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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 67:3 (2021) ► pp.307–331

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Examining the transference of humorous expressions based on extralinguistic cultural references (ECRs) in comedy animations from English into Persian dubbed and subtitled versions

 | Universiti Sains Malaysia
Published online: 26 May 2021
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00226.sad
Abstract
This study examines the degree of the adequate transference of humorous ECRs expressions in comedy animations from English into Persian dubbed and subtitled versions. It also identifies the most effective translation strategies for transferring humorous ECRs expressions in the Persian dubbed and subtitled versions. First, ECR-related humorous expressions were identified in the source texts, and later they were classified based on the classification of Nedergaard Larsen (Nedergaard Larsen, Birgit. 1993. “Culture-Bound Problems in Subtitling.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology. Denmark: Museum Tusculanum Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, 211) for ECRs. Subsequently, the identified humorous ECRs expressions were compared with their equivalent Persian dubbed and subtitled versions to determine whether they were transferred adequately. To examine the employed translation strategies in transferring humorous ECRs expressions, the study opted for Pedersen’s (. 2011. Subtitling Norms for Television: An Exploration Focusing on Extralinguistic Cultural References. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, 77–97) translation strategies for ECRs. The results showed that translators employed a target-oriented approach in the dubbed versions and a source-oriented approach in subtitled versions. However, both techniques could not retain the humorous criteria of the source texts. At the same time, the findings revealed that humorous ECRs expressions were transferred more adequately in the dubbed versions than the subtitled versions. Situational substitution and cultural substitution (by target culture ECR) strategies were the most effective translation strategies for dubbed versions. Similarly, situational substitution and generalization strategies were the most effective translation strategies for subtitled versions.
Résumé
La présente étude examine le niveau de transfert adéquat des expressions humoristiques basées sur des références culturelles extralinguistiques dans des dessins animés comiques de l’anglais vers le persan en versions doublées et sous-titrées. Elle identifie également les stratégies de traduction les plus efficaces pour transférer des expressions humoristiques fondées sur des références culturelles extralinguistiques persanes en versions doublées et sous-titrées. Premièrement, les expressions humoristiques liées à ces références ont été identifiées dans les textes sources, puis classées en fonction de la classification de Nedergaard Larsen (Nedergaard Larsen, Birgit. 1993. “Culture-Bound Problems in Subtitling.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology. Denmark: Museum Tusculanum Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, 211) pour les références culturelles extralinguistiques. Par la suite, les expressions humoristiques des références culturelles extralinguistiques identifiées ont été comparées à leurs versions persanes doublées et sous-titrées équivalentes afin de préciser si oui ou non elles ont été transférées de manière adéquate. Pour aborder les stratégies de traduction utilisées dans le transfert d’expressions humoristiques des références culturelles extralinguistiques, l’étude a opté pour les stratégies de traduction de Pedersen (. 2011. Subtitling Norms for Television: An Exploration Focusing on Extralinguistic Cultural References. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, 77–97) concernant les références culturelles extralinguistiques. Les résultats ont montré que les traducteurs utilisaient une approche basée sur le public cible dans les versions doublées et une approche basée sur le texte source dans les versions sous-titrées. Cependant, les deux techniques n’ont pas pu retenir les critères humoristiques des textes sources. Dans le même temps, les résultats ont révélé que les expressions humoristiques des références culturelles extralinguistiques étaient mieux transférées dans les versions doublées que dans les versions sous-titrées. Quant aux versions doublées, les stratégies de substitution situationnelle et culturelle (basées sur la culture cible ainsi que les références culturelles extralinguistiques) ont été celles de traduction les plus efficaces. S’agissant des versions sous-titrées, les stratégies de substitution situationnelle et de généralisation étaient les stratégies de traduction les plus efficaces.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Extralinguistic cultural references (ECRs)
    • 2.2Norms affecting persian translators’ decisions
    • 2.3Audiovisual translation
  • 3.Theoretical frameworks and methodology
    • 3.1Theoretical frameworks
    • 3.2Selected criteria for the identification of humour in the source and target texts
    • 3.3Procedures
    • 3.4Corpus
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Classification, examples and analysis
      • 4.1.1History (building)
      • 4.1.2Society (social organisation)
      • 4.1.3Society (politics)
      • 4.1.4Society (ways of life, customs)
      • 4.1.5Culture (religion)
      • 4.1.6Culture (culture, leisure activities)
    • 4.2Answering research question 1
    • 4.3Answering research question 2
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
References (25)
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