MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Analysis of Translation of Sleepy Hollow Television Series Bachelor thesis

Brno 2016

Supervisor: Written by Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D. Kamil Kudláček Declaration: I hereby declare that I worked on my thesis independently, using only the sources listed in the bibliography. I agree with storing of this work in the library of the Faculty of Education at the Masaryk University Brno and making it accessible for study purposes.

Brno, 30 March 2016 Kamil Kudláček

2 Acknowledgements:

I would like to express my thanks to my supervisor Mgr. Martin Němec, Ph.D. for his kind help, guidance and valuable advice. Also I would like to thank my family and friends who supported me and namely Be. Michaela Křížová who was very patient and helpful.

3 Annotation

The bachelor thesis deals with the topic of translations and its problems. The title of the work is "Analysis of Translation of Sleepy Hollow Television Series". The aim of the thesis is to show problems during the translation of the series and how they were dealt with. The theoretical part deals with translation problems as such, limitations connected to subtitles as well as limitations connected to dubbing. The practical part deals with practical examples of translation from both the subtitles and the dubbed version of Sleepy Hollow and evaluates and compares these translations.

Key words: Analysis, translation, Sleepy Hollow, subtitles, dubbing

Anotace Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá tématem překladů a problémů při nich. Titul práce je "Analýza překladů televizního seriálu Sleepy Hollow". Cílem této práce je poukázat na problémy během překladu seriálu a jak s nimi bylo naloženo. Teoretická práce je věnována problémům při překladu jako takovém, dále omezením při překladu jak pro titulky, tak pro dabing. Praktická část se zabývá praktickými ukázkami s titulkové i dabingové verze Sleepy Hollow a hodnotí a porovnává tyto překlady.

Klíčová slova: Analýza, překlady, Sleepy Hollow, titulky, dabing

4 Contents

1 THEORETICAL PART 7

1.1 Introduction 7

1.2 Description 8

1.2.1 Short Story Sleepy Hollow 8

1.2.2 Sleepy Hollow Movie by Tim Burton 8

1.2.3 Sleepy Hollow Television Series 10

1.3 Varieties between the Original Story and Audio-visual Adaptations 11

1.3.1 Original Story and the Movie Sleepy Hollow 11

1.3.2 Original Story and Television Series Sleepy Hollow 11

1.4 Translation in general 13

1.4.1 Different length of languages 13

1.4.2 Degree of formality 14

1.4.3 Wordplays and puns 15

1.5 Translation for dubbing 18

1.5.1 Length 18

1.5.2 Phrases 19

1.6 Translation for subtitles 20

1.6.1 Timing 20

1.6.2 Space 21

1.6.3 Correction from viewers 22

1.7 Analysis of a translation 23

2 Practical part 25

2.1 Register and degree of formality 26

2.2 Misunderstandings and mistakes made because of it 28

2.3 The change of meaning 30

5 2.4 Literal translations 32

2.5 Transformation into the Czech language 35

2.6 More examples 38

2.7 Interview with the translator 39

2.8 Conclusion 42

Reference list 43

6 1 THEORETICAL PART

1.1 Introduction

Translation is everywhere around us, even though we do not realise it and do not pay any attention to it. We are surrounded by translated text in the streets, at school and of course at home when we watch television. Most of the programmes on television are from different countries, even different continents with many divergent languages. However, we are able to see all these audio-visual materials thanks to the work of translators who are trying to mediate us the experience we would not be able to live through otherwise.

This thesis deals with the problems of translation, namely with translation of the television series Sleepy Hollow and with the question of quality of this translation. I have chosen this series because it is widely known all over the world and it has been translated into the Czech language two times. Firstly, by fansubbers on the internet and secondly as a dubbed version for television channel Prima which has aired the programme in the past years. This way I am able to compare these two translations not only based on their contents and correctness but also in the form as both of these translations are in different forms. Consequently, I am able to find out whether it is possible for fansubbers to have the same quality of the translation as paid translators or not.

There is a big difference when translating both for subtitles and dubbing as both of these forms have their specific criteria and restrictions in terms of length and usage of language. As a result, I am going to deal with differences in between these two forms and try to point out both advantages and disadvantages of both forms.

In the practical part I am going to analyse the two above mentioned translations taken from the television series Sleepy Hollow and find out which one out of these two is more precise and faithful to the original. After the analysis I am also going to talk with the translator of the dubbed version and ask her about difficulties during the translation and how she has found the best way to do her job.

7 1.2 Description

I have decided to include descriptive chapter as to show differences and similarities between original artwork and the following movie and the series. Even though I do not work with translations of neither the book nor the movie, as it would not be meaningful as both are different than the series, I have decided to mention the movie Sleepy Hollow as it is a truthful adaptation of the original book and the Short story of Sleepy Hollow which was used as an artwork for the series.

1.2.1 Short Story Sleepy Hollow

Short story of Sleepy Hollow was written in 1917 by Irving Washington under the name "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." It is set in America in the year 1799 in a small village called Sleepy Hollow. The following is the story from the book History, Tales & Sketches by Irving Wastington.

The main character is a school teacher named Ichabod Crane who teaches at local school. School teachers at that time were really poor and as a result he has to live every week with one of his students' families. When talking with one of the villagers, he hears the story of Headless Horseman, who is riding around and killing innocent people. Ichabod is really scared because even though he loves scary stories, he is not a brave man. Few weeks later he goes to a celebration where he meets Katarina, with whom he falls in love with. Be that as it may, she is in love with Brom, a young man who likes doing pranks and who is really upset about Ichabod loving his girl, and decides to scare him up a bit. He dresses as the Headless Horseman and rides after Ichabod who is trying to ride away on his own horse. Finally, when Ichabod cannot run away, Brom throws a pumpkin at him and leaves. After this experience Ichabod leaves Sleepy Hollow and it is said that he was killed by the Headless Horseman, while in fact he manages to become a lawyer and later even a judge. Brom marries Katarina and laughs every time someone mentions Ichabod.

1.2.2 Sleepy Hollow Movie by Tim Burton

Movie called Sleepy Hollow is an adaptation of a short story called The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving Washington from 1917. The film came out in 1999 and was directed by Tim

8 Burton who said about Johnny Depp the following "Johnny faints very well. It's hard to do, actually. Fainting like a girl is pretty amazing when you can make it real" (Burton, Sleepy Hollow DVD).

The main character in Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane, has been portrayed by Johnny Depp, who said about his role that he wanted to make Ichabod much more like in the book and saw him almost as a scared little girl who was afraid of everything. (Depp, The Guardian)

Ichabod Crane is a constable in New York and is strongly against plain medieval punishment which are still in use. As a result of his insubordination he is sent to Sleepy Hollow to solve murders in which someone kills people and takes their heads. After his arrival he is introduced to people living in the village. Mayor Baltus Van Tassel and his counsellors along with mayor's wife, lady Van Tassel, are at the welcoming party. He also meets beautiful Katarina who is a daughter of the mayor of the village; and her lover, Brom. During Ichabod's stay there are more and more murders and all residents of Sleepy Hollow claim that the Headless Horseman is behind it however Ichabod does not believe them and thinks that it must be someone else behind it, most likely someone made out of flesh and blood. After several more murders Ichabod with Brom by his side faces the Headless Horseman. During this encounter Ichabod is hurt and Brom killed.

During his recovery, Ichabod Crane is scared and finally believes in the Headless Horseman but holds to his conviction that someone has to control him. He begins to investigate all clues he has and finally it looks like he could be closer to a solution. Putting all the clues together, Ichabod is convinced that Baltus Van Tassel is behind all these murders, because he is the one who will gain the most of them. Before he can confront him, both Baltus and his wife are killed by the Headless Horseman. Ichabod is clueless and wants to leave Sleepy Hollow, but he changes his mind just in time to return to save Katarina from the Headless Horseman controlled by Lady Van Tassel, who just feigned her own death and was behind all of this the whole time. In conclusion, her plan was to kill everyone who could stand between her and her husband's wealth, but at the end she is killed by the Headless Horseman and Ichabod goes back to New York with Katarina.

9 1.2.3 Sleepy Hollow Television Series

Television series Sleepy Hollow is being aired from 2013 on American television channel FOX. This adaptation is very loosely conceived and has nearly nothing in common with original story written by Irving Washington. The main character Ichabod Crane is played by an English actor Tom Mison. Abbie Bernstein said that Ichabod is generally portrayed as a scrawny, nervous and shy schoolteacher, whereas Mison (rhymes with Bison) is a buff, brash and determined American War of Independence soldier. (Buzzymag)

Ichabod Crane is a soldier during the American Revolution and has to fight for his life. Unfortunately, he faces a masked man with an axe and during their fight for life Ichabod is fatally injured, yet he manages to cut his opponent's head off. Death is usually permanent, but Ichabod awakes in year 2013 in a cave where he was buried by his wife Katarina. Jointly with him also his nemesis, the Headless Horsemen, is awoken. At first, Ichabod is naturally confused and does not know what is happening around him and why is he alive. In the meantime, the Headless Horseman begins with killing and he cuts off the head of the local sheriff. His partner, Abbie Mills, sees everything, but cannot convince anyone that what she has seen is true. Confused Ichabod is arrested by the police and is suspected of killing the sheriff. Although he tries to convince everyone of what happened, no one seems to believe him and Abbie is entrusted with transporting him to a mental hospital.

During their travel another murder is committed and Abbie now believes Ichabod that he is innocent and that he actually might have clues to what is now happening in Sleepy Hollow. Even though she believes him, her captain does not and orders her to finish his transportation to the mental hospital. While in there, Ichabod has a vision of his long dead wife Katarina who tells him that she is actually a witch and she had to put a spell on him as well as on the Headless Horseman so they would both stay dead. Knowing this, Ichabod tells everything to his new colleague Abbie and they both set off to the graveyard where, in Katarina's grave, they find the horseman's head. Following their finding, they have to face the Headless Horseman himself. With the help of other police officers, they manage to fight him off, after which they discover that they are supposed to protect the Earth from four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

10 1.3 Varieties between the Original Story and Audio-visual Adaptations

1.3.1 Original Story and the Movie Sleepy Hollow

The movie Sleepy Hollow is a free adaptation of the original short story. There are few things which are the same both in the story and in the movie, such as names of characters, Ichabod's love for Katarina, the name of the town and of course the Headless Horseman. Depp said about his character and his love for Katarina that he knew Christina Ricci who played Katarina from the time they were little kids and he thought it would be a little odd to kiss her. (The Guardian)

One thing is both the same and different, and that is Brom's prank performed on Ichabod. While in the story it is the end of everything, here it is just a beginning and Ichabod does not leave Sleepy Hollow at all.

More of the story is somehow different from original artwork. The main difference between stories is that originally the Horseman was just a myth, while in the movie he is as real as he can possibly be. Another variety is concerning the main character, Ichabod, who is now a constable instead of a teacher. With his change of profession comes a change of living and now he lives in a big house while in the short story he was living with his students. A big difference is also with his relationship to Katarina. Although in the original story his proposal was refused and he left heartbroken, in the movie she loves him and they end up together, and Brom, whom she was supposed to marry, dies by the hand of the Horseman.

1.3.2 Original Story and Television Series Sleepy Hollow

While the movie was freely based on the original story, television series under the same name uses only few basic similarities, but altogether is completely different. Those few similarities are again the names, the main character is Ichabod Crane and this time he was also a teacher, but unfortunately war begun and therefore he became a soldier. His wife's name is Katarina and the town in which the series is situated is similarly called Sleepy Hollow. One last thing is the same, and that is the main enemy, the Headless Horseman, but that is all from similarities.

While there are a few similarities, the story itself is completely different. Instead of living in 18th century, Ichabod travels through time and wakes up in the 21st century, in modern

11 times. Here again the Headless Horseman is not just a myth, but a very real threat, actually only one of many that will come later in the series. One big difference is that there is a greater force behind everything, not only evil, but also good, which tries to protect everyone and everything. One of those protectors is also Ichabod's wife Katarina who in this work is a witch responsible for Ichabod's miraculous resurrection.

12 1.4 Translation in general

The original language of above mentioned works is English and our target language is Czech, that is the reason for this chapter which is going to deal with translation difficulties and problems.

To begin with, it might seem effortless to translate something from one language to another, it is only text which conveys the meaning of utterance or of a story. Even though it might seem that way, there are many different problems which can surprise most of the public and sometimes even experienced translators. Consequently, in the next paragraphs some of these difficulties will be mentioned jointly with possible solutions.

1.4.1 Different length of languages

English language has shorter words in average, it is not as big of a difference but while translating the audio-visual piece of work, you are limited both in terms of time and with subtitles even space. According to Miroslav Posta, an average English word is approximately five characters long, while an average Czech word is a bit longer, specifically five point five to five point eight characters. This means that the same information might be longer in Czech language and therefore more time and space demanding than its English counterpart. All translators have to contend with this phenomenon and accommodate their translation to it accordingly (48).

An answer to this problem is either in condensation to which I will dedicate this paragraph, or omission of some not so important words to which I will dedicate the next one. According to Miroslav Posta, condensation is a technique in which we take original sentence and concisely translate it into the target language. There are different methods for condensation, namely short forms of Czech words, usage of numbers in numeral and not verbal form or by using some shorter synonym which is provided by the Czech language (70). To be able to do this, translator has to have extended knowledge of the target language, which can be obtained mainly if it is his mother language. On the contrary, it is possible to gain knowledge about a non-native language as well but it is easier with our native one.

Second solution to this difficulty is omission of some words, this technique is called ellipsis. It is very tempting to just erase some words from the text and therefore accomplish the need for space and time, but as everything, even this technique has to be done with

13 understanding of importance. The translator has to be careful what to omit as it might be of an importance somewhere further in the text. There are situations in which simple omission of a name might be useful but it has to be clear to whom the utterance was addressed. According to Miroslav Posta, when needed and possible, we could also omit some generally known words as yes, no or thank you. Of course as with every omission, it might prove tricky because what could be matter of course for one viewer, could be also very difficult and confusion for other (70).

1.4.2 Degree of formality

Another task at hand for any translator is to decide whether to use formal or informal style for his translation. It is not an easy task because in English is used you for both formal and informal style but in Czech we have to decide on degree of formality and therefore on the use of vy or ty. It is not only about formal and informal language; we also have to choose the right words for different characters. It would be disturbing if a character from lower society spoke as a king or otherwise, if a king spoke like a simple man from a farm, unless of course it is the intention of the author. To help us decide which format to use, we have to notice a few things in the text. "Basic element of creation of discourse is creation of register. A big role plays again convention. We have to know what they are talking about, what medium is used to convey the information, how formal it is and what is the relationship between addressee and addresser. Based on some authors is creating a register basic factor of translation process." (Knittlova, Grygova, Zehnalova, 32)

Based on Knittlova, we know that creating a register and figuring out the degree of formality is essential part of any translation. It is imperative to accommodate the style of speech to the character or nature of work itself.

We also have to maintain the chosen style throughout the whole translation whether we are talking about different characters speaking with different degree of formality or if we just translate a book about manual work. "The choice of formality will always be a hard task and every translator will do it a little bit differently. Simultaneously it is a task in which he can use his creativity. It is also about field of stylistics, because we have to make sure not to combine different degrees of formality." (Posta, 35)

14 If the translator fails to transfer desirable formality from the original text into the target language, or if he is not able to maintain the same degree of formality throughout the whole piece of work, it is possible that this action corrupts enjoyment and pleasure of the result.

1.4.3 Wordplays and puns

Wordplays and puns are a category which is very hard to translate, sometimes even impossible, but still translators are bound to do it in order to transfer the original text into the target language. Firstly, I would like to mention puns. In every language some words have more than one meaning and therefore are usually used as puns when characters talk with each other. Usually these puns are untranslatable because for those two different meaning in the original text, there are two words in the target language which cannot be interchanged. As a result, some translators decide to ignore these puns as they are not able to translate them and they may be right, there is not always a way to do it.

On the other hand, there are professional translators who face the same challenge and decide to take a different path, a path in which they also ignore the original pun and translate it as best as they can. The difference is, that they do not forget about this omission of a pun, they keep it in mind and when they see first opportunity for a pun, they insert it instead of the one they could have not translated. Of course, they create a pun in a place where there was none, but in the whole concept it is only a substitution for one missing. This is a mark of a good translator as said in Levy's Art of Translation: "In texts involving foregrounding of linguistic expression, good translators are deliberately on the lookout for such "opportunities" to exploit the resources of the target language, so as to at least partially compensate for stylistic colour that inevitably fades elsewhere." (52)

Secondly, there are also above mentioned wordplays, which often further illustrate the mood or style of the author or may be characteristic for a character. Into these wordplays we could include repetition of certain words or phrases, alliteration, thus some consecutive words beginning with the same letter, or even different word order, which may be used to emphasize something important or just to distinguish someone from others. Some of these are easier to translate than others and some might be almost impossible. Talpova claims that with jokes, word plays, facts, phraseologisms or slang in the original it is better to use dubbing. An editor can think of a word play or a joke which is understandable and maybe even funny for a Czech

15 viewer. With subtitles it is necessary to translated it literally as a viewer has the possibility to check the subtitles with the original (49).

Repetition of certain words or phrases is probably the easiest out of these three as it is not intrusive change and may be translated without interference with other sentence elements. In may cause problems for audio-visual works if the word in the target language is much longer or much shorter than the word from the original text. For example, a character in a movie could be repeating a word bus, which would be translated as autobus into Czech. There is a two syllable difference which would be unacceptable and impossible to manage. In this case it is necessary to find more suitable word with the same length and the meaning, if available.

Alliteration is in my opinion probably the most difficult one as the translator is supposed to translate a text but is limited in term of words which he can use. There are simpler alliterations with only two or three words beginning with the same letter, but also those with full sentence such as: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" (Alliteration). This can prove to be very hard to transfer into the target language with the same meaning and alliteration. Of course it is not always necessary to keep everything from the original text but it is very advisable as we would deliberately bereave readers or viewers of something from the authors' original work.

Last out of these three is a word order which can be quite easy in Czech language as it is very liberal in this sense, but also this liberty could be a problem. As English is an analytic language, there is a clear word order for every sentence and there is not much of a space for a change. On the other hand, Czech is a synthetic language and therefore the word order is not strictly given and may be changed. Although this difference in systems of language may prove to be helpful as we are not bound to any word order, it could be a problem when translating deliberately changed word order from analytic language. While in the original text the change is clearly visible and everyone realise that it is different, in the target synthetic language it may sound completely normal and no one would be surprised. In this case it is advisable to change the word order in a way that is not usually used or considered normal to majority of people.

Lastly, I have deliberately decided to omit one wordplay from the introduction paragraph as it is more complicated than others. In particular I mean meaning of names and places. Sometimes authors decide to name their characters or places by their own names with some more or less hidden meaning. For example, we may find George Simpleton in a book and sometimes later a character could be wondering if he is really that simple or if it is just a coincidence. In this case we cannot ignore the name and Czech reader would probably not be

16 able to understand that the last name Simpleton is somehow connected to the word jednoduchý. A translator has to, in this case, translate the original last name even though usually it is not advised to do such things. It would be appropriate to change the last name into Prosťáček, which would be therefore understandable in the target language.

The same would be valid for places as we may find Wind Valley and a character would make an utterance that the name is really well suited as it is windy all the time. Also in this case, if possible, we should change the original place to suit our need and to make the utterance valid. The same thing is advised to be used while translating an old piece of work or a work from a very different surrounding. The author could use remarks and historical or situational environment which would be unknown to the Czech audience. Also in this case translators should change these remarks or names as to be understandable for the target audience. For example, there could be a mention about a man who is well known in the time and place of the work. If he is only mentioned without any further references, translators could interchange him for a Czech well known man. Jiří Levý in his book The Art of Translation approves this procedure and even advises to use it. "The substitution of word play and typifying personal names for domestic equivalents are frequently necessary, although excessive adaptation may often result in contemporisation." (105)

17 1.5 Translation for dubbing

All above mentioned rules and problems are valid for every translation, not dependent on the medium used. It is not a surprise that every subcategory of translation, as dubbing in this case, has its own rules and special needs in terms of format and different limitations with which translators have to cooperate. In this section I would like to deal with these limitations.

1.5.1 Length

I have mentioned length before in general translations but length in dubbing is very important as voice actors have limited time to say something. In fact, they are limited by the length of the original utterance and cannot talk more or less. It is imperative that they speak the same amount of time as the original actor. This being said, the translator has a hard work as both languages are different in length as mentioned above and he still has to find an appropriate counterpart. To begin with, we have to count with two different variables while translating for dubbing. Firstly, with the syllable count, as it is advised to be as close to the original syllable count as possible. And secondly, the pace of the utterance as it is as important as the syllables. Different actors use different pace of their speech and therefore it is imperative to fit the translation into the same time. In the next paragraphs I would like to mention syllables.

As we do not live in an ideal world, there are two situations which may occur and translators have to deal with them as they come. First of them is a short original text and a long target text. In this situation we have a sentence from the movie Casino Royale: We can't let him win this game, which was translated into Czech as Tuhle hru ho nesmíme nechat vyhrát. First sentence is seven syllables long but its translated counterpart is eleven syllables long, the difference is therefore four syllables, which is more than fifty percent of the original sentence. Based on the syllable count, translators should be looking for similarly long clauses. It is possible to use above mentioned condensation and ellipsis to shorten the sentence in the translation. This particular example has been translated in many ways, and here are two of these which are more suitable according to the length. First one is Nemůžeme ho nechat vyhrát. To sort the problem, the translator used ellipsis and omitted this game from the sentence. Another example of a solution is Tuhle hru nesmí vyhrát which is based on omission of we can't let him.

Second situation which can occur is the exact opposite of the one discussed in the previous paragraph, and that is a long original text and a short text in the target language. Solution to this problem is by using some additional word which would fill the space. For example, in Czech

18 we translate I don't know as Nevím. Usually we omit pronoun Já as it is not necessary, but while translating for dubbing in which we need to be as close to the original as possible in syllable count, we need to keep the pronoun. In this case it is only about not omitting the pronoun, but in longer sentences we sometimes have to add some additional words to make the sentence longer. It is not often a problem as Czech has longer words in average as mentioned above but it is not a situation we could afford to ignore and not deal with it.

In conclusion, it is imperative to keep the same amount of syllables as in the original, or at least try to be as close as possible. While with longer sentences we are free to add something and even if we do not, it is possible to mask the missing words and most people will not even manage to see that an actor is saying more syllables than they hear. With short utterances as the one mentioned in the last paragraph, it is harder to mask when an actor says three syllables and his mouth is still moving while we hear only two and it is shorter as well.

1.5.2 Phrases

With this being said, I would like to continue to another part which is connected to length and that is phrasing. As mentioned above, people are able to notice when an actor is moving his mouth and they do not hear anything, and that is something to which translators and people dealing with dubbing have to pay attention. It is not only about length, but actors often make pauses while talking or try to make focus on something important and translators have to adapt their translations to it.

Even though it does not sound as something hard and it usually is not, there are situations in which translators have to make a pause after two or three syllables, but to translate these three syllables into Czech takes four or five syllables. And a dubber cannot talk through a pause as people would notice that an actor's mouth is not moving but they hear him talking. In this case translators have to be careful and find a better solution, change the sentence not in the meaning, but in the way it is said to meet the requirements for a pause and still convey the original message without changing it much. This could be done by choosing different words, usually synonyms, or by changing the word order in a way that would allow dubbers to actually make a pause.

19 1.6 Translation for subtitles

I have already mentioned translations in general as well as translations for dubbing, now it is time to cover the last but not least topic of translations, and that is subtitles. It is true that many of the problems and rules I have talked about before are valid even for subtitles, mainly those mentioned in paragraphs regarding translations in general. With subtitles, translators are not as limited by length of a speaker as in dubbing, but they are still limited by timing and space provided.

1.6.1 Timing

As mentioned in the last paragraph, while translating for subtitles it is not as strict with syllable count but there are different limitations. One of those is cps, which is an acronym for characters per second and it is essential for any subtitler to know about this and adjust his translations to it. Basically it means that people are capable of reading certain amount of characters per second, including spaces, and translators should not exceed this limit so as to not to make reading a race or even impossible discipline. Consequently, each language has its own standard for characters per second but as we are dealing with Czech translation, it will be our main focus. It is said that adult people are capable to read up to twenty characters per second, mostly without problems, some people are even capable of reading faster while with others this is too fast. Of course when translating for children, translators have to accommodate theirs cps to their slower reading.

In the book Titulkujeme Profesionálně Miroslav Pošta is also dealing with cps and in his opinion not long ago a standard for subtitle pace was twelve characters per second. With the rise of DVD the pace of subtitles started to grow faster and even though some companies still use twelve cps as their standard, it looks like new modern standard is sixteen or seventeen characters per second, and sometimes it is even possible to find twenty characters per second (49).

In short, it is up to a translator or a production company to choose which cps to choose, but when it is chosen, translator should stick to it and try to accommodate all subtitles to similar pace. If it is not the same pace, it may confuse viewers as they are not sure whether to read fast or if they have time to read it carefully, which is wrong.

20 With this in mind, translators are also forced to shorten their translations to make them readable in time and still be able to convey the information needed. Of course it is not easy as they are limited by the actor's talking time and also by the difficulty of the sentence. Also it may be harder to fit translation into the given time if there are more characters talking at the same time which is not a problem in dubbing.

There are also minimum and maximum time limitations for subtitles. There are different opinions on the minimum length of a subtitle so it is up to a translator or the production company if they choose to use one or two seconds as minimum time, but it is imperative to stick with it for the whole time. Furthermore, we have a maximum time which is six seconds, not single one subtitle should be longer than that.

1.6.2 Space

Another limitation to deal with is space which is very limited and often very problematic. Every subtitle should not be consisted of more than two lines which is not a lot of space, considering that each line is also limited by the number of characters, including spaces. The limitation came from two most probable reasons and those are the size of television screens as well as the comfort for viewers. The size is important as television screens were much smaller and it would be impossible to fit longer subtitles there. Regarding comfort for viewers, it is important not to make longer lines as it would be uncomfortable for viewers to read from far left to far right and again go to the second line and repeat the whole process. Besides, when the line is shorter, it is not as demanding as it could be and therefore it is easier to read.

I have mentioned character limit per line and that is according to Miroslav Posta following. For television broadcasting is maximum characters per line usually somewhere between thirty and thirty-seven characters including spaces. However, the size of television screen of an average viewer is bigger and therefore it is possible that characters per line will be more similar to those in cinemas. For cinemas and DVDs, it is usually forty (43).

As mentioned above, in cinemas it is possible to have longer lines as the screen is much bigger and wider. Nevertheless, viewers are further away from the screen and three characters per line are not as much of a difference to make it uncomfortable to read.

21 1.6.3 Correction from viewers

To begin with, the dubbing and the subtitles are limited in some ways and freer in other, but there is one thing in which subtitles are trickier and it is not connected to technical issues. While translating for the dubbing, an average viewer does not know what was said in the original and if you translate something a bit differently or change something, they will not know it and therefore will not judge it. However, with subtitles, there is still an original audio and people can hear what is being said and therefore compare what they hear with what they can see in subtitles. Of course not everyone is able to understand the original language and compare it, but there are people who are able to do it and they will.

Sometimes people are just looking for a mistake or a different translation than what is exactly being said and they will judge the translator and think that they have outsmarted him. This being the case, while translating for subtitles the translator must pay really good attention to being as precise as possible because people may find out something different and think that it is wrong without even realizing why he translated it this way and not the way they think is the best.

22 1.7 Analysis of a translation

The whole practical part of my thesis will be devoted to analysis of the television series called Sleepy Hollow and as such I feel the need to introduce the basics of translation analysis to show why and how I am going to work.

Firstly, when analysing a translation, it is imperative to know what analysis truly is and how to do it. What is important to look for and decide what is a mistake and what is on the other hand an intentional change that is needed. In the second case, we need to look for the intention and find why was the change done and if it is useful and meaningful. As Jiří Levý wrote in his book The Art of Translation, we need to know how the translation is going to be assessed. "A translation is assessed in terms of its relationship to the original, and it is precisely for this reason that we find it so interesting to trace the path from the starting point to the outcome of the creative process" (169). As said, we need to look not only as the translation itself and on single lines, but on the whole piece and beyond the work that had been done by the translator. How difficult it was to translate certain passages and put it all together so it looks like it was meant to be in Czech all along.

Secondly, as mentioned in the last paragraph, we need to know the original from which the translator had translated to be truly sure that we are able to evaluate his translation. There were cases when translators translated an Italian book from its German translation. Then we are able to see differences between the original work and its Czech counterpart which might not be caused by nothing else than the previous translation into German. Once again I have looked for an advice into Jiří Levy's book The Art of Translation. "Above all, if conclusions regarding the relationship between the translated version and the source are to be reliable, the source text the translator actually worked from must be identified with absolute certainty" (169). As a result, my work does not include only the translation and the original text, but also a text from which translators worked from and which used for their translations. As I have chosen to analyse the television series Sleepy Hollow my work is easier because its original language is English as well as subtitles and scripts from which translators worked and are precise in both form and meaning to the original.

Finally, to analyse a translation requires a lot of time to actually see both translations and compare them to the original. As I have chosen subtitles and dubbing, it means that I need to watch both versions simultaneously with the original text or sound to see what has been

23 translated how and also note down everything good or bad that occurs in translations. After that it is needed to sort out notes I have made into logical units and analyse them so as to present unified view into this issue.

To sum it up, analysis of any translation is time consuming and requires a lot of patience and skill to find what has been changed, how it has been changed and also why. In addition to this, the person who analyses translations of course needs to understand both the source language and the target language to be actually able to manage the analysis. Without knowing either of these languages it is impossible to compare texts and find anything.

24 2 Practical part

This part of the thesis deals with two actual translations of the first season of the series Sleepy Hollow. I have worked with the original series and subtitles from fansubbers nicknamed Hlawoun and Bur áček who published their translation on a website Edna.cz where is also a webpage about the series. The second translation was made for television channel Prima and the translation was made by Michaela Křížová and Václav Patera.

Both teams used different form of the translation as well as their limitations resulting from the form were different. I have dealt with problems and difficulties of both forms of translation in the theoretical part therefore I will not repeat them again.

I am very well aware that there is a big difference between fansubbers who translate only because of their good will and are not payed and professional translators who make living by translating for television studios, however, I think it is possible to compare these two translations. Furthermore, there is also the point of many more people behind the dubbed version besides translators so they are able to smoothen the translation and make it better. However, these people may also cause problems as not all of them are able to understand the original language and could change parts of the translation in a way that would change the meaning. Besides, their job is not primarily to stick to the meaning and the original text but to adjust the translation based on the need of timing and length.

In spite of the difference between forms and translators, it should be important to every translator to do their work as best as they could. I have decided to partly ignore changes caused by the difference between forms of translations and I am going to focus on mistakes in meaning, in the translation itself caused by misunderstanding and of course on syntactical and grammatical mistakes in the target language caused by the literal translation. I am also going to evaluate timing and length of subtitles based on the theory mentioned above. On the contrary, I am also going to focus on translated parts which surprised me by its quality or unexpected creativity.

25 2.1 Register and degree of formality

First of all, even though both translations use different register and degree of formality, I would like to say that both of them stick to it the whole time with a few exceptions. This is something I have been searching for and trying to find something that would prove that it is an accident that they are very consistent, but they have proved it is not.

To begin with, I want to start with subtitles and even though it is the translation from fansubbers, they have proved to be aware of this and made a difference. In their translation both main protagonists, Abbie Mills and Ichabod Crane, use very similar register of words and phrases which is not entirely ideal but understandable while fansubbers are mostly not professionals. Sometimes it is a shame that Ichabod Crane who is from seventeenth century speaks like he was born yesterday. He is using more formal language than Abbie and therefore there are minor differences but not as big as there were in the original audio. On the contrary, Abbie is using an informal language which is perfectly fine for a girl from this time. The difference is that Ichabod is using formal vy while Abbie talks informally by using familiar ty. There is no problem with that as he is very polite and used to treat women differently. They stick to this degree of formality almost the whole time, but I am going to return to these few exceptions later.

First thing that surprised me in the dubbing, as I have watched the version with subtitles first, was the difference of formality. Suddenly even Abbie Mills was formal and used vy while talking with Crane. In this example we seen two different attitudes towards formality and there is nothing wrong with either of them. Both are fine as translators are free in the choice of formality as English uses only you as mentioned in the theoretical part.

There was something else that very pleasantly surprised me with the dubbed version and that is usage of old words. As we know, Crane is from the seventeenth century and therefore he should use different language than we do, and that is something he actually does in the dubbed version. It is very pleasant to hear the character using language that should be normal to him as it functions as a tool that draws into the atmosphere of the show. Instead of words like vězení and pouta for prison and shackles he uses old words like žalář and okovy. When I have first heard these terms it really helped me to feel the atmosphere of the show. Another examples of these old words are stětí for beheading and lazaret for triage. As you see, his character uses old words as his own because he is from the old times. Of course there are not the only ones

26 and it is not solely focused on nouns as he uses other words as však or jemuž as he speaks. There were many other examples of his old language but I would like to emphasize just two more which caught my ears and those are felčar for a doctor and sklepeni for a basement. Some of these are still in use even today but not as much as they have used to be.

In the first paragraph I have mentioned a few exceptions and those were only in the subtitles. While the dubbed version is consistent in the use of register and the degree of formality, in subtitles I was able to find two examples in which the character speaks differently than he should according to his previous behaviour. Both of these examples are from the character of Ichabod Crane who is harder to translate because of his past. First example might be considered as a simple mistake when Ichabod uses informal ty instead his normal and formal vy. Even though it surprised me, there was a chance that he started to be more familiar with Abbie Mills and therefore decided to be informal. Unfortunately, in the next occurrence he again used his formal language and it stuck with him till the end of the season. Second instance was probably made because of inattention of translators. The character Ichabod Crane said the sentence Sleepy Hollow is full of secrets which was translated as Sleepy Hollow je plný tajemství. This informal form is different than how he normally talks and rightfully it should be plné as it is in the dubbed version.

To sum it up, I would say that with a few exceptions both translations are good in terms of degree of formality and register. Nevertheless, I was more pleased by the dubbed version because of the usage of old words which were really surprising for me.

27 2.2 Misunderstandings and mistakes made because of it

As already mentioned, basic skill required for a translator is to understand what is meant in the source language and then translate it into the target language. This is one of the crucial skills as all translations depend on it. This part is going to be dedicated to mistakes made by not understanding the source language and therefore translating it wrongly into the target language. With all of these examples I have thought about limitations of both forms and I will mention both these which were not affected by it and also these which were and are not mistakes at all and rather a compromise between the meaning and limitations.

Secondly, I would like to start with examples of total misunderstanding caused by the fact that translators did not know the word or the phrase. As these problems occur in both subtitles and dubbing, I will not divide these based on the form but rather based on the mistakes.

To begin with I have chosen a mistake that is quite easy to make when a translator does not know the word itself as it is interchangeable for a name which is exactly what happened. While talking one character told the other that Arson did not find anything. For those who know that Arson is a fire department dealing with arsonists and fires it is easy to understand. As translators did not know this, he used Arson as a name and translated it as Arson nic nenašel. In conclusion, it is not a big mistake as the main meaning is still translated and only the subject is changed and there is no other mentioning Arson again. In the dubbed version translators knew what he is dealing with and used požární technik instead and therefore translated it in a way that it was supposed to be.

Second example I have chosen is probably again caused by the same reason as the first one. Abbie Mills gets a morning call and from the telephone we hear Dispatch here as an introduction which is in subtitles translated as Dopravte se sem. It is understandable how this mistake has been made as the word dispatch is connected to transportation. Unfortunately, this translation is not as easily overlooked as the first one because after this sentence the voice from the telephone tells Abbie to go somewhere, therefore the first sentence does not make any sense. In the dubbed version the meaning is understood and the translation is Tady centrála.

The third example is one that surprised me probably the most not only because it happened but because it has occurred in both the subtitles and the dubbed version. As a result, I have discussed this issue with others to ensure that the mistake has been made and it is not my wrong understanding. After the question about family of Abbie Mills her answer is Dad bailed when

28 we were young. The translation from the subtitles is Byl propuštěn na kauci which is easy to understand where the mistake has been made. The word bail is translated correctly, unfortunately not in this context, as it means leaving. Therefore, the right translation should be something like Táta nás opustil. As I have said before, this mistake has occurred also in the dubbed version in a form of Pustili ho z basy. None of these translations does not explain why the father has been gone when he was, according to translations, released. In short, this is a mistake that affects the story as viewers do not know why was the father away from his family.

One before last, I have found another total nonsense which is again caused by the translation. Abbie is talking with a woman and after an argument she tells her they will shut you down as the woman is taking care of abandoned children for money and using the money to buy things for herself while those children are in a bad shape. By they Abbie means social services which she is to call after the visit. This particular sentence is in the dubbed version translated as zavřou to tu which is a good translation as it conveys the meaning and is understandable according to situation. Unfortunately, in the subtitles the sentence is translated as zavřete je. As you can see, it does not make any sense and translators used you as plural and did not understand the meaning. It could be understandable if there would be police officers with her, but as she is only with Ichabod, this possibility is out of the picture.

And finally, the last mistake out of these caused by not understanding the source language is dealing with a phrase. Two people are looking for someone and one of them says Cross- referenced every death row visitor's log. While there is also ellipsis involved, it may be harder for a beginner to get the meaning that the character searched and compared these logs. In this case the sentence has been translated as Křížové odkazy každým záznamem smrti, který návštěvník načte. It is clear that translators did not have any idea what is the sentence about as his translation does not make any sense and is nowhere near the original meaning. I will not translate this sentence on my own and instead I am going to use the translation from the dubbed version which is in my opinion perfectly fine. Proklepla jsem záznamy návštěv všech odsouzenejch k smrti. Translators obviously got the meaning and conveyed it into the target language in the meaningful sentence.

These are examples from the season one as I will not talk about all mistakes as it would be an exhaustive list and I would like to devote my time to another kinds of mistakes.

29 2.3 The change of meaning

Thirdly, I will deal with a different mistake. These paragraphs will be about the change of meaning resulting from the change of words. It is a bit controversial as these are not entirely mistakes but rather parts of translation that caught my eye so I have decided to include these as an example of generalization.

The first of these is an exact example of generalization which has no bigger effect on the whole translation but when translated right, it is, in my opinion, better. In one episode Ichabod Crane is telling a woman in an asylum that her doctor committed a suicide. As the doctor jumped out of the window, he uses word leapt to directly say how she died. Whereas in dubbed version it is very poetically translated as skočila do náruče smrti, in the subtitles it is conveyed through more general skonala. Both translations are good in the form and register but the first one might be a bit better as it translates the original sentence more precisely and actually says how the doctor died. Certainly it is nothing very important for the story itself as we have seen the doctor jumped and there is no mention about it again, but the translator's job is to be as precise as possible which is not the case of the subtitle version.

As I have mentioned the asylum, this noun has also appeared in the series and therefore had to be translated into Czech. There are many different possibilities of how to translate from informal blázinec to very decent ústav as it was translated in the dubbed version. Translators of the subtitles decided to use the word samotka. Again, there is no loss as the patient actually was placed into the solitary cell in the end. My point is that when translating, translators should try to stick to the original if possible, not change the words and their meaning however they want. In many cases it is possible to use different word and it will not affect almost anything, but why change and look for different words when there is a fitting word with the same meaning as the word from the source language?

Another example of this is again from the subtitles and is dealing with the weapon handling. When in need, Abbie hands over a gun to Ichabod and telling him how to use it with words just aim and shoot which was in the dubbed version translated as stačí zamířit a zmáčknout. The word aim is translated literally and in this case it is a good think as she is instructing him what to do. In spite of this, in the subtitles we have the word aim translated as odjistit, which makes sense and is not problematic, but is there a reason for this change? It does not reflect the original

30 meaning and the word itself is longer than the literal translation zamířit, so the length is not a reason for the change.

One before last is the one change I personally do not understand as it also changes a meaning. During a conversation a character finds out that there were or still are two covens in the city of Sleepy Hollow. As of the supernatural part of the story, it is meant as two covens of wizards or witches. In the subtitle version the word coven is translated as čaroděj and therefore the number of people with magical powers in the city is reduced from the whole coven to one person. I have said that it changes a meaning and of course, that is true as it changes the number of people which is very important because these covens are not only mentioned in the end of the first season, but also seen and therefore it is very confusing. In the dubbed version this word is translated as klan which is more suitable translation as it represents more people somehow connected to each other and not only one as the translation from subtitles suggests. And again, not only the translation is more suitable, it is also three characters shorter. This particular example is confusing as in the later episodes even in the subtitles the translation is changed to klan as there would be no possibility to stick to the original translation čarodej when there is more people to be seen.

And finally, the last change in this section considering the change of meaning. This time I have chosen a translation from the dubbed version as to show that it is not entirely perfect as it may seem from previous paragraphs. In the first episode of the season Ichabod Crane is arrested and is a suspect of murder. While he is in custody, another murder happens and therefore he is not to be the suspect anymore. To his defence, Abbie Mills is saying that He was in custody while this happened which we could translate as Když se to stalo, byl ve vazbě. In the dubbed version we have translation as Když se to stalo, byl se mnou. To be fair, he actually was with Abbie Mills during the time mentioned, but it is not a precise translation from the source language. On the contrary, it is possible this solution was chosen as it is shorter by one syllable than the one I have sketched before, but still there were two more syllables in the original language, so it may not be the reason.

In conclusion, these mistakes are not really mistakes in the right sense and probably will not affect the story as such, but it is not necessary to change those words as in many cases it will not help with length neither with the subtitles nor with the dubbed version as shown before.

31 2.4 Literal translations

We all know that literal translations sometimes happen and even I myself have advised using literal translation in the last chapter as it would be more suitable. Of course it is imperative not to confuse literal translation of the lone word with literal translation of the whole sentence with English word order which is in many cases totally different than the one in the Czech language. Examples I have chosen for this chapter are those of literal meaning and in many cases makes no sense at all as you will see in the next few paragraphs.

To begin with, I have chosen the one that is probably the most confusing and when you think about it, it does not make sense at all. To get started, this point is that Jenny Mills ran away from the asylum and went to her friend, a bartender, to get her things that she gave him to take care of. She is asking him if he still got them and his answer is They have been in my safe since you have left it. His answer is clear and there should be no problem with translating it but translators of the subtitle version proved me otherwise. This simple sentence is translated as a total nonsense and that is Ukrýval jsem je pro své bezpečí, co jsi zmizela. The last part of the sentence is translated a bit broadly, but there would be no problem with it, it is something we could have overlooked. The problem is with the first part of the sentence as the phrase my safe is translated as své bezpečí and not svém trezoru or sejfu. This translated sentence is problematic as they are friends and there is no reason for him not to be safe if he had lost her things. Naturally I went to look for the second translation in the dubbed version and there I have found much more satisfying solution as the sentence has been translated as Dobře jsem je schoval. Surely, there is not mention of the safe or Jenny leaving but the meaning is clear and understandable, therefore this translation is much better and much more suitable than the one in the subtitles.

The example of this literal translation is from the third episode of the first season and is dealing with the word trust. Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills are talking and Ichabod wants to know something from her past. She decides to open up to him and starts with a sentence / am going to trust you with something which is meant as she is going to tell him a secret. This time I want to start with the translation from the dubbed version where it is translated as Něco vám svěřím which is perfectly fine as it conveys the original meaning of the sentence and is also short as needed for the dubbed version. Not only in the subtitles the translation is a nonsense as such, it is also literally translated with the word order from English language. The translation

32 of the sentence is Budu ti věřit v něčem. As you can see, the sentence does not make sense as she is trying to tell him a secret and therefore trusts him. However, in this translation her sentence suggests that she does not trust him that much and will trust him only in something.

Third example is from the same episode and again deals with literal translation the same as this whole chapter. While talking, Abbie says the sentence Curiosity got the best of me which we could translate as Přemohla mě zvědavost or Byla jsem zvědavá as it is translated in the dubbed version. Both translations are similar and make perfect sense and therefore we are able to understand what she meant by that. In the subtitles there is a literal translation and the sentence is translated as Zvědavost ze mě dostala to nejlepší which is not only a literal translation, it is also something not really understandable to the majority of viewers. If I take this sentence and try to understand what it is about, I would have never guessed the original sentence and its message. Why did translators used this is a mystery to me and the most obvious answer is that they have had no idea what the sentence means and as a result translated it literally. This shows their level of dedication to translations as they do not spend any time trying to find out what is the meaning of the sentence they do not understand. I would love to compare this mistake to the one with Arson being used as a name as I think it is the same. While with the Arson no harm was done and it is understandable that it could be mistaken for a name, this does not make any sense to me.

The last example of literal translation is from the discussion between Abbie Mills and an unknown lady who takes care of abandoned children for money. Abbie sees that one girl sleeps on the floor and is malnourished and tells it to the woman. She immediately replies with a sentence If you think I am taking advantage of the situation and is interrupted by Abbie. In the subtitles the sentence is translated as Jestli myslíte, že ze situace získávám výhodu. This time the meaning of the sentence is not so distant and with a bit of imagination it is possible to figure out what she actually meant. In my opinion the right translation would be Jestli myslíte, že toho nějak využívám or as it was translated in the dubbed version, Jestli myslíte, že z tyhle situace nějak těžím which is also possible as it does convey the original message of the utterance. Once again, there is no telling why translators used this translation as it is also longer than my suggested translation by seven characters. On the other hand, it is by one character shorter than the translation from the dubbed version but it would be better to have longer but sensible translation.

To sum it up, all of these translations have one thing in common, they are translated literally and therefore not entirely correct. As we know, English and Czech language have 33 different word order and as a result translating something literally is not entirely possible as it will not be right in the target language.

34 2.5 Transformation into the Czech language

This is a chapter I was really looking for as it will deal with praising the quality instead of finding mistakes in translations. There are many situations in which translators have to somehow transfer something known in English into Czech that is not known in the Czech Republic. Whether it is actual names with the meaning or an acronym that is later explained and therefore would make no sense if left untranslated. In this chapter I will show you few examples of great transformation into the Czech language.

Firstly, I would like to start with the one that was translated in both versions and that is a translation of a coven called sisterhood of radiant heart. I am aware that keeping it in original would be a nonsense and so I am very pleased that both groups used the translation. In both versions this coven is translated as sesterstvo zářícího srdce which is literal translation of the original, but in this case literal translation is a good thing. There is no point in inventing a new name when the one used in the original is perfectly fine and possible to translate. In short, I am very glad that both groups of translators used this translation.

Secondly, there is a point of familiarizing unknown subjects to target viewers as they would not be able to understand all references mentioned in the original version. That is also the case of next two transformations involving a book and a television series. When going through a scary basement, Abbie tells Ichabod that it reminds her the Twilight Zone which is an American television series full of horror and fantasy stories (Twilight Zone). As this series is not very popular and known in the Czech Republic, viewers would not know what is the reference about, and therefore would not understand the whole point. Translators of the dubbed version recognized this possible problem and as a result used a television series well known to us called Akta X. The majority of people is familiar with the series and so is able to get the reference to something scary. In my opinion this was a very good transformation and it brought up closer the atmosphere intended with the reference.

Second transformation was in the same basement when Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills found a secret home of an undead officer of the law. In there they found a book called Metamorphosis as the undead officer had been changed and therefore interested in the topic. This single word could be literally translated as Proměna which is the Czech name for the book and it would be right (The Metamorphosis). Although there was a simple solution, translators tried to make it more familiar and used the author as well and therefore translated it as Proměna

35 od Kafky. It may be only because there is only one syllable difference with this translation instead of two syllables while using only the name of the book, but in my opinion this solution is better as it is clear what kind of book it is. To sum it up, I have found this transformation much better as it is a reference to the change that the officer is experiencing and therefore more suitable.

Thirdly, I would again like to combine two different examples of transformation as they are very closely related to each other except the fact that in one case translators decided to transform it into Czech while in the other they did not. I am talking about the translation of a proper noun of a person called Sin Eater. He is named like that because he actually eats sins of people who want to be redeemed in the eyes of God. His name is then a description of his destiny and therefore translated as Pojídač Hříchů in both versions of the translation I have analysed. On the contrary, in one episode of the first season was a monster called Sandman. Also this time it was a man made of sand and he used sand as a weapon, so his name had a meaning. Even though it was very similar to the first instance, this time Sandman was left in the original language and even in Czech translations they have called him Sandman (Sandman). If we think about it, there is a possibility to call him Písečňák as this mythical monster is not known in the Czech Republic and therefore it might be better to somehow make him more familiar to the viewers, but that is just my opinion.

Another instance is that of women's surnames being used in the Czech language. While in English women use the same form of surname as their husband, in the Czech we use suffix - ová to highlight that we are referring to a woman. This is a difference with which translators have to cope as the final surname is longer both in terms of characters and syllables. As for the main character, Abbie Mills, it is fine in both translations as she is called Millsová as she should be in the Czech language. A problem arises when there is a doctor Vega and she is to be transformed into Czech. In the dubbed version translators stick to the existing suffix and transform her name as Vegová, while in the subtitles she for an unknown reason remains doktorka Vega. It is clear that she is a woman as she is seen in the episode and obviously translators were aware of this fact but still decided to use her surname without the suffix -ová.

Next examples are this time taken from the subtitle version of the translation which is something I did not expect as translators of this version did not show any creativity at first. These examples are to show their creativity but unfortunately, not every time it was useful. The first one is from Ichabod as he is admiring something and to describe it uses the word magnificence. In the dubbed version we are used to him talking with older version of the 36 language and therefore the translation velkolepé is not surprise for us. While translation from the dubbed version is now considered a standard, translators of the subtitle version used a word divukrásné which is very expressive. It would be perfectly fine if they had used these words throughout the series but as they did not but now, it seems out of place. On the other hand, it is a great thing that they had used a different word to distinguish Ichabod from Abbie.

Unfortunately, they have used the same tactics in other cases as well where it was not useful. Namely in the case of sheriff Corbin who died in the first episode but appeared as a ghost later. During his first appearance he spoke as a normal American would speak both in English and Czech version. As he had appeared as a ghost, his speech suddenly changed in the subtitles and he used more formal expressions such as Jak ti mohu býti ku pomoci? For How can I help you?. In my opinion, this is a disturbing element as he has changed his style of speech for a moment and therefore is not himself. In the same way there is a translation from the same scene where he also says What seems to be the problem? which is translated as Co se zdá být problémem? in the subtitles. Both these translations would seem great if the style of his speech would remain the same for the whole series. In the dubbed version he spoke usually in the first episode the same as during his appearance as a ghost, which is a better solution in my opinion.

The one before last transformation is used for infamous acronym CDC which stands for Centre for Disease Control. This organisation plays its role in one of the episodes and as Ichabod Crane is from seventeenth century and does not know what does CDC mean, Abbie Mills has to explain the acronym to him. In the subtitle version of the translation translators did not pay much attention to this and left CDC and used explanation Centrum pro kontrolu nemocí. This is a literal translation and it is fine in a case when we do not need it to fit to the actual acronym. As in this example this explanation closely follows up the acronym, it is required to be the same and here I would like to praise the solution with which came translators in the dubbed version. They used the same translation as their colleagues who made subtitles, Centrum pro kontrolu nemocí, but they also changed the acronym to fit and therefore we have heard CKN instead of CDC. It is true that people who watch television series with subtitles from fansubbers are mostly more familiar with this term as it is used in many series and as a result it is not unknown for them. Briefly, I think that the usage of CDC in subtitles is not a mistakes and the target audience is able to understand the reference, mostly in the case when it is explained in the next line. On the other hand, it would sound weird if in the dubbed version they said that someone from CDC is coming and after that explained that CDC means Centrum pro kontrolu nemocí which does not make any sense.

37 Lastly, this example is again to show that to distinguish different characters as they are in the original language is a good thing. When Abbie and Ichabod stay awake, Ichabod goes for a coffee and returns with an energy drink and an explanation which is The chairwoman in the hall told me that you like this more. I would like to deal with the word chairwoman as it is translated as posluhovačka in the dubbed version whereas in the subtitles it is paraphrased as žena ve vstupní hale. Not only the second solution is longer, it is also not as creative as the first one. I am aware that in the subtitles translators do not use many older expressions and therefore this is not something unexpected, but to see the creativity used in the dubbed version is very peleasant.

To sum it up, I was very pleased with these transformation of references into the Czech language as it makes it more familiar to the viewers and they can understand what are those characters talking about.

2.6 More examples

As I went through the season of Sleepy Hollow series I found many examples of great, good or bad translations and I have mentioned a lot of them in the practical part. Not all of them were found in so many instances that I could make a whole chapter about it so I have decided to devote this last chapter to examples that did not really belong to any other chapter.

My first example could be fitted into the chapter about transformations into Czech but I think it is not as much of a transformation. Many times in the series characters cite the book of Revelations which is translated into many different languages throughout the world. I was pleased that all translators used this existing translation of the Book of Revelations and fitted it into the series as there is no use of translating it again. Of course it would be possible to translated it and I am certain that those translations would be very good, but why do something once again when it had been done many times before and is well known?

Secondly, I would like to spend some time with the simple word stop. In English it is used in many different situations and every time it is perfectly fine, but in Czech we do not have the same word that would represent all these possibilities. It is possible to translate stop as stůjte, přestaňte, zastavte, dost, nechte toho and many more. This is very good thing for translators as they have a lot of synonyms while translating as to adjust the length of their work. On the other

38 hand, it is also a problem in a way that you have to use the right form as they are not all the same as of the meaning. When someone is walking away, you cannot use přestaňte or nechce toho. And this is the case of wrong usage of the word. Ichabod Crane was being held in an asylum and doctors wanted to give him something to calm down and his reaction was simple stop. As it is one syllable word, in the dubbed version it is translated as dost which is possible to understand as he wants them to stop what they are doing. Unfortunately, in the subtitles the translation of this word is stůj which does not make sense as he is talking to a doctor and her attendants who are all standing. To sum it up, it is a good thing to have many synonyms for one word but we have to be very careful not to confuse different meanings.

One last but not least, this last example is to show the importance of limitations of length and how it can affect the meaning of a sentence. In one episode Abbie Mills tells a story about how she and her sister fainted in the forest for four days and she concludes it with a sentence someone found us on the side of the road. In this sentence we have two information and both are similarly important. First is the one that they were found by someone and the second one that it was on the side of the road. Unfortunately, because of the length limitation in the final dubbed version we are able to hear only probraly jsme se až u silnice. Both sentences are ten syllables long but the Czech translation is simpler and does contain only half of the information. This is a problem because as she says this sentence we also see them being found by some man who calls other that he had found them. In my opinion it would be better to use translation which would contain both information, for example Někdo nás našel u silnice which is even one syllable shorter than the original and does not omit anything.

I wanted to add this chapter as none of these examples fit anywhere else but still I found them interesting enough to mention them in my thesis.

2.7 Interview with the translator

As I have mentioned before, I have asked the translator Michaela Křížová who worked on the dubbed version of the series Sleepy Hollow to answer me a few questions about the translation. Besides questions about what she liked the most about the translation and what was the hardest thing to do I also wanted to know more about the work itself and difficulties she came across while translating. This is unedited version of the interview and her answers. I would also like to thank her for her time and very extensive answers.

39 Why did you leave Sandman untranslated but not Sin Eater?

With this kind of things, it is necessary to consider many factors. The main one is the length of translated expression so as to be easy to fit it into voice actor's "mouth". In the case of Sin Eater, we have prolonged the translation by two syllables but we were able to shorten it somewhere else and therefore it was possible to use the Czech translation. Another important factor was that this translation was also used in many different movies and series so it was appropriate to keep the Czech translation. With Sandman it was a problem with length. With only two syllables it is not possible to make wonders. Besides, we were not able to find out another movie or television series in which would be this name translated into Czech. We have found only one movie in which Sandman was also not translated. That is the reason why we used two different attitudes.

What was the hardest on the translation?

The translation itself is kind of a challenge. From a classic series in which are used simple conversational sentences we stepped up to something, in which it was often needed to think ahead. In Sleepy Hollow they are constantly trying to solve some puzzles and brain teasers from the past, which are connected to some concrete words, so there is not much space to change it. Furthermore, the translator has to deal with time changes and language which is not the same as the one we use today. And the most importantly, it is necessary to focus on comedic passages in which Ichabod does not understand the present world, does not understand some expressions and there are some funny situations which we have tried to conserve also in Czech. It was no exception that I and my colleague stuck on a phrase and together we have tried to think how to solve this problem. And I am not exaggerating when I say that sometimes we were solving this problem for several hours before we have come up with a solution which we considered to be the best one possible. These moments were not very pleasant. Also it was very hard to synchronize our work during first few episodes so as not to be noticeable that the series is not translated by one person only. There is one advantage coming out of this, once you are synchronised, it is not a problem to do it again during next seasons even though there is a time delay between them.

40 What about the time difference in language?

From the beginning it was clear that Ichabod had to speak differently than Abbie. In the original it is caused by some old expressions, some different pronunciation but mostly British accent of Tom Mison. Even though creation of Czech dubbing has not started yet, many fans of the series were against it and they had an opinion that it is not possible to transfer this into Czech and therefore they will not watch the Czech version. As we are not able to transfer British accent into Czech, we were trying to find a way how to differentiate Ichabod from the others. When we heard that a director and an editor were on the same page with us, we knew, what to do. The important thing was that we agreed on something very quickly. Another very important point was a choice of a voice actor. In this was the director Filip Jančík very lucky. The voice actor Jakub Saic was under his command very suitable choice and was better than we had hoped for. I think that this substitution for the British accent worked very well.

Would you change something now?

That is probably an unnecessary question. Of course there is something that could be changed. Even though we have tried really hard so that the translation would be as good as possible, you have to realise that creation of the dubbed version is a very fast process and everyone is under the pressure. When you have only two days to translate forty-five-minute- long episode, have to think about those puzzles, old expressions, different jokes and all this while trying to be the best, there is a possibility that some mistake happens. The best is to have one or two days to go through the translation again so that sometimes you think about better expressions, better word order or you even may find a mistake. With this translation there was no time to revise it like that so I would be really surprised if there would be no mistake. Also I would love to see a translator who would be so confident with his job that he would say that there is nothing to change. I think that is impossible. Every time there is something to improve, change or edit.

What did you like the most?

Maybe it is a paradox, but I liked the most those riddles and Ichabod's style of speaking. Scenes where he had longer speeches with both new and old expressions. It was a challenge and it was something new than what we usually translate for the television. Every change and a new challenge is a good thing. It makes me think harder, look for normally unused words and phrases and sometimes even improvise. In my opinion translating should not be a routine. And

41 even after the second season of Sleepy Hollow we did not find it routine. So actually what was the hardest was also for me the best.

2.8 Conclusion

As I have seen both translations and made many examples and analysed them in this thesis it is time for me to conclude this work. I have seen many great translations and sometimes different expressions that I would not think of and therefore I am glad to see them as it broadened my view.

My main goal was to analyse both translations, compare them and find out whether it is possible for fansubbers to reach the same quality as professional translators. As of analysis, you could have seen many examples of good or bad translations from both translation groups and therefore it is obvious that not even paid professionals are to be without mistakes. Every translator is bound to make a mistakes sometimes and there is no way to avoid it, whether it is a fansubber or a professional.

As I have said in the beginning of the practical part, I am aware that there is a big difference in between both translation parties. I have compared both translations from the points of register, creativity, literal translations and mistakes made in their translations and I can say that even though both had some mistakes, the dubbed version is most certainly better from all points of view.

In conclusion, in this case fansubbers were not able to reach the quality of professional translators and were far away from it because in the dubbed version we could see many creative solutions to different problems and the whole translation was unified.

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