Audiovisual Translation of Humour 2016
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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English-language Translation Bc. Veronika Wiesnerová Czech Dubbing of the Gilmore Girls TV-show: Audiovisual Translation of Humour Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: PhDr. Jarmila Fictumová 2016 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature Acknowledgement I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, PhDr. Jarmila Fictumová, for her invaluable comments and supportive attitude throughout the entire process. Without her guidance this thesis would never be written. My family has also earned my gratitude not only by supporting me but also by assisting me with both transcribing some parts of the dialogue and by helping me find the humour when I could not see it myself. Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................ 7 1. Audiovisual Translation .................................................................................. 9 1.1. Audiovisual Text ....................................................................................... 9 1.2. Audiovisual Translation ......................................................................... 10 1.3. Dubbing .................................................................................................... 12 2. Humour ........................................................................................................... 19 2.1. Theories of Humour ................................................................................ 20 2.2. Types of Humour .................................................................................... 26 3. Analysis ........................................................................................................... 37 3.1. Material .................................................................................................... 37 3.2. Methodology ............................................................................................ 38 3.3. Season 1 Episode 1 .................................................................................. 39 3.4. Season 2 Episode 5 .................................................................................. 49 3.5. Season 3 Episode 13 ................................................................................ 56 3.6. Season 4 Episode 22 ................................................................................ 65 3.7. Season 7 Episode 16 ................................................................................ 74 4. AVT of Humour – Guide ............................................................................... 88 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 91 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 94 List of Tables and Figures Table 1: Typology of translation ...................................................................................... 9 Table 2: The four components of the audiovisual text ................................................... 10 Table 3: Poly-semiotic nature of audiovisual products .................................................. 11 Figure 1: Dubbing films in Europe ................................................................................. 14 List of Abbreviations AVT Audiovisual translation AV Audiovisual TS Translation Studies SL Source language TL Target language ST Source text TT Target text GG Gilmore Girls Eng English Cz Czech CP Cooperative principle RT Relevance theory SSTH Semantic Script-based Theory of Humour GTVH General Theory of Verbal Humour Introduction The topic of this thesis is Czech Dubbing of the Gilmore Girls TV-show: Audiovisual Translation of Humour. Audiovisual translation is a field which has existed since the very birth of cinema and yet had not seen any real research or theoretical study until the 1980s. Since the digital revolution, the spread of television, videos and later DVDs and online streaming services, the field has been gaining more and more attention and it now has its own place within Translation Studies. First it is explained what audiovisual text and audiovisual translation are and what falls under the term. Dubbing in the world and in the Czech Republic is introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of dubbing and subtitling are briefly discussed. The second part of the thesis deals with humour. Humour is a universal human trait and there are many different approaches to be taken to the study of it. The preliminary aim of this thesis is to investigate the existing theories of humour and its translation in order to find a method for identification, categorisation and subsequent translation of humorous sequences. Once the methods have been established I apply them to my chosen material, the Gilmore Girls TV-show. The primary aim is a critical analysis of the Czech dubbing of selected episodes of the Gilmore Girls TV-show with a focus on humour. The first step is to acquire both the audiovisual material and the transcripts. As only the English transcripts are available online, it means transcribing them by ear from the Czech dubbing. In each of the five episodes all the instances of humour are identified, analysed and categorised. In my analysis several examples for each of the categories from the individual episodes are chosen and assessed, and where needed, my own translation solutions are offered. As almost every episode of the five was translated by a different translator, various 7 approaches to the translation of humour are observed. The result of this analysis is a critical assessment of the quality of the dubbing of humour, an exploration of possible improvements of the dubbing and the practical application of the theories to specific material. Based on the results of the analysis, there is a secondary aim to create a simplified guide consisting of rules and recommendations for audiovisual translation of humour which could aid translators in transferring humour from audiovisual material in source language into target language. Finally, my findings are summarised by stating how my thesis contributes to the research in audiovisual translation and ideas for topics that occurred in the course of my work on the thesis are mentioned that could be explored by other students interested in this field. 8 1. Audiovisual Translation Our society is greatly influenced by media; the new technologies bring with it new kinds of international and intercultural communications as there is a need to find a way to translate the products of media from one country (and/or culture) to another. Matkivska defines Audiovisual translation (AVT) as “the transfer from one language into another of the verbal components contained in audiovisual works and products” (Matkivska, 2014, p. 38). 1.1. Audiovisual Text Audiovisual texts fall under multimodal texts, which are texts “whose meanings are realized through more than one semiotic code” (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 177). Audiovisual translation encompasses audio-description, closed captions, surtitles, interpreting, subtitles, voice-over and dubbing. Table 1 shows the typology of multimodal texts and their translations according to semiotic composition and time element. Table 1: Typology of translation 9 The word “audiovisual” according to the Cambridge Dictionaries Online means “involving the use of recorded pictures and sound, or the equipment that produces them” and the word itself speaks to the interconnection of these two communication channels through which further communication takes place either verbally or nonverbally (see Table 2). This then denotes the poly-semiotic character of the texts. All four components, that is audio-verbal, audio-nonverbal, visual-verbal and visual-nonverbal, form one complicated interwoven system. According to Zabalbeascoa (2008) even cartoons, pictures or other ‘texts’ with no words whatsoever have the character of an AV text. Even in these types of communication we find the standards of textuality (cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality and intertextuality). Table 2: The four components of the audiovisual text 1.2. Audiovisual Translation “There are three fundamental issues in the AV field, namely, the relationship between verbal output and pictures and soundtrack, between a foreign language/culture and the target language/culture, and finally between the spoken code and the written one.” (Gambier 2003 p. 172) Audiovisual translation (AVT) is a specific kind of translation where the source information is conveyed through both the visual and the audio channel at the same time. The term encompasses all types of multi-semiotic translation intended for any medium (Orero, 2004). Delia Chiaro (2009) includes types of translation such as media translation, 10 multimodal translation and screen translation under the term “Audiovisual translation”. Screen translation encompasses dubbing, subtitling and voice-over. Chiaro defines the products translated through dubbing and/or subtitling as poly- semiotic, which means that the overall meaning is communicated through verbal as well as various kinds of nonverbal semiotic systems and it is important to take all of these semantic elements into account while translating. The poly-semiotic