Ellender Claire. Dealing with Difference in Audiovisual Translation

Subtitling Linguistic Variation in Films. — Bern: Peter Lang AG, 2015. — x + 219 p. — ISBN: 978-3-0353-0738-2 (New Trends in Translation Studies - 14)Subtitling films in another language becomes especially complex when the original language deviates from its standard form. Films that feature non-standard pronunciation, dialects or other varieties of language, especially when juxtaposed with more standard uses, are said to display «linguistic variation». As language use is central to characters’ identities and to a film’s plot, it is essential to retain the source language (SL) specificity as fully as possible in the target language (TL) subtitles so the target audience can experience the film as authentically as possible. Given its considerable difficulty, subtitling in this manner is often advised against, avoided or, when attempted, subjected to considerable criticism.
This book focuses on a collection of British and French films selected for the range of approaches that they adopt in portraying linguistic variation. Each chapter explores the challenges posed by the subtitling of such linguistic difference in the given films and the corresponding solutions offered by their subtitlers. Drawing on these findings and referring to contemporary thinking in the field of translation studies, this book argues that with insight and skill, linguistic variation can be preserved in film subtitles.Subtitling Scots: Translating Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting and Ken Loach’s The Angels’ Share into French
Southern Fairies and Northern Monkeys: Conveying British Dialects in the French Subtitles of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Transporting the Aquarium: Overcoming the Challenges of Subtitling Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank into French
Police Patter: Retaining Linguistic Variation in the English Subtitles of Maïwenn’s Polisse
The Trials of the Foreign: Preserving Linguistic Alterity when Subtitling The Terminal into French
Dealing with Dialect: The Subtitling of Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis into English