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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 68:4 (2022) ► pp.565–585

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Film song translation: Verbal, vocal, and visual dimensions

On the Chinese translation of Amazing Grace in the film Forever Young

 | Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
 | Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Published online: 19 July 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00280.cui
Abstract
As films are distributed across the globe, film song translation has become a subject of study, which entails considering multi-modal factors. This paper aims to explore the major dimensions and parameters involved in film song translation. Based on previous research on music and translation, this paper proposes a framework for studying film song translation from verbal, vocal, and visual dimensions. The verbal dimension involves semantic meaning, metaphors, images, mood, and emotion. The vocal dimension includes the number of syllables and musical notes, the length of musical notes, rhyme and parallelism, the rise and fall of the melody, and the segmentation of a line. The visual dimension covers the plot, characters, and background pictures. This paper uses this framework to analyze the Chinese translation of Amazing Grace in the film Forever Young to demonstrate how film song translation can be flexible in tackling verbal, vocal, and visual restrictions and possibilities.
Résumé
Puisque les films sont aujourd’hui distribués dans le monde entier, la traduction de chansons de films est devenue un sujet d’étude qui implique la prise en compte de facteurs multimodaux. Cet article vise à explorer les principales dimensions et les principaux paramètres impliqués dans la traduction de chansons de films. Sur la base de recherches antérieures sur la musique et la traduction, cet article propose un cadre pour étudier la traduction de chansons de films à partir des dimensions verbale, vocale et visuelle. La dimension verbale inclut la signification sémantique, les métaphores, les images, l’humeur et l’émotion. La dimension vocale comprend le nombre de syllabes et de notes de musique, la longueur des notes de musique, la rime et le parallélisme, la montée et la descente de la mélodie, et la segmentation de la ligne. La dimension visuelle couvre l’intrigue, les personnages et les images de fond. Cet article utilise ce cadre pour analyser la traduction chinoise d’Amazing Grace dans le film Forever Young afin de démontrer comment la traduction de chansons de film peut être flexible en abordant les restrictions et les possibilités verbales, vocales et visuelles.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Research background
    • 1.1Logocentrism and musicocentrism
    • 1.2Criteria of song translation
  • 2.Theoretical framework for film song translation
    • 2.1Match between lyrics and music
    • 2.2Three-dimensional framework for film song translation
  • 3.Verbal analysis of Amazing Grace in Forever Young
  • 4.Vocal analysis
    • 4.1Syllabic pattern
    • 4.2Words and structure
    • 4.3Rising and falling tones
  • 5.Visual analysis
  • Conclusion
  • References
References (29)
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