Audiovisual Translation: A Contrastive Analysis of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

FACULTAD de FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS DEPARTAMENTO de FILOLOGÍA INGLESA Grado en Estudios Ingleses TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO Audiovisual Translation: A Contrastive Analysis of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Ricardo González Martínez Tutor: Qianting Yuan 2018-2019 Abstract Audiovisual translation is the translation of polysemiotic texts presented onscreen to mass audiences. Multimedia products such as films, documentaries, TV series, etc. need to be translated into other languages in order to reach a wider audience and to increase their popularity and consumption. Audiovisual materials can be translated by means of subtitling or dubbing. No matter which method is adopted, the translation of the source text has to be realized by implementing a number of translation techniques, such as literal translation, reduction or modulation. In the present thesis, these translation methods and techniques will be explored through a contrastive analysis of the Spanish translation of the English film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Key words: Audiovisual translation, polysemiotic, contrastive analysis, translation methods, translation techniques, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Resumen Se conoce como traducción audiovisual a aquel tipo de traducción realizada sobre textos polisemióticos presentados ante una audiencia masiva a través de una pantalla. Productos multimedia como películas, documentales o series de televisión han de ser traducidos a otros idiomas para incrementar su consumo y así alcanzar a un público mayor y aumentar su popularidad. El material sujeto a la traducción audiovisual puede transferirse mediante el subtitulado o el doblaje. Independientemente del método elegido, el texto original debe traducirse usando técnicas de traducción, como por ejemplo traducción literal, reducción o modulación. La presente tesis explorará estos métodos y técnicas de traducción a través de un análisis contrastivo de la traducción al español de la película de habla inglesa El Señor de los Anillos: Las Dos Torres. Palabras clave: Traducción audiovisual, polisemióticos, análisis contrastivo, métodos de traducción, técnicas de traducción, El Señor de los Anillos: Las Dos Torres. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Theoretical Accounts of Audiovisual Translation 3 2.1. Definition of Audiovisual Translation 3 2.2. Main Methods of Audiovisual Translation 4 2.2.1. Captioning 4 2.2.1.1. Subtitling 5 2.2.2. Revoicing 6 2.2.2.1. Dubbing 6 2.2.3. Benefits and Drawbacks of Subtitling and Dubbing 7 2.3. Translation Process 9 2.3.1. Translation Strategies 10 2.3.2. Translation Techniques 10 3. Synopsys of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 13 4. Methodology 14 5. Contrastive Analysis of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 16 5.1. Translation Techniques 16 5.1.1. Literal Translation 16 5.1.2. Dynamic Equivalence 18 5.1.3. Modulation 19 5.1.4. Reduction 21 5.1.5. Omission 22 5.1.6. Amplification 23 5.1.7. Expansion 24 5.1.8. Coined Equivalence 25 5.1.9. Word-for-word 26 5.1.10. Free Translation 27 5.1.11. Generalization and Specification 28 5.1.11.1. Generalization 28 5.1.11.2. Specification 28 5.1.12. Adaptation 29 6. Discussion 30 7. Conclusion 31 Bibliography 33 List of Tables Table 1. Examples of Literal Translation in the Film 16 Table 2: Examples of Dynamic Equivalence in the Film 18 Table 3: Examples of Modulation in the Film 19 Table 4: Examples of Reduction in the Film 21 Table 5: Examples of Omission in the Film 22 Table 6: Examples of Amplification in the Film 23 Table 7: Examples of Expansion in the Film 24 Table 8: Examples of Coined Equivalence in the Film 25 Table 9: Examples of Word-for-word in the Film 26 Table 10: Examples of Free Translation in the Film 27 Table 11: Examples of Generalization in the Film 28 Table 12: Examples of Specification in the Film 28 Table 13: Examples of Adaptation in the Film 29 1 1. Introduction Audiovisual translation (AVT) is a discipline that has become more and more necessary throughout history due to globalization, the growing cultural exchange between societies and the vast and ever-growing demand of multimedia materials. The general concept of “translation” refers to the act of “expressing the sense of words or text in another language” (Oxford Dictionary). This concept was born in olden days as a way of communication and cultural exchange between societies with different languages. However, the notion of AVT is more complex and contemporary and it is a characteristic of the modern society. The practice of AVT reached its peak at the end of the 20th Century as a result of the dramatic increase of audiovisual materials subjected to dubbing or subtitling and the growth of an audience that is increasingly immersed in the multimedia environment. The technological development has also played a major role in the production and spreading of audiovisual materials. Today, new platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, HBO and many others contribute to the rapid growth and consumption of multimedia. Films, TV series, commercials, documentaries, etc. are nowadays closer to the audience and much more accessible than ever before, which certainly affects the AVT industry by expanding the demand for it. Translation plays a crucial role in people’s everyday life due to the fact that the vast majority of audiovisual material consumed by the society is originated in different cultures with different languages. This is especially true in countries such as Spain, where almost all foreign content is translated, mostly dubbed, and the original versions are not as popular as they are in other countries, such as Portugal. The present work will focus on an in depth analysis of an audiovisual product, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and how the AVT methods and techniques have shaped its adaptation to a different language, in this case Spanish. For this purpose, especial attention will be payed to dubbing and subtitling by carrying out a comparison of their advantages and disadvantages and their consequences in the final product. The film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, directed by Peter Jackson and adapted from the novel of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, will be the material under 2 analysis due to its popularity among audiences all around the globe. The original version of the film together with its translated version in Spanish offers a lot of interesting material for analysis, such as idiolects, sociolects, tints of humor, etc. In short, this thesis will analyze the application of AVT in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as an audiovisual dubbed product. In the present thesis, three steps are taken in order to accomplish the analysis: First, a thorough study of the main literature about the principal methods of AVT, namely, captioning and revoicing and, more specifically, subtitling and dubbing as well as some AVT translation strategies and techniques. This will establish the theoretical background for the analysis of the translation of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Next, a brief plot summary of the film and the methodology adopted in the present paper will be presented. Last but not least, the Spanish translation of the film will be examined and analyzed by contrasting it with the film in the source language (SL), i.e. English. It consists on the analysis of the methods and techniques applied in the translation process in order to achieve the desired translation and the problems that may have occurred during this process. The present thesis is divided into the following sections: The first section consists of a study of the literature surrounding the concept of AVT. It will expand on the theoretical aspects and key concepts of this field, focusing especially on dubbing and subtitling. It will begin with an analysis of the term “audiovisual translation” commenting on the semiotic channels and their role. Next, an analysis of the principal methods of translation, namely, captioning and revoicing, will be carried out. Together with that, the most representative branches of these two methods, dubbing and subtitling, will be introduced and studied in detail including, on the one hand, their origins and application and, on the other hand, their advantages and disadvantages. Lastly, different techniques will be discussed. This section is essential in order to understand the analysis of the translation of the film. This conceptual analysis will be followed by a brief introduction of the film: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with important information about its production, context and relevance. 3 After that, the methodology adopted in the present thesis will be revealed and explained. The next section will deal with the empirical analysis of the translation of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - how the translation has been approached and what techniques the translators have used in the process. This section is the heart of the present paper. In the sixth section, an overall breakdown and interpretation of the results of the analysis will be provided in order to clarify what underlies the study. Finally, the conclusion based on the findings in the fifth and sixth section will be reached. 2. Theoretical Accounts of Audiovisual Translation 2.1 Definition of Audiovisual Translation: Even though most studies on AVT are fairly recent, it has been present since the very moment there was a person with visual issues that needed audio-descriptions to understand the world (i.e. “ecphrasis”) (Eco 110). Despite its early presence, it was not until the 1990s when it started to gain popularity as a discipline and to be taught at universities. Since then it has never stopped growing; nowadays it has become one of the most popular modalities of translation. The change from analogical to digital, the rapid growth of the film industry, the Internet and the consequent globalization and the easy access to multimedia material are some factors that contributed to the latter success of AVT (Sierra 17). On the one hand, the term translation comes from the Latin word translatio, which means to “carry across”. In the mid-14th century, the term translacion was used in Old French to refer to the “rendering of a text from one language to another" and “a transfer of meaning" (Online Etymology Dictionary). On the other hand, the term audiovisual is a combination of the words audio and visual. The term audio comes from the Latin verb audire, meaning “to hear”, related to “sound, hearing”. Visual has a Latin origin as well, coming from the word visus, past participle of videre, which means “to see” and “pertaining to the faculty of sight” (Online Etymology Dictionary). 4 Therefore, the term audiovisual translation, regarding to the etymological meaning of its components, may be defined as a transfer of meaning from one language to another in an environment where what is heard and what is seen work together and play a key role. According to Bartoll, an audiovisual text is defined as a dynamic message that can be perceived through the acoustic channel, the visual channel or through both channels at the same time. Thus, in contrary to other types of texts, an audiovisual text is very dynamic: it includes moving images through the visual channel and orality, which cannot be static, through the acoustic channel. A more complex and technical definition is proposed by Gottlieb. He refers to AVT as screen translation and he defines it as “the translation of transient polysemiotic texts presented onscreen to mass audiences” (13). The word transient is an equivalent to the word dynamic in Bartoll’s definition, but the label polysemiotic is more sophisticated. Polysemiotic refers to the convergence of different semiotic channels in the same product: image, writing, sound effects and speech. Hence, if a film is revoiced by means of dubbing or voice-over, for instance, the translation may display the same semiotic channels as the original; however, when it is subtitled, no matter if the translation is interlingual or intralingual, the message experiences a shift between channels and therefore it would be intersemiotic. Interlingual, intralingual and intersemiotic are terms introduced by Roman Jakobson in 1959. Now that the basic nature of AVT has been explained, it is mandatory to expand on the different methods and procedures that are used in order to achieve different results in the translation process. 2.2. Main Methods of Audiovisual Translation 2.2.1. Captioning Captioning is one of the two branches that encompass the different methods of translating audiovisual materials. It includes the translation methods that imply inserting text on the screen or on its surroundings: surtitling, subtitling for the deaf, fansubbing and subtitling. Surtitling, usually applied in theatre and opera, consists of the projection of a continuous textual line next to the stage with information about the play for foreign 11 Many authors have studied this field: Shveister (1988), Retsker (1974), Vinay and Darbelnet (1996) and Malone (1988), among others, who have used different terminologies with subtle differences and added or deleted techniques. The following techniques have been compiled based on the proposals of Newmark (81-93) and Delisle et al. (1999) as their selection of techniques is fairly similar and complete. The focus will be first on those techniques that advocate a more direct translation and secondly on those corresponding to a more idiomatic and interpretative translation. x Borrowing: Transferring a SL word to the TL. It may be used if the target culture does not have an equivalent term or for stylistic reasons. x Calque: Transferring collocations or phrases from the source text to the target text translating their components. x Word-for-word translation: Keeping on the target text the original grammar, word order and meaning of all words. x Literal translation: The grammatical constructions of the source text are transformed to their closest equivalents on the TL. Slight variations on the number of words or on the structure may occur. x Adaptation: To accommodate some elements of the source culture to the target culture system. Ways of measuring, for instance. x Coined equivalent: Substituting a SL statement for its corresponding statement on the TL. The TL statement should express the same idea although the words may differ. x Omission: Deliberately eliminating some elements of the source text. x Reduction: To concentrate the meaning of the original utterance by the use of less words since some elements may disappear in the process of translation. x Specification: Using a more concrete or precise term or expression in the translation than the one in the source text. x Generalization: Using a more general or comprehensive term than the one in the source text. x Transposition: Changing the grammatical category of some linguistic elements of the source text. 12 x Description: Explaining the meaning of a word or expression of the source text that may be difficult to understand for the target culture. x Expansion: Reinforcing the sense of a SL word by the use of more words because its equivalent on the TL cannot be expressed as compactly. x Amplification: Adding extra information to the original message to compensate possible losses in the translation process. x Modulation: A variation on the point of view or perspective in the translation. x Dynamic equivalence: Re-expressing an idea of the source text by creating a new part of speech that generates a similar effect in the TL. 13 3. Synopsis of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is an epic fantasy film based on the second book of The Lord of the Rings saga, written by the British philologist and writer J. R. R. Tolkien in 1954. It was directed by Peter Jackson and filmed in New Zealand in the years 1999 and 2000. The film, preceded by the very popular premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), was released to the public in 2002 winning several awards and becoming one of the most viewed films of the year. The story takes place in the Third Age of the Middle Earth, a complex fantasy world inhabited by Men, Hobbits, Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs and many other creatures. It narrates the second part of the journey of Frodo Bolson, a Hobbit from The Shire who strives to destroy the One Ring and to stop the war that the Dark Lord Sauron will cause to recover it since it is his main source of power. The story narrated in The Two Towers has three different storylines: Frodo and Sam continue their journey and meet Gollum, who guides them towards Mordor; Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas help to defend Rohan in the Battle of the Helm’s Deep; Pippin and Merry meet Treebeard and attack and defeat Isengard, Saruman’s fortress. The mixture of different creatures, personalities and events, the complexity of the story, the sophistication of the world and the impact it had on the film industry are factors that make the film interesting from the point of view of translation. Together with that, The Two Towers is a book-based film and the language may be affected by its literary origin. 14 4. Methodology This section deals with the ways in which the analysis will be approached and how the results are selected and classified in the present study. The analysis consists of comparing the original English scripts of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with the translated Spanish scripts, trying to discern the specific translation techniques that have been employed in the translation process, as mentioned in subsection 2.3.2. Thus, the first step is to compare the English and Spanish scripts and classify the utterances according to the different techniques. The analysis will be presented in the following way: Subsection: translation technique in question Table X: Examples of (Translation Technique in question) in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 2 Discussion First, the name of the translation technique in question will be addressed in the subheading; second, the examples of such technique found in the film in the SL and TL will be presented in a table; the examples are selected according to their importance; the examples will be numbered in the first column; in the second column the time code reading (TRC) will be presented; in the third column, the character’s name will be addressed; in the two columns on the right, the original text and its translation will be presented; after that, the examples will be discussed and the application of the translation technique under investigation will be explained. The selection process consists of comparing every English utterance in the film with its Spanish translation trying to detect interesting and distinct transferences. The most representative utterances of each abovementioned technique will be selected and presented 15 as examples for the analysis. For the sake of simplicity and the lack of space, only the most interesting and noteworthy examples will appear in the final classification. 16 5. Contrastive Analysis of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 5.1. Translation Techniques 5.1.1. Literal Translation Table 1. Examples of Literal Translation in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 0:53:52 Gandalf Through fire and water. From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak. I fought with the Balrog of Morgoth. Entre fuego y agua. Desde la abismal mazmorra hasta la más alta cumbre hice frente al Balrog de Morgoth. 2 0:07:55 Frodo Nothing ever dampens your spirits, does it, Sam? Nada ensombrece tu ánimo, ¿cierto Sam? 3 0:08:43 Sam This looks strangely familiar. Esto me resulta extrañamente familiar. 4 0:18:10 Aragorn Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall. Las hojas de Lórien no caen sin razón. 5 0:21:03 Saruman Build a dam, block the stream, work the furnaces night and day. Levanta un dique, detén el arroyo, trabajad los hornos día y noche. 6 0:31:32 Legolas A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night. El sol se alza rojo. Se ha vertido sangre esta noche. 7 0:38:39 Grishnákh I'm going to rip out your filthy little innards! Voy a sacaros vuestras inmundas entrañas. 8 1:18:43 Grima Late is the hour, in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Tardía es la hora, en que decide aparecer el conjurador. 9 1:19:56 Theoden You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey. No tienes poder aquí, Gandalf el Gris. 10 0:40:10 Treebeard Tree? I am no tree! I am an Ent. ¿Árbol? No soy árbol, soy un Ent 11 1:45:37 Faramir There are no travelers in this land, only servants of the Dark Tower. No hay viajeros en esta tierra, solo siervos de la Torre Oscura. 12 2:03:59 Gamling What of those who cannot fight, my lord? The women and children? ¿Y los que no pueden luchar, mi señor? ¿Las mujeres y los niños? 13 2:08:40 Arwen I have made my choice. He tomado mi decisión. 14 2:09:21 Elrond Whether by the sword or the slow decay of time, Aragorn will die. Bien a espada o por el lento desgaste del tiempo, Aragorn morirá. 17 15 2:12:30 Galadriel The power of the enemy is growing. Sauron will use his puppet, Saruman, to destroy the people of Rohan. El poder del enemigo crece. Sauron usará a su títere, Saruman, para destruir al pueblo de Rohan. 16 2:20:47 Denethor Do not trouble me with Faramir. I know his uses, and they are few. No me atormentes con Faramir. Conozco sus artes, y son escasas. 17 2:20:38 Boromir You give him no credit, and yet he tries to do your will. No le das ningún crédito y aun así intenta cumplir tu voluntad. Literal translation is, by far, the most used technique in the translation of the film. It implies translating the original message to its closest equivalent in the TL, making slight variations on the number of words or in the grammatical structure advocating for a more idiomatic translation. Since AVT is supposed to sound natural a bad use of this technique in the process is likely to dramatically affect the final product, making it artificial and almost as foreign as the SL. Nevertheless, literal translation has been accurately used throughout the whole film and the effect it creates is rather enriching as it transfers the cultivated tone of the original text without causing any interference. The instances presented above are just a sample of the use of literal translation. One sentence of almost every character in the film has been selected with the purpose of illustrating the extended use of this technique, but there are many more instances in which literal translation has been employed. Some of the examples present minor changes in the grammatical structure, for instance example 5, in which Saruman states: “Build a dam, block the stream, work the furnaces night and day”. The translation of this sentence presents a swift in the order of “night and day”, changed to “day and night” in the translated version since this construction is more natural in Spanish: “Levanta un dique, detén el arroyo, trabajad los hornos día y noche”. For The Two Towers is a book-based film, some sentences are taken directly from the book, as in the case of example 4: “Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall”. This sentence stated by Aragorn was originally translated in the book as “Las hojas de Lórien no caen inútilmente” (Tolkien 23), which perfectly works for the translation of the book, but would sound unnatural for the film. The problem lays on the word “inútilmente”, which is unusual in spoken language, but it has been substituted for “sin razón”, an equivalent 18 expression, resulting on the more idiomatic construction “Las hojas de Lórien no caen sin razón”. 5.1.2. Dynamic Equivalence Table 2: Examples of Dynamic Equivalence in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 0:05:56 Sam Won’t come free in a hurry. No se suelta ni queriendo. 2 0:15:56 Uruk Hai Can't take his draught! ¡No sabe tragar! 3 0:16:52 Ugluk Let’s move! ¡Paso ligero! 4 0:25:37 Grima Why do you lay these troubles on an already troubled mind? ¿Por qué cargas tus tormentos a una mente ya atormentada? 5 0:27:44 Legolas They've run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them. Legolas: Corren como si escaparan de los latigazos de su amo. 6 0:34:18 Eomer The Uruks are destroyed. Los uruks ya no existen. 7 0:43:50 Gollum We can't eats Hobbit food! ¡Nos ahoga la comida hobbit! 8 0:55:32 Gandalf And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide. Y en los albores de la tempestad vuelvo a vosotros. 9 1:35:18 Eowyn To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. A empuñar sus barrotes hasta que la edad y la costumbre los acepte. 10 3:23:11 Sam Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back. Los protagonistas de esas historias se rendirían si quisieran. 11 3:22:55 Sam Those were the stories that stayed with you. Esas son las historias que llenan el corazón. 12 0:41:23 Treebeard Maybe you are and maybe you aren't. Tal vez sí y tal vez no. 13 0:52:19 Legolas The White Wizard approaches. El mago blanco no anda muy lejos. Dynamic equivalence is the most used technique in the translation of the film that implies a change in the original text (indirect technique). Substituting one part of the source text, or the whole text, for a new piece of speech that generates a similar effect on the target culture makes the message more natural and closer to the audience. This technique owes its extended use in the film to the effect it produces. As explained in the dubbing section, the main objective when dubbing audiovisual material is to make the final product believable to 19 the target audience, leaving aside the faithfulness to the original text and focusing on lipsynchrony. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that this technique has major importance in the translation process when the target of study is a dubbed film. All the examples above illustrate the effective use of this technique: the Spanish translation is a rephrasing of the original utterance using different words, but the message transmitted is pretty much the same. This dynamic equivalence can be seen, for instance, analyzing example 5: The original Legolas’ sentence is “They've run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them”, referring to the quick march of the Orcs towards Isengard. The Spanish translation is “Corren como si escaparan de los latigazos de su amo”, which has an equivalent meaning since it refers to the same idea of the Orcs running breathless, but it is expressed using other words that accomplish a more natural and idiomatic effect on Spanish speakers. If a literal translation had been made, the effect would have been very unnatural and artificial in Spanish: “Han corrido como si los mismísimos látigazos de su amo estuviesen tras ellos”, for instance. 5.1.3. Modulation Table 3: Examples of Modulation in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 0:11:38 Gollum No! That would kill us! Kill us! ¡No! Ellos nos matarán. Nos darán muerte. 2 0:12:37 Frodo The ring is treacherous. It will hold you to your word. El anillo es traicionero, te tomaremos la palabra. 3 0:17:15 Aragorn Their pace has quickened. Aprietan el paso. 4 0:19:09 Legolas The Uruks turn northeast. El rastro vira rumbo noreste. 5 0:21:36 Wildman We will die for Saruman! ¡Nuestras muertes serán por Saruman! 6 0:34:30 Eomer We left none alive. No quedó alma con vida. 7 1:42:25 Sam Boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew. En puré, cocidas o en un buen guiso. 8 2:44:04 Aragorn This is a good sword. Tienes buena espada. 9 3:24:23 Madril Your life will be forfeit. Lo pagarás con tu vida. 10 1:15:21 Eowyn Your words are poison. Tu voz es un veneno. 11 1:27:39 Eowyn They had no warning. Nadie los advirtió. 20 The second most used technique in which a part of the original text is modified is modulation. This technique implies a more faithful translation of the original text than the previous one since it retains more words that are closer to the source text. The major change from the original text to the translated version is the point of view or perspective which, as the name of the technique suggests, is modulated or tweaked to fit the TL standards and to sound more natural to the audience. Thus, many instances of this technique were expected to be found since the main concern of a translator is to make the film sound credible to the Spanish audience for it is a dubbing product. English and Spanish sentences do not always share the same internal structure and in many cases a swift in the perspective of the action is mandatory to make the product more believable. For instance, the use of modulation can be seen taking example 7, Sam’s famous quote: “Boil them, mash them, stick them in a stew”. Sam is explaining Gollum what potatoes are by providing a list of examples of actions that can be done with them. The literal translation of this sentence would be “Hervirlas, machacarlas, meterlas en un estofado”, which sounds very artificial for the target audience. Instead of a literal translation a change on perspective has been made and the final product of this modulation is: “En puré, cocidas o en un buen guiso”. Although the word order has been altered, the result is much more natural than the one provided with a more literal translation and the meaning is accurately preserved. The original sentence is giving instances of actions that can be performed with potatoes, while the translated version gives examples of the products that can be made from those actions. 27 circumstances, but they do not present any special feature: English and Spanish sometimes happen to share the same structure and there is no need for any change. 5.1.10. Free Translation Table 10: Examples of Free Translation in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 0:39:38 Orc Let's put a maggot hole in your belly! ¡Voy a hacerte pasto de los gusanos, basura! 2 1:58:01 Gimli Bring your pretty face to my axe. Deja que te arregle esa carita con mi hacha. 3 0:45:54 Gollum …and light little candles of their own. …y se convertirán en diminutos cirios. 4 3:14:09 Aragorn Ride out and meet them. Resistid y enfrentadlos. 5 3:11:06 Sam Hold on, Mr. Frodo. You’ll be all right. Aguante, señor Frodo. Lo puede conseguir. The very opposite technique of word-for-word translation is free translation. While in the previous technique the original was directly transmitted to the TL without any alteration, free translation implies generating a new part of speech with no need of faithfulness to the source text. The final product is a reproduction of the original meaning of the text that does not follow the patterns of the original, but it is rather a new part speech. This technique was expected to be used since in a dubbing product the importance lays on lip-synchrony and the loyalty to the original is sometimes secondary. Nevertheless, only the four examples listed above were found in the whole film, which is quite surprising dealing with nearly four hours of material. This shows that the translators have managed to produce a translation that is faithful to the original text and at the same time idiomatic and in synchrony to the visual channel. The first three examples are the most representative of the use of free translation. In these cases the message cannot be directly transmitted to the TL, not even using dynamic equivalence or modulation. Thus, the translators have chosen to keep the original meaning and aggressive tone of the sentences and provide a new part of speech that generates the same effect on the target audience. 28 5.1.11. Generalization and Specification 5.1.11.1. Generalization Table 11: Examples of Generalization in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 0:07:37 Sam More lembas bread. Más pan del camino. 2 0:29:07 Uruk Hai We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days. Hace días que me alimento de pan lleno de asquerosos gusanos. 3 2:19:33 Boromir These men are thirsty! ¡Todos están sedientos! 5.1.11.2. Specification Table 12: Examples of Specification in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 0:17:37 Gimli No sign of our quarry, but what bare rock can tell. Ni rastro de la presa salvo vagas huellas en roca viva. 2 0:18:30 Gimli We Dwarves are natural sprinters. Los enanos somos veloces en llano. 3 2:04:02 Theoden Get them into the caves Escondedlos en las cavernas These two techniques consist on the substitution of a term or expression of the source text for a more general term, in the case of generalization, or more specific, in the case of specification. They are normally used when a term is likely to present difficulties for the target audience and with its substitution for a more general or specific term the text becomes more comprehensible. None of these techniques were expected to play an important role in the translation of the film since the terms are understandable and do not present any difficulty, but some cases of both techniques have been found. In the case of generalization, the decision of using a more general term as a substitute for the one in the original text is, in example 1, to avoid repetition as the sentence “Lembas bread” is repeated twice by Sam. In examples 2 and 3, generalization has been used to enhance lip-synchrony since both sentences are stated during close-up shots and the use of more words would not be appropriate. On the other hand, specification has been employed with a different purpose. In the three examples the technique is used aiming for an idiomatic adaptation since the closest translation for those sentences would sound artificial for the target audience. 29 5.1.12. Adaptation Table 13: Examples of Adaptation in the Film No. TRC Character Original text Translation 1 1:09:45 Pippin Three-foot-six? At the most? Whereas me, I'm pushing 3'7". 3'8"! ¿Un metro diez como mucho? Pues yo mido 1,13. ¡1,16! 2 0:42:46 Gollum *They go around for miles and miles. *Darán rodeos, millas y millas. The adaptation technique is also present in the translation of the film. It implies substituting some elements of the source culture by their equivalents in the target culture system. It is normally employed when the units of measuring of the source culture do not match those of the target culture and need to be, as the name of the technique indicates, adapted to the new system. Example 1 is a common case of adaptation: the unit of measuring “foot”, which is common to the English culture, is adapted to meters, which is the unit stablished in the target culture. In example 2, miles should be adapted to kilometers as happens in example 1 with foot and meters, but it is not. The reason for not using adaptation when its application would be expected probably has to do with the character stating that line: Gollum. As seen in the technique “word-for-word”, Gollum’s speech was purposely translated to sound strange, unusual and to stand out from other characters, which would explain why Pippin’s line is adapted and Gollum’s line is not. 30 6. Discussion As the analysis above shows, several translation techniques seen in section 2.3.2. have been employed in the translation of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The presence of these techniques illustrates the importance they have in AVT as well as the impact their application entails on the final product. The translators’ choice of applying some techniques over the others is what shapes the overall perception the target audience has about the film. Hence, the close relationship between the translation and the perception of the film dotes the translation process of great importance, forcing the translators to be very careful and demanding with their choices. Therefore, it is important to understand why some techniques have more presence than others in the translation of the film. Literal translation, a direct technique, is by far the most used technique in the translation process. Since its nature entails being more faithful to the text than to the actual message, it was surprising to find in such a big number of instances while dealing with a dubbing product. Nevertheless, when the original text and the translation are seen side by side it is clear that the original English structure of many sentences is very similar to their equivalents in Spanish and only minor modifications were realized to achieve the final translation. The original language has a literary resemblance, in many cases a formal and elevated tone, which has been kept through the translation by using this technique whenever it was possible. Thus, the predominant and accurate use of literal translation increases the quality of the translation since the target text is very close to the original and the translation still sounds natural and idiomatic, managing to maintain the elevated tone. The second and third most used techniques are dynamic equivalence and modulation. These two techniques have little to do with literal translation since both imply a deeper transformation of the original text, especially dynamic equivalence. Indirect translation techniques were expected to play a major role in the translation process because, as commented in section 2.2.2.1., the importance on AVT normally lies on lip-synchrony and some utterances need to be modified in order to achieve it. Hence, the use the translators gave to these techniques is flawless and very accurate, managing to maintain the tone of the original by modifying the text without altering the message. Although the use of these techniques is fairly frequent in the translation, the degree of alteration of the text is not 31 especially profound: the text only suffered minor modifications, enough to make it idiomatic, but never excessively dramatic. The focus the translators payed to the faithfulness to the original becomes even more evident when looking for examples of free translation: only five instances are found in total and only three of them imply a drastic change on the original text. In these three cases, illustrated in section 5.1.10., the use of free translation was necessary since the utterances would not sound idiomatic applying any other technique. Furthermore, the tone is maintained and the effect the utterances generate on the audience is still very similar. In conclusion, after analyzing the whole translation of the film it becomes clear that the objective of the translators is to achieve a translation which is strongly faithful to the original text. The use of literal translation in the vast majority of utterances and the very limited use of free translation are indicators of this attitude. Other techniques such as dynamic equivalence, modulation, reduction or coined equivalence are not employed as frequently as literal translation and the degree of textual alteration when they are used is kept to a minimum. The product of this pursuit for a faithful translation that sounds natural and follow the lip-synchrony parameters dramatically increases the quality of the dubbed film, allowing the audience to experience a nearly original experience. 7. Conclusion In the present thesis, the role played by AVT in the translation of a popular movie has been explored as well as how the different techniques under this discipline help to achieve a high-quality final product. AVT has been introduced and important aspects of its nature such as its history and definition have been explained. The main methods of AVT, namely, captioning and revoicing, have been addressed with special attention paid to subtitling and dubbing, the most important procedures of each method. Furthermore, the two main strategies employed in the AVT process, namely, domestication and foreignization have been dealt with. Some translation techniques which are of great importance in the translation process have been examined; the preference of one technique over the others shapes the whole perception of the translation and determines the quality of the final translation product. These translation techniques have been demonstrated 32 and explained by providing examples found in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The results of the analysis show how the translators of the film have aimed for an idiomatic translation that sounds natural to the target audience, but at the same time loyal to the original text. 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