Cover not available

Article published In:
[Target 20:2] 2008
► pp. 249–274

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

Subtitling 8 Mile in three languages

Translation problems and translator licence

 | University of Helsinki
Published online: 3 November 2008
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.20.2.04tai
This article argues that when striving for quality in subtitling, special attention should be paid to the requirements of competence not only when recruiting translators, but also when recruiting local managers and subtitling co-ordinators. The findings are based on a stylistic comparison of the Finnish, French and Russian subtitled versions of 8 Mile, a film that tells about Eminem’s early breakthrough as a rap artist (UIP, 2002). The rap sections of the film present many ‘text-specific translation problems’ (Nord), which become even more troublesome in the context of subtitling, as the translator has space for less text. The worldwide subtitling and dubbing of 8 Mile was an especially well-supervised procedure. The translators were given a lot of material support (e.g., a detailed ‘dialogue list’) but their work was also strictly controlled and limited. According to this study, the severe policy of some local UIP offices may have hindered the quality of subtitling in some countries.
Résumé
Quand on cherche à assurer la qualité du sous-titrage, il ne suffit pas d’être attentif aux compétences des traducteurs embauchés, mais également de veiller à la qualification professionnelle des responsables locaux du sous-titrage. L’article est basé sur une analyse stylistique comparée de trois versions sous-titrées (en finnois, en français et en russe) du film 8 Mile (UIP, 2002), qui raconte les débuts du rappeur Eminem. Les passages rap du film posent plusieurs ‘problèmes de traduction liés au type de texte’ (Nord) qui deviennent encore plus complexes dans le contexte du sous-titrage, à cause des limites d’espace et de temps. Le projet de sous-titrage et de doublage de 8 Mile a été géré avec un soin particulier, à l’échelle mondiale. Les traducteurs ont su bénéficier du concours de l’UIP (par exemple, ils ont reçu une ‘liste de dialogues de post-production’ bien détaillée), mais, en retour, l’UIP leur a imposé des contraintes très strictes. Selon l’auteur, la rigueur extrême exercée par des bureaux locaux de l’UIP a pu nuire à la qualité du sous-titrage dans certains pays.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1UIP and quality control
    • 1.2The film
    • 1.3Dubbing + subtitling
  • 2.The translator’s battle
    • 2.1Defining translation problems and quality control
    • 2.2Text-type-specific translation problems in 8 Mile
      • 2.2.1Rhyme
      • 2.2.2Wordplay
      • 2.2.3Sociolects: Slang and colloquial speech
      • 2.2.4Obscene language
      • 2.2.5Culture-specific references
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1Methods
    • 3.2 Results
  • Conclusion: Translator profiles and invisibility of the profession
  • Notes
  • References
References (37)
References
Ballard, Michel. 2003. Versus: la version réfléchie. Anglais-français, vol. I1 “Repérages et paramè¬tres”. Paris: Éditions Ophrys.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, Antoine. 1985. “La traduction comme épreuve de l’étranger”. Texte 41. 67–81.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chapdelaine, Annick Gillian Lane-Mercier. 1994. “Présentation”. TTR 7:2. 7–10.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Chapman. 2004. “On the Hong Kong Chinese subtitling of English swearwords”. Meta 49:1. 135–147.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crowe, Nick. 2004. “Rap’s last tape”. Prospect, March 2004. 46–51.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Delabastita, Dirk. 1994. “Focus on the pun: Wordplay as a special problem in Translation Studies”. Target 6:2. 223–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díaz-Cintas, Jorge. 2001. “Striving for quality in subtitling: The role of a good dialogue list”. Gambier and Gottlieb 2001. 199–211.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Teoría y prática de la subtitulación inglés/español. Barcelona: Ariel.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta. 1997. “Translation of dialect in fictional prose: Vilhelm Moberg in Russian and English as a case in point”. Norm, variation and change in language: Proceed¬ings of the Centenary Meeting of the Nyfilologiska sällskapet Nedre Manilla 22–23 March 1996. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1997. 49–65. [= Stockholm Studies in Modern Philology, New Series, 11.]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Folkart, Barbara. 1991. Le conflit des énonciations: Traduction et discours rapporté. Montréal: Les Éditions Balzac.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Forman, Murray. 2002. The ’hood comes first: Race, space, and place in Rap and Hip-Hop. Mid-dletown, Conneticut: Wesleyan University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frere-Jones, Sasha. 2004. “Eminem’s growing pains”. The New Yorker, December 6, 2004. 119–121.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gambier, Yves. 2002. “Les censures dans la traduction audiovisuelle”. TTR 15:2. 203–222.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gambier, Yves and Henrik Gottlieb, eds. 2001. (Multi) media translation: Concepts, practices, and research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia:John Benjamins.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. 1988. The signifying monkey: A theory of African-American literary criti¬cism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gottlieb, Henrik. 1997/2004. “‘You got the picture?’: On the polysemiotics of subtitling word¬play”. Gottlieb 2000/2004. 53–85.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1999/2004. “Texts, translation and subtitling—In theory, and in Denmark”. Gottlieb 2000/2004. 1–40.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000/2004. Screen translation: Seven studies in subtitling, dubbing and voice¬over. Copenhagen: Center for Translation Studies, Department of English, University of Copenhagen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gummerus, Eivor Catrine Paro. 2001. “Translation quality: An organizational viewpoint”. Gambier and Gottlieb 2001. 133–142.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
James, Heulwen. 2001. “Quality control of subtitles: Review or preview?” Gambier and Gottlieb 2001. 151–160.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jääskeläinen, Riitta. 2005. “Av-kääntämisen tutkimustarpeet Suomessa” [The needs for AVT¬studies in Finland]. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of Finnish researchers on Translation and Interpreting, Kouvola, April 2005.
Krims Adam. 2000. Rap music and the poetics of identity. Cambridge/New York etc.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leighton, Lauren G.1991. Two worlds, one art: Literary translation in Russia and America. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leppihalme, Ritva. 1997. Culture bumps: An empirical approach to the translation of allusions. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mason, Ian. 1989. “Speaker meaning and reader meaning: Preserving coherence in screen trans¬lating”. Rainer Kölmel and Jerry Payne, eds. Babel: The cultural and linguistic barriers be¬tween nations. Glasgow, Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1989. 13–24.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. “Coherence in subtitling: The negotiation of face”. Frederic Chaume and Rosa Agost, eds. La traducción en los medios audiovisuals. Castelló: Publications de la Universitat Jaume I1, 2001. 19–31.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nord, Christiane. 1991. Text analysis in translation: Theory, methodology, and didactic applica¬tion of a model for translation-oriented text analysis. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oittinen, Riitta. 2004. Kuvakirja kääntäjän kädessä [The picture book in the translator’s hand]. Helsinki: Lasten Keskus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oxford English Dictionary on-line [URL] (accessed 27–30 June 2005).
Scandura, Gabriela L. 2004. “Sex, lies and TV: Censorship and subtitling”. Meta 49:1. 125–134.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiavi, Giuliana. 1996. “There is always a teller in a tale”. Target 8:1. 1–21.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomaskiewicz, Teresa. 2001. “Transfert des références culturelles dans les sous-titres filmiques”. Gambier and Gottlieb 2001. 237–247.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and beyond. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. “What’s the problem with ‘Translation Problem’?” Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcel Thelen, eds. Translation and meaning Part 6: Proceedings of the Łódź Session of the 3rd International Maastricht- Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning”, Held in Łódź, Poland, 22–24 September 2000. Maastricht: Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting, 2002. 57–71.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Venuti, Lawrence. 1995. The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation. London/New York: Routledge.   Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wikipedia on-line[URL] (accessed 20 Februar).
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Shehab, Ekrema & Abdel Karim Daragmeh
2018. Textual transformation of an Arabic poem into an American rap song. FORUM. Revue internationale d’interprétation et de traduction / International Journal of Interpretation and Translation 16:2 ► pp. 265 ff. DOI logo
최진실, Ki-Seong Park & 전지현
2017. Sexuality in Korean Subtitling of English DVDs and Movie Ratings: A Case Study on R in South Korea. The New Korean Journal of English Lnaguage & Literature 59:3 ► pp. 177 ff. DOI logo
Rader, Kara, Kimberly A. Neuendorf & Paul D. Skalski
2016. International Film and Audio-Visual Translation - Intercultural Experience as Moderator in Audience Recall and Enjoyment. Journal of Intercultural Communication 16:3 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue