Manipulating taboo in film discourse. The case of subtitling in Portugal

As Catarina Xavier demonstrates in this chapter, when it comes to translating subtitles, taboos often pose a great issue as they entail a plethora of obstacles: not only can literal translations of swearwords lose specific cultural signifiers in the process, but traditions surrounding taboos may also vary from country to country. To better demonstrate the issues that may arise, Xavier discusses three movies and the translation of swearwords therein to see how they are handled in the Portuguese context. Finally, Section Two ends with a more theoretical exploration by examining how method acting and modernist style, two seemingly opposed forms of expression, were skilfully joined in 1960s American cinema. Hereby, Jeffrey Childs particularly considers Peter Yates’ movie Bullitt (1968) to plunge further into this question.