the proceedings of ACAH 2012 The Asian Conference on the Arts and Humanities, Osaka. April 2013.

Gamal, M. (2013b) ‘Developing a theoretical framework of audiovisual translation in Arabic’. American Journal of Translation Studies. Vol.5, No.2. Academic Press. Salt Lake City.

Gamal, M. (2013c) ‘Towards a typology of challenges in subtitling Egyptian films’. In the proceedings of the 2010 Maastricht-Lodz Colloquium. Vol.9. Maastricht School of Translation. Maastricht.

172

Gambier, Y. (1994) ‘Audiovisual Communication: Typological Detour’. In Dollerup, C. & Lindegaard, A. (eds.) Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2: Insights, Aims, Visions. Selected papers from the second ‘Language International’ Conference, Elsinore, Denmark, 4-6 June 1993. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Gambier, Y. (Ed) (1995) ‘Audiovisual Communication and Language Transfer’. In the proceedings of the Strasbourg Conference on Audiovisual and communication transfer 22- 24.6.1995. In Translatio, Nouvelles de la FIT & FIT Newsletter, N.S. XIV, nos 3-4, pp. 197-492.

Gambier, Y. (Ed) (1998) Translating for the media. Papers from the international conference “Language and the media”, Berlin, November 1996. University of Turku: Centre for Translation and Interpreting. Turku. Finland.

Gambier, Y. & Gottlieb H. (Eds) (2001) (Multi)Media Translation. John Benjamin Translation library. Amsterdam.

Gambier, Y. (Ed) (2003a) Screen Translation. Special Issue of The Translator, Vol. 9, No. 2. St Jerome. Manchester.

Gambier, Y. (2003b) Introduction: screen transadaptation: perception and reception. In Gambier (Ed) Screen Translation. Special Issue of The Translator, Vol. 9, No. 2. St Jerome. Manchester.

Gambier, Y. (2006) ‘Multimodality and audiovisual translation’. In the proceedings of MuTra Audiovisual Translation Scenarios Conference. Paper available at: http://www.euroconferences.info/proceedings/2006_Proceedings/2006_Gambier_Yves.pdf

Gambier, Y. (2009) ‘Challenges in research on audiovisual translation’. In Gambier, Y and A. Perekrestenko (Eds) Translation Research Projects 2. Tarragona. Intercultural Studies Group. Pp 17-25.

Gardiner, A. (1982) Egyptian Grammar. The Griffith Institute. Oxford.

Gonzalez, L.P. (2008) Audiovisual translation. In Baker, M. & G. Saldanha (eds) The Routledge Encyclopedia of translation studies. Second edition. Routledge.London

Gottlieb, H. (1992) ‘Subtitling – A new university discipline’. In Dollerup, C & A. Loddegaard (eds) Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Training, Talent and experience. Papers from the First Language International conference, 1991, in Elsinore. Denmark. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Gottlieb, H. (1994a) Subtitling: diagonal Translation’. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology Vol. 2 No. 1. Museum Tusculanum Press. Copenhagen.

Gottlieb, H. (1994b) ‘Subtitling: people translating people’. In Dollerup, Cay & Annette Lindegaard (eds), Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2. Amsterdam. John Benjamins.

Gottlieb, H. (1997a) Subtitles, Translation & Idioms. University of Copenhagen: Centre for Translation Studies.

173

Gottlieb, H. (1997b) ‘Quality Revisited: the rendering of English idioms in Danish television subtitles vs. printed translations’. In Trosborg, A. (Ed) Text Typology and Translation. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Gottlieb, H. (1998) Subtitling. In Baker, M. (ed) The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Routledge. London.

Gottlieb, H. (2001a) ‘Anglicisms and TV subtitles in an Anglified world’. In Gambier Y & H. Gottlieb (Eds.) (Multi)Media Translation. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Gottlieb, H. & Y. Gambier (eds) (2001b) (Multi)Media Translation. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Gottlieb, H. (2001c) Screen translation: Six studies in subtitling, Dubbing and Voiceover. University of Copenhagen. Copenhagen.

Gottlieb, H. (2004) ‘Language-political implications of subtitling’ in Orero, P. (Ed) Topics in audiovisual translation. Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Haeri, N. (2003) Sacred Language, Ordinary People: Dilemmas of Culture and Politics in Egypt. Palgrave Macmillan. New York.

Hajmohammadi, A. (2004) ‘The viewer as the focus of subtitling: Towards a viewer-oriented approach’. In Translation Journal Vol. 8, No.4. Article available at: www.bokorlang.com/journal.30subtitling.html

Hassan, H. (1995) ‘Tarikh el cinema el masriyah’ (History of Egyptian cinema). Cultural Development Fund. Cairo.

Hayward, S. (2000) Cinema Studies. The Key concepts. Routledge. London.

Heikal, M. (1992) ‘Malafat al-Suez: harb al-thalatheen sana’ (The Suez Files: the thirty year war). Ahram Centre for Translation and Publishing. Cairo.

Hosni, D. (2009a) ‘Yousef Chahine wa kasr kawka’it al-cinema al-masrriya’ (Yousef Chahine and the smashing of the Egyptian cinema shell). Article available at: www.cine-cine.net/News/News.asp?id+8516

Hosni, D. (2009b) “Mi’at ‘am min al-‘uzla” (A hundred years of isolation). Article available at: www.cine-cine.net/News/category.asp?id=61

Hussein, H. (2002) ‘Nihayat ‘asr al siyada al-Masriya fi tarjamat al-aflam al-ajnabiya’ (The End of Egyptian supremacy in film translation). Cairo. Rose El-Yosef. Issue 3878. 11 October 2002.

Ivarsson, J. (1992) Subtitling for the Media: A handbook of an art. TransEdit. Simrishamn. Sweden.

Ivarsson, J & M. Carroll (eds) (1998) Subtitling. TransEdit. Simrishamn.

174

Jaskanen, S. (1999) ‘On the inside track to Loserville, USA: strategies used in translating humour in two Finnish versions of “Reality Bites”’, MA essay, Univ. of Helsinki. Available at: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/engla/pg/jaskanen/index.html

Kallaf, R. (2007) ‘Our image’. Ahram Weekly newspaper. Cairo. Article available at : http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/854/cu4.htm

Karamitroglu, F. (2000) Towards a methodology of norms in audiovisual translation. Approaches to Translation Studies. Rodopi. Amsterdam.

Kayahara, M. (2005) ‘The Digital Revolution: DVD technology and the possibilities for audiovisual translation studies’. In Journal of Specialized Translation. Article available at: http://www.jostrans.org/issue03/art_kayahara.php

Kovacic, I. (1993) ‘Relevance as a factor in subtitling reductions’. In C. Dollerup & A. Lindegaard (Eds) Teaching Translation and Interpreting 5. Amsterdam. John Benjamins.

Kovacic, I. (1996) ‘Reinforcing or changing norms in subtitling’. In C.Dollerup & V. Appel (Eds) Teaching Translation and Interpreting 3. Benjamins Translation library. Amsterdam.

Kress, G. & T. Van Leeuwen (2006) Reading Images: The grammar of visual design. Routledge. London.

Kussmaul, P. (1995) Training the translator. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Lemke, J. (2006) ‘Foreword’. In Baldry, A. and P. Thibault (Eds) Multimodal transcription and text analysis. Equinox. London.

Maarouf, M (2005) ‘Hekayat min el zaman el gameel’ (Stories from La Belle Epoque) Wekalat Nun. Cairo.

Maluf, R. (2005) ‘A potential untapped? Why dubbing has not caught on in the Arab world’. Paper available at http://www.tbsjournal.com.archives/fall05/maluf.html

Mazid, B. (2006) ‘Arabic subtitles on English movies: Some linguistic, ideological and pedagogic issues’. IJAES, vol. 7, 2006: pp. 81-100.

McDonald, A. (1993) ‘Watch your language: subtitling at SBS TV’. In the conference proceedings of the 4th International Japanese/English Translation Conference; July 1993. The University of Queensland. Brisbane. Australia.

Mera, M. (1999) ‘Read my lips: Re-evaluating subtitling and dubbing in Europe’. In Links & Letters. Vol.6, pp73-85.

Monaco, J. (2000) How to read a film. The world of movies, media, multimedia. Oxford University Press. Third edition. Oxford.

Morgan, H. (2001) ‘Subtitling for Channel 4 television’. In Gambier, Y & H. Gottlieb (eds) (Multi)Media Translation. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

175

Mubenga, K. (2009) ‘Towards a multimodal pragmatic analysis of film discourse in audiovisual translation’. In Meta Vol. 54. No. 3.

Mueller, F. (2001) ‘Quality Down Under’. In Gambier, Y & H. Gottlieb (Eds) (Multi)Media Translation. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Muharram, M. (2002) ‘Al Scenario wal hewar fil cinema al-masriya’ (Screenplay and dialogue in Egyptian cinema). Cinema Library. Egyptian Book Organisation. Cairo.

Muhawi, I. (2002) “Performance and translation in the Arabic metalinguistic joke”. In Vandaele, J. (ed) Translation humour. A special issue of The Translator. Vol.8 (2). ST Jerome . Manchester.

Nahmias, P. (2006) ‘Omar Sharif brokered Sadat-Begin meeting?’ Article available at: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3267073,00.html

Nedergaard-Larsen, M. (1993) ‘Cultural factors in subtitling’. In Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 1993:2. University of Copenhagen.

Newmark, P. (1998) A textbook of translation. Prentice Hall. London.

Nicolic, K. (2010) ‘The subtitling profession in Croatia’. In Diaz Cintas, J, A. Matamala & J. Neves (Eds) New insights into audiovisual translation and media accessibility. Amsterdam. Rodopi.

Nornes, A. M. (2004) ‘For an Abusive Subtitling’. In Venuti, L. (ed) The Translation studies reader. Second edition. Routledge. London.

Obaidou, M. (2006) ‘Al cinema fil Maghreb:albidayat (Cinema in Morocco: the beginnings). Al- hewar Al-mutamadden. Article available at: http://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=73284

O’Hagan. M. & D. Ashworth (2002) Translation-mediated communication in a digital world. Facing the challenges of globalization and localization. Multilingual Matters. Sydney.

O’Hallaron, K. (Ed) (2004) Multimodal discourse analysis: Systemic Functional Perspective. Continuum. New York.

Orero, P. (2004) ‘Audiovisual translation: a new dynamic umbrella’. In Orero (ed) Topics in audiovisual translation. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Orero, P. (Ed) (2004) Topics in audiovisual translation. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Papadakis, I. (1998) ‘Greece, a subtitling country’. In Gambier, Y. (ed) Translating for the media. Centre for translation and interpreting. Turku.

Piper, J. (2008) Get the picture? The movie lover’s guide to watching films. Second edition. Allworth Press. New York.

Poyatos, F. (Ed.) (1997) Non Verbal Communication and Translation. John Benjamin. Amsterdam.

176

Pym, A. (2004) The Moving Text. Localization, Translation and Distribution. John Benjamins. Amsterdam.

Qassem, M. (2002) ‘Dalil al-aflam fil qarn al-‘ishreen fi misr wal alam al-arabi’ (Guide to Egyptian films in the Twentieth century in Egypt and the Arab world). Maktabat Madbouli. Cairo.

Qassem, M. (2004) ‘Surat al-adyan fil cinema al- masriyah’ (The representation of religions in Egyptian cinema). In Thabet, M. (Ed) Malafat al-cinema al masriyah 1896-1996 (Egyptian cinema files from 1896 to 19996). Maktabat al-usra. Cairo.

Qassem, M. (2011) ‘Naguib Mahfouz bain al-film wal –riwaya’ (Naguib Mahfouz between film and novel). Cinema Horizons Series. General Organisation for Culture Palaces. Cairo.

Qassem, M. (2013) ‘Al film al-siyassi fii misr’ (Political film in Egypt). The General Book Organisation. Cairo.

Radwan, A. (2012) ‘Geel Henaidi wa hekayat al-tamarrud ala kebar negoum el-cinema’ (Henaidi’s generation and the story of revolting against senior movie stars). Gazeerat Alward Publishers. Cairo.

Ramiere, N. (2006) ‘Reaching a foreign audience: Cultural transfers in audiovisual translation’. In Journal of Specialised Translation. Paper available on line at: http://www.jostrans.org/issue06/art_ramiere.php

Ranzato, I. (2010) ‘Localising Cockney: translating dialect into Italian’. In Diaz Cinats, J. & A. Matamala, and J. Neves (eds) New insights into audiovisual translation and media accessibility. Amsterdam. Rodopi.

Reda, M. (2012) ‘Mousem el seif el-cinemaie: kana sarhan min khayal fa hawa’. (The once impressive summer cinematic season: now all but gone). Al Shorouk newspaper on 5 may 2012. Article available at: www.shorouknws.com.

Reid, H. (1990) ‘Literature on screen: subtitle translation for public broadcasting’. In Westernweel, B. and T.D.Haen (eds) Something Understood: Studies in Anglo-Dutch literary translation. DQR Studies in Literature 5, Rodopi. Amsterdam.

Remael, A. (2004) ‘A place for film dialogue analysis in subtitling courses’. In Orero, P. (ed) Topics in audiovisual translation. Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

Roffe, I. & Thorne, D. (1994) ‘Transcultural Language Transfer: Subtitling from a Minority Language’. In Dollerup, C. & Lindegaard, A. (eds), Teaching Translating and Interpreting - Insights, Aims, Visions. Proceedings of the 2nd "Language International" Conference, Elsinore 4-6/6/1993, Amsterdam, pp. 253-9.

Rosenberg, G. (2007) ‘Rethinking the art of subtitles’ in Time Magazine, 15, May 2007.

Royce, C. (1998) ‘Why subtitles stink?’ Paper available at: www.salon.com/media/1998/03/23media.html

177

Salah-Eldin, M. (1998) ‘Al- deen wal ’aqida fil cinema al-masriyah’ (Religion and ideology in Egyptian cinema). Maktabat Madbouli. Cairo.

Sanchez, D. (2001) ‘Subtitling methods and team-translation’. In Orero, P. (ed) Topics in Audiovisual Translation. John Benjamin Translation library. Amsterdam.

Sarhan, H. (2006) ‘Hayati’ (My life). Interview with Omar Sharif. Rotana. Available on DVD. www.rotana.net

Scandura, G. (1993) ‘Film translation: A hybrid between translation and interpretation’. In the proceedings of the XII FIT World Congress Translation –the vital link, Vol.1.Institute of Translation and Interpreting, London.

Schwarz, B. (2002-3) ‘ Translation in a Confined Space’. Part 1 in Translation Journal, Vol. 6, No. 4, Oct. 2002. Available at http://www.accurapid.com/journal/22subtitles.htm. (Accessed September 2012)

Schwarz, B. (2003) ‘Translation in a confined space’. Part 2 in Translation journal, Vol. 7, No.1 (Jan.2003). Available at: http://www.accurapid.com/journal/23subtitles.htm . (Accessed September 2012)

Seif-Elnasr, A. (1980) ‘Awwal man tarjam al cinema al-alamiya fi masr’ (The first to translate international cinema in Egypt). Cairo. Al Ahram. 01/06/1980.

Shafik, V. (2007) Arab cinema. History and cultural identity. New revised edition. The American University in Cairo Press. Cairo.

Sharaf-eldin, D. (1992) ‘Al-sisyassah wal cinema fi misr 1961-1981’(Politics and cinema in Egypt from 1961 to 1981). Dar Al Shurouq. Cairo.

Sharff, S. (1982) The elements of cinema: Toward a Theory of Cinesthetic Impact. Columbia University Press. New York.

Sharif, O. (1977) The eternal male. Omar Sharif with Marie-Therese Guinchard. Translated by Martin Sokolinsky. W. H. Allen. London.

Shochat, E. & Stam, R. (1985) ‘The Cinema After Babel: Language, Difference, Power’. In Screen 26.3-4 (May-August 1985), pp. 35-58.

Shuttleworth, M. & Cowie M. (1997) Dictionary of translation studies. St Jerome. Manchester.

Sneed, C. (2012) ‘Teaching MSA and colloquial Arabic’. Paper available at: http://growingparticipatorapproach.wordpress.com/teaching-msa-and-colloquial-arabic/

Soueif, A. (2004) ‘Lost in translation’. The Guardian. 31 July 2004. London.

Tawfic, S. (1969) ‘Qissat Al-cinema fi masr’ (the Story of Cinema in Egypt). Dar Al Hilal. Cairo.

178

Taylor, C. (2003) ‘Multimodal transcription in the analysis, translation and subtitling of Italian films’. In Y. Gambier (Ed) Screen Translation, The Translator Vol 9.2. St Jerome. Manchester.

Thawabteh, M. (2011) ‘Linguistic, cultural and technical problems in English-Arabic subtitling’. In SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpreting. Vol 5 (1). Article available online at: http://www.skase.sk/Volumes/JTI05/pdf_doc/02.pdf

Thibault, P. (2000) ‘The Multimodal Transcription of a television advertisement: theory and Practice’. In A. Baldery (ed) Multimodality and Multimediality in the Distance Learning Age. Campobasso: Palladno Editore.

Toury, G. (1980) In search of a theory of translation. Tel Aviv: The Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics (Meaning and Art 2).

Tveit, J.E. (2004) Translation for television. A handbook in screen translation. JK Publishing. Bergen. Norway.

Venuti, L. (1995) The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation. Routledge. London.

Wadi, D. (2003) ‘Fi baitina rajul’yakhtatim fa’aliyat al- maharajan al-kqawmi lil- cinema al- masriya (‘A man in our house’ closes the Egyptian national film festival). In Asharqalawsat newspaper. 22 April 2003. Issue No 8911. London.

Wagner, D. (2012) ‘More than words: How some movies wind up with lousy subtitles’. Article available at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2012/06/28/155902421/more-than- words-how-some-movies-wind-up-with-lousy-subtitles

Wilmsen, D. (2006) ‘What is communicative Arabic?’ In K.M. Wahba, Z.A. Taha, & L. England (Eds), Handbook for Arabic language teaching professionals in the 21st century (pp. 125-138). New York, N.Y.: Routledge.

Wilss, W. (1996) Knowledge and skills in translator behaviour. John Benjamin. Amsterdam.

World Cinema Foundation (2013) ‘The night of counting the years’. Article available at: www.worldcinemafoundadtion.org/films/momia

Zabalbeascoa, P (1994) ‘Factors in Dubbing television comedy’. In Perspectives, Vol. 2(1). University of Copenhagen Press.

Zabalbeascoa, P. (1996) ‘Translating jokes for dubbed television situation comedies’ . The Translator Vol. 2 (2).

Zabalbeascoa, P. (1997) ‘Dubbing and the nonverbal dimension if translation’, in Fernando Poyatos (ed.) Nonverbal Communication and Translation. Amsterdam. John Benjamins.

Zabalbeascoa, P. (2005) ‘Humor and translation- an interdiscipline’. International Journal of Humor Research Vol. 18 No 2.

179

Zabalbeascoa, P. (2010a). ‘A Map and a Compass for Navigating through Translation’. In Calvo, M & M. Gómez (eds.) Translation and Cultural Identity: Selected Essays on Translation and Cross-cultural Communication. Cambridge Scholars.

Zabalbeascoa, P. (2010b) ‘Translation in constrained communication and entertainment’. In Diaz Cintas, J, A. Matamala and J. Neves (eds) New insights into audiovisual translation and media accessibility. Rodopi. Amsterdam.

Zabalbeascoa, P, N. Izard & L. Santamaria (2001) ‘Disentangling Audiovisual Translation into Catalan from the Spanish Media Mesh’. In Gambier, Y & H. Gottlieb (eds) (Multi)Media Translation. John Benjamins Translation Library. Amsterdam.

180

Newspaper and magazine articles consulted:

Asharqalawsat [newspaper] (July 2002 & September 2003)

The Daily Mail (8 March 2012)

The New York Times (5 & 6 January 1988)

The Observer [newpaper] (2003)

Screen [magazine] (1 June, 2007)

www.ahram.org.eg (2006) www.AlMasriAlyoum.org (14 December, 2005) www.arabadvisers.com www.cia.gov

BBC Bizzare Subtitles http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2111070/Dancing-On-Ice-angers-deaf-viewers- bizarre-subtitles.html www.fineartfilm.com (removed in July 2012) www.imdb.com

“More than words: how some movies wind up with lousy subtitles”. NPR Radio. Avaiable at http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2012/06/28/155902421/more-than-words-how-some- movies-wind-up-with-lousy-subtitles www.rotana.net

“BBC Mangled Subtitles Anger Viewrs” The Telegraph. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8816635/BBCs-mangled- subtitles-anger-viewers.html www.worldcinemafoundation.org www.ynetnews.com (2006)

181

Interviews

Gaber Asfour Chairman of the Egyptian National Translation Centre 2007

Abla Ebaid Acting Head of Anis Ebaid & Sons. Interview in Cairo in 1993

Adel Ebaid Head of Anis Ebaid & Sons. Interviews in Cairo in 1993, 1994, 2004, 2006

Sherif El-shoubashi President of the Cairo Film Festival 2005

Abdel-Aziz Hamdy Director of the Translation Studies Program at the American University in Cairo. Interview in Cairo in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012

Jan Ivarsson Transedit Sweden. In Berlin 2006

Andrew McCormick Interview with the Head of the Subtitling Unit at SBS in Artarmon in 2009, 2010

Gilbert Sant Head of the Subtitling Unit at SBS Television. Sydney 2005

Hala Sarhan Media personality and TV presenter at Rotana Television. Cairo. November 2006

182

183

Appendices

184

Appendix A

List of Arabic examples

Example 1 (Scene No 4)

Arabic: Fi baitina ragul

Literal translation: /(There is) in house-ours man/

DVD Subtitles: A hero under our roof

Suggestion: A man in our house.

Example 2 (Scene No 13)

Arabic: Ila Abdeen, Ila Abdeen.

Literal translation: / To Abdeen, To Abdeen/

DVD Subtitles: To Abdeen. To Abdeen

Suggestion: To the Palace. To the Palace.

Example 3: (Scene No 16)

The Police communiqué in Full.

Example 4: (Scene No 17)

Arabic: Ya sim!

Literal translation: /O posion!/

DVD Subtitles: Not subtitled.

Suggestions: Jerk!

Example 5: (Scene No 18)

Arabic: Suhur

185

Literal translation: /Late night meal/ (Only in Ramadan)

DVD subtitle: /Pre-fasting meal/

Suggestion: Dawn Prayers.

Example 6 (Scene No 20)

Arabic: Huwa ana edirt attnafis

Literal translation: / was I even able to breathe?/

DVD Subtitles: I couldn’t breathe

Suggested: I couldn’t argue!

Example 7 (Scene No 21)

Arabic: Lazem nakhdu bil siyassa

Literal translation: /we must take him with politics/

DVD subtitles: We must use diplomacy.

Suggestion: Build an image for rest of dialogue. When Samia replies Damn politics!! For instance use: Damn diplomacy. Or drop the original image for the sake of natural subtitle: It won’t work!

Example 8 (Scene No 22)

Arabic: Ana lahmi murr!

Literal translation:/ My flesh is bitter/

DVD subtitles: My flesh is bitter.

Suggested: I wasn’t born yesterday.

Example 9 (Scene No 26)

Arabic: Lazim negiboulak biskeletta?

Literal translation: Must we bring you a bicycle?

DVD subtitles: Must we get you a bike?

186

Suggested: Drop the dialect and opt for natural translation: On with it.

Example 10 (Scene No 29)

Arabic: Bahr ma-louh akhir.

Literal translation: /A sea without an end/

DVD subtitles: An endless ocean

Suggested: I can’t live away from Egypt.

The five examples of using MSA in the film:

Example 11: First letter (from Ibrahim to his mother before the assassination)

“Ukabiul yadai waledati al-habiba wa arju an tatawajeh il-allah bi-da’awatiha al-saliha. Enni muqilun ‘ala ‘amal bi-wahi min damiri min ajl masr wa min ajl kul um misreyyah turid an takun umman li-ahrar la umman li-‘abeed. Hafazaki allah li-ibnik. Ibrahim.”

“I kiss the hands of my dear mother. I beg that she will be making her good prayers to the Almighty. I am about to carry out a task inspired by my own conscious for the sake of Egypt and for the sake of every Egyptian mother striving to be a mother for free people not for slaves. May God keep you for your son. Ibrahim.”

Example 12: Second letter (From Ibrahim to his colleagues from the hospital)

“ Asdikai al-a’izaa. Itmainu, ana bi-kheir. Nuqiltu ila al-kasr al-‘ini li-u’alij min athar al-darb al- mubrih. Wa kad tamathaltu ilil-shifa wal hamdu lil-lah. Wa ana alqa huna mu’amala hasina. Wa in’aqadat sadaqa tayyeba baini wa baina al-dabet al-mukallaf bi-hirasati. Inahu shab muhathab wa la yaqilu wattaniya ‘anni wa in ikhtalafa fi wajibihi. Wa nahnu nuhawilu da’imann an naqtula al-waqt ma’ann. Fa-ana sajeen bisifa rassmiyah wa-hua bihukmi mihnatuhu sajeen ma’i.”

“My dear friends don’t worry. I am alright. I was transferred to Kasr el-Aini for treatment as a result of the severe beatings. I am almost recovered thank God. I am receiving here good treatment. I became friends with the officer in charge of my security. He is a fine young man no less patriotic than me although with a different duty. We are trying to kill time together. I am officially a prisoner and he is ex officio a prisoner like me.”

Example 13: Third letter (From Abdel-Hameed to the Zaher family during police surveillance)

187

“Unfortunately, what Nawal said turned out to be true. I am actually under surveillance. Therefore it is best that I do not visit you in the house to deflect suspicions off you. Don’t panic. Tell Mohie that I will not visit you till after the ridiculous surveillance is lifted. I hope this will be in the near future. The biscuit thief.”

Example 14: The fourth letter (From Ibrahim to Nawal at the end of the film)

“ Aktibu illayki wal- eid ‘ala al-abwab li-u’aidiki wa li-uwadi’uki fi nafss el-waqt.. Inna al-eid al- haqiqi yom yatakhalasu watanana min al-ihtilal. Wa qad qarrartu an ahiba nafsi fida’ann li- watani. Fala takbi wala tahzani. Bal attimi risalatiki fil haya wa ‘allemi awaladik anna man istushhida fi sabila biladihi lam yamut wa-anna al-hurriya aghla min al-hayat.”

“I write to you and Eid is round the corner to bid wish you happy Eid and at the same time to bid you farewell. The real celebration will be when our land is free from occupation. I have decided to grant myself for the sake of my country. Don’t cry and do not mourn. Compete your mission in life and teach your children that he who dies a martyr for his country has not parted dead and that freedom is dearer than life.”

Example 15: The police order

“Sayedati wa sadati. Nuzi’u alaikumu akhbarann hamma. Jaana al-bayan al-tali min wizarat ad-dakhiliya: Istata’a Ibrahim Hamdi, al-muttaham al-awwal fi qadiyat al-marhum Abdel- Raheem Pasha Shukri al-harab haza al-massa min mustashfa Qasr el-Ainin. Wa y’ulinu wazir ad-dakhiliya an mukafa qadruha khamsat alaaf gunieh li-kul man yaqbidu ‘alihi aw yudli bima’lumat tusa’idu fil qabdi ‘ala al-muttaham al-mazkour. Kama asdara al-hakimu al-‘askari amrann bi-mu’aqabat kul man yusa’id al-muttaham fi harbihi aw yamtani’u ‘ann al-idlaa bima ladihi min ma’loumat bil-sijini li-mudat la tazidu an talat sanawat. Wa ilaikum nass al-ammr al- ‘askari…”

Ladies and gentlemen. We broadcast to you important news. We have just received the following statement from the Ministry of the Interior:

The first suspect in the case of the late Abdul-Raheem Pasha Shukri managed to escape this evening from the Kasr Al-Aini hospital. The Minister of the Interior announces a five thousand pound reward for anyone who captures him or has information that may lead to the capture of the above mentioned suspect.

188

189

Appendix B Filmography

A Date with the Unknown (1959) Atef Salem

Adham Al-Sharqawi (1964) Housam-eldin Moustafa

A Kiss in the Desert (1927) Ibrahim Lama

A Little Bit of Fear (1969) Houssein Kamal

Al-mumya (1975) (AKA The Night of Counting the Years) Shadi Abdel-Salam

A Man in our House (1961) Henry Barakat

Ayoub (1984) Hani Lasheen

Bayoumi Effendi (1949) Yousef Wahbi

Cairo 30 (1966) Salah Abu-Seif

Cairo Station (1958) Yousef Chahine

Chased by the Dogs (1962) Kamal El-Sheikh

Children of the Rich (1932) Mohamed Kurayem

Chitchat on the Nile (1971) Hussein Kamal

Citizen Masri (1991) Salah Abu-Seif

Dr Zhivago (1965) David Lean

Funny Girl (1968) William Wyler

Haneen wa Hanan (2009) (Television drama) Magdy Abu Emeira

Hassan wa Morcos (2007) Ramy Imam

Intervista (1987) Federico Fellini

Keif el-hal? (2006) Izidore Musallam

Laila (1927) Wedad Orfi

Land of Peace (1957) Kamal el Sheikh

Laughter, games, seriouseness and love (1993) Tarek El-Telmisany

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) David Lean

190

Love Street (1959) Ezz-edin Zulfiqar

McKenna’s Gold (1969) J. Lee Thompson

Midaq Alley (1963) Hassan Al-Imam

Mother of the Bride (1963) Atef Salem

My Lovely Amira (1974) Hassan Al-Imam

My Wife is the CEO (1966) Fateen Abdel-wahab

Our Happy Days (1955) Helmy Halim

Quails of Autmn (1967) Housam Eldin Moustafa

River of Love (1960) Ezz Eldin Zulfiqar

Rumour of Love (1960) Fateen Abdel-Wahab

Sleepless (1957) Salah Abu-Seif

Struggle in the Valley (1954) [AKA Blazing Sun] Yousef Chahine

Struggle in the Port (1956) Atef Salem

Struggle on the Nile (1959) Yousef Chahine

The Beggars Strike (1967) Hassan Al-Imam

The Enemy of Women (1966) Mahmoud Zulfiqar

The Fake Millionaire (1968) Hassan Alsaifi

The Jazz Singer (1927) Alan Crosland

The Land (1970) Yousef Chahine

The Ladies Barber (1960) Fateen Abdel-Wahab

The Mameluks (1965) Atef Salem

The Mummy (1932) Karl Freund

The Mummy (1999) Stephen Sommers

The Night Baghdad Fell (2005) Mohamed Amin

The Price of Freedom (1964) Noue El-Demerdash

The Puppeteer (1989) Hani Lasheen

The Second Wife (1967) Salah Abu-Seif

191

The Sparrow (1973) Yousef Chahine

The Traveller (2010) Ahmad Maher

The Yaccoubian Building (2006) Marwan Hamed

The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1965) Anthony Asquith

Till Better Times (2007) Khaled Yousef

We the Students (1959) Atef Salem

Wedad (1936) Ahmad Badrakhan/ Fritz Kramp

192