Subtitling and its Acceptability in the Film Farewell, My Concubine: A Multimodal Approach

Nan Wang

Abstract


Subtitling is intersemiotic translation that can bridge differences between two languages and should consider semiotic modes as subtitling is not merely determined by the source text but also by the constraints of time and space. The rapid development of audiovisual translation from the perspective of multimodality facilitates the development of translation. However, few studies focus on the rationality of subtitling methods. Farewell, My Concubine is a famous Chinese film with its subtitles translated by Linda Jaivin, an Australian audiovisual translator. Her subtitles contribute to the award of the Golden Palm Award at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Under spatial-temporal constraints, multimodal transcription provides a basis for meaning choices to discuss how to choose proper translation methods guided by semiotic modes. The translation methods adopted in Farewell, My Concubine can be explicated such as adaptation, amplification, non-translation, and deduction including condensation, reductive paraphrasing and deletion. The acceptability of Jaivin’s translation methods can be explored from ideational intersemiotic complementarity that centers on multimodal consonance between verbal and visual modes to see how semiotic modes complement each other especially when Jaivin has altered the source text. The applicability of intersemiotic complementarity creatively finds a new way to discuss the relations between frames and subtitles. Meanwhile, the multimodal approach indicates now the interdisciplinary study on subtitling is a must and a trend to explore both the translation methods and their acceptability. It is also found that there are still complementary relations between non-verbal modes and translated subtitles. These findings prove the subtitling methods acceptable and the role of multimodality in subtitling essential. Translation cannot entirely replicate the original text, and different translators may adopt the same translation methods while they will produce varied translated text. In this respect, the analysis of translation methods and their rationality is of universality. Furthermore, the study on subtitles will promote the film itself and the culture of the country.

Keywords


Subtitling, Farewell, My Concubine, Multimodality, Multimodal Transcription, Intersemiotic Complementarity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Baldry, A. (2004). Phase and transition, type and instance: patterns in media texts as seen through a multimodal concordancer. In K. O’Halloran (Eds.), Multimodal Discourse Analysis: Systemic functional perspectives (pp. 83-108). London and New York: Continuum.

Bowcher W. L, Liang J. Y. (2013). Chinese tourist site entry tickets: Intersemiotic complementarity in an ecosocial process. Social Semiotics, 23(3): 385-408. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2012.738996

Chaume F. (2004). Film studies and translation studies: Two disciplines at stake in audiovisual translation. Meta: journal des traducteurs/Meta: Translators' Journal, 49(1): 12-24. https://doi.org/10.7202/009016ar

Chuang Y. T. Studying subtitle translation from a multi-modal approach. Babel, 2006, 52(4):349-371. https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.52.4.06chu

Dollerup, C. (1974). On subtitles in television programmes. Babel, 0(4):197-202. https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.20.4.05dol

Gambier Y. (2006). Multimodality and audiovisual translation. MuTra 2006-Audiovsiual Scenarios: Conference Proceedings, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1075/hts.4.mul2

Gambier, Y. (2013). The position of audiovisual translation studies. In C. Millán & F. Bartrina (eds). The Routledge handbook of translation studies (pp. 63-77). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203102893.ch3

Ghaemi F., & Benyamin J (2011). Strategies Used in the translation of interlingual subtitling. Journal of English Studies, 1: 39-49.

Gottlieb, H. (1992). Subtitling: A new university discipline. In C. Dollerup, et al. (Eds.), Teaching translation and interpreting (pp. 161-70). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.56.26got

Halliday, M. A. K, & Christian M. (2014). Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Routledge.

Iedema, R. (2001). Analysing film and television: A social semiotic account of hospital: An unhealthy business. In T. Van Leeuwen & C. Jewitt (Eds.), Handbook of visual analysis (pp. 183-204), London: Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857020062.n9

Jakobson, R. (1959). On Linguistic Aspects of Translation. In R. A. Brower (Eds.) On translation, (pp. 232-239). Cambridge: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674731615.c18

Jin, H. (2013). From Farewell, My Concubine to The Grandmaster: An interview with Linda Jaivin, the film translator. Chinese Translators Journal, 34(04):65-67.

Kaindl, K. (2013). Multimodality and translation. In C. Millán, F. Bartrina (eds). The Routledge handbook of translation studies (pp. 275-288). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203102893.ch19

Kress, G., & Theo Van Leeuwen (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge.

Lau, J. K. W. (1995). “Farewell My Concubine”: History, Melodrama, and Ideology in Contemporary Pan-Chinese Cinema. Film Quarterly, 16-27. https://doi.org/10.2307/1213489

Leontovich, O. (2019). “A Sensible Image of the Infinite”: Intersemiotic Translation of Russian Classics for Foreign Audiences. Russian Journal of Linguistics, (23): 399-414. https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9182-2019-23-2-399-414

Li, Y. (2001). Strategies for Translating Subtitles. Chinese Translators Journal, (04), 38-40

Martinec, R., & Salway, A. (2005). A system for image–text relations in new (and old) media. Visual communication, 4(3): 337-371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357205055928

Neves, J. (2009). Interlingual subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. In J. D. Cintas, G. Anderman (Eds.) Audiovisual Translation: Language transfer on screen (pp. 151-169). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Pettit, Z. (2004). The audio-visual text: Subtitling and dubbing different genres. Meta: Journal des traducteurs/Meta: Translators' Journal, 49(1): 25-38. https://doi.org/10.7202/009017ar

Royce, T. D. (2002). Multimodality in the TESOL classroom: Exploring visual‐verbal synergy. TESOL quarterly, 36(2): 191-205. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588330

Royce, T. D. (2015). Intersemiotic Complementarity in Legal Cartoons: An Ideational Multimodal Analysis. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law–A Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 28(4): 719-744. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-015-9421-1

Royce, T. D. (2007). Intersemiotic Complementarity: A Framework for Multimodal. In T.D. Royce, W. L. Bowcher (Eds.) New Directions in the Analysis of Multimodal Discourse (pp. 63-109). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Shi, C., & Han, Zh. (2018). A Comparative study of the overseas studies of Farewell, My Concubine between China and the West. Cultural Studies and Literary Theory, (01), 178-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.13760/b.cnki.csalt.2018.0058

Tan, J. (2018). The Importance of Non-translation – A “Non-translation” strategy in Translation. Chinese Translation Journal, 39(05):102-108.

Tang, J. (2014). Translating Kung Fu Panda's kung fu-related elements: cultural representation in dubbing and subtitling. Perspectives, 22(3): 437-456. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315228723-9

Taylor, C. (2003). Multimodal transcription in the analysis, translation and subtitling of Italian films. The translator, 9(2): 191-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2003.10799153

Taylor, C. (2004). Multimodal text analysis and subtitling. Perspectives on multimodality, 153-172. https://doi.org/10.1075/ddcs.6.11tay

Taylor, C. (2015). Language as Access: Transposition and Translation of Audiovisual Texts as a Vehicle of Meaning and a Gateway to Understanding. In S. Starc, C. Jones & A. Maiorani (Eds.) Meaning Making in Text (pp. 170-193). Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137477309_10

Taylor, C. (2016). The multimodal approach in audiovisual translation. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies, 28(2): 222-236. https://doi.org/10.1075/target.28.2.04tay

Thibault, P. (2000). The Multimodal Transcription of a Television Advertisement: Theory and Practice. In A. Baldry (ed) Multimodality and Multimediality in the Distance Learning Age, Campobasso (pp. 311-385). Palladino Editore.

Yu, H. (2019). One page, two stories: intersemiotic dissonance in a comic adaptation of Journey to the West. Social Semiotics, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2019.1645986

Zhou, J. (2011). Gender Temperament and its Historic Construction in Chen Kaige’s Film Works. Modern Communication (Journal of Communication University of China), (12):163-164.

Zhu, Y. (2007). Theory and Methodology of Multimodal Discourse Analysis. Foreign Language Research, (05):82-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.16263/j.cnki.23-1071/h.2007.05.034




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.10n.6p.94

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2010-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

Advances in Language and Literary Studies

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.