The semiotic implications of multilingualism

in the construction of suspense

in Alfred Hitchcok’s films

Giuseppe De BonisPhD Course in Translation,

Interpreting and Intercultural StudiesUniversity of Bologna at Forlì, Italy

The Voices of Suspense and their Translation in Thrillers

Universidad Pontificia ComillasMadrid, October 2012

Two main goals

• To shed some light on the role that multilingualism plays in Alfred Hitchcock’s films as regards the construction of their distinctive feature: suspense.

• To analyse the different translation techniques or modes that the original version of the film presents to manage multilingualism (contextual translation or interpretation performed by a character).

A diachronic analysis of the evolution that multilingualism undergoes from the director’s early production of films shot in the 1930s to the end of the 1960s.

Three main functions of multilingualism on screen

1) Realistic rendering: multilingualism is meant as a means to enhance viewers’ perception of the reality depicted on screen;

2) Conflict: multilingualism as a means to claim cultural diversity: lingua-cultural identities are sharply depicted and strongly maintained on screen (communicative problems);

3) Confusion: lingua-cultural identities are mixed up on screen in a “somewhat” disorderly fashion (humorous effect).

Multilingualism in Hitchcock’s films: preliminary observations

Multilingual films ----> multilingual situations: 1) A prevailing or primary language: the

language which is quantitatively significant in terms of its presence on screen. I.e. the dominant / main language of communication in the film (English);

2) Secondary languages: languages which are less present in the film from a quantitative standpoint, but which may a crucial role from a qualitative standpoint (semiotic, narrative etc.).

Translational techniques used to deal with secondary languages

1) Subtitling of secondary languages (it never occurs in Hitchcock’s films);

2) No translation of secondary languages. The meaning of untranslated dialogue is conveyed through devices such as (Baldo 2009a, 2009b):

• Contextual translation (also labelled as embedded translation or cushioning translation): audiovisual texts are polysemiotic texts (multimodal reading);

• Translation on screen: interpretation performed by a character.

14 multilingual films in Hitchcock’s filmography 1/2

Year and Country Film Title Languages1934, UK The Man Who Knew Too

Much English | German | Italian | French

1936, UK The Secret Agent English | German | French | Spanish

1938, UK The Lady Vanishes English | German | French | Spanish | Imaginary language (bandrikian)

1940, USA Rebecca English | French

1940, USA Foreign Correspondent English | Dutch | Latvian

1944, USA Lifeboat English | German | French

14 multilingual films in Hitchcock’s filmography 2/2

Year and Country Film Title Languages1946, USA Notorious English | French |

Portuguese

1951, USA Strangers on a Train English | French

1953, USA I Confess English | French | German | Latin

1955, USA To Catch a Thief English | French

1956, USA The Man Who Knew Too Much

English | French | Arabic

1956, USA The Wrong Man English | Spanish | Italian

1966, USA Torn Curtain English | German | Swedish | Norwegian | Danish

1969, USA Topaz English | Spanish | French | Russian

Semiotic implications of multilingualism in the construction of suspense

• Although restricted in quantitative terms, multilingual situations may have considerable consequences and implications on a semiotic level as far as the construction of suspense is concerned.

• From a qualitative standpoint, multilingualism is already used as an important semiotic device (enunciative marker).

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) The Secret Agent (1936)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Multilingualism as a semiotic device

• Multilingualism is present to the minimum: a secondary language is present in one or two scenes alone.

• Nonetheless, resorting to multilingualism is meant as a semiotic device to increase the suspense either of the scene in which it occurs or of the overall narrative design of the film.

Rebecca (1940)Strangers on a Train (1951)

The Wrong Man (1956)

Postcarding multilingualism

• These films are only “formally” multilingual (multilingualism is present to the minimum).

• Despite the international settings the different lingua-cultural identities are simply hinted at, evoked or recalled through an "indirect" procedure.

• Multilingualism as a "postcarding" method (Wahl 2005) or linguistic homogenisation (see Sternberg 1981; O'Sullivan 2007, 2011; Cronin 2009).

Notorious (1946)I Confess (1953)

Topaz (1969)

Multilingualism as a vehicle for suspense

• A semiotic device which contributes to creating or increasing the suspense in the film.

• Multilingualism plays a more central and crucial role in the overall narrative design.

• In these films secondary languages, though restricted in quantitative terms, are essential.

• All these films have an international setting and the leitmotif is Second World War and the consequent Cold War and Iron Curtain.

Foreign Correspondent (1940)Lifeboat (1944)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)Torn Curtain (1966)

Concluding remarks

• From the production of his early sound films shot in the 1930s to the end of the 1960s when he directed Torn Curtain (his most well-structured multilingual film) Hitchcock resorted to multilingualism and “played” with languages on several occasions and for different purposes.

• Multilingualism plays often a “delicate” role in the director’s filmography: it turns out to be essential in the unfolding of the film’s story and thus has to be carefully evaluated and studied.

• Implications for audiovisual translation modality, in particular dubbing: multilingualism on screen is a “challenging” phenomenon.

Thank you!

giudebo@yahoo.it

giuseppe.debonis2@unibo.it