Lesson Nine Transposition and Translation for the Disempowered

1. Lesson NineTransposition and Translation for the Disempowered Access

2. Trans… for the disempowered • Visual Media. • Audiovisual Translation. • Accessibility through transposition: (a) subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing; (b) audiodescription for the blind and partially sighted. … and the texts that emerge from these processes.

3. Media empowerment Given that language is an empowering tool, the mass media have had an important role to play in many places in promoting literacy or consolidating language policy. For example, television is recognised to have had a major role in the dissemination of the Italian language against the background of widespread dialect use.

4. … by extension the translation of media products has brought entire populations into contact with foreign cultures, however skewed these representations have often been. From the earliest films, mass audiences were introduced, for example, to American culture, even if reduced at times to ‘Cowboys and Indians’.

5. Schlesinger (2010) Key words for the 21st century; Inter-sub-disciplines (subtitling/audiosubtitling/real time subtitles) Technology (eye-tracking, statistical surveys) LANGUAGE RIGHTS language serving as a bridge “we are agents of change”

6. Audiovisual Translation (AVT) ‘the least studied of all branches of translation’ Sergio Viaggio 1992

7. Audiovisual Translation (AVT) Can be seen as giving an audience access to foreign language products through adaptation for dubbing, subtitling, surtitling voiceover, simultaneous translation, real time subtitling etc. These genres all involve some textual change in mode, information structure and flow or register in general, and linguistic change through processes of condensation, paraphrase, reformulation, etc.

8. Cultural Access Given the power of film and television to transmit directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, elements of local and national culture, this form of translation has opened windows to millions of people, and it is reasonable to assume that it has been instrumental in enhancing international understanding.

9. However, the extent to which cultural values are accessed by viewers through screen translation is a complex question. Translation specialists point to: “lingua-cultural drops in translational voltage” (Antonini & Chiaro, 2005: 39)

10. …but how much does it matter? TV series like ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Six Feet Under’, ‘Friends’, etc. seem to be highly culture-bound and extremely difficult to translate. Quaglio wrote a whole book on the language of ‘Friends’, showing the inconsistencies, and pointing to the American-centredness of the show. … but it is extremely popular everywhere.

11. … so the translation must be doing something “The translator becomes the 'motivator' behind the ideas expressed in the translation, but he/she may be either 'loyal' (adding or subtracting in the spirit of the source as they see it) or 'disloyal' (engaging in his/her own writing project). A reworking of the traditional distinction between translating and adapting is proposed, to shed light on the distinction between what someone wrote and what they might have written.” (Mossop)

12. And so… … access is provided via audiovisual translation (AVT) and even the most seemingly difficult audiovisual texts can be translated and understood, even if not exactly in the way initially intended.

13. Nord (2010) Question of loss or gain. There is potential loss in “incorporating a newly composed meaning in the fabric of an already ‘complete’ polysemiotic text” (Moran) But translators “widen the scope for a bigger audience or for other audiences”.

14. extension of AVT nowadays room is to be found for individual needs and circumstances … indeed, in the field of audiovisual translation, greater attention is being paid to the varying needs of people who cannot access the original productions for whatever reason… … to the deaf and hard of hearing and to the blind and sight impaired.

15. The situation regarding the deaf Problem arose after silent era and intertitles. Subtitles introduced in USA cinema in 1950s, television from 1970s. (UK 1960s, Italy 1986 ‘Rear Window’, then TV777.) Europe: “Legislation in each country, of course, plays an important role in the process, and although the results of legislative acts have not always met expectations, or at least not as fast as had been hoped, an increase in the volume of subtitling has occurred and calendars have been drawn up for progressively achieving 100% subtitled programmes in the next few years, the UK leading the way” (Díaz 2007, 2009).

16. The situation regarding the blind AD timeline (USA) 1981 audiodescription was invented by Margaret and Cody Pfanstiehl; 1986 first audiodescription tours of museums; 1990 Descriptive Video Services provides AD for TV viewers; 1992 Motion Picture Access – providing AD for first-run films; 1994 first opera performance; 1996 Telecommunications Act 1996 led to recognition of audiodescription; 1998 Congress amends Rehabilitiation Act – 2001 all film, video etc. produced by federal agencies must include AD; 2002-2005 legal setbacks; 2007 Audio Description Coalition publishes Standards for AD; 2009 American Council of the Blind launches Audio Description Project.

17. Audiodescription in Europe Good progress has been made in the UK, Germany and Spain. Italy (see Arma, 2010) - between 352,000 and 380,000 blind people; - 1,500,000 with low vision (age, illness, etc.); - various intermediary stages. First AD ‘Spartacus’ 2001. AD on RAI television: 2006-2009 - 36% circa 2010-2012 – 60%?! Parliamentary Hearing on AD accessibility 2010

18. Accessibility services are both intralingual and interlingual Subtitles for the deaf and HoH for films in the viewer’s own language; Translated subtitles for the deaf and HoH for films in a foreign language. Audiodescription in the listener’s own language; Translated audiodescription for films in a foreign language, including audiosubtitling.

19. (a) SDH Deafness is a clinical but also a sociological condition, a cultural issue. Culture, as I have stressed, is what is ‘normal’Katan (2004) or, if you prefer … a system of congruent and interrelated beliefs, values, strategies and cognitive environments which guide the shared basis of behaviour (e.g. text production). The totally (prelocutive) deaf live in a non-hearing culture where concepts such as pitch, rhythm, volume, etc. are, at best, vaguely understood. They have a low reading speed, not knowing live langauge. The (postlocutive9 HoH have a hearing culture as a reference point.

20. SDH Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing do not enter into the fierce debate between subtitling and dubbing. They have their own features.

21. Paolinelli & Di Fortunato (2005) “subtitles, however good they are, are always a summary of what is said and force the viewer to continually switch his/her gaze from the images to the lower part of the screen, thereby ruining the magic of the voice.” (my translation)

22. Subtitles – list of characteristics • economic • maintain original dialogue • advantage for Deaf and HoH • alteration of original image • partial loss of original content • loss of overlap • high degree of concentration required • less manipulation of original • less possibility to highlight sociolingusitic markers • time/space constraints • change of mode

23. SDH • economic: GOOD • maintain original dialogue: IRRELEVANT • advantage for Deaf and HoH: GOOD • alteration of original image: INEVITABLE • partial loss of original content: REGRETTABLE • loss of overlap: NOT SERIOUS • high degree of concentration required: ONLY VISUAL • less manipulation of original: GOOD • less possibility to highlight sociolinguistic markers: TRUE • time/space constraints: PROBLEMATIC • change of mode: NOT FOR DEAF

24. Subtitling and SDH • De Linde and Kay (1999) • Ivarsson and Carroll (1998) • Uzquiza (2007) much activity in Spain.

25. SDH – general features • condensation • longer exposition (6 second rule) (early intro) • preference for one-liners (centred) • simple syntax & unmarked lexis • synchrony (some deaf can lip read, or hear a little) • identity markers (e.g. colours) • phonological metalanguage (e.g. gunshots, coughing) at top rightof screen. Don’t overlap with dialogue. • punctuation to capture stress, intonation, etc. (e.g. capitals for volume) (smileys, icons?) Songs

26. Identity markers - Speech-characterrelationship • Subtitle under speaker • Labels • Colours (commonly used; viewers should be told colour/character combination; should alwats be the same in eg. series) • Yellow on black for main character, etc. • Where there is a dialogue between characters who have the same colour, use a dash. • When two or more speak at the same time, use labels eg. BOTH, ALL

27. Barfuss (2005) A successful German comedy film in DVD intralingual subtitles for the deaf and HoH interlingual subtitles in Italian (interlingual subtitles in Russian)

28. Barfuss – condensation, simple syntax, unmarked lexis

29. Barfuss – phonological metalanguage: non verbal sounds in brackets + full stop (Das Telefon läutet.) OFF SCREEN (Jemand spricht auf Anrufbeantworter:) Hier noch mal das Arbeitsamt

30. Barfuss –not translated if not indispensable • Ab in die Küche (meaning comes from gestures)

31. Barfuss –non verbal to verbal, punctuation Psst! Ruhe!

32. Barfuss – further general comments on SDH • more freedom in word order • affermative to interrogative and vice-versa • change to simple past from perfect tense • shorter synonyms • neutralisation of slang, etc. • no cultural mediation required

33. Intralingual SDH in Brazil Franco and Santiago Araújo (2003) conclude, following a pilot study on intralingual subtitling in Brazil, that … • deaf subjects differ from hearing subjects in their requirements; • condensation and editing are crucial; • necessary orality markers and soundtrack noises must be integrated, requiring skilful condensing to not lose image-subtitle synchrony; • all should be checked with the help of deaf subjects; (see also Pagano and colleagues on SFL in translation)

34. Trieste experiment Two complete interlingual subtitled versions of Episode Ten of ‘The West Wing’ were produced, one for hearers and one for the deaf. They were tested, via questionnaires, respectively on hearing and deaf audiences. Then the hearers version was tried on the deaf and vice-versa. Neither were successful so modifications were made in the search for a HARMONISED version that might suit both audiences (see Ivarsson, 1992).

35. All the time, the language is changing The original text goes through continuous changes: original English > Italian translation > Italian adaptation for subtitles > ‘harmonised’ version > 1st experimental version for SDH > … nth experimental version. …and reveals some cracks.

38. (b) AUDIODESCRIPTION • What is Audiodescription? “an enabling service for blind and partially sighted audiences* (…) describing clearly,vividly and succinctly what is happening on screen or theatre stage in the silent intervals between progamme commentary or dialogue – in order to convey the principal visual elements of a production.” (Royal National Institute of the Blind) “the visual made verbal” Joel Snyder

39. ‘clearly’ • avoidance of obscure vocabulary and jargon. • avoidance of clashes with dialogue and other sounds. • avoidance of complicated sentences with subordinate clauses

40. ‘vividly’ • use of ‘colourful’ adjectives and adverbs where appropriate • exploitation of verb variations: • Eg. Walk – stagger, stroll, stride, etc. • use of stress, rhythm, intonation, etc…

41. ‘succinctly’ • remember that audiodescription ADDS to the cognitive load (cf. subtitles) • cluttered descriptions distract (studies show that humans can only remember three things at a time) • time is of the essence! (usually) cf. Penelope Cruz’s song in ‘Volver’ where the description (and translation of the subtitles) has to be fitted into pauses in the singing.

42. anotherdefinition – media4ALL • A semiotic visual translation that conveys visual events into words that are precise, succinct, imaginative and vivid with cohesion and coherence.

43. The Audience • As with the Deaf, the audiodescriber needs a thorough knowledge of the needs of a visually impaired audience. Royal Institute for the Blind, etc. collaborate with television producers. In Trieste we collaborate with the ‘Istituto Rittmeyer per i Ciechi’, ‘Senza Barriere’ and Cineforum Senza Barriere.

44. On-line description (on seeing)Holsanova (2008) • no time constraints • natural expression • details • lists • spatially oriented • localised (in the foreground…) • perspective (from above..) • interpretation

45. Difference between description and audiodescription A student in Trieste audiodescribed a short advertisement for Martini.

46. Video Martini

47. Version 1: reading time 60 seconds • Gwyneth Paltrow è seduta su un letto, di spalle, nuda. Si infila una camicia bianca maschile. • (Where are you going?) • Si gira verso l’uomo che giace sul letto, e gli lancia uno sguardo complice e un sorriso ammiccante. • Si affaccia sul corridoio, è in un albergo. • Percorre il corridoio di soppiatto, con addosso solo la camicia bianca. • Si trova al bar dell’albergo. Scende tre scalini. • Scavalca il bancone del bar. Ha ai piedi un paio di sandali neri con il tacco alto. • Appoggia due bicchieri vuoti sopra il bancone. • Prende la bottiglia di Martini da dietro le sue spalle. • I bicchieri sono ora pieni di ghiaccio. Versa il Martini nei bicchieri. • Aggiunge uno spicchio di limone in ciascun bicchiere. • Afferra la bottiglia e si volta per rimetterla al suo posto. • Un uomo e una donna, giovani ed eleganti, si avvicinano al bancone. • Gwyneth Paltrow si gira verso di loro. • I due giovani hanno preso i due bicchieri che erano sul banco, si voltano e fanno per andarsene. • (Good night!) • Gwyneth Paltrow abbassa lo sguardo con un’aria di ironica rassegnazione. • I due giovani si voltano verso di lei e l’uomo si avvicina di nuovo al bancone. Gwyneth ha un’aria interrogativa. • Lui porge una banconota. • Gwyneth Paltrow sorride stupita. • Bottiglia di Martini in primo piano, logo in sovraimpressione. La mano di Gwyneth afferra un bicchiere e lo solleva. • (My Martini, please) • Sorride, guarda avanti a sé e si avvicina il bicchiere alle labbra. Beve.

48. Version 2: reading time 45 seconds. • Gwyneth Paltrow è seduta su un letto, di spalle, nuda. Si infila una camicia bianca. • (Where are you going?) • Si volta verso l’uomo che giace sul letto, sorride. • Si affaccia sul corridoio dell’albergo, lo percorre di soppiatto. • E’ al bar dell’albergo, l’arredamento è molto ricercato. • Scavalca il bancone del bar. Ha ai piedi una paio di sandali neri con il tacco alto. • Appoggia due bicchieri sul bancone. Si volta e prende una bottiglia di Martini. • Riempie i bicchieri. Aggiunge una fetta di limone in ciascun bicchiere. Si volta per rimettere a posto la bottiglia. • Un uomo e una donna, giovani ed eleganti, si avvicinano al bancone e afferrano i due bicchieri. Si voltano per andarsene. • (Good night!) • Gwyneth ha un’aria di ironica rassegnazione. • L’uomo torna al bancone, e le porge una banconota. • Gwyneth sorride stupita. • Bottiglia in primo piano e logo del Martini. Una mano in secondo piano afferra un bicchiere. • (My Martini, please) • Gwyneth sorride, e beve.

49. Version 3: reading time 35 seconds • Gwyneth Paltrow è seduta su un letto, di spalle, nuda. Si infila una camicia bianca. • (Where are you going?) • Si volta verso l’uomo che giace sul letto, sorride. • Esce di soppiatto dalla stanza. • E’ al bar dell’albergo. • Scavalca il bancone. • Appoggia due bicchieri sul bancone. Si volta e prende una bottiglia di Martini. • Riempie i bicchieri. Si volta per rimettere a posto la bottiglia. • Un uomo e una donna, giovani ed eleganti, si avvicinano al bancone e afferrano i due bicchieri. Si allontanano. • (Good night!) • Gwyneth ha un’aria di ironica rassegnazione. • L’uomo torna al bancone, e le porge una banconota. • Gwyneth sorride stupita. • Bottiglia e logo del Martini. Una mano afferra un bicchiere. • (My Martini, please) • Gwyneth sorride, e beve.

50. Version 4: reading time 30 seconds • (DEFINITIVE VERSION) • Gwyneth Paltrow è seduta su un letto di albergo, di spalle, nuda. Si infila una camicia bianca. • (Where are you going?) • Sorride complice all’uomo che giace accanto a lei. • Esce di soppiatto dalla stanza. • E’ al bar. • Scavalca il bancone. • Appoggia due bicchieri sul bancone. Prende una bottiglia di Martini e li riempie. • Si volta per rimettere a posto la bottiglia. • Una coppia giovane ed elegante si avvicina, afferra i due bicchieri e si allontana. • (Good night!) • Gwyneth ha un’aria seccata, ma ironica. • L’uomo torna al bancone, e le porge una banconota. • Gwyneth sorride stupita. • Bottiglia e logo del Martini. Una mano afferra un bicchiere. • (My Martini, please) • Gwyneth sorride, e beve.