Article published In: Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts
Vol. 6:3 (2020) ► pp.230–252
A subtitling stalemate
The Dark Horse in Italian
Published online: 15 July 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00056.mck
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00056.mck
Abstract
The Dark Horse (Napier-Robertson, James. 2014. “The Dark Horse.” Motion Picture. Four Knights Films: Auckland.) is a highly successful New Zealand film that exemplifies a strong
multilingual and multicultural landscape where the Māori language and cultural concepts, as well as specific examples of New
Zealand English co-exist within the one film. This linguistic and cultural complexity is a key part to the film, therefore
retaining this in a translation becomes a challenging responsibility for the subtitler. This article first introduces the
restrictions and intricacies of subtitling in general, and then analyses specific scenes from the commercial Italian subtitled
version of The Dark Horse, highlighting the translation choices made by the subtitler when confronted with
challenges pertaining to scenes involving multilingualism (in the form of English and Māori), culturally specific terminology (the
use of New Zealand English idioms), as well as the representation of register for children from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Alternative subtitles are proposed that seek to better represent the richness of the source text’s language and cultural
references.
Keywords: The Dark Horse, subtitling, New Zealand, Italy, culture, language, te reo Māori, New Zealand English, register
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The challenges of subtitling
- 3.Translation challenges in The Dark Horse (2014)
- 3.1Multiculturalism and the use of te reo Māori
- 3.2Cultural specificity and the use of New Zealand English idioms
- 3.3Translating to the appropriate register: The periodo ipotetico (conditional clause)
- 4.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Note
Filmography References
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