Polyphonic workflows
The emerging dubbing market in Peru
Published online: 24 May 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00274.gar
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00274.gar
Abstract
The dubbing process is usually depicted as a linear model in which its participants occupy fixed roles determined by their specializations. However, Torre A, a Peruvian dubbing firm, applies alternative procedures in an emerging context of the dubbing industry. This first case study of dubbing in Peru seeks to examine the dubbing process employed by the agency Torre A based on two projects taking place during its emerging stage as a company. Participants from both projects were interviewed to reconstruct each project workflow. The workflows were then analyzed to contrast the monological, linear theoretical model found in the literature with the dialogical model arising from the participants’ voices. The results show the looping nature of the dubbing process, which is comprised of tasks performed simultaneously or repeatedly by versatile agents whose roles depend on available human and temporal resources as well as intrinsic motivation. This multiplicity of roles also influences the quality criteria used by the agents, who formulate criteria based on their professional perspectives, experiences, and general knowledge of the dubbing process. Thus, a variety of dubbing project circumstances determine how dubbing takes place. This represents a departure from the traditional, or standardized, model of dubbing.
Keywords: dubbing, dubbing process, audiovisual translation, polyphony, Peru
Résumé
Le processus de doublage est généralement représenté comme un modèle linéaire, dont les protagonistes jouent des rôles fixes déterminés par leur spécialisation. Cependant, Torre A, une entreprise péruvienne de doublage, applique des procédures alternatives dans le contexte spécifique de l’émergence de l’industrie du doublage. Cette première étude de cas sur le doublage au Pérou cherche à examiner le processus de doublage employé par l’agence Torre A en se basant sur deux projets ayant eu lieu pendant sa phase d’émergence en tant qu’entreprise. Les participants aux deux projets ont été interrogés afin de reconstituer le déroulement de chaque projet. Les flux de travail ont ensuite été analysés pour opposer le modèle théorique monologique et linéaire que l’on trouve dans la littérature au modèle dialogique issu de l’expérience des participants. Les résultats montrent la nature circulaire du processus de doublage. Certaines tâches sont exécutées plusieurs fois ou simultanément par des agents polyvalents, dont les rôles dépendent du temps et des ressources humaines disponibles ainsi que de leur motivation intrinsèque. La multiplicité des rôles influence également les critères de qualité utilisés par les agents, qui les conçoivent selon leur perspective professionnelle, leur expérience et leur connaissance générale du processus de doublage. Ainsi, une variété de circonstances liées au projet de doublage détermine la façon dont le doublage se déroule, ce qui représente un écart par rapport au modèle traditionnel, ou standardisé.
Mots-clés : doublage, processus de doublage, traduction audiovisuelle, polyphonie, Pérou
Article outline
- Introduction
- Theoretical approaches to the dubbing process
- Monologism, dialogism, and polyphony
- Methodology
- Versatile agents in a changing market
- Reconstruction of the dubbing workflows
- Conclusions
References
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