Dubbing as a Type of Audiovisual Translation: A Study of its Methods and Constraints Focusing on...

T.C. ATILIM ÜNİVERSİTESİ

SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ MÜTERCİM TERCÜMANLIK ANABİLİM DALI

ÇEVİRİ BİLİMİ BİLİM DALI

DUBBING AS A TYPE OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION: A STUDY OF ITS METHODS AND CONSTRAINTS FOCUSING ON

SHREK 2

YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ

Hazırlayan

Ayhan ŞAHİN

Tez Danışmanı

Prof. Dr. N. Berrin AKSOY

Ankara-2012

T.C.

ATILIM CiNivEnsirpsi

so s yAL siriMren pNsrirusu irauounrucUNE

Ayhan $AHIN tarafindan hazrlanan"Dubbing As A Type Of Audiovisual Translation: A

Study Of Its Methods and Constraints Focusing on Shrek 2" baghkh bu gahgma

17.01'2012 tarihinde yaprlan savunma smavl sonucunda oybirligi ile bagarrh bulunarak

jiirimiz tarafindan Miitercim-Terci.imanhk anabilim dah Qeviri Bilimi bilim dahnda

Yi.iksek Lisans Tezi olarak kabul edilmigtir.

A.q.------------Dog. Dr. Asalet ERTEN (Bagkan)

En+Pror. Dr. N. Be'in

^:;$;reman)

Yrd. Dog. Dr. ismail ERTON (Uye)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am heartily thankful to my adviser, Prof. Dr. N. Berrin Aksoy, whose

encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to

develop an understanding of the subject. In addition to providing academic

suggestions, she has reviewed my thesis repeatedly and prompted me to step up

efforts regularly. Her strong commitments to my performance and her

comprehensive knowledge of issues have made this thesis possible.

I offer my respects and gratitude to all of those who have supported me in any

respect during the time of this study.

Finally, I am deeply indebted to my family for their valuable support and trust.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………….. i TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………….. ii INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………. 1

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1. FILMS AND THEIR TRANSLATIONS………………………………….. 1

1.2. CONSTRAINTS OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION…………………. 3

1.3. TYPES OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION…………………………… 4

1.4. THE OBJECT AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY...……………..... 4

1.5. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY………………………………………… 5

1.6. STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY…………………………………………... 5

CHAPTER II: AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION

2.1. AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION………………………………………... 7

2.2. HISTORY OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION.……………………… 13

2.3. REVOICING………………………………………………………………. 14

2.3.1. Types of Revoicing…………………………………………………. 14

2.3.1.1. Lip-sync Dubbing (Dubbing)………………………………...... 14

2.3.1.2. Voiceover……………………………………………………… 15

2.3.1.3. Narration……………………………………………………..... 15

2.3.1.4. Free Commentary………………………………………………16

CHAPTER III: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3.1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………………. 17

CHAPTER IV: CONSTRAINTS OF DUBBING

4.1. NORM-BASED APPROACH….………………………………………….. 26

4.1.1. Institutional Norms…………………..…………………………… 27

4.1.2. Social Norms……………………….…..…….…………………… 28

4.1.3. State Norms……………………………………………………...... 29

iii

4.2. SYNCHRONY-BASED APPROACH…………………………………...... 30

4.2.1. Lip-Synchrony…………………………………..………………... 32

4.2.2. Content Synchrony……..…………………………………………. 33

4.3. TRANSLATOR’S ATTITUDE…….……………………………………… 34

CHAPTER V: CHALLENGES OF DUBBING

5.1. CULTURAL ELEMENTS…………………………………………………. 36

5.2. HUMOROUS ELEMENTS……………………………………………...... 38

5.3. LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS……………………………………………....... 39

5.3.1. Wordplays………………………………………………………….. 40

5.3.2. Swear Words……………………………………………………...... 41

5.3.3. Dialects…………………………………………………………….. 42

5.3.4. Idiolects…………………………………………………………...... 42

5.3.5. Songs……………………………………………………………...... 42

CHAPTER VI: SHREK 2

6.1. ABOUT THE FILM ………………………………………………………. 45

6.2. DATA….……………………………………….………………………….. 48

CHAPTER VII: ANALYSIS OF CONSTRAINTS OF DUBBING

7.1. NORM-BASED CONSTRAINTS…………………………………………. 50

7.1.1. Institutional Norms…………………………………………………. 50

7.1.2. Social Norms…………………….…………………………………. 50

7.1.3. State Norms…………………………..…………………………….. 51

7.2. SYNCHRONY-BASED CONSTRAINTS.……………………………...... 51

7.2.1. Lip-Synchrony……………………….……………………………... 51

7.2.2. Content Synchrony…………………………………………………. 53

7.3. TRANSLATOR’S ATTITUDE………………………………………......... 55

CHAPTER VIII: ANALYSIS OF CHALLENGES OF DUBBING

8.1. CULTURAL ELEMENTS…………………………………………………. 57

iv

8.2. HUMOROUS ELEMENTS……………………………………………….. 59

8.3. LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS…………………………………………..……. 60

8.3.1. Wordplays…………………………………………………....…….. 62

8.3.2. Swear Words……………………………………..……..………….. 63

8.3.3. Dialects……………………………………..……….……………… 64

8.3.4. Idiolects……..………………………………….…………………... 65

8.3.5. Songs……..…………………………………..…………………….. 65

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….. 69

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………….. 72

ÖZET……..……………………………………………………………………… 78

ABSTRACT……………..……………………………………………………...... 79

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1. FILMS AND THEIR TRANSLATIONS

Cinema, as an art form, has been in existence for more than a century. It came

into being in 1890s and in the next two decades it spread all over the world. In a

short time it developed into an industry, becoming a popular form of entertainment

for audience throughout the world. Film, as a medium, has been used for education

and propaganda as well as for entertainment. Today, audiovisual media take up too

much of our time and there is a fundamental shift from written sources to visual

ones. As above-mentioned, films are a form of entertainment and the rise of

standards of living has enabled people to allocate more time for entertainment.

Today, audiovisual media not only occupy every moment of our life but also shape

it. Thanks to audiovisual translation (AVT), cultures come closer and get to know

each other, which may lead to overcome prejudice against different cultures.

However, film translations might be a danger for the target culture if the target

culture is economically and politically less powerful than the source culture (Yücel,

2011). Films reflect the life style and culture of the countries in which they are made.

According to the studies conducted in the field of cultural studies, it has been put

forward by (Tomlinson, 1991; Ryan, Ingram, & Musiol, 2010; Sardar & Van Loon,

1999) that less powerful target nations are exposed to being injected the culture and

the life style of the more powerful source culture. Dubbing method rather than

subtitling makes this situation easier because performers in films speak the same

language as the audience. The audience see the performers in films as one of

themselves, so they adopt the target culture readily. In fact, films are a means for the

first world to transfer their values and cultures to the third world. Films have an

effect on the way people talk and the way they dress. We cannot think of film as just

one film. Films come with by-products, like toys or books, especially when they are

for children. So, films are complex phenomena with many aspects similar to other

forms of visual arts.

2

According to Delabastita (1989) film is a multi-channel and multi-code type

of communication. It is multi-channel because both the visual channel and the

acoustic channel are simultaneously employed. To put it simply, we watch (visual)

and hear (acoustic) the film at the same time. This is the way the film reaches us.

There is the multitude of codes that gives shape to any film as a meaningful sign and

that enables the audience to make sense of it. Codes in film consist of linguistic and

paralinguistic subcodes which make the film meaningful. We need these codes,

linguistic and paralinguistic, to understand the film. Linguistic codes are verbal ones.

Paralinguistic codes are tone of voice, expressions on face, actions, etc. Delabastita

emphasizes that channels should not be confused with the codes because the codes

are used to produce the film’s actual meaning while the channels are the means by

which the film message reaches its audience. To sum up, AVT translators should

take into account these codes and channels to make a good translation.

On a global basis, we cannot think of film translation and film industry

separately. Today, films are made to be shown not only at the national level but also

at the global level. So, film makers right from the beginning keep in mind that their

potential audience is the whole world. Film companies are aware of the fact that

worldwide success of the film depends on the good translation of the film, so they

attach great importance to it. Moreover, film companies listen to the recording of the

dubbing actor/actress to decide if s/he is suitable for the particular film actor/actress.

Thanks to globalization and developments and changes in technology, interest

in AVT has increased in recent years and the field has moved a long way towards

being a discipline in its own right within Translation Studies. Scholars have primarily

focused on its specificity, like what makes it different from other types of translation,

and the constraints it brings up against translators.

3

1.2. CONSTRAINTS OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION

Constraints in dubbing method of AVT will constitute an important part of

this thesis in the following chapters since these constraints have a direct impact on

the act of translation.

AVT is entirely different from literary translation in that AVT is not only

dependent on text but also on visual elements like lip-synchrony, acts of performers

and facial expressions. This applies for both dubbing and subtitling. A film has to be

transferred to the target language both acoustically and visually in a simultaneous

way. Naturally, this brings about some constraints that the translator should

overcome. Among these constraints, cultural constraints seem to play an important

role on the act of AVT like in other forms of translation such as literary or technical.

As Aksoy (2000) has put it:

Translators are under the influence of some constraints during the process of translation. These include principles of literature of the time, publishers’ or institutions’ expectations for the translator, literary taste and cultural characteristics of the target society. Today, translator is not a “traitor”, rather is in a position of being an important and distinctive element of the society. Translator comes to the fore as a social being during the process of translation which is accepted as a transfer happening in a sociocultural context. (p. 56) (Translated by the author of this thesis)

Cultural constraints take place when an element in source culture does not

exist in target culture because of the intercultural differences. Again, Aksoy (2000)

states:

Translation is not just a transfer from one language to another but a transfer between cultures. Knowing why translator makes some addition or reduction or how s/he uses the language and why in that way but not the other way clearly displays the environment enclosing the translation, that is, the culture to which translation belongs. (p. 55) (Translated by the author of this thesis)

Another important constraint is linguistic which may briefly be described as

resulting from the syntactic differences of languages. Wordplays, swear words,

4

dialects, idiolects and songs in films pose a great challenge for the translator in that

respect.

1.3. TYPES OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION

Films are exported to countries all over the world and they are translated (as

dubbing or subtitling) into the language of the country to which they are exported.

However, every country has adopted a method of translation according to their needs

such as past experiences, audience expectations, cost and traditions. Countries’

decisions about which method to use date back to years in the late 1920s and early

1930s when the first sound film was released.

Methods used mostly in AVT are dubbing and subtitling. Dubbing is the

replacement of the source dialogue by a dialogue in the target language. Subtitling is

the translation of what people are saying in a foreign language film or television

program, which appears at the bottom of the screen. Dubbing and subtitling have

been compared from several aspects. Those who are against dubbing assert that it

diminishes the effect of the film on the audience and makes censoring possible while

those who are against subtitling stress that it pollutes the screen and distracts the

attention.

1.4. THE OBJECT AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

The object of this study is an animated comedy film entitled Shrek 2. It was

directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon from DreamWorks

SKG and starred by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz. This film has

been chosen as the object of the research since although Shrek film series are said to

be animated films for children, they include a lot of allusions to popular culture and

films that the children of source culture cannot understand, let alone those of target

culture. Hence, because of its high content of challenging elements for translation

purposes such as cultural and linguistic, this film has been chosen as an example for

5

this thesis, believing that it will offer a lot of data to be analyzed in terms of the

translation strategies. The purpose of this study is to identify and define translation

constraints and challenges to explore means and strategies for AVT within the frame

of the abovementioned object.

1.5. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In this thesis, only the dubbing method of audiovisual translation will be

studied. Because of the vast coverage of the topic, subtitling will not be studied.

We assume that audiovisual translation is a relatively new field and that there

have been some recent developments. However, since the developments have not

been based on globally accepted method and techniques, they have varied widely.

Despite this, audiovisual translation is continuing to develop at full speed.

Another limitation is that the author of this thesis has not had a chance to

meet the translator of this film and has not been able to ask some questions about

his/her decisions, preferences or strategies. Similarly, the author has not had the

opportunity to contact with the film company that distributes the film across Turkey

to find out what their translation policies are.

1.6. STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY

Introduction is followed by Chapter II entitled audiovisual translation. The

aim of Chapter II is to provide the background of the study. It is stated that the AVT

is a new field, that it has been ignored although we are highly exposed to it on a daily

basis. The place of AVT in Translation Studies and the naming of the field are

discussed. The characteristics of the audiovisual translations and the aspects that

make the translations of them difficult are dealt with. After talking about the history

of AVT, the types of revoicing are presented.

6

Chapter III covers the theoretical framework. Unfortunately, there is not a

definite and agreed methodology for audiovisual translations. This chapter includes

some ideas about the place of AVT within the Translation Studies. Target-oriented

approach by Gideon Toury and domestication approach by Lawrence Venuti will be

adopted for this specific study. The reason for such an approach is that first, dubbing

itself as a method of AVT attempts to hide the foreign nature of a film. Second,

Shrek 2 is an animated comedy and the translator is expected to try to create the same

humorous effect in the target audience by domesticating the source culture elements

which are non-existent in the target culture.

Chapter IV deals with the constraints of dubbing and Chapter V addresses the

issue of challenges of dubbing. Constraints and challenges are dealt in different

chapters because constraints shape the translator’s choices during the process of

translation. First and foremost, lip-synchrony is discussed and then other constraints

like content synchrony, institutional norms, social norms, state norms and translator’s

attitude are treated in detail. Challenges are the issues that are difficult to translate

and that test the translator’s abilities to the limit. They are categorized into cultural

elements, humorous elements and linguistic elements. Linguistics elements are also

subgrouped into five: wordplays, swear words, dialects, idiolects and songs.

Chapter VI gives information about the film. After some statistical facts about

the film are reported, the summary of the film is presented and some implicit

messages that the film includes are discussed. Then the source material which has

been studied is explained.

Chapter VII deals with analyzing the constraints of dubbing as norm-based

constraints, synchrony-based constraints and translator’s attitude. Chapter VIII deals

with analyzing the challenges of dubbing in three main categories as cultural,

humorous and linguistic elements.

Conclusion contains a global assessment of the study. Findings are examined

under the light of Gideon Toury’s target-oriented approach and Lawrence Venuti’s

domestication approach.

CHAPTER II: AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION

2.1. AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION

It has been more than two decades since Dirk Delabastita wrote his

groundbreaking article ‘Translation and mass-communication: Film and TV

translation as evidence of cultural dynamics’. He (1989) said that the audiovisual

translation was ‘still a virgin area of research’ (p. 202) at that time. Despite the

increasing importance of AVT, there was a lack of literature on it. Diaz-Cintas

(2004) explains this situation as follows:

A clear paradox exists which emphasizes the surprising imbalance between the little research on audiovisual translation and its enormous impact on society. In numerical terms, the translation carried out in the audiovisual realm is the most important translational activity of our time. Firstly, because of the high number of people it reaches, mainly through television. Secondly, because of the large quantity of translated products which cross over to other cultures: documentaries, films, news, debates, concerts, television series, etc. Thirdly, because of the immediacy of its reception: television, cinema, DVD. (p. 50)

Delabastita’s article has paved the way for many researches in this field.

Since then, there have been many contributions to the field of AVT. With the digital

age, audiovisual media have become remarkably widespread and correspondingly

demand for them has increased and in this way publications in this field have gained

speed. Along with these publications, there have been various international

conferences concerned with especially AVT in addition to university programs both

at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Although in the beginning AVT was

considered by some scholars as a subdivision of literary translation, today it has

achieved its current status as a separate field under Translation Studies.

One of these scholars is Susan Bassnett (2002) who, in her book ‘Translation

Studies’, divides Translation Studies into four groups: History of Translation,

Translation in the Target Language Culture, Translation and Linguistics and

Translation and Poetics. In the last group she includes film translation:

8

The fourth category, loosely called Translation and Poetics, includes the whole area of literary translation, in theory and practice. Studies may be general or genre-specific, including investigation of the particular problems of translating poetry, theatre texts or libretti and the affiliated problem of translation for the cinema, whether dubbing or sub-titling. (p. 18)

Snell-Hornby (1995) is another scholar who also includes AVT as a subtype

of literary translation. In her classification, there are three groups: “translation of

general language, translation of special language and literary translation which

includes Bible translation, lyric poetry, modern literature and stage/film translation”

(p. 32).

However, Chaume (as cited in Diaz-Cintas, 2009) argues that the point where

Bassnett and Snell-Hornby are wrong is that they see AVT as a ‘genre’ whereas it

should be seen as a ‘text type’.

As for its naming, there have been many offerings in the naming of the AVT.

The first studies used the term film translation, but as the studies extended to include

television and video releases, the term audiovisual translation was preferred. Another

term which is commonly used is screen translation. Karamitroglou (2000) states:

The term ‘screen translation’ emphasizes the locative of the medium/carrier where the translation product appears, namely the TV, cinema, or video screen. In the same sense, the translation of websites seen on computer monitors could also be considered ‘screen translation’. Nevertheless, translation for computer monitors is not regarded as ‘screen translation’, unless the text –written or spoken– accompanies moving images with built-in sound, i.e. it is a small clip. (p. 1)

Among the others like film translation, screen translation, (multi)media

translation; audiovisual translation seems to have been accepted by most scholars

(Luyken, Herbst, Langham-Brown, Reid and Spinhof, 1991; Dries, 1995; Baker &

Hochel, 1998). Accordingly, the term audiovisual translation is preferred to other

terms in this thesis.

In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Luis Perez Gonzales

(2009) defines audiovisual translation as “audiovisual translation is a branch of

9

Translation Studies concerned with the transfer of multimodal and multimedial texts

into another language and/or culture” (p. 13).

According to Luyken et al (1991) “language transfer describes the means by

which a film or television program is made understandable to target audiences who

are unfamiliar with the source language in which the original was produced” (p. 11).

As the first definition implies, audiovisual text is multichannel and

multisemiotic consisting of signs such as language, music and image. It is

multichannel because it conveys the message using two channels, acoustic and

visual. It is also composed of linguistic, extra linguistic and paralinguistic elements.

Due to the multimedial nature of audiovisual texts together with verbal and

nonverbal dimensions of communication, Delabastita (as cited in Chiaro, Heiss &

Bucaira, 2008) points out the four basic elements that define the audiovisual text and

establish a basis for its semiotic texture:

1. The acoustic-verbal: dialogue, monologue, songs, voice-off. 2. The acoustic-nonverbal: musical score, sound effects, noises. 3. The visual-nonverbal: image, photography, gestures. 4. The visual-verbal: inserts, banners, letters, messages on computer

screens, newspaper headlines. (p. 3)

What makes AVT difficult is probably this nature of audiovisual text, for

audiovisual translators have to take all these things into account to make a successful

translation.

Another important point in Gonzale’s definition is the cultural dimension of

audiovisual texts. Unlike literary texts, audiovisual texts contain visual elements as

well as linguistic elements. Cultural characteristics are delivered via both visual and

linguistic channels. On top of the difficulty of translating linguistic channel of

cultural characteristics, translating these elements coming on multichannel makes

translator’s work even more difficult. How to deal with and what kind of translation

strategies to apply to transfer these cultural characteristics are the questions that

scholars have been trying to find answers.

10

There are two main modes of AVT, which are revoicing/dubbing and

subtitling. Revoicing is the generic term and Luyken et al (1991) subdivide it into

four categories:

Lip-sync dubbing Voice-over Narration Free commentary. (p. 71)

Diaz-Cintas (2003) defines dubbing and subtitling as follows:

Dubbing involves replacing the original soundtrack containing the actors’ dialogue with a target language (TL) recording that reproduces the original message, while at the same time ensuring that the TL sounds and the actors’ lip movements are more or less synchronized.

Subtitling involves displaying written text, usually at the bottom of the screen, giving an account of the actors’ dialogue and other linguistic information which form part of the visual image (letters, graffiti, and captions) or of the soundtrack (songs). (p. 195)

Translation scholars have argued over which translation mode is better and

have stated advantages and disadvantages of both modes. Diaz-Cintas (2002) takes a

comparative look at the advantages and disadvantages of both methods:

Dubbing Subtitling

Expensive Cheap

The original dialogue is lost Respects the integrity of the original

dialogue

It takes longer Reasonably quick

Pretends to be a domestic product Promotes the learning of foreign

languages

Dubbing actors’ voices can be repetitive Quality of original actors’ voices

Suits poor readers Suits the hearing impaired / helps

immigrants

Respects the image of the original Pollutes the image

11

Conveys more original information Requires more reduction of original

information

Allows the overlapping of dialogue Does not allow the overlapping of

dialogue

Viewer can focus on images Dispersion of attention: image + written

text

Viewer can follow the sense even if

distracted from watching Viewer will lose the sense if distracted

Constrained by lip-sync Constrained by space and time

Only one linguistic code Two different linguistic codes

simultaneously can be disorientating

Allows more cinematic illusion Can detract from cinematic illusion

AVT is strongly linked with technology and technical developments. The

development of digital media has directly affected the AVT studies. The advent of

DVD (digital versatile disk) technology has completely changed everything because

before the advent of DVD there were video cassettes and they were very likely to

wear out easily and scholars had to have multiple copies of the same film in different

languages. DVD technology has enabled scholars to compare subtitled and dubbed

version of the film thanks to the feature of DVD disks having the capacity up to 8

different audio tracks and 32 different subtitles.

One of the two terms that DVD technology introduced is SDH (subtitles for

the deaf and hard-of-hearing), the other is AD (audio description). SDH includes

information such as sound effects, performers’ actions and other similar features to

help the deaf and hearing-impaired viewers. AD “provides a narration of what is seen

and describes the action, body language, facial expressions, scenery and costumes of

the players” (Benecke, 2007, p. 1) for the visually impaired.

Moreover, extra features like audio commentary by the film crew, interviews

with the actors and actresses provide a valuable insight into the nature of the film.

Latest technologies even make it possible to match lip movements with the new

12

voice track by using computer animation. Newer technologies such as Blu-ray and

mobile technology and practices like fansubbing, subtitles done by fans, have the

ability to change our perceptions of AVT.

On the other hand, thanks to the DVD technology, viewers are also able to

pick up the errors by comparing the source and target language and this has led the

translators to be the subject of criticism more than ever.

As mentioned earlier, there are mainly two modes of audiovisual translation;

dubbing and subtitling. For various reasons, countries have preferred one mode or

the other or both.

In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Gottlieb (1998) divides the

world into four blocks according to the audiovisual translation modes they prefer.

First group is the source-language countries; that is English-speaking

countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. Since they are the

dominant actors in the movie industry, very few films are imported and these films

tend to be subtitled rather than dubbed.

Second group is dubbing countries where German, Italian, Spanish and

French are spoken in and outside Europe and almost all imported films are dubbed.

Third group is voice-over countries including Russia and Poland which

cannot afford lip-synch dubbing. One narrator interprets the lines of entire cast.

The last group is subtitling countries which prefer subtitling to dubbing.

These are Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands and some non-

European countries.

One of the most important reasons of this division is the cost. Dubbing, which

is more expensive than subtitling, is much preferred by rich European countries

while small countries like Belgium, Portugal and Denmark have preferred subtitling

rather than dubbing. However, cost alone is not the only reason. There are also

political and historical factors. Likewise in many cultural activities, ideological

manipulations are effective in this field, too. For instance, in the 1930s and 1940s

13

fascist regimes in Germany, Italy and Spain preferred dubbing in that it is an

effective instrument of censorship. One other reason is that the countries, like France,

want to protect their languages against the foreign influence and achieve a linguistic

uniformity within the country. The profile of the target audience such as sex, age,

educational background and social class is another determining factor in choosing the

translation mode. However, the world of AVT is continuously changing and there are

no strict rules thanks to the recent developments in technology and communication

sciences. So, today both modes of AVT are being used by both dubbing and

subtitling countries.

2.2. HISTORY OF AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION

With the advent of cinema in 1895, several attempts to convey the dialogues

of performers to the audience were made. In accordance with this purpose, intertitles

(the ancestor of modern subtitles) were used for the first time in 1903 in the film of

Edwin Stanton Porter’s ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’. These were printed texts which were

placed between the scenes where necessary and they were helpful in clarifying the

plot and the verbal communication between the performers. They were also easy to

translate when the film was exported by replacing with another intertitle in target

language in which the film was to be shown.

With the appearance of first sound-film ‘The Jazz Singer’ in 1927, the

linguistic problem posed a serious threat for the American film companies. To

overcome this linguistic problem, they first tried to reshoot the same film in different

languages, but this proved to be unprofitable and unsuccessful. Instead, they adopted

dubbing which were initially used as post-synchronized revoicing of films.

In Turkey, foreign films were initially shown in their original languages, but

later it was understood that the large part of the audience did not know foreign

language, so first dubbing attempts started in 1930s in İpek Film Stüdyosu. Dubbing

for some films went beyond just dubbing into Turkish, turning into domestication or

adaptation in accordance with the Turkish audience’s expectation and cultural level.

Especially Ferdi Tayfur, then famous dubbing actor, is the first name when it comes

14

to dubbing. He was famous for dubbing comedy films like Laurel and Hardy, Marx

Brothers (Üç Ahbab Çavuşlar). Putting away the personal characteristics and

dialogues of film actors, he created new characteristics and dialogues for them. He

said in an interview “first I wanted to translate word for word, but then I found it

better to fit the jokes I made up into their lip movements and body acts”.

Dubbing studios increased in amount in 1940s. The main reason lies in the

transition from sound film to dubbed film. Turkish films were begun to be shot

without sound and later were dubbed in Turkish again by the same actors in the film

or different dubbing actors. Another important factor that gives rise to dubbing was

the Arabic films. Particularly Egyptian movies were not only dubbed but also all the

songs in the films were recomposed and sung by famous Turkish singers. In the

1960s all films were dubbed, whether interlingually or intralingualy as a post-

synchronization (Akçura, 2006). Today, in Turkey all films, except animated movies

for children shown in movie theaters, are subtitled. Films shown on TV, except a few

private channels, are dubbed.

2.3. REVOICING

As mentioned earlier, there are two main modes of language transfer in films:

revoicing and subtitling. Revoicing is the generic term which means the replacement

of original language track with another in the same or different language. There are

four categories of it.

2.3.1. Types of Revoicing

2.3.1.1. Lip-Sync Dubbing (Dubbing)

Burgess (1980) gives three different definitions of dubbing:

(a) to make a new recording out of an original tape or record or track in order to accommodate changes, cuts or additions;

15

(b) to insert a totally new sound track, often a synchronized translation of the original track;

(c) to insert sound into a film or tape. (p. 297)

According to Luyken et al (1991) “lip-synch dubbing is the replacement of

the original speech by a voice-track which is a faithful translation of the original

speech and which attempts to reproduce the timing, phrasing and lip movements of

the original” (p. 73).

Dubbing is a long process that goes through many stages. Roughly speaking,

dubbing translator receives the film transcript together with the film, translates it and

sends it back. That’s where the translator’s task is finished. After that, the translated

transcript undergoes a number of changes. First the dialogue writer and then the

dubbing director, even the dubbing actors make some changes where necessary.

However, if the dialogue writer and the dubbing director do not know the source

language, it might be unavoidable that they make mistakes. Ideal scenario is that the

translator should be in the studio but most of the time this is impossible.

2.3.1.2. Voiceover

This method is usually used for monologues and documentaries. In order to

let viewers feel the authenticity of the broadcast, the original sound is reduced to an

audible level when the speaker starts to speak. O’Connell (2003) states:

In theory, voiceover gives priority to the source language text, which can be translated very accurately. This is because the translation is not subject to the same strict constraints relating to such issues as the exact duration, which apply in the case of lip-sync dubbing. (p. 66)

2.3.1.3. Narration

According to Luyken et al (1991) “narration is basically an extended

voiceover” (p. 80). Gambier (1995) points out the difference between voiceover and

narration as follows:

16

The difference between voiceover and narration is linguistic. With narration, the text, which will be read by a journalist or an actor, is prepared in advance, translated and sometimes condensed, whereas voice-over is used mainly for spontaneous interaction. In both cases broadcasting is synchronized, especially if the narrator appears on the screen. The content/verbal meaning is linked to the visual information being shown. (p. 5)

2.3.1.4. Free Commentary

This technique is mostly used for children’s programs and documentaries.

Original program is adapted to the target audience so the source language is not

translated literally. Extra information might be added to make the understanding

easier. It is a kind of adaptation with omissions, explanations and comments.

Synchronization is done with on-screen images rather than with the soundtrack

(Gambier, 2003). It may be prepared in advance and pre-recorded or spoken live.

The live commentator must have extensive knowledge of the subject in question as

well as journalistic skills (Luyken et al, 1991, p. 82).

Luyken et al (1991) explain that free commentary differs from the revoicing

methods on two counts:

No attempt is made to reproduce faithfully the original speech. (On

the contrary, the new commentary is an original creation in itself and its

content differs from the original program’s soundtrack.)

No spotting is necessary but synchronization with on-screen images is

essential. (p. 82)

CHAPTER III: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3.1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Since the publication of a special edition of the journal Babel in 1960 under

the title Cinéma et traduction was released, much of the research on AVT carried out

in the following 50 years has been about the place of this discipline within the

general framework of Translation Studies. And yet there has not been an established

or agreed theoretical framework for AVT. Initial studies on dubbing and subtitling

were mostly based on the linguistic dimension. Socio-cultural factors were generally

disregarded. Whether AVT is translation or adaptation has been a matter for debate

and many scholars have stayed away from this field of study because they think it is

beyond the scope of translation. Diaz-Cintas (2004) explains this as follows:

Many of the translation concepts and theories that have been historically articulated cease to be functional when scholars try and apply them to AVT. This has traditionally led scholars to focus on the analysis of less complex empirical phenomena, instead of complicating their academic life with the re-elaboration of existing postulates or the development of new theories capable of accounting for the specificity of AVT. This lack of research is responsible for the perception of AVT as a marginal activity, mainly if compared to the translation of canonical works such as the Bible and literary classics. Throughout history, translation has played a very important role in cultural exchanges, and yet its study is relatively recent. Even in its most glamorous and canonical dimension, translation has been absent from academic exchanges and so it is not surprising that studies into AVT are even more neglected. (p. 51)

After talking about the research difficulties of the AVT, Karamitroglou

(2000) advocates:

The heart of the matter lies in our conceptualization and definition of translation. If we accept Toury’s definition of translation as “any target-language utterance which is presented or regarded as such within the target culture, on whatever grounds” (1985:20) and we extend it to cover audiovisual translation as well, we can easily accommodate audiovisual translation within the broader realm of Translation Studies. (p. 11)

18

Also, Karamitroglou (2000) lists a number of additional reasons that allow us

to accept audiovisual translation as a sub-field of Translation Studies:

Audiovisual translation has more in common with written translation. Most audiovisual translations are performed with a written form of the original text in hand.

Typological studies in audiovisual translation have already managed to present the various audiovisual language transfer methods within the general framework of Translation Studies and alongside the other ‘traditional’ language transfer methods. Other studies in audiovisual translation have identified links between certain audiovisual language transfer methods and established concepts from general translation theory, as for example with subtitling and ‘overt translation’, and dubbing and ‘covert translation’.

Audiovisual translation was born out of the same drive that guided literary translation: the need to overcome the communication barriers imposed by linguistic fragmentation.

Just as “it is the discovery of the hierarchy of factors (constraints, parameters) which operate in translation processes, procedures and products which constitutes a major task for translation theory”, the discovery of a similar hierarchy of the factors that operate within audiovisual translation is also the task of audiovisual translation theory. (pp. 11-12)

And as a result, he (2000) concludes that all the above indicate that the

audiovisual translation does not require a new theory of translation but can be based

on findings which can be drawn from the field of general translation theory. Hence,

he goes on to say that translation theory provides a theoretical framework for the

study of audiovisual translation (p. 12).

On the other hand, Gambier (2009) asserts that certain concepts in

Translation Studies should be revised, extended and rethought when they are applied

to AVT. For example:

The concept of text: “Screen texts” are short-lived and multimodal; their coherence is based on the interplay with the images and the sound. From the conventional text as a linear arrangement of sentences, or as a sequence of verbal units to the hypertext on the Internet (with hyperlinks), the concept is becoming ambiguous, if not fuzzy. Do literary

19

translators, subtitlers, conference interpreters, and localizers refer to the same concept of “text”?

The concept of authorship: In literary studies and Translation Studies, the author is often perceived as a single individual. In AVT, the issue cannot be overlooked, given that a number of groups or institutions are part of the process (screen writer, producer, director, actors, sound engineer, cameraman, editor in charge of the final cut, etc.)

The concept of sense: In AVT, sense is produced neither in a linear sequence nor with a single system of signs. There is interaction not only between the various figures involved in creating the AV product, but also between them and the viewers, even between different AV productions (visual references, allusions).

Translation units: The issues of text, authorship and sense entail questions regarding translation units in AVT.

Translation: The very concept of translation highlights a lack of consensus, overlapping as it does those of adaptation, manipulation, transfer, and remake.

Translation strategy: The concept of translation strategy varies at the macro- and micro-levels, and with respect to the socio-political and cultural effects of AVT. For example, does subtitling, because it is co-present with the original language, necessarily and systematically imply foreignizing, while dubbing would be necessarily and systematically domesticating?

Norms: It is also necessary to reconsider the links between translation norms and technical constraints. Films are increasingly released in DVD form and downloaded from the Internet, with fansubs making “abusive” subtitling, that is to say ignoring accepted conventions, introducing typographic variations, adding glosses or commentaries or changing the position of lines.

Written and oral: Another relevant issue is the relationship between written and oral, between written norms, dominant conventions and the written language of subtitles, between ordinary speech and dubbings (dubbese, in Italian).What is the sociolinguistic role and responsibility of the subtitler, for example?

AVT can thus “disturb” Translation Studies. However, Translation Studies can in turn help AVT research develop more fully, by bringing to bear relevance theory, Descriptive Translation Studies, and the polysystemic perspective. (pp. 19-20)

20

Gambier here raises some questions about some concepts of Translation

Studies and their applicability to AVT. First, pointing out the difference between

screen texts and conventional texts, he asks if the concept of text refers to the same

thing for different fields of Translation Studies. Then he stresses that the author is an

individual in literary studies whereas in AVT the authorship includes a number of

people. He says that a wide range of factors come into play to create the sense in

audiovisual product and they are interactive. All these issues of text, authorship and

sense bring out questions about the nature of the translation units in AVT. He asserts

that the very concept of translation is problematic and there is no consensus on it. He

also states that the translation strategies vary at different levels according to the

intended effect of AVT. Fans, ignoring translation norms, make unorthodox

subtitling practices called fansubbing. Lastly, Gambier draws attention to the

relationship between written and oral and asks about the role of the subtitler. As a

result, it can be seen that AVT introduces some issues which will “disturb”, as

Gambier calls it, Translation Studies but in return in the light of different theories

Translation Studies can help AVT develop.

When Gambier and Gottlieb (2001) ask “to what extent is the concept of

(multi)media translation relevant to Translation Studies?”, they give several answers

to the question, adding at the end “research in (multi)media translation remains

difficult for lack of appropriate theoretical frames and methodological tools”:

It reveals the complexities and challenges of all types of communication and highlights the necessary functions of any translation.

It establishes certain ways of viewing language, of dealing with verbal code, of considering the relationship between verbal and other semiotic systems in order to focus more on cultural and communicative aspects rather than solely on language and text.

It forces us to rethink concepts like “original” “meaning”, “faithfulness”, “acceptability”, “readability”, “usability” – concepts which involve consideration of source text/culture(s), the medium, communication models, distribution channels, the ability of the audience to participate in the reconstruction of meaning. The different shifts of paradigm brought about by new media involve the interpretive process, the authority of a written text, the role of

21

functional equivalence, and the addressing of an audience – to give just some examples.

It shatters the very notion of translation, to which a consensual definition has never been tied. Translation has now come into contact with other activities such as technical writing, editing and so on.

It changes the work of translating and revising, for a long time submitted to written language standards, "textual" conventions.

It leads us to take a fresh look at the translator's competencies and practices, at the ways of recruiting and testing, and hence at training methodology. (p. xix)

AVT allows us to see the complexities and difficulties of communication

today taking place in multisemiotic dimension. Rather than focusing only on

language and text, AVT focuses more on cultural and communicative aspects of

translation between verbal and other semiotic systems. It is a breath of fresh air for

Translation Studies. It makes us rethink the existing concepts like text, meaning and

faithfulness. Coming into contact with other activities, it assigns a new meaning to

the notion of translation.

Fawcett (1996) emphasizes that film translation is an unpredictable fact by

giving an example of a real-time translator in a Siberian cinema who lost her voice

half an hour before the end of the film, leaving the audience doubly in the dark.

Fawcett is doubtful if AVT can be studied methodically at all and looks at the

difficulties in theorizing it. He examines the subject in respect of model application,

equivalence theories, overt versus covert translation, relevance theory, polysystem

approaches and power and ideology. He says that approaches to film translation are

still at the modeling stage and states that the usefulness of equivalence theories might

seem limited in a domain subject to such severe constraints as film translation. He

declares that a dubbed or subtitled film is always an overt translation. Concerning the

relevance theory of Gutt, he points out that it applies to the phenomenon of film

translation. Translation must convey the same message as the original, but when the

context changes, this becomes less likely like in film translation that the same

message is far from being conveyed with a variety of adaptations to a different

cultural context in order to avoid incomprehension in the audience.

22

Furthermore, Fawcett (1996) groups the difficulties that AVT poses into five

categories:

Material difficulties The researcher has to use what falls to hand rather than being able to build a homogeneous corpus, a situation which may cast doubt on the validity of the results; if the film scripts in both languages are not available, then tedious transcription work becomes necessary.

The atheoretical nature of film Translation Studies Film translators …. have a strong tendency to be anecdotal and prescriptivist, both of which are frowned on in modern theory. …. Anecdotalism and prescriptivism are accompanied by a strong tendency to be intuitive. …. Two final obstacles to the theoretical study of film translation arise on the one hand from the resistance of the practitioners to theory …. on the other hand from the tendency to make theory a Procrustean bed of semi-truths to force a match with a preconceived, fashionable model.

Range of modes A further source of difficulty in the study of film translation is the need for our theory to cover and account for a wide range of modes. …. In his diagram of the modes of film translation, Luyken posits three main types of revoicing and four main types of subtitling, but with differences even within these major modes. And he makes no mention of the different types of subtitle presentation or of the different approaches to what exactly should be subtitled.

Synchronization Synchronization is clearly a constraint which poses the question evoked earlier of whether the term translation really can be applied to the dubbing and subtitling of films, given the unpredictable nature of the shifts that are likely to arise from the search for synchronization in space and time.

The Quantum Theory Problem …. film translation, even more than the standard forms of translation, is a perfect case of the Quantum Mechanics principle that the observer and the process of observation influence the observed. Many translations are accepted without any sense of problem by the intended readership until somebody decides to look at them not as an “offer of information”, as German theorists call it, but precisely as a translation. The process of analysis alters our focus and what we find, so the results we are looking at are not those perceived by a non-analytic reader or spectator. In this sense, it may well be the case that much of what is written about translation is actually beside the point. (pp. 66-70)

23

First difficulty is about studying on the material. That the researcher does not

have a standardized corpus and film script at hand might make the results invalid and

require tiresome work. Secondly, AVT has a nature of being atheoretical because

film translators tend to be guided by intuition and personal judgment rather than

being guided by theories. Additionally, there is a wide range of modes of AVT from

revoicing types to subtitling types and it is difficult to find a theory to cover all these

modes. Synchronization is vital in AVT and while searching for synchronization in

time and space, one cannot predict the shifts. What you cannot foresee cannot be

based on a theory. Drawing on the Quantum Mechanics that the observer and the

process of observation influence the observed, Fawcett claims that, when analytically

looked at, translations are not the same as those observed by an ordinary reader or

audience. Therefore, much of what is written about translation may be irrelevant.

As can be seen so far, building a stable and definite theoretical framework for

AVT which will cover all fields of it is problematic. However, it does not necessarily

mean that the non-existence of a comprehensive theory spoils the practicality.

Translations and studies on them continue to exist.

Descriptive translation studies (DTS), which emerged in the 1970s as a

reaction to centuries-long prescriptive translation, was first voiced by James Holmes.

He divided translation into two, pure and applied. Pure is subdivided into descriptive

and theoretical. The aim of the descriptive translation studies is to describe the

translation phenomena and establish general principles to explain such phenomena.

There are three major kinds of research in DTS according to their focus: product-

oriented, process-oriented and function-oriented. In this way, Translation Studies

turned towards studying the translated text within the target culture. Hence, because

of its culture bound nature and its need to be taken up in a descriptive frame due to

its audiovisual qualities, AVT seems to be nicely fitted in the descriptive branch of

Translation Studies.

Motivated by Holmes’ ideas, Itamar Even-Zohar introduced Polysystem,

which is based on Russian formalism. It is a specific cultural circle within which a

group of semiotic systems co-occur dynamically. There are continuous changes and

24

internal conflicts in the circle because of their goal to occupy the center position

(primary, secondary) in the system and it is controlled by socio-historic norms. The

literary polysystem encompasses an array of literatures, from the established to the

works and genres traditionally regarded unimportant, plus translated works. So we

can talk of a film polysystem consisted of the national products and the translated

ones, dubbed or subtitled. This new methodology to translation enables the translated

work to be analyzed as a product in itself that is included in the target polysystem.

There is a shift from the study of translation as a process, translating, to the analysis

of translation as a product, translation.

Inspired by Even-Zohar and James Holmes, Gideon Toury introduced the

target-oriented approach to translation, a theory which sees translated texts as the

products of target culture. Toury states that his purpose is to build a comprehensive

and general theory of translation which can be used for all translational phenomena.

According to the theory, translated texts have a position and function in the target

culture in the same way as the source texts in the source culture. Translation process

is determined by the function it performs in the target culture and the translator is

under some norms. One of the most significant contributions of target-oriented

approach is norms that constrain the translator during the translation process.

Another approach that we can link to dubbing mode of AVT is domestication.

Based on the ideas of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Lawrence Venuti (1995) introduced

the terms foreignisation and domestication to Translation Studies. In foreignisation,

source language and source culture elements are preserved or highlighted, while in

domestication source language and source culture elements are replaced with

familiar target language and target culture elements. In foreignisation, the

foreignness of the source text is apparent. Therefore, one can think of subtitling as

foreignisation because the audience is always aware of watching a foreign product

since they hear the source language. In domestication, the target text or dialogue is

made to give the impression of similar texts that have been produced originally in the

target language. In any translation task, the preliminary decision about which

strategy to adopt, domesticating or foreignizing, may affect the whole translation

process. As a result, what comes out is either a target text that is easily recognizable

25

and thus readily accessible to the target audience, or a text that persistently reminds

target audience of cultural difference.

This study is carried out within the boundaries of the target-oriented approach

developed by Toury and domestication approach developed by Venuti since the film

Shrek 2, which is the focus of the study, has been chosen for its culture-bound

characteristics. Domestication as a translation strategy seems principally appropriate

for a humorous text, in this case for a humorous film. The idea of humor translation

is to recreate the source text in target language in such a way that the reader or the

audience would feel the humorous effect of the source text and as a result would

become entertained. Domestication, in the case of film Shrek 2, is reasonable

because it is a dubbed movie and dubbing is supposed to hide the foreign nature of a

film.

CHAPTER IV: CONSTRAINTS OF DUBBING

Constraints of dubbing can be analyzed on norm-based constraints and

synchrony-based constraints. Additionally, thinking that the translator’s own attitude

to translation or to the type of film and genre might produce a constraint on the

translation, translator’s attitude has also been included in this chapter as a constraint.

Norm-based constraints in this thesis have been dealt with within the frame of

Gideon Toury’s translation norms proposed in his article entitled ‘The Nature and

Role of Norms in Translation’ in order to make a comprehensive review of a target-

oriented approach to Translation Studies.

4.1. NORM-BASED APPROACH

Stating that translation activities should be considered as having a cultural

importance, Toury asserts that it is a necessity for the translator to have some set of

norms within a cultural environment. He (2000) expresses:

In its socio-cultural dimension, translation can be described as subject to constraints of several types and varying degree. These extend far beyond the source text; the systemic differences between the languages and textual traditions involved in the act, or even the possibilities and limitations of the cognitive apparatus of the translator as a necessary mediator. In fact, cognition itself is influenced, probably even modified by socio-cultural factors. At any rate, translators performing under different conditions (e.g., translating texts of different kinds, and/or for different audiences) often adopt different strategies, and ultimately come up with markedly different products. (p. 199)

As in literary translation, in AVT there are some factors that constrain the

translator beyond the source text. These constraints or norms are in every stage of the

translation. Toury (2000) defines them as initial, preliminary and operational norms.

If the translator is subject to the norms of the source text, the translation will tend to

be “adequate” or source-oriented. On the other hand, if the translator is subject to the

27

norms of the target text, the translation will tend to be “acceptable” or target-

oriented. Preliminary norms describe the general strategies adopted towards

translation. They have to do with translation policy which is about the types of texts

to be imported to the target culture through translation and their place in that

particular system. Preliminary norms are the ones that the institution or the company

establishes for the translator to conform. Institution, prior to translation of the script,

gives information about the film and lays down its expectations and translation

norms and hopes that the translator complies with them. The norms that the translator

should conform to might be lexical choices, some political concerns, taboo words

etc. Naturally, all these things have an impact on translation process. Another

concern of preliminary norms is the directness of translation which refers to

translating from languages other than the ultimate source language. On the other

hand, operational norms shape the decisions made during the act of translating and

subdivide into two as matricial and textual-linguistic norms. Matricial norms address

the target text as a whole and regulate location, addition and deletion of its parts.

Textual-linguistic norms apply to linguistic and stylistic preferences.

4.1.1. Institutional Norms

The role of the institution or the employer in translation process is generally

ignored, but this is changing. Institution or the employer is an important factor that

shapes the translation process. “Translation Initiator”, as Hewson and Martin (1991)

have put it, is “the driving force behind the act of translation, and whose identity and

express wishes have a fundamental influence on the translation operation” (p. 113).

The translator has to work within a predefined set of conditions laid down by the

institution. So the translator and the employer have a shared responsibility for the

end product. Institution receives the product, the film. It determines its guidelines

according to the film type, content and target audience and gives it to the translator

for the specific film. In fact, it is necessary for the institution to have guidelines for

the translator. This might be regarded as an obstacle for the translator but at the same

28

time it might be helpful for the translator to have such a clear set of guidelines.

Hewson and Martin (1991) share the same thoughts:

Once these parameters have been spelt out, the role of the translation operator is in fact considerably simplified when it comes to choosing between the different translated text forms available. (...) One begins to see that a full consideration of all of the parameters not only aids the translator in his task, but also enables the translation critic to evaluate the translated text produced in a more objective light. (p. 171)

The important question here is that whether the institution is in a position to

evaluate the translated text or how well it understands the difficulties of translation

or even more important whether the institution checks the translated text before it

goes to the dubbing studio.

4.1.2. Social Norms

The cultural, moral, traditional and religious values of the society are the

factors that the translator should take into account while doing his or her job. We can

also call them the norms of the target audience since all in all the end product will be

presented to the taste of the audience. If the translator knows what type of audience

or society s/he is addressing to, then it will be easy for the translator to take a

decision during the translation process. The social norms unavoidably control the

translator’s translating activity. Ideology, moral values and religion, etc. constitute

the social norms.

Lefevere (2001) defines ideology as “conceptual grid that consists of opinions

and attitudes deemed acceptable in a certain society at a certain time, and through

which readers and translators approach texts” (p. 48). Lefevere (1992) also states

“yet on every level of the translation process, it can be shown that, if linguistic

considerations enter into conflict with considerations of an ideological and/or

poetological nature, the latter tend to win out” (p. 39). Ideology influences the

translator’s decision-making during the whole translation process.

29

Another influential factor is the ethics and moral values of the society. Source

culture may have ethics and moral values that may be shocking to the target culture.

The translator may have to adapt them to the target culture. However, if the translator

disapproves of the dominant ethics of his/her culture, s/he may introduce the source

culture ethics to fight and ruin the governing ethics of the society.

The religious constraint on translation is probably the most influential one. If

there is something in the source language text that is considered as adverse or

unacceptable to the target religion, the translator is likely to adopt domesticating

strategies. Sometimes the translator may add his/her ideas or religious opinion to the

text. There are some bad examples of this in history. The most famous examples are

William Tyndale and the French humanist Etienne Dolet. Tyndale was tried for

heresy and executed in the Netherlands in 1536. Dolet was sentenced to death in

1546 for adding, in his translation of one of Plato’s dialogues, the phrase rien du tout

(‘nothing at all’) in a passage about what existed after death (Munday, 2008).

4.1.3. State Norms

The state or the government might set some rules or norms for films to be

shown at cinemas and on television. Some countries have a rating system for films

according to their contents, for example sex, violence and language. That the

translator ignores these rules or norms might result in censorship.

Gürata (2007) explains this as follows:

In some cases, the movies were significantly altered for particular export markets. More importantly, local distributors, exhibitors and censorship bodies modified these movies to facilitate their reception by their culturally specific audiences. Sometimes scenes were removed, or performances featuring local stars were inserted into the original prints. These transformations particularly affected the local context of reception in relation to the experience of modernization and modernity. (p. 335)

30

There are also some individuals called “gatekeepers” who decide whether a

message from a sender will be passed to the receiver intact or changed.

Baumgarten (2005) talks about this issue of “gatekeeping”:

It describes a particular phenomenon of information filtering with the goal of executing social control. “Gatekeeping” refers to the alteration of a message on its way from the sender to the receiver: In the process of communication, a message is seen as passing through successive gates between the original sender and the ultimate receiver. At each gate, there is one person – a member of the culture, possibly a representative of an institution – who may alter the message by adding or eliminating information. The idea of “gatekeeping” is that messages are transformed by the particular interests and knowledge of the person at the gate. In the process of film translation, the film text likewise can be seen as passing through several gates. (p. 32)

Politics is an important constraint on the translator and the translation process

in this sense. It can even be said that politics limits the translator’s ideological space.

Politics sets down what can be translated from other cultures at a given time to fulfill

the political goals and the social development of the target culture. Therefore, the

political power over the translator’s translating activity should not be undervalued.

The translator may develop some strategies when s/he is faced with political

constraints. S/he may change the source text that is regarded politically wrong for the

sake of political censorship. Other strategies include revision, condensation, and

neutralization.

4.2. SYNCHRONY-BASED APPROACH

It was Istvan Fodor (as cited in O’Connell, 2003) who first introduced

constraint-based approach to dubbing within the content of different types of

synchrony. He divided synchrony into three:

a) phonetic synchrony which exists ‘when unity is achieved between the articulatory movements seen and the sounds heard’

31

b) character synchrony which relates to the degree of correspondence between the dubbing voice, e.g. timbre, tempo, used and the original actor’s physique and manner and gestures

c) content synchrony which is achieved when the semantic content of the original and dubbed script versions match each other closely. (p. 77)

Whitman-Linsen (as cited in Thompson, 2009) later studied in detail different

types of synchrony. These can be stated as:

visual / optical synchrony i. lip synchrony (correspondence of sounds heard with perceived

lip movement on screen) ii. syllable articulation synchrony (correspondence of heard and

perceived syllables) iii. isochrony (correspondence of length of utterances, i.e. the voice

we hear begins and ends when it appears to do so on screen) iv. kinetic synchrony (correspondence between voice heard and

perceived gestures and facial expressions) audio / acoustic synchrony

i. idiosyncratic vocal type (does the voice seem to match the character?)

ii. paralinguistic elements (how does the voice express things like mood, emotion, etc. paralinguistically – through pitch, tempo, etc.?)

iii. prosody (what is the tone, tempo of the voice?) iv. cultural variations (how to handle incongruent ways of dealing

with certain situations between cultures?) v. accents and dialects (how are these to be represented in the

dubbed version?). (pp. 67-68)

What is noteworthy here is that the translator can only change the source

dialogue, not the source image, that is, the images on screen. Consequently, the

translator should not translate the verbal text without considering the visual text.

Otherwise, some mistakes would be inevitable. That is because what makes the film

meaningful is visual text as well as verbal text. The visual text is a hindrance for the

translator but at the same time it might help to clarify the ambiguities that verbal

texts raise. That is, a picture can easily express what a word cannot. This is also

helpful for the audience to understand the message.

32

4.2.1. Lip-Synchrony

Lip synchronization is to match the lips of the performer speaking the source

language to the translated dubbed dialogue. Lip synchronization is the issue that is

put emphasis on in dubbing. The quality of the translation has been evaluated

according to the quality of lip-synch. Especially the close-up shots make the

translator’s task hard. But this is rare. In fact, much of the film is shot in long or

medium shots. And this facilitates the translator’s work.

Lip-synchrony is a factor which affects the translation process directly.

Chaume (2004) underlines that:

The translator should maintain the impression of verisimilitude fitting the open vowels and bilabial consonants into those instants in which the person on the screen in close-up shot visibly opens his/her mouth or closes his/her lips in order to articulate a bilabial vowel or consonant respectively. (p. 20)

Translated dialogue should be about the same length as the original dialogue

as well as the same duration of time. Furthermore, some languages might not have

some lip movements that are in source language and this pushes the translator to

modify the text accordingly and puts his or her skills into test.

The aim of the lip-synch is to give the impression that the performers on the

screen speak the target language so that the audience do not feel alienated. So, lip-

synch is important for the audience. Asynchronism of the lip movements leads to the

audience understanding that the film they are watching is not genuine, which is

rather incongruous in dubbing in that dubbing is intended to give the impression that

it is a domestic product.

Herbst (as cited in Voigt, 2002) defines lip-synch types as:

(1) qualitative lip-synch, (2) quantitative lip-synch, (3) lip-synch concerning speech tempo (4) lip-synch concerning volume and distinctness of articulation

33

Qualitative lip synch is the match of source language and target language.

Quantitative lip-synch is the match of the length of the utterances in both the source

language and the target language. The translator can add or omit some words without

losing the meaning to fit the dialogue into the length of time. In off-screen scenes,

where the performer cannot be seen or turns his or her back, it will be easier for the

translator to translate the script into the target language and culture. Speech tempo is

closely related to the number of syllables and phonemes in both languages.

4.2.2. Content Synchrony

Content synchrony is defined as “matching the semantic content of the

original and dubbed script versions closely” (O’Connell, 2007, p. 130). The original

script of the film must match with the translated script as much as possible whether

dynamically or formally. Dubbing, by its very nature, is open to censorship and

abuse. The translator’s hands are tied by the rules or laws of the film company or the

state. S/he is not free to act as s/he wishes.

Whether the original script and dubbed script match is not an important issue

in the eyes of the audience. After all, they are not in a position to evaluate the

accuracy of the dubbed script because of the fact that dubbing is a covert translation.

Therefore, dubbed films are open to much adaptation and this makes translator’s task

easier. But at the same time they are also open to censorship and abuse as mentioned

above.

Content, i.e. the script of the film, does not mean anything on its own. It has a

meaning together with the visual code. So content should prop up the action on the

screen. All things considered, film does not just consist of a script, but visuals and

sounds. In dubbing, the translator can only change the written content, and s/he must

transfer the content in its entirety by taking the other codes involved into account.

34

4.3. TRANSLATOR’S ATTITUDE

Translation is not a simple transfer from one language to another. It is a

process that reveals the translator’s choices, attitude and decisions s/he reflects in

his/her translation by different ways such as omission, addition etc. Various factors

such as the nature, type or genre of the text (film), culture, target language, source

language might determine the translator’s choice, attitude and decisions. As Nida

(1964) points out:

No translator can avoid a certain degree of personal involvement in his work. In his interpretation of the source-language message, his selection of corresponding words and grammatical forms, and his choice of stylistic equivalents, he will inevitably be influenced by his overall empathy with author and message, or his lack of it. ……the human translator is not a machine, and he inevitably leaves the stamp of his own personality on any translation he makes. This being the case, he must exert every effort to reduce to a minimum any intrusion of himself which is not in harmony with the intent of the original author and message. (p. 154)

Translator’s own attitude to translation or to the specific film is a determining

factor. What kind of approach and strategies the translator adopts, what his/her

cultural, social, ideological and religious background is, even his/her mood during

the process of translation shapes the decisions that the translator takes.

Yazıcı (2007) states:

Translation norms are one of the main topics of discussion in the field of Translation Studies. The underlying reason for this discussion is that they intervene in translation processes and subconsciously determine the translators’ decisions during the translation act. That is to say, although norms are decisive in the cognitive processes of the translators, it is not easy to detect them directly throughout the translation process as a result of the covert nature of their defining features. Besides, translators gain professionalism, as long as they develop reflex responses to existent norms. (p. 219)

The translator is at the center of the translation. And the translator must

possess the knowledge and the skills to be able to translate the specific film.

Especially AVT translator must possess the knowledge of source language and

35

culture, and likewise target language and culture, film-type knowledge, adaptation,

paraphrasing and rephrasing skills and must have an extensive vocabulary in both

languages. We can add to these Bell’s (1991) own translator model.

The translator must know (a) how propositions are structured (semantic knowledge), (b) know how clauses can be synthesized to carry prepositional content and analyzed to retrieve the content embedded in them (syntactic knowledge), and (c) how the clause can be realized in an information-bearing text and the text decomposed into the clause (pragmatic knowledge). (p. 37)

These knowledge and skills are important for the dubbing translator since s/he

is in a position to play with words to fit them into lip-movements. The translator has

to adjust the translated text so that it fits to the lip-movements of the performers. To

achieve this, the translator might change the order of words, use synonyms that fit to

the lip-movement better, shorten or lengthen the sentences or make inverted

sentences as Ferdi Tayfur, Turkish dubbing actor, did. This is sometimes done at the

expense of good translation.

The institution which employs the translator demands that the expectation of

both source language and audience should be met. The tasks of the translator vary

according to the type of the text (film). The translator is not alone in the translation

process. The translator is under pressure from the expectation of the institution and

audience during the process of translation. It has been mentioned before that the

“translation initiator”, here the institution or the firm that gives the translation task to

the translator, is the driving force behind the act of translation and it is typical that it

demands the translator to conform some predefined set of conditions. Similarly, the

audience expectation or the nature of the audience, that is, educational level or

whether they are children or adults have an effect on the translator.

CHAPTER V: CHALLENGES OF DUBBING

5.1. CULTURAL ELEMENTS

There are many definitions of culture. Here are a few: E. B. Tylor (as cited in

Sardar & Van Loon, 1999) said that culture is “that complex whole which includes

knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits

acquired by man as a member of society”. Raymond Williams (as cited in Sardar &

Van Loon, 1999) said that “culture includes the organization of production, the

structure of the family, the structure of institutions which express or govern social

relationships, the characteristic forms through which members of the society

communicate”. Margaret Mead (as cited in Sardar & Van Loon, 1999) said that

“culture is the learned behavior of a society or a subgroup”. The following definition

may be a comprehensive one as well:

The deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, social hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relationships, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. (Samovar & Porter, 2003, p. 8)

Culture has a central place in AVT as in other translation types and it is

impossible for a researcher to study film translation in isolation from the cultural

contexts (Delabastita, 1990).

In films, cultural elements are conveyed through both visual and verbal

channel. To begin with, translator should recognize, pick up, interpret and analyze

these cultural elements in films. This means that the translator should be not only

bilingual but also bicultural. Only in this case can the translator render the source

culture into the target culture successfully. However, despite all the translator’s

efforts, a complete transfer of cultural elements may be unmanageable.

In written translation, cultural elements are relatively easy to transfer to target

culture. But in a multimedial environment of verbal and visual channel, transferring

cultural elements is a real challenge. This is because the translator can transfer the

37

verbal channel but the visual channel remains untouched. In other words, translated

verbal channel may not correspond to untouched visual channel.

Again in written translation, paralinguistic features like body language,

gestures, facial expressions, tone and pitch of voice are somehow described in text

but in films we see these paralinguistic features on screen. The fact that the

paralinguistic features in source culture do not have the equivalent in target culture or

are expressed in different body language is another problem for the translator.

Much as cultures come closer thanks to the globalization and share much

more cultural references, cultural differences will continue to exist because nations

tend to preserve their cultures against foreign influence and they transmit their

cultural assets to the next generations. It is important that people interact peacefully

with other cultures without losing their cultural identities by showing respect for the

diversity of cultures.

In a dubbed film, to transfer everything linguistically and culturally from one

language and culture to the other language and culture is relatively impossible

because of the visual code. Although cultural adaptation happens linguistically, this

is limited. Visual code poses an insurmountable obstacle for the translator.

Tomaszkiewicz (as cited in Pettit, 2009) lists the strategies for translating

cultural elements as follows:

1. Omission, whereby the cultural reference is omitted altogether. 2. Literal translation, where the solution in the target text matches the

original as closely as possible. 3. Borrowing, where original terms from the source text are used in the

target text. 4. Equivalence, where translation has a similar meaning and function in

the target culture. 5. Adaptation, where the translation is adjusted to the target language

and culture in an attempt to evoke similar connotations to the original. Strictly speaking this can be considered a form of equivalence.

6. Replacement of the cultural term with deictics, particularly when supported by an on-screen gesture or a visual clue.

7. Generalization, which might also be referred to as neutralization of the original.

38

8. Explication, which usually involves a paraphrase to explain the cultural term. (p. 45)

5.2. HUMOROUS ELEMENTS

Dictionary of Media and Communications (“Humor,” 2009) defines humor as

“state of producing or perceiving something as funny, generally accompanied by

laughter”. Oxford Dictionary of English (“Humour,” 2010) defines it as “the quality

of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech”.

The translation of humorous elements is one of the most challenging areas of

AVT and it tests the translator’s skills to the best of his or her ability. One of the

main reasons for this is that humorous elements depend on wordplays, puns and

language plays and that they mostly have a visual code with them.

Naturally, it is quite usual for different cultures to have different sense of

humor. Even in the same community, people have different sense of humor. While

translating humorous elements, the translator should take the nature of the text,

culture, the target language and the source language into consideration. The first

thing that the translator should do is to pick up humorous elements and to translate

them into the target language in a way that they have the same humorous effect.

Martinez-Sierra (2006) organizes humorous elements into eight different

groups:

1. Community-and-Institutions Elements refer to cultural or intertextual features that are rooted and tied to a specific culture.

2. Community-Sense-of-Humor Elements, the topics of which appear to be more popular in certain communities than in others, an idea that does not imply any cultural specificity, but rather a preference.

3. Linguistic Elements are based on linguistic features. They may be explicit or implicit, spoken or written.

4. Visual Elements comprise a differentiation between the humor produced by what we can see on the screen and those elements that in fact constitute a visually coded version of a linguistic element.

5. Graphic Elements: This type includes the humor derived from a written message inserted in a screen picture.

39

6. Paralinguistic Elements. This group includes the non-verbal qualities of a voice, such as the intonation, the rhythm, the tone, the timbre, the resonance, etc., which are associated with expressions of emotions such as screams, sighs, or laughter.

7. Non-Marked (Humorous) Elements represent miscellaneous instances that are not easily categorized as one of the other categories but are, nevertheless, humorous. They may have either an acoustic or a visual form, and can be either explicit or implicit.

8. Sound Elements. They are sounds that by themselves or in combination with others may be humorous. They are explicitly and acoustically found in the soundtrack and the special effects when these contribute to the humor. (pp. 290-291)

As Chaume (2004a) says “the main function of audiovisual translation is to

produce a similar effect on the target culture audience as the source text produced on

the source culture audience” (p. 844). According to Nida (2000) there are two kinds

of equivalence: formal and dynamic. Formal equivalence is “designed to reveal as

much as possible of the form and content of the original message”. The translator

here tries to convey the message to the reader or audience as much as possible. In

contrast with formal equivalence, dynamic equivalence is “the closest natural

equivalent to the source-language message”. Translator here tries to recreate the

same effect on the receptor. The desired equivalence is the dynamic one but when the

translator cannot recreate the same effect on the receptor, s/he opts for formal

equivalence (pp. 134-136). The answer to the problem of cultural gaps with no

formal equivalence might be dynamic equivalence. So, recreating the same effect of

source text on the target audience can be achieved.

5.3. LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS

Linguistic elements within humorous elements in AVT are the most common.

They depend on the linguistic features such as auditory, formal, stylistic and

figurative. It is obvious that the translator’s task is almost impossible since every

language has its own distinctive linguistic features.

40

5.3.1. Wordplays

Delabastita (1996) suggests the following definition of wordplay:

Wordplay is the general name for the various textual phenomena in which structural features of the language(s) used are exploited in order to bring about a communicatively significant confrontation of two (or more) linguistic structures with more or less similar forms and more or less different meanings. (p. 128)

And he (1996) divides the wordplay or punning into the following categories:

homonymy (identical sounds and spelling) homophony (identical sounds but different spellings) homography (different sounds but identical spelling) paronymy (there are slight differences in both spelling and sound). (p.

128)

Delabastita (1996) offers the following translation methods of puns or

wordplays:

PUN→ PUN: the source-text pun is translated by a target-language pun, which may be more or less different from the original wordplay in terms of formal structure, semantic structure, or lexical function

PUN→ NON-PUN: the pun is rendered by a non-punning phrase which may salvage both senses of wordplay but in a non-punning conjunction, or select one of the senses at the cost of suppressing the other; of course, it may also occur that both components of the pun are translated ‘beyond recognition’

PUN→ RELATED RHETORICAL DEVICE: the pun is replaced by some wordplay-related rhetorical device (repetition, alliteration, rhyme, referential vagueness, irony, paradox, etc.) which also aims to recapture the effect of the source-text pun

PUN→ ZERO: the portion of text containing the pun is simply omitted

PUN ST = PUN TT: the translator reproduces the source-text pun and possibly its immediate environment in its original formulation, i.e. without actually ‘translating’ it

NON-PUN→ PUN: the translator introduces a pun in textual positions where the original text has no wordplay, by way of compensation to make up for source-text puns lost elsewhere, or for any other reason

41

ZERO→ PUN: totally new textual material is added, which contains wordplay and which has no apparent precedent or justification in the source text except as a compensatory device

EDITORIAL TECHNIQUES: explanatory footnotes or endnotes, comments provided in translator’s forewords, the anthological presentation of different, supposedly complementary solutions to one and the same source-text problem, and so forth. (p. 134)

Everything in a film, even the camera angle and type of shot, adds to the

meaning of the wordplay. So, the translator should pay extra attention to visual,

auditory, verbal and non-verbal codes and signals more than ever. The translator

might find a way to translate the wordplay in some way or the other but it could be

impossible when the verbal text is linked to the visual text, that is, the image on

screen. As Onaran (1978) said “it is out of the question that cinema, a visual

language, can be translated visually” (p. 86). (Translated by the author of this thesis).

In this case, the translator may turn to the abovementioned strategies to handle the

problem. In comparison to literary translators, dubbing translators are more limited in

terms of using strategies. Dubbing translators have no chance to add explanatory

notes in contrast to literary translators. When literary translators do not find a

humorous situation or a joke funny, they can replace it with one that is. But as far as

the AVT is concerned, if the verbal joke is linked to the image on screen, it allows

less room for the dubbing translator to change the joke. When changed, the joke will

not give the intended effect and there will be a visual mismatch between the verbal

and visual text.

5.3.2. Swear Words

Swear words are common in films, especially in American ones. The

translator might have to weaken the swear words because of the state and social

norms. The films consisting of a lot of swear words are likely to be censored.

Additionally, the pressure of the society forces the translator to weaken the strong

swear words. We cannot deny the existence of swear words in language and culture.

Although every culture has swear words, they vary from culture to culture. In some

42

cultures they are very explicit while in some cultures they are implicit. Taking this

into account, translator might use a mild swear word instead of strong ones.

5.3.3. Dialects

Dialect is defined as “a variety of a language, spoken in one part of a country

(regional dialect), or by people belonging to a particular social class (social dialect or

SOCIOLECT), which is different in some words, grammar, and/or pronunciation

from other forms of the same language” (“Dialect,” 2010).

The way that people speak tells us a lot about them. We may have a lot of

clues about the person’s geographical location or social class. In dubbing, all these

things are lost. We only hear the standard language. When the translator decides to

transfer the dialect into the target language, how can s/he decide if the dialect in the

target language is the equivalent of the source dialect? Therefore, in most cases the

translator cannot help but translate the dialects as standard language.

5.3.4. Idiolects

Apart from their dialects, every person has their own way of speaking. They

use specific words, pronounce words differently and use particular syntactic

structures that make themselves different from the other people. Transferring this

idiosyncratic way of using language is important for the viewers to get the most out

of the films. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Again, as in the dialects, the

translator might have to translate them as standard language.

5.3.5. Songs

Songs are an important part of films and they are there for a reason. They are

not selected randomly just for fun. They are relevant to the film’s plot so the

translator should pay attention to them.

43

Low (2006) discusses different types of song translating according to the

function that the translation is intended for and distinguishes five main functions that

a song translation may have:

1. To be sung in the target language 2. To be spoken as an introduction to the original song 3. To be read in a recital program or a CD insert 4. To be studied by the singer preparing to perform the song in the source

language 5. To be displayed as surtitles while the song or opera is being

performed, or as subtitles on a videoed performance. (p. 512)

Creating singable texts is a certain challenge to the translator because s/he is

subject to constraints imposed by the pre-existing music, which has its own rhythms

and note-values that the translator cannot overlook.

Low (2006) talks about the strategies that the translator could employ:

Because of the constraints imposed by the pre-existing music, song translators resort to numerous methods in order to overcome the difficulties they encounter. These include ….. things like paraphrase, transposition, and modulation…..replacement metaphors, compensation in place, calque, omission, explicitation, cultural adaptation, superordinates, stylistic equivalence, the suppression of difficult verses, the use of added words to solve rhythmical problems, and the replacement of rhyme with assonance. (p. 512)

Of course, to translate a song word for word is impossible because it will not

fit the music in the target language. What should be done is to understand the essence

of the song and recreate it as much as possible in the target language. The translator

is subject to constraints such as rhythm and note-values of the pre-existing music.

Besides, rhyming is important in songs and is expected to be included in target

translation. If the song is not to be sung in the target language, the translator can

translate the song more freely. Translator in this case is not dependent on rhythm

and note-values.

There is a general tendency to dub songs in cartoons and animated films and

to subtitle in other films. When the translator chooses to dub the song, it is essential

that s/he should produce a singable song in the target language. Sometimes songs in

44

films are especially written for the characters in films; in this case the translator has

no option but to translate the song. Content, rhythm and rhyme are key components

of songs and when the song is translated they should be present in the translated and

dubbed song.

Drinker (1950) suggests six requisites in an adequate English text for a vocal

work:

(1) to preserve the notes, rhythm, and phrasing of the music; (2) to be readily singable with the particular music; (3) to be appropriate to the particular music; (4) to be idiomatic and natural English, and not merely translated

German, Italian, etc.; (5) to contain rhymes wherever the music or the text calls for them; (6) to reproduce the spirit and substantially the meaning of the original.

(p. 226) Just as the translator cannot interfere or change the image on screen, s/he

cannot modify the music. Only thing s/he can do is to translate the song lyrics

without altering the notes, rhythm and phrasing of the music. Besides finding words

that are sung and pronounced easily with the particular music, the translator should

also come up with words appropriate to the particular music. Translated song should

not seem to be a translation from a different language. By contrast, it should sound

like natural and original in the target language. Rhymes in songs are important but at

the same time they pose a great challenge for the translator. Rhyming dictionaries

could be useful for the translator. And lastly, as abovementioned, the translator

should not attempt to make a literal translation of the song. Instead, s/he must try to

reproduce the song by sticking by the spirit and essence of it.

CHAPTER VI: SHREK 2

6.1. ABOUT THE FILM

The Shrek film series from DreamWorks Animation is based on William

Steig’s picture book, Shrek!. The series consists of four computer-animated films:

Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and Shrek Forever After. The film series has been a

great financial success, with the films collectively being the fifth highest-grossing

film series of all-time (behind Harry Potter, James Bond, Star Wars, and Pirates of

the Caribbean) (Shrek (film series), 2011).

It was critically acclaimed as an animated film worthy of adult interest, with

many adult-oriented jokes and themes but a simple enough plot and humor to appeal

to children. Shrek won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and

nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Shrek, 2011).

Shrek 2 was released on 19 May 2004, directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly

Asbury and Conrad Vernon and produced by John H. Williams, Aron Warner,

Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Lipman with a budget of $150m. Total box office of

the film is $920,665,658. The film features the voices of Mike Myers (Shrek), Eddie

Murphy (Donkey), Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona), Antonio Banderas (Puss in

Boots), Julie Andrews (Queen Lilian), John Cleese (King Harold), Rupert Everett

(Prince Charming) and Jennifer Saunders (Fairy Godmother).

Like its predecessor, Shrek 2 received positive reviews. Shrek 2 scored the

fourth-largest three day opening weekend in US history, as well as the largest

opening for an animated film until May 18, 2007, when it was eclipsed by its sequel

Shrek the Third (Shrek 2, 2011).

Shrek 2 is not just another animated movie. There are messages in the film,

explicit or implicit. The obvious message is that beauty is only skin-deep and

everybody, even an ogre deserves to be happy. As a revisionist fairy tale, Shrek 2

breaks with tradition: dragons are friendly, swamps are good places to live and true

heroes and heroines are not handsome and beautiful or noble. That explains the

46

reason for its huge financial success: ability to give the audience something new, to

make the old stories attractive and interesting.

As a pedagogical text, Shrek 2 has to be scrutinized closely because

mainstream corporate media tend to convey their messages in a format of

entertainment. Kellner and Share (2005) point out:

Individuals are often not aware that they are being educated and constructed by media culture, as its pedagogy is frequently invisible and unconscious. This situation calls for critical approaches that make us aware of how media construct meanings, influence and educate audiences, and impose their messages and values. (p. 372)

There are social messages about gender, class, ethnicity in the film.

Regarding gender, Shrek 2 uses effectively “girl power”. Fiona says what she thinks

directly; she is physically strong and practices martial arts. Females in the film have

much more power than their spouses. As for class, Shrek is portrayed as a stranger

who is physically (skin color), culturally (practices different customs) and

linguistically (speaks English with an accent) different. He is a problem in Far Far

Away and must go back where he belongs. Donkey and Puss in Boots are two

characters described as African Americans and Latinos. Donkey (voiced by Eddie

Murphy) uses a specific voice and language, speaks English as a native but

differently from other English-speaking characters in Far Far Away as it has been

referred to African American English. The choice of donkey as a friend for Shrek is

also meaningful. Donkeys are work animals and they are valued for their

workability. Puss in Boots represents the Latino culture and Spanish language and he

is portrayed as a killer, thief and a drug dealer (Marshall & Sensoy 2009; Pimentel &

Velazquez 2009).

Before talking about Shrek 2, it’s better to tell about the first film of the

series, Shrek to better understand the plot. Shrek is a green ogre who wants to live

alone in his swamp, but his happy life is ruined when fairy tale creatures are forced

to live in his swamp by the evil Lord Farquaad. Shrek goes to Lord Farquaad’s

palace with a talking Donkey tagging along. Lord Farquaad needs Princess Fiona to

become king so he agrees to remove fairy tale creatures from the swamp if Shrek

47

rescues Princess Fiona from the fire-breathing dragon. Shrek rescues Princess Fiona.

When Donkey sees the Dragon, he sweet-talks to save himself. The Dragon is a girl

and she falls in love with Donkey. Donkey, Shrek and Fiona escape from the Dragon.

Fiona is disappointed when she realizes her rescuer is an ogre. On their way back,

Shrek and Fiona get to know each other better and fall in love. Donkey finds out that

Fiona is cursed and turns into an ogress at night and only way the curse to be broken

is by true love’s first kiss. While Fiona and Lord Farquaad are having a marriage

ceremony, Shrek comes in and says that he loves Fiona. Angry, Lord Farquaad

orders Shrek to be killed. Dragon comes and eats Lord Farquaad. Shrek and Fiona

kiss. Fiona is surprised to remain an ogress. Shrek tells her that she is still beautiful.

They get married and go on their honeymoon.

In Shrek 2, story continues where it ends. Shrek and Fiona come back from

their honeymoon to find an invitation to a royal ball with Fiona’s parents to celebrate

their marriage. Shrek does not want to go but in the end goes unwillingly. Shrek,

Fiona and Donkey journey to the kingdom of Far Far Away. King Harold and Queen

Lillian are surprised to see that their daughter is married an ogre and she herself has

turned into an ogress too.

At dinner, Shrek and King Harold argue over how Shrek and Fiona will raise

their family. Fiona is disgusted at Shrek and her father’s behavior and goes to her

room. She meets her Fairy Godmother who is also surprised at Fiona’s new looks.

Shrek is worried that he has lost his true love and learns that she was once crazy

about Prince Charming.

Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming tell King Harold to get rid of Shrek.

King Harold hires an assassin, Puss in Boots to kill Shrek and tells Shrek to join him

on a fictitious hunting trip, which really is a trap.

Puss in Boots fails to defeat Shrek and reveals that he was paid by King

Harold. Shrek decides to go to the Fairy Godmother for help. Puss joins them. Fairy

Godmother tells Shrek that ogres do not live “happily ever after”. The three sneak

into the Fairy Godmother’s potion factory and steal a “Happily Ever After” potion.

48

Shrek and Donkey both drink the potion. It starts to rain; they go into a barn

from the rain and fall asleep. When they awake, they discover they have turned into a

handsome man and a stallion. In order to make the change permanent, Shrek must

kiss Fiona by midnight. Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots return to the castle and

discover that the potion has also transformed Fiona into her human self. However,

the Fairy Godmother learns of the potion’s theft, stops Shrek and sends Charming to

pose as Shrek and win Fiona’s love. Fairy Godmother makes Shrek believe that the

best way to make Fiona happy is to let her go.

Fairy Godmother gives King Harold a love potion to put into Fiona’s tea to

make Fiona fall in love with Prince Charming. Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots

eavesdrop this conversation. Noticed, they run away and soon are arrested by the

royal guards and thrown into a dungeon. Shrek’s fairy tale creature friends rescue the

three from the dungeon. They go to the Muffin Man to get him to make a gigantic

gingerbread man to enter the castle so Shrek can stop Prince Charming from kissing

Fiona. When Shrek arrives, he finds he is too late to stop them. Prince Charming

kisses Fiona but Fiona, instead of falling in love with Prince Charming, head-butts

him. Realizing that Harold never gave Fiona the love potion, the Fairy Godmother

attacks Shrek with a spell from her wand, but King Harold sacrifices himself to save

Shrek. Spell rebounds off King Harold’s armor and disintegrates the Fairy

Godmother. King Harold turns into a frog, his true form.

Clock strikes midnight, Fiona refuses to kiss Shrek and wants to live happily

ever after with the ogre she married. They change to their ogre selves, Donkey

changes back as well, and they live happily ever after.

6.2. DATA

The data of this study were taken from Shrek 2 DVD (Katzenberg, Lipman,

Warner, Williams & Adamson, Asbury, Wernon, 2004). The film is eighty nine

minutes long. There are many extras in the DVD in addition to the film. The DVD

has two audio commentary tracks from the filmmakers. The first commentary is from

the two of the three directors, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon, the second from

49

producer Aron Warner and editor Mike Andrews. Turkish audio and subtitle is

available. I have watched the film many times with different options. I have chosen

Shrek 2 because the film has a rich content of linguistic and allusive humor and it is

chock-full of popular culture references such as TV series, Hollywood movies, TV

commercials, celebrities, books, magazines which will be examined in Chapter VIII.

CHAPTER VII: ANALYSIS OF CONSTRAINTS OF DUBBING

The AVT constraints in this chapter will be analyzed under three headings:

Norm-based constraints, synchrony-based constraints and translator’s attitude.

7.1. NORM-BASED CONSTRAINTS

7.1.1. Institutional Norms

It might have been the institution’s expectation that the translator would make

some adaptations to the film to make the film sound familiar in Turkish.

Additionally, in the institutional content, the audience would expect to enjoy and

participate in the humor of the film. In this case, moving the text closer to the

Turkish culture seems the right way to follow. There are some examples of this effort

in the film. The translator has used some words like “kardeşim, yenge, anam, len”

native to Turkish culture and language.

7.1.2. Social Norms

The translator has translated “sexy man boy chauffeur” “sexy tush” “now we

are sexy” thinking that “seksi” is not sexually explicit word. There is one instance

that the translator has chosen to translate similarly in a way that it is appropriate to

the context.

Example 1

Setting: After stealing the love potion, Shrek is about to drink it. Donkey

warns him.

SL: No more itchy butt crack.

TL: Artık bacakların kaşınmayacak.

51

The translator here has rightfully used “bacakların” instead of explicit

translation of “butt crack” thinking that exact translated word will be more offensive

for Turks.

Example 2

Setting: Fairy Godmother and Fiona meet for the first time. Fairy

Godmother sings about the beauty of being a princess.

SL: You and your prince take a roll in the hay.

TL: Görünce nutku tutulacak, hey.

“A roll in the hay” means making love with somebody. The translator here

has preferred a more neutral translation instead of direct translation because of the

social norms. The Turkish translation is appropriate to the context and “hey” rhymes

with “hay”.

7.1.3. State Norms

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rated this film PG meaning

“Parental Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children”

for some crude potty humor, a brief substance reference (drug joke) and some

suggestive content (some words and kissing, Pinocchio wearing ladies’ underwear).

However, Radyo Televizyon Üst Kurulu (RTÜK) rated the film as “Genel İzleyici

Kitlesi”. The main reason for this difference possibly is that these elements are lost

when translated into Turkish.

7.2. SYNCRONY-BASED CONSTRAINTS

7.2.1. Lip-Synchrony

Never is it possible to achieve a 100% lip-synchrony because languages have

different patterns of articulation, even in the same language families. The audience

will not notice small violations of sync, particularly in long-shot scenes. The

52

audience mostly tends to notice sounds which are articulated at the beginning or at

the end. Besides, there are some factors that prevent the audience from noticing the

asynchronies such as poor lighting, noisy activity, music, dramatic action, camera

angle and shot type.

Generally, it is not crucial to achieve perfect lip-sync in animated films.

Instead, maintaining isochrony is necessary. But as the technology advances,

animators make the characters look life-like with the help of high-tech computers. In

Shrek 2 over 300 Hewlett Packard workstations were used in the making of the film.

Shrek’s face is so expressive because it has 218 working muscles in it.

There are some asynchrony instances that are noticeable in the Turkish

dubbing of the film.

Example 1:

Setting: At the beginning of the film, Prince Charming goes to rescue

Princess Fiona.

SL: For he was the bravest, and most handsome... in all the land.

TL: Çünkü o, ülkenin en cesur, en yakışıklı… prensiymiş tabii ki.

Here, there is a distinct asynchrony between the Turkish dubbing cesur and

its corresponding word most in that the former is articulated with dental and rounded

vowel while the latter is bilabial.

Example 2:

Setting: The scene where Prince Charming poses himself as Shrek.

SL: But not the way I feel about you.

TL: Ama sana olan duygularımı değil.

Here again, lip movements are very distinct because of the fact that they are

articulated very differently.

Example 3:

Setting: Shrek and Fiona argue over coming to the royal ball.

SL: Do you think it might be nice if somebody asked me what I wanted?

53

TL: Arada bir de benim ne istediğimi sorsan hiç fena olmaz değil mi?

Fiona asks this question and when she says “me”, she points herself. In

Turkish dubbing, translation of “me” “benim” comes initially before Fiona pointing

herself causing visual and lip synchrony mismatch.

7.2.2. Content Synchrony

The translator has made many free adaptations while translating, especially

for Donkey’s dialogues probably to make the Donkey character more amusing.

Although they are not in the script, the translator has also made several additional

dialogues where the context allows it. There are also a few translational mistakes.

Example 1

Setting: Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon and find Donkey

in their cottage. Donkey says he is taking care of the cottage and talks

about the fish.

SL: I call that one Shrek and the other Fiona. That Shrek is rascally devil.

Get your…

TL: Birinin adı Shrek, öbürünün adı Fiona. Shrek tam bir canavar. Eşek

amcanız yesin sizi.

Example 2

Setting: Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon and find Donkey

in their cottage and want him to leave them alone. He goes out sadly.

SL: Maybe I’ll see y’all for a barbecue or something.

TL: Sizinle Pazar günü mangal yaparız. Pijamalarınızı da giyin.

In the two examples above, there is no corresponding source language of the

dubbed dialogue. Again, when Shrek, Fiona and Donkey arrive at the Far Far Away,

we see that Rapunzel and Cinderella names on the gates. Although there is no

dialogue, Donkey says “Rapunzel saçların nerde? Sarkıt da geleyim. Oo demek

Sinderella burada yaşıyormuş.”

54

Example 3

Setting: Knights are chasing Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots in the

forest.

SL: We got a white Bronco heading east into the forest.

TL: Ormanda doğuya doğru ilerleyen beyaz bir eşek görülmüş.

After drinking the potion, Donkey turns into a white stallion. So when the

knights chase them, Donkey is a white stallion, not a donkey. At the same time there

is a visual mismatch with the translation.

Example 4

Setting: Shrek’s fairy tale creature friends are watching Magic Mirror

(TV).

SL: I hate these ball shows.

TL: Balonlardan nefret ediyorum.

The translator here has made a totally wrong translation or it might have been

the dubbing actor’s fault. Because there is only one letter “n” between balon and

balo the correct translation. Of course, the audience does not understand the

connection between balon and the context because it does not make any sense.

Example 5

Setting: Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon to find Donkey at

home.

SL: Two can be as bad as one.

TL: İki hiç yoktan iyidir.

Donkey sings a line from “One”, a famous song by Three Dog Night. The

translator has completely translated the line wrong. The translator might have done

this on purpose because the context allows it.

Example 6

Setting: Shrek flips through the pages of Fiona’s diary.

SL: Mrs. Fiona Charming.

TL: Yakışıklı prens.

55

Here there is a complete mismatch between the visual text and verbal text. It

can be said that the translator has made a bad choice. Although the audience do not

understand the source language well, they can understand from the visuals that the

translation is not good.

7.3. TRANSLATOR’S ATTITUDE

As mentioned earlier, the translator tends to make the film funnier for the

Turkish audience by adapting or domesticating and by adding some words or

dialogues which in fact are not in the original script. This is because of either the

translator’s own preference or the institution’s demand from the translator. In either

case, both the translator and the institution are under the norms of target culture. In

the first example below, the lip movements of Donkey match the Turkish translation

but the translator instead of using “wow”, which is also used in Turkish, preferred

the funny one. In the second example, lip-synch is out of question because the

Donkey is off screen so the translator’s concern here is to make the film more

enjoyable for the Turkish audience.

Example 1

Setting: When Shrek, Fiona and Donkey arrive at the Far Far Away,

Donkey is amazed by the Far Far Away.

SL: Wow!

TL: Anauuuu!

Example 2

Setting: Same setting.

SL: Swimming pools, movie stars!

TL: Yüzme havuzuuu, film yıldızlaruuu!

The translator here has used the speaking styles of amazed village people

when they come to the city for the first time in old Turkish films. In fact there is a

reference here to “The Beverly Hillbillies”, an American situation comedy which is

about a poor backwoods family moving Beverly Hills after striking oil on their land,

56

broadcast from 1962 to 1971. Translating in that way, the translator here has made

the film funnier for the Turkish audience enabling them to enjoy the film to the full.

Use of some words like “kardeşim, yenge, anam, len” might also reflect the

translator’s attitude to the genre. This is humorous film and it can give the translator

a chance to add some funny and amusing words for the target audience. Below is a

good example for this.

Example 3

Setting: Shrek, Fiona, King, Queen and Donkey are at the dinner table.

Donkey wants food.

SL: Hey waiter! How about a bowl for the steed?

TL: Hey garson! Bir tabak versene bana lan.

CHAPTER VIII: ANALYSIS OF CHALLENGES OF DUBBING

The challenges of dubbing in AVT can be analyzed in Shrek 2 under the

following headings.

8.1. CULTURAL ELEMENTS

Shrek 2 abounds with cultural elements, whether they are visual or verbal. To

give an idea, the references to films in just the first five minutes of the film can be

given as an example. Hidalgo, Charlie’s Angels, The Wonder Years, From Here To

Eternity, The Little Mermaid, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,

The Sound of Music, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Spider Man, Peter Pan.

As it is seen, one needs to have a vast knowledge of popular culture to

understand many of the jokes. Let alone children even adults have difficulty noticing

the references and jokes. In addition to film references, there are fairy tale references,

television references, Hollywood references, TV commercial references, shops

references and people references.

Example 1

Setting: Red carpet scene before the royal ball.

SL: The abs are fab and it’s gluteus to the maximus here at tonight’s Far

Far Away Royal Ball blowout.

TL: Uzaklardaki Krallık’ta bu gece yapılan baloda gergin karın kasları ve

gluteus maximus çok moda.

Here, there is a reference to television series “Absolutely Fabulous” a British

sitcom often called Ab Fab and to “Gluteus to the Maximus” a book by Nick Nilsson

about how to make your butt bigger. References are completely lost when translated.

The translator must have misunderstood “abs” here since the dictionary meaning of

abs is the muscles on our abdomen or the translator have understood it right but

helplessly had to translate it as “gergin karın kasları” because there is no

58

correspondence of “Absolutely Fabulous” in Turkish culture. Anyway, Turkish

translation does not make the audience feel strange, but gluteus maximus raises a

question mark in the mind of the Turkish audience. Presumably, the translator has

avoided using the translation of “gluteus maximus” meaning largest muscle in

buttocks because of the suggestive content.

Example 2

Setting: Shrek is trying to sneak Donkey and Puss in Boots into the

potion room in a metal cart at the Fairy Godmother’s factory. Donkey

says to Puss in Boots.

SL: Hey man, you may want to get your fine Corinthian footwear and

your cat cheeks out of my face.

TL: Hey sıpa, çizmelerini ve tüylü kedi poponu yüzümden çeker misin

lütfen?

Fine Corinthian reference comes from an old Chrysler Cordoba commercial.

Ricardo Montalban uses to excite people about “fine Corinthian leather” which was

used to decorate the car’s interior. The translator has rightfully used only

“çizmelerini” because the cat is wearing boots. Otherwise, it does not mean anything

to the Turkish audience.

Example 3

Setting: Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon to find Donkey at

home. They try to get rid of him. Donkey pretends not to understand.

SL: Don’t you want to tell me about your trip. Or how about a game of

Parcheesi?

TL: Olur mu kardeşim bana yolculuğunuzu anlatmayacak mısınız?

The translator here has omitted the cultural element Parcheesi, a game played

with dice and counters on a board, because the visual text allows it. While saying the

line, Donkey goes off-screen so there is no problem with the lip-synchrony. This

gives the translator the opportunity to omit the cultural element.

59

Example 4

Setting: Shrek, Fiona and Donkey arrive in the Far Far Away after a long

journey.

SL: We’re definitely not in the swamp anymore.

TL: Burası bizim bataklığa hiç benzemiyor.

There is a clear allusion here to Dorothy’s comments “Toto, I’ve a feeling

that we’re not in Kansas anymore” to her dog when they first arrive in Munchkinland

in the film “the Wizard of Oz”. This is an allusion that the ordinary Turkish audience

cannot understand. Anyway, the Turkish translation does not give any clue about the

referenced film.

8.2. HUMOROUS ELEMENTS

Most humorous elements depend on the visual and graphic elements in the

film.

Example 1

“Knights” is obviously intended to be a parody of the Fox reality show

“Cops”

Example 2

When Puss in Boots comes bursting out from Shrek’s shirt in the film’s

attack scene, it is clearly a reference to Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror sci-fi

classic “Alien”.

Example 3

When Donkey’s caught out in the rain, he says “I’m melting, I’m

melting”. Just as the Wicked Witch in the film of “The Wizard of Oz”

dies when she is poured water on her.

Example 4

The Knights use pepper mills to bring Shrek under control as reference to

pepper spray.

60

Example 5

The Knights catch Puss in Boots and search him. They find “catnip” so-

called drug in Far Far Away. Puss in Boots says “That’s not mine”.

Example 6

When Prince Charming comes to the castle to rescue Fiona, he finds the

Wolf in bed reading “Pork Illustrated” with a pig in a bikini on the cover.

This is a clear reference “Sports Illustrated” magazine.

For the audience to enjoy the humorous elements here they have to know the

things that are referenced. Most of them are shows, films or magazines that belong to

the American popular culture.

8.3. LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS

A good example depending on the syntax of the language in Shrek 2, which

was cleverly and skillfully arranged, can be given for this. When the last words of the

sentences are connected to the first words of the following sentence, they make

sense.

Example 1

Setting: Shrek and Fiona come to the Far Far Away and they meet King and

Queen.

Source Language Target Language

Queen: Well, he’s no Prince Charming,

but they do look...

Shrek: Happy now? We came. We saw

them. Now let’s go before they light the

torches.

Fiona: They’re my parents.

Shrek: Hello? They locked you in a

Queen: A şey. Yakışıklı bir prens

sayılmaz ama ikisi de...

Shrek: Şimdi mutlu musun? Geldik,

gördük. Meşaleler yanmadan gitsek

daha iyi olacak.

Fiona: Onlar benim ailem

Shrek: Galiba unuttun. Seni bir kuleye

61

tower.

Fiona: Hey, That was for my own...

King: Good! Here’s our chance. Let’s go

back inside and pretend we’re not home.

Queen: Harold, we have to be...

Shrek: Quick! While they’re not

looking, we can make a run for it.

Fiona: Shrek, stop it! Everything’s

gonna be...

King: A disaster! There is no way...

Fiona: You can do this.

Shrek: But I really...

King: Really...

Queen: Really…

Fiona: Don’t...

King: Want...

Shrek: To...

Queen: Be...

All: Here.

hapsettiler.

Fiona: Hey, onların amacı...

King: Güzel! Bu fırsattan yararlanıp

içeri girip evde yokmuş gibi yapalım.

Queen: Harold, bu kadar yeter...

Shrek: Çabuk! Bu fırsattan yararlanıp

hemen buradan tüyelim.

Fiona: Shrek, yeter! Her şey iyi olacak.

King: Felaket! Bunu asla...

Fiona: Yapamazsın.

Shrek: Ama ben gerçekten...

King: Gerçekten...

Queen: Gerçekten…

Fiona: Onun...

King: Burda...

Shrek: Olmak...

Queen: Olmasını...

All: İstemiyorum.

Humorous effect in this example depends on the syntax of the sentences and

on the choice of words. When the last words at the end of the sentence are combined

with the first words of the next sentence, they make sense. Simple sentence structure

of English is subject, verb and object while in Turkish it is subject, object and verb.

This difference of syntax prevents the translator from creating the same humorous

effect in the target language. For example, in the first instance Queen ends her

sentence with “they do look” and Shrek starts his sentence with “happy now?”.

When they are combined, we get “they do look happy now”. In Turkish translation,

the translator naturally translates the first sentence as “ikisi de” as required by the

Turkish syntax and the next sentence as “şimdi mutlu musun?”, but when we

combine these, we get “ikisi de şimdi mutlu musun?” a meaningless sentence and

wrong translation away from giving the same linguistic effect.

62

8.3.1. Wordplays

There are some puns depending on the identical sounds of words

(homophony).

Example 1

Setting: Shrek makes fun of the honor guard that King Harold and Queen

Lillian have sent to the swamp.

SL: Then how do you explain Sergeant Pompous and the Fancy Pants

Club Band.

TL: Peki o halde bu Kibirli Albay ve Züppeler Kulübü Bandosu nedir?

Here, there is a reference to Beatles’ 1967 song and album with the same title

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Shrek sarcastically criticizes the band here

referring to their pomposity and the way they’re dressed. Even though the reference

is lost in Turkish translation, humorous effect seems to be achieved.

Example 2

Setting: Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots enter the potion room; they

look for the love potion.

SL: Elfa Seltzer

SL: Uh huh

SL: Hex Lax

SL: No try handsome

TL: Elfa Seltzer

TL: A ah

TL: Sinameki

TL: Yo yo yo hayır, erkek güzelini dene.

Alka-Seltzer is in fact a pain reliever. Elfa Seltzer, which has identical sound

with Alka Seltzer, is used to create a humorous effect. In the same way, there’s

another pun of homophonic feature. Hex-Lax has identical sound to Ex-Lax, a

powerful laxative. In Turkish dubbing, the first one is left as it is without creating the

63

same effect; the second one is transferred by using a corresponding herb used as

laxative in Turkey.

Example 3

Setting: King Harold and Queen Lilian argue with each other over Shrek

and Fiona.

SL: Oh, stop being such a drama king.

TL: Ah, bu kadar abartmaktan vazgeç.

Drama queen is someone who gets too upset or angry over small problems.

Queen Lilian here cleverly and amusingly uses the word drama king instead of drama

queen because she is talking to her husband, the king. Naturally, the Turkish

translation is far away from transferring this clever use of the wordplay.

Example 4

Setting: At the end of the film, King Harold sacrifices himself to save

Shrek from the spell of the Fairy Godmother and turns into a frog.

SL: He croaked.

TL: Tıngırdadı.

The wordplay here depends on the double meaning of “croak” which means

making a deep low sound like the sound of a frog and die in slang. The Turkish

translation only transfers the slang meaning of the word “croak”. “Tıngırdamak”

means die in Turkish slang. So, the double meaning effect and consequently the

humorous effect cannot be created in the target language.

8.3.2. Swear Words

There are not any swear words in this film. There is just one anatomical term

“ass”.

Example 1

Setting: Donkey drinks the love potion instead of Shrek.

64

SL: I don’t feel any different. I look any different?

SL: You still look like an ass to me.

TL: Pek farklı hissetmiyorum. Farklı görünüyor muyum?

TL: Bence hala eşşeksin.

Puss in Boots amusingly and cleverly makes a joke here using the double

meaning of “ass” meaning “a stupid person” and “donkey”. Translator creates the

same humorous effect by using “eşşek” instead of “eşek because Turkish has the

same double meaning of “eşek”.

There are three sexual terms “sexy man/boy chauffeur”, “sexy tush” and

“now we are sexy” all of which are translated as “seksi” because it seems to be

covering all these usages. Lip-synchrony is not a problem here because in Turkish

the word “sexy” is pronounced the same way as in English.

8.3.3. Dialects

According to Wikipedia (Shrek, 2011), Chris Farley was originally going to

do the voice for Shrek and recorded at least half of the dialogue for the character, but

died before the project was completed. DreamWorks then re-cast the voice role to

Mike Myers. After Myers had completed providing the voice for the character, and

the film was well into production, he asked to re-record all of his lines in a Scottish

accent similar to the one his mother had used when she told him bedtime stories.

Puss in Boots has also a Spanish accent. Three Little Pigs have a German

accent because the tale is originated in Germany. King and Queen, Fairy Godmother

have British accent. But in dubbing it is not possible to notice these accents as they

are translated as standard Turkish. It is not a problem as long as the accent of the

speaker is not crucial for the film. However, sometimes the accent of the speaker is

used to convey some sort of message. The major problem here for the translator is to

decide which target language accent matches the source language accent.

65

8.3.4. Idiolects

Idiolect, a person’s individual speech pattern, is an important issue for the

translators. Unfortunately, it is generally ignored by the translators. It gives clues

about the person’s character, social status, etc. In Shrek 2, Fairy Godmother

habitually uses some affectionate words such as “sweet pea, sweetheart, pumpkin,

dear” when addressing people.

Example 1

Setting: After turning into a handsome man, Shrek goes to the palace but

he’s trapped in the room.

TL: Oh, shoot. I don’t think they can hear us, pigeon.

SL: Oh yapma. Bizi duyabileceklerini hiç sanmıyorum.

“Pigeon” means one who is easily swindled. Here in this context it exactly

matches with the situation in which Shrek is. The translator here has chosen not to

transfer it although s/he has translated similar abovementioned affectionate words.

8.3.5. Songs

Songs are generally important parts of animated films. They are often

inherently connected to the action in the film and they are supported by or they

support the visual element in the film. Therefore, specific care must be given in their

translation. Their content, rhythm and rhyme should be preserved to make them more

musical and memorable.

In Shrek 2, there are popular songs, songs written just for the film and there

are also instances when a character cites or sings a line from a well-known song.

Except the popular songs, songs written for the film and songs cited or sung by the

characters have been translated to the target language.

Example 1

Donkey sings the theme song of Rawhide, an American western TV series

from 1959, as they leave for Far Far Away.

66


Hit it! Move ‘em on! Head ‘em up!

Head ‘em up, move ‘em on! Head ‘em up!

Rawhide! Move ‘em on!

Head ‘em up!

Move ‘em on! Move ‘em on!

Head ‘em up! Rawhide!

Ride ‘em up! Move ‘em on!

Head ‘em up! Move ‘em on! Rawhide!

Knock ‘em out! Pound ‘em dead!

Make ‘em tea! Buy ‘em drinks!

Meet their mamas!

Milk ‘em hard!

Rawhide!

Yee-haw!

Hadi Koşalım gidelim dörtnala hey

Koşalım gidelim dörtnala hey

Gidelim koşalım dörtnala hey






Yiii haaa

Instead of translating the song word for word, the translator has chosen to

repeat the same translated line over and over as the context allows it. Furthermore,

type of shot of the scene allows the translator to translate the song freely. The

translator might have thought that faithful translation of the song does not make any

sense for the Turkish audience so s/he might have adapted it. After all, we can say

rhythm and rhyme are retained but the content is lost.

Example 2

After the argument between Shrek and King Harold, Fiona, sad, goes to her

room. She meets Fairy Godmother there.


Your fallen tears have called to me

So, here comes my sweet remedy

I know what every princess needs

For her to live life happily

Ağlayan sesini duydum

Ve hemen uçup geldim

Güzel prensese gerekenler

Fazlasıyla bir bende var

67

This is a melody especially written for the film so it is important to convey

the meaning, i.e. content, here. Words of the song match the situation in which Fiona

is. In Turkish translation, content and rhythm are achieved but the rhyme is lost. The

important thing in this example is to convey the meaning because of the context.

Therefore, we can say that the translation is successful.

Example 3

At the end of the film, Fairy Godmother sings a popular song called “Holding

out for a hero”. The song was originally recorded by Bonny Tyler, but in this film a

version by Jennifer Saunders (Fairy Godmother) was featured. Although it is a

popular song, it’s been translated into the target language with a few adds and drops

because it has been adapted to Turkish by a famous Turkish singer Ajda Pekkan as

“O Benim Dünyam”. Therefore, it is a well-known song by the Turkish audience but

it is not Ajda Pekkan who sings the song in this film. The last part of the song is

absent in the Turkish arrangement by Ajda Pekkan, but the translator has translated

that part too. Although there is no content match in the translation because it is a total

adaptation or arrangement, the content of the translated song is acceptable and

appropriate to the context.


Where have all the good men gone

And where are all the gods?

Where’s the street-wise Hercules

To fight the rising odds?

Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery

steed?

Late at night I toss and turn and I dream

of what I need.

I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of

Ne zaman güneş açsa o gücüme güç

katar

Nefesiyle sözüyle canıma can katar

Ne zaman şimşek olsa ondan ödüm

kopar

Bakışında nazarında o anda tüm

kanım donar

O benim dünyam

Onunla nefes alan ve onunla yok olan

68

the night

He’s gotta be strong

And he’s gotta be fast

And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning

light

He’s gotta be sure

And it’s gotta be soon

And he’s gotta be larger than life

Somewhere after midnight

In my wildest fantasy

Somewhere just beyond my reach

There’s someone reaching back for me

Racing on the thunder and rising with the

heat

It’s gonna take a superman to sweep me

off my feet

Up where the mountains meet the heavens

above

Out where the lightning splits the sea

I would swear that there’s someone

somewhere watching me

Through the wind and the chill and the

rain

And the storm and the flood

I can feel his approach

Like the fire in my blood

Öylesine güçlü

Öylesine güzel

Öylesine benim olan

O benim dünyam

Onunla sevebilen onunla nefret eden

Öylesine güçlü

Öylesine güzel

Öylesine benim olan

Ne zaman bahar olsa içim içime

sığmaz

Bir gülüşü ve öpüşü, böylesi bir aşk

olamaz

Ne zaman fırtınaysa karşı durulmaz

Delice öfkesinden tozum toprağım

kalmaz

Kabaran sular göğe ulaşıyor

Yüksek dağlar bulutlara

Ve oralarda bir yerde bekliyor

Deli gibi yağmura rağmen

Fırtınaya rağmen

Damarlarımda onu hissediyorum

CONCLUSION

Cinema, one of the most common forms of entertainment today, occupies an

important place in our life and affects the lives of people and cultures. Cinema has

grown into an enormous industry in a very short time and the USA has been a major

player in movie industry. Bassnett (1996) expresses that “globally, this is the age of

mass communications, of multimedia experiences and a world where audiences

demand the right to share the latest text, be it film, song, or book simultaneously

across cultures” (pp. 20-21). These media products come to our homes or movie

theaters by means of translation. It is a well-known fact that translation is not just a

transfer between languages but between cultures. Films reaching us through

translation make intercultural interaction possible. Translators play a vital role in this

intercultural interaction. They are key players that make the communication possible

and also mediators between cultures.

One important limitation of the study is, as it has been mentioned before, that

there is no strict and comprehensive theoretical framework to study audiovisual

translations. Considering that Shrek 2 is an animated film and contains humorous,

linguistic and cultural elements, it is best thought in this study that target-oriented

approach and domestication approach would be appropriate for this specific film

because the AVT translator would certainly create the same humorous, linguistic and

cultural effect for the target audience.

Translators, especially audiovisual translators, are under some constraints

before or during the translation process and there are some challenges that await

them. Both modes of AVT, dubbing and subtitling, have unique constraints and

challenges. For example, in dubbing lip-synchrony is an important constraint for the

audiovisual translator. In subtitling, place and time is another constraint because

subtitles have to appear on screen within a specific place (two lines with maximum

70 characters including spaces) and time (maximum six seconds).

From this point of view, the aim of the study is to present the constraints and

challenges that the AVT translators face during the dubbing translation and their

strategies to deal with them in special case of Shrek 2. Shrek 2 has been chosen

70

because it contains a large number of constraints and challenges like humorous,

linguistic and cultural elements that will push the translator to find ways to deal with

them. It is also very popular with both children and adults and it is the most watched

animated movie of all time.

To sum up the findings of the film, although there are some instances of lip-

synch asynchrony, the fact that the film is animated makes the translator’s work

easier since the lip movements in animated films are not very distinctive unless they

are close-shot or move slowly.

Throughout the film, it can be said that the translator adopts a target-oriented

approach or domestication. The examples of this approach can be seen in semantic

category too. The translator has used some elements familiar to the target culture

although they do not exist in the original.

The film includes countless references to American popular culture many of

which are visual. As it has been previously put forward, AVT translators cannot

change the visual aspect of films while they change the verbal one. In this case, the

understanding of these references depends on the audience’s general knowledge. As

for the verbal cultural elements which have no equivalence in the target culture, the

translator has preferred to omit them completely. The same applies for the humorous

elements which mostly depend on the visual and graphical elements.

As for the linguistic elements, the most challenging ones, we can say that they

are not rendered into the target language efficiently. This is normal because of the

syntax differences between English and Turkish. Similarly, in wordplays same effect

regrettably cannot be created because of the lexical characteristics of the languages.

Again, the translator has helplessly employed a standard variety of the target

language no matter which accents or dialects are spoken in the source language.

Accordingly, the characters in the film lose their originality to a certain extent.

Information that is conveyed through the use of dialects or accents i.e. the geographic

origin or social class of a character, are lost in the dubbed version.

71

To conclude, the translator has preferred a target-oriented approach to make

the film closer to the audience by bringing the film to the audience rather than

bringing the audience to the film. Further, s/he has adopted the strategy of

compensating for what is lost by adding extra humorous elements which are

nonexistent in the original.

The contribution of the research to the existing literature could be said to be

twofold. One, it is the first-ever study of this kind in Turkey; the other, this study will

encourage other people interested in this field to conduct further studies in the future

to develop a comprehensive and sound-based theoretical frame for AVT.

This study is based on translation problems only in dubbing, however, future

researchers might research translation problems in subtitling, the other mode of

audiovisual translation. They will definitely find more material on subtitling than

dubbing because more research on subtitling has been done than dubbing in the field

of AVT.

72

REFERENCES

Akçura, G. (2006). Bir zamanlar dublaj. Retrieved from

http://www.sesturk.com/birzamanlardublaj.php

Aksoy, B. (2000). Kültür odaklı çeviri ve çevirmen. Türk Dili Dil ve Edebiyat

Dergisi, 2000/II(583), 51-57.

Baker, M., & Hochel, B. (1998). Dubbing. In M. Baker (Ed.), Routledge

encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 74-76). London, England: Routledge.

Bassnett, S. (1996). The meek or the mighty: Reappraising the role of the translator.

In R. Alvarez & M. C-A. Vidal (Eds.), Translation, power, subversion (pp.

10-24). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Bassnett, S. (2002). Translation studies (3rd ed.). London, England: Routledge.

Baumgarten, N. (2005): The secret agent: Film dubbing and the influence of the

English language on German communicative preferences. Towards a model

for the analysis of language use in visual media (PhD thesis, University of

Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany). Retrieved from http://www.sub.uni-

hamburg.de/opus/volltexte/2005/2527/.

Bell, R. T. (1991). Translation and translating. Theory and practice. Harlow,

England: Longman.

Benecke, B. (2007). Audio description: Phenomena of information sequencing.

MuTra 2007 – LSP Translation Scenarios: Conference Proceedings.

Burgess, A. (1980). Dubbing. In L. Michaels & C. Ricks (Eds.), The state of the

language (pp. 297-303). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Chaume, F. (2004a). Film studies and translation studies: Two disciplines at stake in

audiovisual translation. Meta: Translators’ Journal, 49(1), 12-24.

Chaume, F. (2004b). Discourse markers in audiovisual translating. Meta:

Translators’ Journal, 49(4), 843-855.

73

Chiaro, D., Heiss, C., & Bucaria, C. (Eds.). (2008). Between text and image:

Updating research in screen translation. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John

Benjamins.

Delabastita, D. (1989). Translation and mass-communication: Film and TV-

translation as evidence of cultural dynamics. Babel, 35(4), 193-218.

Delabastita, D. (1990). Translation and the mass media. In S. Bassnett & A. Lefevere

(Eds.), Translation, history and culture (pp. 97-109). London, England:

Cassell.

Delabastita, D. (1996). Introduction. The Translator, 2(2), 127-139.

Diaz-Cintas, J. (2002). Workshop: Subtitling. The British Council. Retrieved from

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/73104338/Jorge-Diaz-Cintas

Diaz-Cintas, J. (2003). Audiovisual translation in the third millennium. In G.

Anderman & M. Rogers (Eds.), Translation today: Trends and perspectives

(pp. 192-204). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Diaz-Cintas, J. (2004). Subtitling: The long journey to academic acknowledgement.

The Journal of Specialized Translation, (1), 50-70.

Diaz-Cintas, J. (Ed.). (2009). New trends in audiovisual translation. Bristol, UK:

Multilingual Matters.

Dialect. (2010). In J. C. Richards & R. Schmidt. Longman dictionary of language

teaching and applied linguistics (4th ed.). London, England: Longman.

Dries, J. (1995). Dubbing and subtitling: Guidelines for production and distribution.

Düsseldorf, Germany: European Institute for the Media.

Drinker, H. S. (1950). On translating vocal texts. The Musical Quarterly, 36(2), 225-

240.

Fawcett, P. (1996). Translating film. In G. T. Harris (Ed.), On translating French

literature and film (pp. 65-88). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Rodopi.

74

Gambier, Y. (1995) Forms of linguistic transfer. Sequentia, 2(4), 5.

Gambier, Y. (2003). Introduction. Screen transadaptation: Perception and reception.

The Translator, 9(2), 171-189.

Gambier, Y. (2009). Challenges in research on audiovisual translation. In A. Pym &

A. Perekrestenko (Eds.), Translation research projects 2 (pp.17-25).

Tarragona, Spain: Intercultural Studies Group.

Gambier, Y., & Gottlieb, H. (Eds.). (2001). (Multi) media translation: Concepts,

practices, and research. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.

Gonzales, L. P. (2009). Audiovisual translation. In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.),

Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 13-20). London, England:

Routledge.

Gottlieb, H. (1998). Subtitling. In M. Baker (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of

translation studies (pp. 244-248). London, England: Routledge.

Gürata, A. (2007). Hollywood in vernacular: Translation and cross-cultural reception

of American films in Turkey. In R. Maltby, M. Stokes, & R. C. Allen (Eds.),

Going to the movies: Hollywood and the social experience of cinema (pp.

333-347). Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press.

Hewson, L., & Martin, J. (1991). Redefining translation: The variational approach.

London, England: Routledge.

Humor. (2009). In M. Danesi. Dictionary of media and communications. Armonk,

N.Y: M.E. Sharpe.

Humour. (2010). In Oxford Dictionary of English. Retrieved from Oxford Reference

Online.

Karamitroglou, F. (2000). Towards a methodology for the investigation of norms in

audiovisual translation: The choice between subtitling and revoicing in

Greece. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Rodopi.

75

Katzenberg, J., Lipman, D., Warner, A., Williams, J. H. (Producers), Adamson, A.,

Asbury, K., Vernon, C. (Directors). (2004). Shrek 2 [DVD]. United States:

DreamWorks SKG.

Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2005). Toward critical media literacy: Core concepts,

debates, organizations, and policy. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics

of Education, 26(3), 369-386.

Lefevere, A. (1992). Translation, rewriting, and the manipulation of literary fame.


Lefevere, A. (2001). Translation practice(s) and the circulation of cultural capital.

Some Aeneids in English. In S. Bassnett & A. Lefevere (Eds.), Constructing

cultures: Essays on literary translation (pp. 41-56). Shanghai, China:

Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

Low, P. (2006). Song translation. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language &

linguistics (2. ed.). (pp. 511-514). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.

Luyken, G.-M., Herbst, T., Langham-Brown, J., Reid, H., & Spinhof, H. (1991).

Overcoming language barriers in television: Dubbing and subtitling for the

European audience. Manchester, UK: European Institute for the Media.

Marshall, E., & Sensoy, Ö. (2009). The same old hocus-pocus: Pedagogies of gender

and sexuality in Shrek 2. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of

Education, 30(2), 151-164. doi:10.1080/01596300902809104

Martinez-Sierra, J. J. (2006). Translating audiovisual humour. A case study.

Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 13(4), 289-296.

doi:10.1080/09076760608668999

Munday, J. (2008). Introducing translation studies: Theories and applications.


76

Nida, E. A. (1964). Toward a science of translating: With special reference to

principles and procedures involved in Bible translating. Leiden, The

Netherlands: E.J. Brill.

Nida, E. (2000). The principles of correspondence. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The

translation studies reader (pp. 126-140). London, England: Routledge.

O’Connell, E. M. T. (2003). Minority language dubbing for children: Screen

translation from German to Irish. Oxford, England: Peter Lang.

O’Connell, E. (2007). Screen translation. In P. Kuhiwczak & K. Littau (Eds.), A

companion to translation studies (pp. 120-133). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual

Matters.

Onaran, A. Ş. (1978). Çeviride sinema dili. Türk Dili Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi,

38(322), 86-92.

Pettit, Z. (2009). Connecting cultures: Cultural transfer in subtitling and dubbing. In

J. Diaz-Cintas (Ed.), New trends in audiovisual translation (pp. 44-57).

Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Pimentel, O., & Velazquez, P. (2009). Shrek 2: An appraisal of mainstream

animation’s influence on identity. Journal of Latinos & Education, 8(1), 5-21.

doi:10.1080/15348430802466704

Ryan, M., Ingram, B., & Musiol, H. (2010). Cultural studies: A practical

introduction. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell.

Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E. (2003). Intercultural communication: A reader (10th

ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Sardar, Z., & Van Loon, B. (1999). Introducing cultural studies. London, England:

Icon.

Shrek. (2011, July 17). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shrek&oldid=440028846

77

Shrek (film series). (2011, July 14). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shrek_(film_series)&oldid=439504

177

Shrek 2. (2011, July 19). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 20, 2011, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shrek_2&oldid=440291699

Snell-Hornby, M. (1995). Translation studies: An integrated approach. Philadelphia:

John Benjamins.

Thompson, J. (2009). Dubbing the multilingual moment: Translating English-

language American television shows with French into French. (Master’s

thesis). Retrieved from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text. (Publication No.

AAT MR61353).

Tomlinson, J. (1991). Cultural imperialism: A critical introduction. London,

England: Continuum.

Toury, G. (2000). The nature and role of norms in translation. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The

translation studies reader (pp. 198-211). New York, NY: Routledge.

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

England: Routledge.

Voigt, K. (2002). Aspects of change in film dubbing: An analysis of sliding doors

and Sie liebt ihn – Sie liebt ihn nicht. (Master’s thesis, Chemnitz University

of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany). Retrieved from http://www.tu-

chemnitz.de/phil/english/ling/download/theses/voigt_dubbing2002.pdf

Yazıcı, M. (2007). Translation norms or constraints. In G. I. Colipca (Ed.),

Translation studies: Retrospective and prospective views. TRAS.RE.P. 2.

Conference proceedings volume (pp. 219-225). Galati, Romania: Europlus.

Yücel, F. (2011). Televizyonda çeviri olgusu. Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler

Enstitüsü Dergisi, (25), 307-315.

78

ÖZET

ŞAHİN, Ayhan, Bir Film Çevirisi Türü Olarak Dublaj: Shrek 2 Özelinde Metot ve

Sınırlamaların İncelenmesi, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara, 2012.

Kitle iletişim araçlarının yaygınlaşması ile birlikte film çevirileri de büyük bir

önem kazanmıştır. Ancak hayatımızda o kadar çok yer almasına rağmen film

çevirileri üzerinde yeterince araştırma yapıldığı söylenemez.

Filmler çok kanallı, çok göstergeli eserlerdir bunun için başarılı bir film

çevirisi yapabilmek bunları dikkate almayı gerektirir. Ayrıca filmler film

çevirmenlerini zorlayabilecek bazı kısıtlamalar ve problemler getirmektedir.

Kısıtlamalara örnek olarak dudak eşleşmesi; problemlere örnek olarak kültürlerarası

farklılıklar gösterilebilir.

Bu tezin amacı, bu kısıtlamaları ve problemleri Shrek 2 film örneğinde

sistematik olarak ortaya koymak ve çevirmenin çeviri stratejilerini hedef odaklı

yaklaşım ve yerlileştirme yaklaşımı çerçevesinde incelemektir.

Anahtar Sözcükler

1. Film çevirileri

2. Dublaj

3. Çeviri sınırlamaları

4. Hedef odaklı yaklaşım

5. Yerlileştirme

79

ABSTRACT

ŞAHİN, Ayhan, Dubbing as a Type of Audiovisual Translation: A Study of Its

Methods and Constraints Focusing on Shrek 2, Master’s Thesis, Ankara, 2012.

With the dissemination of mass media, audiovisual translation has taken on

an added importance. However, although it occupies a great amount of time in our

life, we can say that audiovisual translation has not attracted enough attention from

translation scholars.

Films are multichannel and multisemiotic. For this, one has to take these into

account to perform a successful translation. Additionally, films bring about some

constraints and challenges which will put a strain on the film translator. An example

for constraints is lip-synchrony; another example for challenges is intercultural

differences.

The aim of this thesis is to identify and study these constraints and challenges

systematically in the example of Shrek 2 animated movie and study the translator’s

strategies in the framework of target-oriented approach and domestication approach.

Key Words

1. Audiovisual translation

2. Dubbing

3. Translation constraints

4. Target-oriented approach

5. Domestication

Dubbing as a Type of Audiovisual Translation: A Study of its Methods and Constraints Focusing on...

Documents

Transcript of Dubbing as a Type of Audiovisual Translation: A Study of its Methods and Constraints Focusing on...