Cover not available

In:Multimodal Im/politeness: Signed, spoken, written
Edited by Andreas H. Jucker, Iris Hübscher and Lucien Brown
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 333] 2023
► pp. 275–296

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 10
Multimodality and subtitles

A focus on im/politeness in Japanese films with French subtitles through the example of some rituals

ORCiD logo with link | Paris Nanterre University
Published online: 21 February 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.333.10cla
Abstract
This article examines, in a corpus of eight mainstream Japanese films with French subtitles, the forms of realization of certain im/polite Japanese multimodal behaviors (verbal rituals, kneeling, bowing, clothing, deferential vs casual attitude), and also the impact of the contextual environment on the choices made by the subtitlers. It shows the importance of multimodality for the non-Japanese spectator who, due to a non-overlap between the formulas of each language and/or in the absence of subtitles, can rely on these nonverbal and situational elements to re-establish the gap between the source language-culture and the target language-culture, to interpret the degree of deference that exists between the characters and/or to imagine the forms of realization of the asymmetry of the relationships.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Multimodality and expression of im/politeness in Japanese
    • 2.1Ojigi (お辞儀) and aizuchi (相槌)
    • 2.2A brief historical review
  • 3.Subtitling
  • 4.Corpus and methodology
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1A meaningful contextual environment
    • 5.2Highly ritualized situations
    • 5.3Impact of clothing and behaviors
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (59)
References
Bardsley, Jan, and Laura Miller. 2011. Manners and Mischief, Gender, Power, and Etiquette in Japan, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Becquemont, Daniel. 1996. “Le sous-titrage cinématographique: contraintes, sens, servitudes [Cinematic subtitling: Constraints, meanings, servitudes].” In Les transferts linguistiques dans les médias audiovisuels [Language Transfers in Audiovisual Media], ed. by Yves Gambier, 145–155. Villeneuve-d’Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bertrand, Roxane, Gaëlle Ferré, Philippe Blache, Robert Espesser, and Stéphane Rauzy. 2007. “Backchannels Revisited from a Multimodal Perspective. Auditory-visual Speech Processing.” Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands. 1–5. hal-00244490Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brossard, Alain, Sylvie Demingeon-Pessonneaux, and Serge Portalier. 2006. “Réexamen critique des fonctions des regards dans les interactions dyadiques en fonction de l’accès à la visibilité des interlocuteurs.” L’année psychologique 106 (4): 609–631. [URL]
Brown, Lucien, and Bodo Winter. 2018. “Multimodal Indexicality in Korean: ‘Doing Deference’ and ‘Performing Intimacy’ through Nonverbal Behavior.” Journal of Politeness Research 15 (1): 25–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brunner, Lawrence J. 1979. “Smiles Can Be Back Channels.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37 (5): 728–734. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bunka shingikai tôshin [Report of the Advisory Committee for Culture]. 2007. Keigo no shishin [Guide to polite language].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Caillet, Laurence. 1991. “La civilisation japonaise [Japanese civilisation].” In Histoire des mœurs III, vol. 2, Thèmes et systèmes culturels [History of Manners III, vol. 2, Themes and Cultural Systems], ed. by Jean Poirier, 978–1038. Paris: Gallimard.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Claudel, Chantal. 2002. Comparaison du genre interview de presse en français et en japonais : une approche énonciative et pragmatique à travers la notion translangagière de figure [Comparison of the press interview genre in French and Japanese: an enunciative and pragmatic approach through the translanguage notion of figure]. Thèse de doctorat: Université de la Sorbonne nouvelle-Paris 3.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. “Modes de transposition de quelques rituels du japonais en français dans des sous-titrages de films [Ways of transposing some rituals from Japanese into French in film subtitles].” Cahiers de praxématique 60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2021. L’e-politesse dans les courriels en français et en japonais [E-politeness in French and Japanese emails]. Paris: Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cook, Haruko M., and Matthew Burdelski. 2017. “(Im)politeness: Language Socialization.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic (Im)politeness, ed. by Jonathan Culpeper, Michael Haugh, and Dániel Z. Kádár, 461–488. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cornu, Jean-François. 1996. “Le sous-titrage, montage du texte [Subtitling, editing the text].” In Les transferts linguistiques dans les médias audiovisuels [Language transfers in the audiovisual media], ed. by Yves Gambier, 157–164. Villeneuve-d’Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cosnier, Jacques. 1991. “De l’amour du texte à l’amour du contexte [From love of text to love of context].” In Texte et contexte dans la communication [Text and context in communication], ed. by Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge, Cahiers critiques de thérapie familiale et de pratiques de réseaux [URL]
Dennison, Heeyon Y., and Benjamin K. Bergen. 2010. “Language-driven Motor Simulation is Sensitive to Social Context.” In Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, ed. by Richard Catrambone, and Stellan Ohlsson, 901–906. Texas, Austin: Cognitive Science Society.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díaz-Cintas, Jorge. 2010. “Subtitling.” In Handbook of Translation Studies. Volume 1, ed. by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Doorslaer, 344–349. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dictionnaire Historique du Japon [Dictionary of Japanese History]. 1995. Tokyo: Kinokuniya.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunn, Cynthia. 2013. “Speaking Politely, Kindly, and Beautifully: Ideologies of Politeness in Japanese Business Etiquette Training.” Multilingua 32 (2): 225–245. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dynel, Marta. 2011. “‘You talking to me?’ The Viewer as a Ratified Listener to Film Discourse.” Journal of Pragmatics 43: 1628–1644. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. 1981. Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010 [1971]. Relations in Public. Microstudies of the Public Order. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guillot, Marie-Noëlle. 2010. “Film Subtitles from a Cross-cultural Pragmatics Perspective, Issues of Linguistic and Cultural Representation.” The Translator 16 (1): 67–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. “Film Subtitles and the Conundrum of Linguistic and Cultural Representation: A Methodological Blind Spot.” In Contrastive Media Analysis, ed. by Stefan Hauser, and Martin Luginbühl, 101–121. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2017. “Subtitling and Dubbing in Telecinematic Text.” In Pragmatics of Fiction, ed. by Miriam A. Locher, and Andreas H. Jucker, 397–424. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haensel, Jennifer X., Tim J. Smith, and Atsushi Senju. 2022. “Cultural Differences in Mutual Gaze During Face-to-face Interactions: A Dual Head-mounted Eye-tracking Study.” Visual Cognition 30 (1–2): 100–115. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanzawa, Chiemi. 2012. Listening Behaviors in Japanese: Aizuchi and Head Nod Use by Native Speakers and Second Language Learners, PhD in Philosophy: University of Iowa. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hendry, Joy. 1994. “Politesse [Politeness].” In Dictionnaire de la civilisation japonaise [Dictionary of Japanese Civilization], ed. by Augustin Berque, 411–413. Paris: Hazan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ide, Rie. 2009. “Aisatsu.” In Culture and Language Use, ed. by Gunter Senft, Jan-Ola Östman, and Jef Verschueren, 18–28. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ikegami, Eiko. 2005. Bonds of Civility: Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ise, Sadatake. 1985. Teijô zakki [Sadatake’s note]. Tokyo: Heibon-sha (1843 1st ed.).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jucker, Andreas H., Heiko Hausendorf, Christa Dürscheid, Karina Frick, Christoph Hottiger, Wolfgang Kesselheim, Angelika Linke, Nathalie Meyer, and Antonia Steger. 2018. “Doing Space in Face-to-face Interaction and on Interactive Multimodal Platforms.” Journal of Pragmatics 134C: 85–101. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine. 1990. Les interactions verbales [Verbal interactions], Tome 1. Paris: Armand Colin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1992. Les interactions verbales [Verbal interactions], Tome 2. Paris: Armand Colin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kita, Sotaro, and Sachiko Ide. 2007. “Nodding, aizuchi, and Final particles in Japanese Conversation: How Conversation Reflects the Ideology of Communication and Social Relationships.” Journal of Pragmatics 39: 1242–1254. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koga, Hiromi. 2012. “Jigi e no ichi kôsatsu – Rei no shintai gihô – [A Study of Bowing: Four Types of Bow].” Kaetsu daigaku kenkyû ronshû [Kaetsu University Research Review] 55 (1): 57–71.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kôjien [Japanese dictionary Kojien]. 1987. Tôkyô: Iwanami shoten (3rd edition).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kubo, Ryoichi. 2020. “Bijinesu kyôiku ni okeru ‘reisetsu’ ni tsuite – fueki to ryôkô, [‘Respect’ on business education ‘effort and fashion’].” Miyazaki Gakuen Tanki Daigaku Kiyô, Bulletin of Miyazaki Gakuen Junior College 12: 56–71. [URL]
Laks, Simon. 2013 [1957]. “Le sous-titrage de films, sa technique, son esthétique [Film subtitling, its technique, its aesthetics].” L’écran traduit, Hors-Série 1: 1–43. [URL]
Locher, Miriam A., and Andreas H. Jucker. 2021. The Pragmatics of Fiction. Literature, Stage and Screen Discourse. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lowry, Dave. 2006. In the Dojo, A Guide to The Rituals and Etiquette of the Japanese Martial Arts. Boston: Shambhala Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maynard, Senko K. 1986. “On Back-channel Behavior in Japanese and English Casual Conversation.” Linguistics 24: 1079–1108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1990. “Conversation Management in Contrast: Listener Response in Japanese and American English.” Journal of Pragmatics 14: 397–412. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Messerli, Thomas C. 2017. “Participation Structure in Fictional Discourse: Authors, Scriptwriters, Audiences and Characters.” In Pragmatics of Fiction, ed. by Miriam A. Locher, and Andreas H. Jucker, 25–54. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miller, Laura. 2011. “Behavior that Offends, Comics and Other Images of Incivility.” In Manners and Mischief, Gender, Power, and Etiquette in Japan, ed. by Jan Bardsley, and Laura Miller, 219–250. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mizutani, Osamu, and Nobuko Mizutani. 1987. How to be Polite in Japanese. Tokyo: The Japan Times.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1988. Nihongo notes 6. Situational Japanese 1. Tokyo: The Japan Times.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nakane, Chie. 1974. La société japonaise [Japanese society]. Paris: Armand Colin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nakashima, Kiyotaka, Tatsuhito Hasegawa, and Haruhiko Kimura. 2016. “Tangan kamera wo môchiita ojigi no seikakusa hyôka shisutemu [Evaluation System of the Exactness Bow Using a Monocular Camera].” Jôhô shori gakkai kenkyû hôkoku, IPSJ SIG Technical Report 18 (16): 1–7.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Napoli, Vittorio. 2020. “Speech Act (Im)Politeness and Audiovisual Constraints in Translation for Dubbing: Gain, Loss, or Both?”. Journal of Audiovisual Translation 3 (1): 29–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Remael, Aline. 2003. “Mainstream Narrative Film Dialogue and Subtitling: A Case Study of Mike Leigh’s Secrets & Lies (1996).” The Translator 9 (2): 225–247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Şerban, Adriana. 2008. “Les aspects linguistiques du sous-titrage [Linguistic aspects of subtitling].” In La traduction audiovisuelle, Approche interdisciplinaire du sous-titrage [Audiovisual Translation: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Subtitling], ed. by Jean-Marc Lavaur, and Adriana Şerban, 85–99. Bruxelles: De Boeck.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Takeda, Tomoya, Yuko Kamagahara, Xiaodan Lu, Noriyuki Kida, Tadayuki Hara, and Tomoko Ota. 2016. “Nihonteki ojigi ga okonawareru bamen de ukete no kanji kata [Effect of Japanese Style Bowing on the Perception of the Person Receiving the Greeting].” Nihon kansei kôgakkai ronbun shi [Transactions of Japan Society of Kansei Engineering] 16 (1): 67–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taylor, Christopher J. 2003. “Multimodal Transcription in the Analysis, Translation and Subtitling of Italian Films.” The Translator 9 (2): 191–205. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomaskiewicz, Teresa. 1995. “Trilogue dans le cinéma sous-titré [Trilogue in subtitled cinema].” In Le trilogue [The trilogue], Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni, and Christian Plantin, 161–185. Lyon: Presses universitaires de Lyon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsujimura, Toshiki. 1992. Keigôron-kô [Considerations on the theory of honorific terms]. Tôkyô: Meiji-shoin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wetzel, Patricia Jean. 1994. “A Movable Self: The Linguistic Indexing of uchi and soto.” In Situated Meaning: Inside and Outside in Japanese Self, Society, and Language, ed. by Jane M. Bachnik, and Charles J. Quinn Jr., 73–87. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Keigo in Modern Japan: Polite Language from Meiji to the Present. Honolulu: Hawaï University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yamada, Shoji. 2009. Shots in the Dark, Japan, Zen, and the West. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue