Multimodal corpus analysis of subtitling: The case of non-standard varieties
SaraRamos Pinto and AishahMubaraki
University of Leeds | University of Hafr Al Batin
Abstract
This article proposes a new methodology for multimodal corpus analysis. It does so by particularly focusing on the
issue of the translation of non-standard language varieties. This new methodology, which is significantly influenced by the work
of Iedema (2003), Jimenez Hurtado and Soler Gallego
(2013), Pastra (2008) and Ramos Pinto
(2018), is capable of identifying the modes and resources at play and the relations identified between them, as well as
how such relations participate in the construction of the non-standard varieties’ communicative meaning. It also accounts for the
impact of the introduction of subtitles on preserving, cancelling or modifying the intermodal relations identified in the source
text and, consequently, the diegetic functions they support; that is, the function they assume in the fictional world of the film.
In this regard, the methodology assumes a clear translational perspective.
It is commonly acknowledged that one of the main challenges in dealing with highly complex multimodal products, such as film, is their reliance on different channels and the multitude of possible modal combinations which produce meaning (Kress et al. 2001; Bateman 2014). This has certainly had an impact on the type of studies conducted and methodologies used to study multimodal products. However, arguably one of the main reasons that multimodal products are so challenging to study is the fact that academic research is dominated by a focus on the written mode. On the one hand, the analysis of visual and aural modes resists the written mode in which it is conducted and presented to others. On the other hand, the collation and analysis of corpora of multimodal products is further complicated by the fact that corpus techniques have been developed primarily for textual analysis.
References
Antonini, Rachele
2005 “The Perception of Subtitled Humor in Italy.” Humor 18 (2): 209–225.
Baldry, Anthony, and Paul Thibault
2006Multimodal Transcription and Text Analysis: A Multimedia Toolkit and Coursebook with Associated On-line Course. London: Equinox.
Baños, Rocio
2013 “ ‘That Is So Cool’: Investigating the Translation of Adverbial Intensifiers in English-Spanish Dubbing through a Parallel Corpus of Sitcoms.” Perspectives 21 (4): 526–542.
Bateman, John
2014Text and Image: A Critical Introduction to the Visual/Verbal Divide. London: Routledge.
Bateman, John, and Chiaoi Tseng
2015 “The Establishment of Interpretative Expectations in Film.” In Multimodality and Cognitive Linguistics, edited by María Pinar Sanz, 131–146. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Blake, Norman
1981Non-standard Language in English Literature. London: Andre Deutsch.
Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson
(1979) 2008Film Art: An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Brodovich, Olga
1997 “Translation Theory and Non-standard Speech in Fiction.” Perspectives 5 (1): 25–30.
Brisset, Annie
1996A Sociocritique of Translation: Theatre and Alterity in Quebec, 1968–1988. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Bucaria, Chiara, and Delia Chiaro
2007 “End-User Perception of Screen Translation: The Case of Italian Dubbing.” TradTerm 13: 91–118.
Bucaria, Chiara
2008 “Acceptance of the Norm or Suspension of Disbelief? The Case of Formulaic Language in Dubbese.” In Between Text and Image: Updating Research in Screen Translation, edited by Delia Chiaro, Christine Heiss, and Chiara Bucaria, 149–164. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Chaume, Frederic
2004 “Film Studies and Translation Studies: Two Disciplines at Stake in Audiovisual Translation.” Meta 49 (1): 12–24.
Chiaro, Delia
2007 “The Effect of Translation on Humour Response: The Case of Dubbed Comedy in Italy.” In Doubts and Directions in Translation Studies: Selected Contributions from the EST Congress Lisbon 2004, edited by Yves Gambier, Miriam Schlesinger, and Radegundis Stolze, 137–152. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Chiaro, Delia
2008 “Where Have All the Varieties Gone? The Vicious Circle of the Disappearance Act in Screen Translations.” In Dialect for All Seasons, edited by Irmeli Helin, 9–25. Münster: Nodus Publikationen.
Diaz-Cintas, Jorge
2008 “Audiovisual Translation Comes of Age.” In Between Text and Image. Updating Research in Screen Translation, edited by Delia Chiaro, Christine Heiss, and Chiara Bucaria, 1–9. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Dimitrova, Brigitta
2002 “Orality, Literacy, Reproduction of Discourse and the Translation of Dialect.” In Dialektübersetzung und Dialekte im Multimedia, edited by Irmeli Helin, 121–139. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Ellender, Claire
2015Dealing with Difference in Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling Linguistic Variation in Films. Oxford: Peter Lang.
Freddi, Maria
2013 “Constructing a Corpus of Translated Films: A Corpus View of Dubbing.” Perspectives 21 (4): 491–503.
Fuentes Luque, Adrián
2003 “An Empirical Approach to the Reception of AV Translated Humour.” The Translator 9 (2): 293–306.
Gibson, James
1979The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Hatim, Basil, and Ian Mason
1990Discourse and the Translator. London: New York: Longman.
Hatim, Basil
1990–1991 “Intertextuality and Idiolect as Intended Meaning; A Concern for Both Translator and Literacy Critic Alike: With Special Reference to Arabic.” Parallèles: Cahiers de l’École de Traduction et d’Interprétation de l’Université de Genève 12 (Hiver): 77–87.
Hodson, Jane
2014Dialect in Film & Literature. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Iedema, Rick
2003 “Multimodality, Resemiotization: Extending the Analysis of Discourse as Multi-semiotic Practice.” Visual Communication 2 (1): 29–57.
Jimenez Hurtado, Catalina, and Claudia Seibel
2012 “Multisemiotic and Multimodal Corpus Analysis in Audiodescription: TRACCE.” In Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility at the Crossroads, edited by Aline Remael, Pilar Orero, and Mary Carrol, 409–425. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Jiménez Hurtado, Catalina, and Silvia Soler Gallego
2013 “Multimodality, Translation and Accessibility: A Corpus-based Study of Audio Description.” Perspectives 21 (4): 577–594.
Kovačič, Irena
1995 “Reception of Subtitles – The Non-existent Ideal Viewer.” Translatio (FIT Newsletter) 14 (3–4): 376–383.
Kozloff, Sarah
2000Overhearing Film Dialogue. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kress, Gunther, Carey Jewitt, Jon Ogbom, and Charalampos Tsatsarelis
2001Multimodal Teaching and Learning: The Rhetorics of the Science Classroom. London: Continuum.
Künzli, Alexander, and Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow
2011 “Innovative Subtitling: A Reception Study.” In Methods and Strategies of Process Research, edited by Cecilia Alvstad, Adelina Hild, and Elisabet Tiselius, 187–200. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Lane-Mercier, Gillian
1997 “Translating the Untranslatable: The Translator’s Aesthetic, Ideological and Political Responsibility.” Target 9 (1): 43–68.
Lemke, Jay
1998 “Multiplying Meaning: Visual and Verbal Semiotics in Scientific Text.” In Reading Science: Critical and Functional Perspectives on Discourses of Science, edited by J. R. Martin and Robert Veel, 87–113. London: Routledge.
Leppihalme, Ritva
2000 “The Two Faces of Standardization: On the Translation of Regionalisms in Literary Dialogue.” The Translator 6 (2): 247–269.
2019Representation and Subtitling of Linguistic Varieties in Egyptian Films. PhD diss. University of Leeds.
Pastra, Katerina
2008 “COSMOROE: A Cross-Media Relations Framework for Modelling Multimedia Dialectics.” Multimedia Systems 14: 299–323.
Perego, Elisa, Fabio Del Missier, Marco Porta, and Mauro Mosconi
2010 “The Cognitive Effectiveness of Subtitle Processing.” Media Psychology 13: 243–272.
Pérez-González, Luís
2014Audiovisual Translation: Theories, Methods and Issues. Routledge: London.
Ramos Pinto, Sara
2009 “How Important Is the Way You Say It? A Discussion on the Translation of Linguistic Varieties in Different Media.” Target 21 (2): 289–307.
Ramos Pinto, Sara
2010Tradução no vazio: A variação linguística nas traduções portuguesas de Pygmalion, de Bernard Shaw, e My Fair Lady de Alan Jay Lerner. PhD diss. University of Lisbon.
Ramos Pinto, Sara
2018 “Film, Dialects and Subtitles: An Analytical Framework for the Study of Non-standard Varieties in Subtitling.” The Translator 24 (1): 17–34.
Remael, Aline, Pilar Orero, and Mary Carroll
2012 “Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility at the Crossroads.” In Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility at the Crossroads, edited by Aline Remael, Pilar Orero, and Mary Carrol, 13–22. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Rosa, Alexandra
2004Tradução, poder e ideologia: Retórica interpessoal no diálogo narrativo dickensiano em português (1950–1999). PhD diss. University of Lisbon.
2018 “From Paratext to Polysemiotic Network: A Holistic Approach to the Study of Subtitled Films.” Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series: Themes in Translation Studies 14: 71–83.
Stöckl, Hartmut
2004 “In Between Modes: Language and Image in Printed Media.” In Perspectives on Multimodality, edited by Eija Vetola, Cassily Charles, and Martin Kaltenbacher, 9–30. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Taylor, Christopher
2003 “Multimodal Transcription in the Analysis: Translation and Subtitling of Italian films.” The Translator 9 (2): 191–205.
Toury, Gideon
1995Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Tuominen, Tiina
2011 “Accidental Reading? Some Observations on the Reception of Subtitled Films.” In Audiovisual Translation in Close-up: Practical and Theoretical Approaches, edited by Adriana Serban, Anna Matamala, and Jean-Marc Lavaur, 189–204. Bern: Peter Lang.
Valentini, Cristina
2008 “Forlixt 1 – The Forlì Corpus of Screen Translation. Exploring Macrostructures.” In Between Text and Image. Updating Research in Screen Translation, edited by Delia Chiaro, Christine Heiss, and Chiara Bucaria, 37–50. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Yu, Jing
2017 “Translating ‘Others’ as ‘Us’ in Huckleberry Finn: Dialect, Register and the Heterogeneity of Standard Language.” Language and Literature 26 (1): 54–65.