Subtitling and Dubbing Songs in Musical Films

SUBTITLING AND DUBBING SONGS IN MUSICAL FILMS

FECHA DE RECEPCIÓN: 4 de marzo

FECHA DE APROBACIÓN: 17 de abril Por: Pp. 107-125. Martha García Gato

Abstract

Audiovisual translation (AVT) is a type of translation subjected to numerous constraints. Until now, many studies have been carried out about subtitling and dubbing in films. In musical films, which have been less studied, language transfer is mainly made through songs and, due to their characteristics, their translation is additionally constrained. This article provides some insights into some elements that make translation of songs for dubbing and subtitling a complex task using songs from the musical film My Fair Lady.

Keywords

Subtitling, Dubbing, Musicals, Translation, My Fair Lady. Comunicación, Cultura y Política Revista de Ciencias Sociales Subtitling and Dubbing Songs in Musical Films

Resumen

La traducción audiovisual (AVT) es un campo de la traducción sujeto a numerosos condicionantes. Hasta la fecha se han desarrollado múltiples estudios sobre la subtitulación y el doblaje de películas. En los musicales, menos estudiados, la transferencia lingüística recae en gran medida en las canciones y, por sus características, su traducción está sujeta a limitaciones adicionales. El presente artículo proporciona un análisis sobre algunos elementos que hacen de la traducción de las canciones para subtitular y doblar musicales una labor compleja, usando como ejemplo el musical My Fair Lady.

Palabras clave

Subtitulación, doblaje, musicales, traducción.

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Introduction use of DVDs as one of the technological devises has benefited subtitling and The term ‘subtitling’ is used to refer dubbing; it is possible to watch films in to an activity which consists of adding the original version, with subtitles or printed words on a foreign film to trans- dubbed in different languages. late the dialogue, or any other linguistic element, bearing in mind the variables Dubbing and subtitling are practices the translation is subject to. Dubbing which make part of the generic term consists of replacing the original sound- ‘audiovisual translation’ (AVT). There track of a film by another soundtrack is not an agreement on the exact num- on which the translation of the original ber of AVT modalities. AVT, apart from version has been recorded, and it is also dubbing and subtitling, also encom- subjected to extra-linguistic variables passes many other practices like voice- over or subtitling. Ana Isabel Fernandez Subtitles came into existence due to the and Gustavo Mendiluce (2005) have need to convey the linguistic content of raised information about the multiple the film in a foreign language. It was opinions on the number of practices decided to insert titles on the screen. which are included in AVT. Due to the In the 1930s, Jacob Karol invented a explosion of technology development recording system by which it was pos- the list will probably continue being sible to synchronize the movement of not delimitated. For the purpose of this the lips of an actor in the film with the article, we will only refer to subtitling voice in another language of another and dubbing. actor who was in the recording studio. Ever since, we have witnessed a deve- In subtitling, apart from translating the lopment of the subtitling and dubbing dialogue and overcoming the linguistic industry. Tendencies in the different problems of translation when dealing countries towards one or the other only with written texts, the translation modality differ. The reasons why a must be adjusted to the space provi- country is more pro-dubbing or favors ded for the subtitle and to the time the subtitling have been of interest for speakers are on the screen. On the other many researches1. With the advent of hand, when dubbing a film the transla- technological progress the film indus- tion must also be adapted to the time the try has also developed and the wider original statement lasts and there must

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1 Some of the scholars who have examined this issue in depth are Josephine Dries (1995) and Georg-Michael Luyken et al (1991).

108 109 Comunicación, Cultura y Política Revista de Ciencias Sociales Subtitling and Dubbing Songs in Musical Films be a synchronization of the actor’s lips made when transferring songs between to the translated speech. In the trans- two languages in musical films are lation for both dubbing and subtitling similar to those taken when translating coherence between image and sound dialogues in films. However, the num- must be maintained. Several constra- ber of elements present in the songs ints, thus, have to be taken into account of musical films, which are intrinsic in both cases. to them, is an aspect that should not be overlooked. These elements shape Christopher Titford (1982, p. 113-116) the choices that have to be made in the first used the term ‘constrained - trans process of translating. Several scholars lation’ when he referred to subtitling. have thoroughly examined language Soon after, Roberto Mayoral, Dorothy transfer in films in general. Although Kelly and Natividad Gallardo (1988) some have considered how songs in made wider use of this term by applying films are or should be approached when it to screen translation2. Constrained translating (Jorge Díaz Cintas, 2003, p. translation refers to limitations impo- 272-276; Ella Shohat & Robert Stam, sed on the translation which prevent us 1985, p. 37; and Jan Ivarsson & Mary from translating freely, as opposed to Carroll, 1998, p. 158), there is a lack of translating isolated written prose. These in-depth research into the translation of limitations include restricted space and songs in musical films in the literature time in the case of subtitling (adapting available. the translation to the time the original utterance lasts) and synchronizing the The objective of this article is to contri- movements of bilabial consonants and bute to the research by examining and open vowels in the original language assessing a non-exhaustive list of cons- with those of the dubbing language. traints in songs from the musical film My Fair Lady (1964) and their trans- In the case of musical films the -ele lations into Spanish for subtitling and ments that constraint the translation are dubbing. particularly evident. This type of films cannot be considered as conventional 1. Song analysis ones. In musical films, a large part of the language contents lies in songs which We have identified some constrai- combine music with a linguistic ele- ning elements for the translation of the ment (the lyrics). Some of the decisions songs from the musical film My Fair

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2 Screen translation is a broader term which included localization. Lately multimedia translation is gaining ground. See Mayoral http://www.ugr.es/~rasensio/docs/TAV_Sevilla.pdf

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Lady for dubbing and subtitling and we that we will mention further on) must have grouped them into three catego- be taken into account. ries: repetitions (rhyme and intratextual sentences), equivalences (accents and Let’s take the first six lines of the first distinctive phonetic characteristics, uni- song in My Fair Lady and its subtitles3 versal referents and cultural references and dubbing in Spanish as an example. and stereotypes) and technical aspects (presentation rules for subtitling and The dubbed version keeps the rhyme image-sound coherence for dubbing). and opts for a more poetic translation. .The rhyme, the fidelity to the original 2. Repetitions and the image-sound coherence have to be led by the music. Díaz Cintas 2.1 Repetition of sounds: believes that ‘Conviene conservar, si Rhyme es posible, la rima- o al menos, cierto ritmo- de las canciones, aun a costa de Rhyme is one of the best-known featu- traicionar levemente el texto original’ res of songs, although it is not always (2003, p. 275). Translating a song for as evident as it is in written poetry. Get- dubbing is possible, and the musical ting lines to rhyme is time-consuming film My Fair Lady is a good example and a distinctive activity of creativity. of it; but it is far from easy, as can be By such a practice the musicality of any seen in María del Mar Cortés Ramal’s language is highlighted, even more so analysis of scores of a song from the when combined with other elements musical Grease. in musicals, such as music, the plot or actors’ actions. Rhymes are obtained In the subtitled Spanish translation, by the repetition of terminal sounds of the English end rhyme has comple- words or of verse lines. It is noticed by tely disappeared and the choices for the audience of the same language and the translation have the tendency to be it is also evident to the audience who more stick to the original. This lack of speak a foreign language. In the trans- rhyme in the subtitles, however, is not lation for songs, as happens with writ- due to physical constraints such as the ten poetry, the meaning has to be con- limited spaces for the subtitles veyed and also the poetic aspect has to be transmitted. In musicals, moreover, also music (amongst other elements

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3 The subtitles have been literally copied from the DVD, including the Spanish quotation marks

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Table 1. Why Can’t The English By right, she “Ahorcarla deberían Original Subtitles Dubbing should be taken out and hung, “Look at her, “Mírela, Mira a ese a prisoner of prisionera de desecho de la For the cold-bloo- “Por el asesinato de the gutters los suburbios calle ded murder of the la lengua inglesa a English tongue sangre fría.” “Condemned “Condenada lo mismo by every por cada habla que This is what the “Esto es lo que la syllable she sílaba que una conde- British population, población británica, utters. pronuncia nada calls an elementary “llama educación “By right she “Deberían Valiera education. básica.” should be ahorcarla quizás más Source. By the author. taken out and hacerla hung, ahorcar “For the “Por el Porque la 2.2 Repetition of sentences: cold-blooded asesinato a muerte del Intratextual sentences murder/ of sangre fría / inglés quiere the English de la lengua lograr. tongue” inglesa” Whether the translation has dubbing or “This is what “Esto es lo Esto en Lon- subtitling purposes, whenever the song the British que el pueblo dres piensan population, británico los maestros includes a sentence, a reference or any “Calls an “Llama que es de la other element linked to a part of the film elementary educación enseñanza which appears after or before the song, education” básica” los comien- the translation should normally be the zos. same so as not to mislead the audience. Source. By the author. This criterion of maintaining the same

translation depends on the level of When there is the possibility, as in this importance of the element. It is not a case, a very slight change of the same minor factor since these elements that words used in the subtitles and a small keep repeating could, and sometimes adding, might give the audience the have, become the most characteristic illusion of reading poetry by maintai- feature of the musical. In My Fair Lady, ning a certain rhyme. one of Professor Higgins’ exercises for teaching Eliza to speak English correctly Table 2. Suggested Subtitled Version. Why is making her repeat these sentences. Can’t The English? With ‘The rain in Spain stays mainly Translation For Original Subtitles in the plain’ Eliza practices her vowels. Look at her, a “Mírela, prisionera The aim of the second, ‘In Hartford, prisoner of the de las cloacas “De los Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes gutter, suburbios presa hardly ever happen’, is to practice the Condemned by “Condenada por cada every syllable she sílaba que profesa. pronunciation of the letter ‘H’. uttered.

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Table 3. Intratextual Sentences Used English one. Otherwise, the audience Original Subtitles Dubbing could lose an important element for the The rain in La lluvia en La lluvia threat of the musical. Spain stays Sevilla es en Sevilla mainly in the una mara- es una pura plain. villa. maravilla. 3. Equivalences In Hartford, En Hartford, En Jalapa, Hereford and Hereford y Jamaica 3.1 Equivalences: Accents Hampshire Hampshire y Java hurricanes es raro que háganse en and distinctive phonetic hardly ever haya huraca- junio enebros characteristics happen. nes. y jaras. Source. By the author. A particularly challenging aspect for translators is to transfer specific aural Not only phonetic reasons are included features of a speaker into another lan- in the first one but cultural references guage including accents, register, a (which will be treated further on) are speech impediment, a marked regio- present too. ‘La lluvia en Sevilla es una nal accent…On what basis and with pura maravilla’ plays with the phone- what authority a particular accent can tic sound [λ] (‘ll’ in ordinary script), as be linked with the connotation which it the English does it with the sound [eIn] had in the original version? This thorny (‘ain’ in ordinary script). Both sounds issue has been approached by Mona repeat three times in the sentence. Baker (1993, p. 233-250) with a tech- Thus, the translator not only has to bear nique called leveling by which all the in mind English phonetics but also the geographical speaking differences are movement of the lips of the actors. standardized4. While in the first example almost the On this aspect, My Fair Lady is a par- same choice has been taken in dubbing ticularly difficult challenge. The plot and subtitling; in the second example (based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pyg- (‘In Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire malion) focuses on phonetic characte- hurricanes hardly ever happen’) we can ristics of English. find one in subtitling and the other one in dubbing. Their use in the musical is The sentence ‘The [reIn] in [SpeIn consistent both in normal dialogue and steIz meInlI] in the [pleIn]’ pronoun- in the songs. The Spanish viewer, thus, ced with Eliza’s Cockney accent reads would receive the same logic as the ______

4 It should be mentioned that Disney, as a powerful film production company, is in charge of the dubbing of its products and creates different versions of songs depending on the country. Similarly, there are several versions of Spanish dubbed films; for Spain and for Latin America

112 113 Comunicación, Cultura y Política Revista de Ciencias Sociales Subtitling and Dubbing Songs in Musical Films as follows: ‘The [raIn] in [SpaIn staIz influence his choice (see also image- maInlI] in the [plaIn]’. Many discourse sound coherence). constraints shorten the translator’s range of possibilities. It could be thought that Table 4. pronoincatión, phonetic and letter one of the reasons to translate this sen- equivalences tence as ‘La lluvia en Sevilla es una English Spanish maravilla’ in the subtitles and ‘La lluvia Ordinary script The rain in La lluvia Spain stays en Sevilla en Sevilla es una pura maravilla’ in the mainly in es una dubbed version is the fact that the posi- the plain maravilla./ tion of the mouth when pronouncing La lluvia en Sevilla [eIn] is very similar to the one when es una pronouncing [λ] ‘ll’ from a visual point pura of view to maintain the image-sound maravilla. coherence. However, there is no para- Pronounciation The rine in La lluvia as appears in Spine stais en Seviya llel in the perception of non-standard the subtitles minely on en una English (Cockney). Eliza’s Cockney the pline. maravilla. accent5, together with the vocabulary Phonetic [eIn] [λ] equivalences she uses, automatically places her as [aIn] [dz] London working class. The spanish Letter -AIN LL equivalencies equivalence for this example in the film -INE Y [dz] is not typical of a low register. The Source. By the author. equivalence in the film of the sound in the elocution exercise of the standard It also should be added that the dis- english sound [eIn] ‘ain’ is [λ] ‘ll’. [λ] tinctive features of her speech should ‘ll’ is the correct spanish equivalent of be ideally systematic throughout all the mispronunciation [dz] ‘y’. Howe- the film. In practice, this is not always ver, [λ] ‘ll’ is even hard to pronounce possible. Her normal speech in the for most spaniards nowadays, which is Spanish dubbed translation is full of not the case for most english speakers low register vocabulary and mispro- when pronouncing [eIn] ‘ain’. In this nounced Spanish words, which get the case, though, Eliza’s difficulty in pro- same effect in the Spanish audience as nouncing [λ] ‘ll’ can be compared to the in the English version. In the dubbed difficulty many spaniards would have songs, on the contrary, her working at present. The room for the translator class accent has to disappear if we are to maneuveris incredibly limited in to obtain an audible piece of art. this case due to all the constraints that ______

5 An analysis about translating Cockney into Italian can be read in Irene Ranzato’s work.

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The spanish subtitles of Eliza’s inter- names’, that is, the audience recognizes ventions; when she sings (and when she them without the subtitles. speaks) are neutralized and translated as standard spanish, leveling them, as ‘The rain in Spain stays mainly in the mentioned above. It is obvious from the plain’ will also illustrate this aspect. plot of the film, though, that Eliza does Spaniards would be familiar with the not speak english correctly. It would be term ‘Spain’, even more if the articu- an artistic and linguistic challenge to lation of the mouth is exaggerated and find an equivalent, but in this case, the repeated, as happens in the song where audience will not be missing the infor- they reel the sentence off in English. mation that Eliza does not speak a stan- Therefore a play must be invented in dard english. the Spanish version too.

It is worth noting that a different stra- Table 5. The Rain in Spain tegy was employed for the French Original Subtitles Dubbing subtitles in this film. We think they The rain in “La lluvia La lluvia es often withdraw important informa- Spain stays en Sevilla es maravilla es tion and the content of the songs is mainly in the una mara- Sevilla. largely changed, but they do draw the plain villa distinction between Eliza’s way of Now once “Una vez ¿En qué speaking (low French register) and again, where más. ¿Qué es ciudad dijiste standard English (standard French) does it rain? la lluvia? que es? by using low-register vocabulary and In the plain, “Una mara- En Sevilla, the outcome is very believable. Such in the plain villa, una en Sevilla. an option of including vocabulary maravilla associated to a non-standard Spanish And where “¿Y dónde ¿Y en qué could have also been used in the Spa- is that soggy llueve? nación la nish version. rain ves? In Spain, in “En Sevilla, En España, 3.2 Equivalences: universal Spain en Sevilla en España. referents Source. By the author.

Occasionally the translator will come In the fifth line ‘Spain’, it is obvious up with ‘universal words’, words which even for a foreigner by the way it is are understandable to anyone regard- exaggeratedly sung that the original less of the language in which they are version does not correspond with the said. Some of these words are ‘proper subtitle. Since the song talks preci- sely about the country for which this

114 115 Comunicación, Cultura y Política Revista de Ciencias Sociales Subtitling and Dubbing Songs in Musical Films translation is been made, it would be but also the choreography that comes reasonable to be as careful as possible with the music. when translating ‘Spain’. However, it has already been pointed out the pho- Translation research has been prolific netic importance of this sentence which in analyzing how to face the cultural- narrows down considerably the possi- related problems for translation. Birgit ble choices. Cultural references are also Nedergaard-Larsen established several present and, as will be seen, act as addi- general strategies (1993, p. 216). These tional constraints. five can be applied to solve culture- bound problems: loan words, imitation, On the contrary, the dubbed version has literal translation, idiomatic equiva- come up with a very balanced decision. lence and cultural adaptation. Specifi- All the aspects that must be combined cally to solve culture-bound problems, for the importance of this particular two approaches have also been identi- sentence have been taken into account. fied: depending on the context and the And Spain (‘España’) is included in the type of reference, it can be translated dubbed version. literally leaving the foreign nuance and adding, if possible, an explanation 3.3 Equivalences: cultural (foreignization), which is complicated references and in subtitling and dubbing because of the stereotypes spatio-temporal constraints, or ‘domes- ticate’ the reference. This implies con- Helen Reid (1987) said that ‘If lan- veying the meaning of the element in guage were just words, nothing would a way which is closer to the audience. be easier. But behind the words lies a Certain cultures have been so much world of associations, customs and ins- exposed to others that there is no need titutions; “a whole culture”’ ( p. 29). In to substitute the reference for a ‘natio- films, cultural references can be repre- nal’ one. As an example, Spain is sented through lyrics and in images. In stereotyped by ‘bull-fighting’ or -‘fla musicals it is frequent to see cultural menco’ because these items represent mimics inserted in the song themselves. parts of Spanish culture. The music is accompanied by a whole range of gestures, movements and cho- Spanish cultural references are found in reography. These cultural references My Fair Lady; when they sing ‘The rain have to be conveyed to the audience in Spain stays mainly in the plain’. They bearing in mind not only the technical pretend they are in a ‘corrida de toros’ constraints in dubbing and subtitling and dance ‘flamenco’. In the English version, Spain is associated with these

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references because for foreigners, these polite form was used as a sign of res- references are stereotypes of Spain. In pect. However, nowadays more and spanish, these allusions also fit with the more people are finding this form out- setting used in the translation for dub- dated. Uncertainty often arises in the bing and subtitling (‘En Sevilla’) which case of adults of similar age. Other is one of the places where these activi- factors such as social class, profession ties are mostly known. or relationship between the speakers must be taken into account. In films, 3.4 Equivalences: cross- the way most people address each cultural politeness other is immediately established, as no significant changes take place in their When translating an oral text from relationship. However, the protagonists english into spanish, the translator will often meet each other at a certain point inevitably have to decide whether the in the film and later form a closer rela- speakers should begin addressing each tionship. This change should be hand- other in an informal manner. It is well led smoothly in order not to surprise the known that in English the relationship audience. The time to make the change between the speakers makes no diffe- will depend on the film and on the par- rence to the verb conjugations used and ticular characteristics of the plot. to the pronouns. In Spanish, the polite form of addressing people will always In the case of musical films, songs be used when the speakers do not have offer a good opportunity to introduce a close relationship. For example, if these changes, presumably because the they have only recently met (‘usted’, audience is distracted by the music and ‘ustedes’) will be preferred. An infor- does not pay much attention, so these mal form (‘tú’, ‘vosotros’, ‘vosotras’) changes will be unperceivable. Songs will be used, however, when a closer are used to establish when the cha- relationship is forged. In Spain in recent racters fall in love or when there has years the form ‘usted’ has disappeared been a change in someone’s perception in many situations, attracting attention of another person, making it easier to and even alarm. Age tends to be the first decide when a relationship has become criterion which determines how people close enough for two people to begin address each other. Children learn to addressing each other in the familiar address strangers and older people form. Therefore, songs are often used by the polite form. Usually a person to switch forms of address or to intro- addressed in the polite form asks for duce any other linguistic aspect that is the informal form to be used if this is related to the relationship between the what he prefers. Up until recently the actors.

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This is seen in My Fair Lady. The rela- has the same number of syllables as tionship between the speakers is pecu- ‘Without you’. This change, however, liar and it evolves all along the film. for a Spanish audience is not noticeable The close relationship that they have as it comes up very naturally. It would at the end of the film (e.g. they recog- not have been appropriate to switch to nize being in love with each other) is the ‘tú’ form at any other point because transmitted to the audience linguisti- the relationship between the two cha- cally, and mainly, through songs. The racters remains unchanged until the end subtitled and dubbed versions use of the film. Eliza, due to her social class different scenes to demonstrate that the and occupation, would be reluctant to characters’ relationship is getting clo- address Higgins in the ‘tú’ form. ser. In the subtitled version, Professor Higgins addresses Eliza in an informal From this example it can also be clearly way at the beginning of the penultimate seen that constraints in dubbing and scene. The two have argued in the pre- subtitling have a different repercussion vious scene and Eliza still addresses the on the translation’s choice. The subtit- professor by the polite form. However, les, having to take fewer variables into she begins addressing him informally account, have opted for a more infor- when she claims she is no longer under mal translation and closer to the origi- his control. In the dubbed version, Pro- nal version content- wise. fessor Higgins addresses Eliza by the familiar form from the beginning, to Table 6. Without you show his superiority to Eliza, the difference in their ages (he is around 40, ORIGINAL SUBTIT- DUBBING while she is around 20) and their social LES difference: Eliza is a street flower seller, “If they can “ Si todos Pues, sin do without pueden usted mi while Higgins is a professor. Eliza you, Ducky, / seguir sin amigo fácil addresses him in an informal way at the So can I ti, cielo, / yo es pasar. very end, just before the song ‘Without también You’, when she realizes she can live “I shall not “No me Sola no feel alone sentiré sola quedaré sin without him. In the song itself she swit- without you sin ti usted. ches back to the formal form of address “ I can stand “Puedo vivir La existen- probably because of the syllable count: on my own- sin ti cia mejor without you pasaré. the words ‘without you’ repeats seve- “So go back “Vuelve a tu Su saber ral times in the song (3 syllables). The in your shell caracol, / me guárdese Spanish words ‘Sin ti’ (2 syllables) are /I can do las apaño ahora yo ya too short to be properly synchronized bloody well muy bien” me Valgo with the music. ‘Sin usted’, however, “Without... (no subtitle) Sin us… Source. By the author.

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4. Technical aspects Presentation styles vary depending on when the film was subtitled, and on the 4.1 Subtitling: presentation subtitling or broadcasting company. rules In general reading, upper case letters All too often subtitles are criticized take more space and take longer to be because of their poor quality. Howe- read. This is also the case on the screen ver, contrary to what is thought by the so it would be advisable to use them general public, the translator is not the when they are really needed. In our opi- only person involved in the subtitling nion My Fair Lady uses them too often, process, and various obstacles have to always putting them at the beginning of be overcome. Very often the translator every line regardless of grammar, e.g., does not have access to the film, but the use of the upper case after a full- only to the dialogue list where all the stop. details of the film and the dialogues are specified. Thus, any minor mistake Whenever the source of the linguistic in one part of the process will have elements is a different one from that of a great impact on the final product. the dialogue, it is also marked on the When the translator has accomplished subtitles. In the case of musical films, his work, the adaptor adjusts the trans- it is further complex due to the constant lation according to the timing of the interlink between dialogue and songs. film (another link in the chain). The In My Fair Lady, each subtitle begins translator and the adaptor rarely work by quotation marks and these are clo- together. Moreover, as Díaz (2001, p. sed only in the last subtitle of the song, 84) points out, the adaptors who make in order to show that it is not a part of certain changes to the translation, do not normal speech. This acts an additional always know the source language. And constraint for the translation availabi- the translator is not always allowed to lity of space see the final version in order to check whether major changes in meaning Dubbing: Image-sound coherence have been made. Both, Díaz (2001, p. In musical films, actors act more than 84) and Luyken (1991, p. 57), believe in a conventional film. They accom- that the ideal solution would be to give pany the lyrics with dances and the jobs of translator and adaptor to a mimics. This aspect adds complexity to single person. This would improve the find a translation that does not contra- quality of the subtitles and increase the dict the image on the screen. This does fee. not mean that subtitling does not have to respect the coherence with the image

118 119 Comunicación, Cultura y Política Revista de Ciencias Sociales Subtitling and Dubbing Songs in Musical Films but, in this sense, fewer constraints are being strangled and he exactly ties a imposed upon it because the subtitles knot around his neck. do not have to deal with the sound track of the musical. The elements analyzed Another expression is found in the in this section include mouth and facial following example. Once again the muscle movements, and other visual method used in the subtitles is different features such as gestures and body from that employed in the dubbed ver- movements that correspond to the dia- sion. The problem here is not the lack logue. Examples of the constraints that of an equivalent expression in Spanish, body movements impose on translation as shown in the subtitles, but the lack music for dubbing are numerous. of time available to sing ‘dar una pal- madita en la espalda’ in the dubbed ver- In My Fair Lady, Professor Higgins sion. The dubbed version, thus, opted sings the following line while preten- for a shorter direct explanation. ding to tie a knot around his neck. Table 8. An Hym To Him Table 7. I’ M An Ordinaty Man Original Subtitling Dubbing Original Subtitles Dubbing “Pickering, Pickering, “Pickering, ¿por qué “Let The “Deja que Que los ¿por qué why can´t a las mujeres Others Of los de mi otros hom- no puede woman be /no se My Sex sexo bres den la mujer more like a parecen ser como el “Tie The “Se pongan En ahor- man? más a los hombre? Knot la soga al carse me hombres? Around cuello está bien. “Sí, ¿por Their “Yes, why qué las Necks can´t a Sí, nada del mujeres / no woman be hombre imi- se parecen more like a tan jamás Source. By the author. más a los man? hombres? In this case the subtitles convey prac- “Men are so “Los hom- Bueno y tically the same meaning as the origi- honest, so bres son honesto, el nal version, although ‘ponerse la soga thoroughly honestos, hombre es square cabales tenaz al cuello’ means ‘to be threatened by a “Eter- “Eternally Y suele high risk’ and ‘to tie the knot’ means ‘to namente noble, ser noble get married’. The dubbing is brilliantly nobles, /his- historically y justo tóricamente achieved using a different metaphor fair además although there is a slight mismatch in justos the gestures. The ones that would be used to illustrate the Spanish expression would be clutching the neck as if

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“Who, “Cuando remarkable. Still we perceive that limi- when you ganas, Si algo tations are so numerous that in some win will ¿quién te da haces bien instances, such as this one, the sounds always give / una pal- te felicita tu fail to be as well synchronized with the your back a madita en la rival. pat? espalda? lip movements as the usual standard. “¿Por qué ¿Por qué Cortés Ramal (2005) and also citing “Why can’t una mujer una dama Catalina Martínez, asserts that it would a woman be no puede no lo hace like that? be very useful for the translator; when ser así? igual? working on a song translation for dub- Source. By the author. bing to have musical knowledge. Thus, the work would be more complete. It Synchronizing lip movements with the is undeniable that it would contribute dubbed version is as important as syn- positively to gain time and efficiency. chronizing other images and sounds. When the translation has been finished The sentence commented above has it is passed on to the adaptor whose already been dealt with but since it also task is to adapt the dialogues to the has to do with image and sound cohe- lip movements, the length of the utte- rence. The aspects explained are not rance and the phonetic structure. The part of a song themselves, but they are distribution of vowels, consonants and worth mentioning because the senten- stressed syllables should be as simi- ces are also used in a song in a different lar as possible to the original. Special part of the film. Thus, when choosing attention should be paid to the labial a translation option for the song, it consonants (/p/, /b/ and /m/) and open also has to be considered that the same vowels, particularly those at the end of election has to be used in this complex a sentence since they are more evident scene for synchronization. to the audience. Eliza has to repeat ‘In Hartford, Here- A good example of this can be found in ford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ‘Show me’. The expressiveness of the ever happen’. Every time she pronou- actress, the exaggerated lip movements, nces the english ‘H’ correctly a flame the numerous close-ups, the extremely will move and if she drops it, the flame poetic and synthetic english compres- will remain stationary. In english there sed into very short lines, and the rhyme are 6 ‘Hs’ at the beginning of words impose too many constraints at once to and one word which does not begin obtain good synchronization between with ‘H’. Eliza pronounces 6 words lip movements and the dubbed transla- without ‘H’ and one with it so the flame tion. The professionalism of the dubbed moves 6 times and it remains stationary (and subtitled) songs in My Fair Lady is

120 121 Comunicación, Cultura y Política Revista de Ciencias Sociales Subtitling and Dubbing Songs in Musical Films once. The spanish subtitled version of to be maintained. The translation given Eliza’s pronunciation (transcription is ‘En Jalapa, Jamaica y Java háganse from the Spanish subtitles: En ‘art- en junio enebros y jaras’. This option ford, ‘ereford y ‘ampshire es raro que plays with the mispronunciation of the ‘jaya’ huracanes) tries to make up for sounds ‘J’ and ‘H’. The flame stays the impossibility of making a similar stationary when pronouncing Spanish play on words and image, by adapting ‘H’ correctly, that is, not pronouncing the translation to the image as best as it, and the flame waves when pronou- they can to obtain the same relation ncing ‘J’ correctly. The content has between the mispronunciation of a let- been changed for the dependency to ter and the movement of the flame. The the image but the effect for the Spanish dubbed version is even more difficult to viewer is the very same as when wat- obtain because the synchrony between ching the original. the lips, the sound and the image has

______

6 Gottlieb said that ‘ a good subtitler (apart from being a good translator) needs the musical ears of an interpreter, the no-nonsense judgement of a news editor and a designer’s sense of aesthetics. In addition, as most subtitlers do the electronic time-cueing themselves, the subtitler must also have the steady hand of a surgeon and the timing of a percussionist’. (2001)

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5. CONCLUSIONS

In this article we have provided various In subtitling, rhyme is generally not insights into some of the constraints that respected, music does not interfere with determine the translation for dubbing the translation, visual coherence is not and subtitling of the musical film My as strict as in dubbing but there is limi- Fair Lady, which is, in our opinion, a ted spacing. On the contrary, a subtitled remarkably well-achieved result bea- version is able to pay more attention to ring in mind all the elements that must the original in content-synchronization be taken into account. From this analy- with the images. It has been noticed sis several conclusions can be drawn: that there is more content accuracy in subtitling than in dubbing, or, at least First of all, many activities are complex the content translation appears more since they require not only the transla- synchronized with the original. This tion knowledge but also to understand ‘advantage’ of subtitling is a double- the whole process. The adaptor plays edged sword because there is the risk of an important role in the final product translating too close to the source. One and sometimes his task overlaps with of the possible reasons why subtitles are the translator’s because he has to adapt sometimes criticized of being too lite- the translation to the space or the syn- ral or of lacking an element is because chronization of lips. they are more exposed to comparison with the original. Without taking into Because the constraints are diverse in account all the constraints involved, subtitling and dubbing songs, some it is far too easy to ‘spot the error’. In differences can be drawn between the dubbing the content is easier to mani- ways of translating. pulate or, at least, less noticeable.

In dubbing a song, rhyme, rhythm, After having analyzed several elements music, content and visual coherence influencing the job of a translator for must be necessarily taken into account. dubbing or subtitling songs in musical We could say that in translating songs films, it seems evident that not only a for dubbing, even better musical ears proficient command in all the registers are required than the ones expected of the languages is necessary, but also from a subtitler6. knowledge specifically on dubbing and subtitling spatio-temporal constraints and on the intrinsic characteristic of songs.

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6. REFERENCES

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Cortés, M. M. (2005). Traducción de canciones: Grease. Puentes 6 (77 –86). Retrie- ved 20 Feb. 2013 from, http://www.ugr.es/~rasensio/docs/TAV_Sevilla.pdf

Díaz, J. (2001). La Traducción audiovisual: El subtitulado. Salamanca: Almar.

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Mayoral, R., Kelly, D. & Gallardo, N (1988). Concept of Constrained Translation. Non-Linguistic Perspectives of Translation, Meta 33-3 (356-367)

Nedergaard-Larsen, B. (1993). Culture-bound problems in subtitling. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 1(2) (207-241)

Ranzato, I. Localising Cockney: translating dialect into Italian. Imperial College, London, UK and Università di Roma Sapienza, Italy. Retrieved 20 Feb. 2013 from, http://www.unisa.it/uploads/2242/essay_localising_cockney.pdf

Reid, H. (1987). The Semiotics of Subtitling, or Why don’t you translate what it says? EBU Review, 38(6) (28-30)

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Musical film: My Fair Lady (1964), George Cukor (director)

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