Università degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Letterari Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Lingue Moderne per la Comunicazione e la Cooperazione Internazionale Classe LM-38 Tesi di Laurea Translating YouTube Chemistry: An analysis of popular science based on YouTube video subtitles Relatrice Laureando Prof.ssa Maria Teresa Musacchio William Incani n° matr.1180184 / LMLCC Anno Accademico 2019 / 2020 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 1. Popular science and advertising on the internet – Google and YouTube ................. 5 1.1 Language and science ....................................................................................................... 5 1.1.1 Translation as a decision-making process .................................................................................. 6 1.1.2 Remarkable adaptations and imprecise renditions ..................................................................... 7 1.1.3 The perception of language ...................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Communication through popularisation: an overview ................................................ 11 1.2.1 What is scholarly communication? .......................................................................................... 11 1.2.2 Learned societies as a catalyst for scholarly communication ................................................... 13 1.2.3 Citations and shared knowledge .............................................................................................. 16 1.3 Algorithms and online advertising: Google and YouTube .......................................... 18 1.3.1 Google’s algorithms and consequences on digital marketing .................................................. 18 1.3.2 Revenue through online ads: Google AdSense ........................................................................ 19 1.3.3 Online advertising with a click: Cost Per Mille and Click-Through Rate ................................ 21 1.3.4 “YouTube - Broadcast Yourself” ............................................................................................. 22 1.3.5 The popularity of YouTube: statistics and facts ....................................................................... 23 1.3.6 Monetization on YouTube ....................................................................................................... 24 2. The subtitling practice in movies and YouTube videos ............................................ 27 2.1 Subtitles and their impact on YouTube ........................................................................ 27 2.1.1 Uploading and editing videos .................................................................................................. 27 2.1.2 Controversies around subtitles on YouTube ............................................................................ 30 2.2 Subtitling as a branch of translation studies ................................................................ 31 2.2.1 The art of subtitling .................................................................................................................. 31 2.2.2 Subtitling: practical applications .............................................................................................. 32 2.2.3 Constraints and technical aspects of subtitling practice ........................................................... 35 2.3 Examples of captions in the movie industry ................................................................. 36 2.3.1 Translating for broader audiences ............................................................................................ 36 2.3.2 Display vs subtitle: changes in Back To The Future ................................................................ 36 2.3.3 Subtitles as an artwork ............................................................................................................. 39 2.4 Monetizing subtitles ........................................................................................................ 40 2.4.1 Captions as a source of income ................................................................................................ 40 2.4.2 YouTube Rewind 2019 ............................................................................................................ 42 2.4.3 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and increased visibility through subtitles ........................ 43 2.4.4 Viewer distribution on YouTube ............................................................................................. 44 2.5 Translation choices in Europe: dubbing and subtitling .............................................. 46 2.5.1 Historical reasons behind audiovisual translation choices in Europe ...................................... 46 2.5.2 Subtitling and dubbing: pros and cons ..................................................................................... 49 2.6 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 50 3. Subtitling analysis and translation: popular science from English into Italian and vice-versa ........................................................................................................................ 53 3.1 Introduction to subtitled videos ..................................................................................... 53 3.2 English videos translated into Italian ............................................................................ 53 3.2.1 Mark Rober - Using Drones to Plant 20,000,000 Trees ........................................................... 53 3.2.2 The Action Lab - Can You Cook Pasta By Boiling Water in a Vacuum Chamber? ................ 54 3.2.3 The Action Lab - Amazing Way to Actually Mix Oil and Water with No Other Added Ingredient! ......................................................................................................................................... 59 1 3.2.4 Wayne Breslyn - What is boiling? An introduction ................................................................. 65 3.2.5 Vsauce – Water is Amazing – World Water Day! ................................................................... 66 3.3 Italian videos translated into English ............................................................................ 69 3.3.1 Dario Bressanini - PASTA SENZA FUOCO (1) – Perché continuare a far bollire l’acqua è inutile ................................................................................................................................................ 69 NO BOILING PASTA (1) – Why continuing to boil water is useless ............................................. 69 3.3.2 Dario Bressanini - La Scienza della Pasta senza fuoco (2) perché si può spegnere il fuoco dopo aver buttato la pasta ................................................................................................................. 71 No boiling water pasta (2) – the science behind ............................................................................... 71 3.3.3 Dario Bressanini - PASTA SENZA FUOCO (3) – Ho commesso due errori .......................... 74 PASTA WITHOUT HEAT (3) – I made two mistakes .................................................................... 74 3.3.4 Dario Bressanini – La Mousse al cioccolato e acqua (vegana) – La Casalinga e lo Scienziato – Scienza in Cucina .............................................................................................................................. 77 3.3.5 fisicainvideo - Pompa a vuoto .................................................................................................. 84 3.3.6 Zanichelli editore S.p.A. - Ebollizione dell'acqua nel vuoto (tratto da L'Amaldi per i licei scientifici) ......................................................................................................................................... 87 3.3.7 ImmediaTest – acqua presentato a Super Quark di Piero Angela ............................................ 88 4. Transcript and Translation Analysis ........................................................................ 93 4.1 Authors behind the videos .............................................................................................. 93 4.1.1 English-speaking authors ......................................................................................................... 93 4.1.2 Italian videos translated into English ....................................................................................... 94 4.1.3 Authors and their scientific background .................................................................................. 96 4.2 Subtitling with YouTube and AegiSub ......................................................................... 96 4.2.1 Subtitling with YouTube .......................................................................................................... 97 4.2.2 Subtitling with AegiSub ........................................................................................................... 98 4.2.3 Transcripts on YouTube........................................................................................................... 99 4.2.4 Translating from YouTube video transcripts ......................................................................... 103 4.3 Video analysis in context .............................................................................................