Title
Are literary translations useful in subtitling film adaptations of literature?
Conference name
Media for All 8
City
Country
Sweden
Modalities
Date
19/06/2019
Abstract
Adaptations of literature have been a constant part of annual film repertoires almost since the beginning of the film medium. Every year, Hollywood alone produces several dozen adaptations in the form of feature films, many of which enjoy commercial success thanks to the popularity of the literary original. When a film adaptation is to be translated and released in a given country, the translation of its literary original is usually already available, and might be known to potential viewers. It would seem wise to base the audiovisual translation on the literary translation, but – bearing in mind today’s market conditions, where deadlines are tight, and time is money – is it really worth it to assign the translator the task of reading, for instance, a 300-page book?
The present research aims to investigate how useful the target translation of the literary original is when preparing the target audiovisual translation of the adaptation. It is based on adaptations of 18 diverse literary pieces – including novels (“Anna Karenina,” “Moby Dick”, “Tortilla Flat”, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, “Lust For Life”, “God’s Little Acre”, “Bonjour Tristesse”, “Some Came Running”, “On The Beach”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “In Cold Blood”, “Murder On The Orient Express”, “Under The Volcano”, “Elmer Gantry”), plays (“Julius Caesar”, “Gaslight”, “Inherit The Wind”) and one novella (“A Christmas Carol”). Their translations were commissioned by a local cinema and cultural centre in Lublin, Poland, for a year-round series of screenings. The translators commissioned with the task were required to read the Polish translation of the literary original. If more than one translation was available, they were to choose the most renowned one, which the audience was most likely familiar with. Then they were to subtitle the film adaptation on the basis of the literary rendition, and report in a questionnaire on the usefulness – or lack thereof – of the literary translation in the subtitling process. The following questions were included in the questionnaire. While translating, how often did you use the literary translation from 0 (not at all) to 5 (all the time)? How applicable was the literary translation from 0 to 5? If it was applicable, please give specific examples. Were there instances when the literary translation hampered the AVT process? Did the subtitling mode hamper the applicability of the literary translation? How faithful was the film to the book on a scale from 0 to 5? Please estimate how much of the literary translation (in percentage) was directly applicable in the subtitles? Would it be possible to produce a successful film translation without resorting to the literary translation?
The present research aims to investigate how useful the target translation of the literary original is when preparing the target audiovisual translation of the adaptation. It is based on adaptations of 18 diverse literary pieces – including novels (“Anna Karenina,” “Moby Dick”, “Tortilla Flat”, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, “Lust For Life”, “God’s Little Acre”, “Bonjour Tristesse”, “Some Came Running”, “On The Beach”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “In Cold Blood”, “Murder On The Orient Express”, “Under The Volcano”, “Elmer Gantry”), plays (“Julius Caesar”, “Gaslight”, “Inherit The Wind”) and one novella (“A Christmas Carol”). Their translations were commissioned by a local cinema and cultural centre in Lublin, Poland, for a year-round series of screenings. The translators commissioned with the task were required to read the Polish translation of the literary original. If more than one translation was available, they were to choose the most renowned one, which the audience was most likely familiar with. Then they were to subtitle the film adaptation on the basis of the literary rendition, and report in a questionnaire on the usefulness – or lack thereof – of the literary translation in the subtitling process. The following questions were included in the questionnaire. While translating, how often did you use the literary translation from 0 (not at all) to 5 (all the time)? How applicable was the literary translation from 0 to 5? If it was applicable, please give specific examples. Were there instances when the literary translation hampered the AVT process? Did the subtitling mode hamper the applicability of the literary translation? How faithful was the film to the book on a scale from 0 to 5? Please estimate how much of the literary translation (in percentage) was directly applicable in the subtitles? Would it be possible to produce a successful film translation without resorting to the literary translation?