Translation of Slang in Selected Three Western Movies, Essay Example

Introduction

Audiovisual translation (AVT) is the translational technique used and analyzed in the selected western movies. This chapter analyzes the slang translation technique used in three selected movies by comparing selected quotes. Western slang is the selected language translated into other languages, and a comparison is undertaken from the three selected movies. The three selected movie sources include Tombstone, The Hateful Eight, and True Grit (2010) (Gladstein; Joel, et al; James, et al.). The movies form the primary source from which data will be selected. Western slang comprises informal words and phrases regarded as restricted to the Westerners. Despite slang incorporating varying backgrounds, Western slang fails to reflect diversity in the population. The Westerners are associated with Western slang, which has evolved into their language. For example, American slang offers a different communication level among Americans (Maitland 8). Slang dictionaries have evolved to embody words and phrases from different contexts. Slang dictionaries have eliminated obsolete words and phrases by covering accepted dialects that are used daily. The Western slang enables the Westerners to communicate, although other people can misunderstand the phrases and words. AVT translational technique is also discussed as a legitimate research field with significant interest from academics and scholars. The translation will involve adopting visual content in varying languages to promote the consumption of a movie among different targeted cultures. The selected method provides steps for analyzing the selected Western movies with a conclusion section summarizing the main ideas.

Translation Type

The two most translation types, according to Szarkowska, comprises dubbing and subtitling. Each translation type is regarded as interfering with the originality of the text translated into different text. Dubbing, for instance, as an audiovisual translation modifies the source text significantly, hence making it familiar to the audience. The strategy involves adjustments of the mouth and movements of an actor to conform to the local translation text (Szarkowska). Subtitling, in comparison, is a translation technique whereby the spoken source language in the dialogue is provided to the target audience via the mechanisms of synchronized captions on screen. The strategy enables the audience to experience the foreign language by allowing them to check the translations at the screen’s bottom.

Analysis Framework

The framework adopted for the analysis involves applying mutually supportive steps to guide data analysis. The data were obtained through a process that involved planning, collection, and reporting. The planning phase involved the identification of three movies, consultation with the advisors on the thesis, and involvement of advisors concerning the views raised before starting the thesis. The collection phase involved collecting data from the three identified Western movies, reading the movies’ scripts, watching the films thrice, and noting the scenes containing western slang. The last phase is reporting. Reporting involves documenting the scenes from the movie where the characters involved used slang, analyzing the noted movie scenes to identify whether the slang is associated with the Western context while making the reports containing facts and phrases from the selected scenes of the western movies. The dialogues analysis is identified under each movie subtitle below, beginning with the Tombstone.

Analysis of Movies Translation

Tombstone

The movie Tombstone is an example of an audiovisual translation that adapts the visual content in different languages to enhance its consumption among different targeted cultures. Tombstone has been actively and passively consumed since 1993. The Western slang used in the movie and its translation to Polish demonstrate enhancing its consumption among the Polish audience. Different dialogues enforced by the characters in Western slang were analyzed and revealed, as shown below with their translations in Polish.

The slang identified at 11:10, 11:20, 12:13, and 15: 36 timestamps of the movie are, “Must be a peach of a hand,” “Kate! You’re not wearing a bustle. How lewd”, “Them guns don’t scare me. ‘Cause without them guns, you ain’t nothin’ but a skinny lunger”, and “Hot damn, this burg’s jumpin’!” respectively (James, et al.). The slang in the statements can be perceived as not regular word compositions in the common Western English vocabularies. For instance, a skinny lunger means an individual without a gun. The Polish translation for each of the slangs includes, “Karty musi mie? ob??dne”, “Kate! Nie w?o?y?a? tiurniury. Ty rozpustnico”, “Nie boj? si? Twoich rewolwerów. Bez nich jeste? tylko ko?cistym gru?likiem”, and “Ta dziura a? t?tni!” for the 11:10, 11:20, 12:13, and 15: 36 movie timestamps dialogues (James, et al.). The dubbing translation type used in the contexts modified the original text to make the words understandable to the Polish audience.

The other translation used dubbing techniques for each of the slang. The slang, “You madcap!”, “You know damn well who I mean. That dusky-hued lady satan, that’s who”, and “Listen now, Mr. Kansas Law Dog. Law don’t go around here. Savvy?” were identified at 22:10, 34:30, and 36:22 time of the movie (James, et al.). For instance, the slang word madcap can be perceived to mean something weird or strange. The respective Polish translations for each slang were identified as “Ty wariacie!”, “Dobrze wiesz o kim mówi?. Ta ciemnow?osa diablica”, and “S?uchaj no, Stró?u Prawa. Tutaj prawo nic nie znaczy. Kapujesz?” for the dialogues at 22:10, 34:30, and 36:22 time of the movie (James, et al.). From the Polish words, it can be perceived that the texts were modified directly to create some meaning. However, the direct translation can make the art and dramatization lose meaning.

The slang “I know, let’s have a spelling contest. How ’bout if I just wring your scrawny neck?”, “There, ya see? Give somebody a rap on the beezer, get some respect around here”, and “All right, Virg. Your call. Give Doc the shotgun. They’ll be less apt to get nerv-i-ous… if he’s on the street, howitzer”, were established in the dialogues at 1:02:06, 1:04:06, and 1:10:26 respectively (James, et al.). The major slang in the statements includes giving someone rap on the beezer. The other slang includes howitzer terminologies. Each slang is used to create a meaning that is better understood by the Westerner population used to them while proving to be difficult terminologies for other cultures. The Polish translations for the slangs were revealed as “Zagrajmy w inteligencj?. A mo?e po prostu skr?c? Ci kark?”, “Widzisz? Wystarczy raz da? takiemu w mord? I b?dzie Ci? szanowa?”, and “Dobra Virg, Twoja wola. Daj Docowi strzelb?. B?d? mniej nerwowi, gdy zobacz?, ?e niesie spluw?” for the dialogues at 1:02:06, 1:04:06, and 1:10:26 respectively (James, et al.). The Polish translations were direct. The word combinations can perceive the direct translation or dubbing of the words as they depict the dialogues happening between the actors.

Each of the selected translations in Tombstone dialogues above adopts the dubbing film translation type. The dubbing film translation technique is visible by the direct translation of the dialogue to create meaning in other cultures. Despite different meanings, the slang is translated into the local Polish language to enhance understanding for the intended audience. According to Hagan et al. (7), translations enhance viewers’ knowledge and appreciation of the film and include broad thematic information related to the topic of discussion in the film. The argument by Hagan et al. (1) is supported Giovanni et al. (6). However, according to Schroter (126), dubbing as a translation means can negatively impact by creating different meanings or altering the intended dramatization by the film’s directors.

The Hateful Eight

In the movie the Hateful Eight, the audiovisual translation technique seems to create a distinctive trait that must be considered to ensure that the texts do not lose their meaning. The words and characters used by different actors are first understood before undertaking the translation. Understanding the phrases is essential in the translation process, producing the audiovisual translated characters for Polish viewers. The selected Western slang and their translation into Polish are indicated below.

The dialogue translations of the identified texts adopt the dubbing technique. The first identified slang in the movie was, “Tryin’ to bringin’ a coupla’ no-goods into the market” (Gladstein, Richard, et al., 5:23), which in Polish is translated to “Wioz? kilku poszukiwanych drani.” Another identified Western slang is “That dam blasted blizzards have been on our ass for the last three hours” (Gladstein, Richard, et al., 5:34) to mean “Cholerna ?nie?yca od trzech godzin siedzi nam na dupie” in Polish. The “So ya’ hightailin’ it halfway to Minnie’s Haberdashery?” slang identified at 5:43 minute is also translated into Polish as “I przeczekasz j? w pasmanterii Minnie.” At the 8:10 period of the movie, another slang, “You don’t know nothin’ about this filly here?” was used, and its translation into Polish is “I nic o tej tutaj nie wiesz?“. At the 9:03 minute, the slang “It’s why I ain’t too anxious to be handin’ out rides” is used (Gladstein, Richard, et al). Its Polish translation is “Dlatego nie pal? si? do podwo?enia.” Additionally, the slang, “I’m the new sheriff. Horseshit” (Gladstein, Richard, et al., 24:08) was identified in the movies. The Polish translation was determined as “Jestem nowym szeryfem. Pierdo?y”. The translations are direct with the intention to make the movements of the actors’ pronunciation similar to the lips movements. The direct translation identified as the dubbing is intended to make the target audience understand and identifies with the content presented.

Other additional slang identified in the movie includes, “Sorry, bushwhackers, I ain’t entering Red Rock that way,” which is translated into Polish as “Wybaczcie obwiesie, ale ani my?l? tak tam wje?d?a?” and was used at the 26:32 minute (Gladstein, Richard, et al.). The “The cause of a renegade army? A bunch of losers gone loco, you bet I do” slang used at the 28:03 minute is translated into ” “Sprawa” renegackiej armii? Banda oferm, którym odbi?a szajba” in Polish.  At the 29:20, the slang “Them hillbillies went n*gger head hunting, but they never did get ‘em the right n*gger head, did they?” was identified and its translation in Polish is “Kmiotki polowa?y na murzy?skie ?by, ale tego najwa?niejszego nie upolowa?y” (Gladstein, Richard, et al.). The last selected slang used in the movie and identified include, “I’ll tell a’ what The Cavalry didn’t look kindly on. Mannix’s Marauders, that’s what. And the fact that Erskine Mannix’s little boy would talk about anybody else’s behavior during wartime makes me wanna horse laugh” at 33:27, and its translation is “A wiesz, czego kawaleria nie pochwala?a? Maruderów Manniksa. Synalek Erskine’a Manniksa os?dza czyje? zachowanie w czasach wojny? Ko? by si? u?mia?!”. The word translation and the slang can be seen as a more direct compilation. The direct compilation makes it easy to proclaim that the technique used in the film is dubbing to create better meaning for the target audience.

Each of the selected translations in the Hateful Eight dialogues above adopts the dubbing film translation. The proclamation was made after observing the movement of the lip movements of the actors as the Polish words were made. The dialogues are translated directly into Polish to understand the conversation better. Despite risking the loss of meaning, the dialogues selected to attempt to depict as exact meaning as possible. Arguments on the negative impact or perception that dubbing has received are argued by Sánchez-Mompeán et al. (2) by stating that it intends to promote some cultures and even makes originality and art intended to be portrayed to lose meaning. Borell et al. (6) argues that despite the negative claims, the translation technique has received overwhelming feedback, which is positive because they make complicated language barriers in the film industry to be navigated.

True Grit (2010)

Other translation techniques include subtitling and dubbing (Alonso-Pérez and Sanchez Requena 2). The translation enables researchers to render text meanings into different languages. Analysis of the True Grit (2010) movie reveals various dialogues where characters have reinforced Western slang. The selected ten dialogue analysis results are described below.

The slangs, “You was always dumb, Quincy, and remain true to form. Hers’s an awful lot of sofkee. You boys looking for company?”, “Don’t go jawing with these people, Moon. Don’t you go jawing with that runt”, and “They’re coming here tonight to get remounts and sofkee. They just robbed the Katy Flyer at Wagoner’s Switch” were identified at 55:05, 57:41, and 58:54 timestamps of the movie (Coen, Joel, et al.). The slang identified in the statements includes words like jawing with the nut or statements, including remounts and sofkee. The statements, though seeming well-composed, can impose significant understanding difficulties. The Polish translation for the slangs identified at 55:05, 57:41, and 58:54 is, “Zawsze by?e? t?py i t?py zostaniesz. Sporo tego ?arcia. Czekacie na kogo?? Kiedy widzieli?cie Neda Peppera”, “Nie odzywaj si?. Nie gadaj ze t? ma??”, and “Przyjad? w nocy zmieni? konie i zje??. Obrobili poci?g przy rozje?dzie w Wagoner”, respectively (Coen, Joel, et al.). The translation technique adopted in the AVT includes dubbing and subtitling. The movie subtitles include the texts presented below the screen for the viewers to read and associate with the other language.

The slang identified at 1:00:05, 1:03:09, and 1:04:26 are “I’m hoping that three of their party being dead will take the starch out of them. You display great poise. Aw, it is just a turkey shoot”, “Him in the woolly chaps is Lucky Ned,” and “You managed to put a kink in my rope, pardner.” The text’s slang words include “Ned,” which can be perceived to mean head. Other words used in the film include “kink in my rope” and “wooly chaps”( Coen, Joel, et al.).  The Polish translations for the slangs are “Jak padn? trzy trupy, rura im zmi?knie. Jest pan pewny swego. To jak strzelnica”, “Ten w leginach to Lucky Ned”, and “Wlaz?e? mi w parad?, kolego” for the 1:00:05, 1:03:09, and 1:04:26 dialogues respectively (Coen, Joel, et al.). The translations into Polish can be perceived as dubbing based on the adopted movements of the lips of the actors while pronouncing the translated words. Additionally, the subtitle texts used are also intentional and are meant to make the audience understand the message by the actors.

The last identified dialogues with slang were at 1:07:23, 1:09:19, 1:15:08, and 1:32:03 are “But I was mounted, and had the choice of firing off-hand dismounting to shoot from rest, which would allow Chelmsford to augment the distance. I fired mounted – and fired wide. You cannot hit a man three hundred yards if your gun was resting on Gibraltar” “I can hit a gnat’s eye at ninety yards. That chinaman is running them cheap shells on me again”, “I’m a foolish old man who’s been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop” “Some bully shot. That was four hundred yards at least,” respectively (Coen, Joel, et al.). The Polish translation of the slangs are, “Ale musia?em strzela? z konia lub zsi???, co da?oby mu czas na ucieczk?. Strzeli?em z siod?a, ale nie celnie. Z trzystu jardów nie trafi?by?, opar?szy bro? na Gibraltarze”, “Trafi? w komara z dziewi??dziesi?ciu jardów. Chi?czyk sprzeda? mi tani? amunicj?”, “Jestem starym durniem, który da? si? otumani? harpii w portkach i pó?g?ówkowi”, and “Co za strza?! To co najmniej czterysta jardów” for slangs at 1:07:23, 1:09:19, 1:15:08, and 1:32:03 respectively (Coen, Joel, et al.). The words translated into Polish were direct translations, which makes the technique to be identified as dubbed. The slangs used in the text, including hitting the “gnat eye” and “nincompoop,” are phrases that have been in existence for a while, with meanings that can vary among Westerners.

Each of the translations adopts dubbing as film translation type and subtitling. The efforts of dubbing can be perceived by the adjustments of the mouth of the foreign language actor being adjusted to depict a similar movement to that of the translated local language. The dubbing technique has some significant benefits for the audience targeted by the translation (Perego et al., 3). For instance, the translation makes it easy for them to understand the message’s meaning as they are said and acted in the film. In each of the translations, the movements coincided with the statements. Additionally, the subtitling technique was implemented and is visible by synchronized captions in the local language (Herbst et al., 32). Subtitling through the display of the words at the bottom of the screen makes it easy for the viewers to read and derive additional meaning from the language the movie is translated from.

Conclusion

The characters in the movie used Western slang for communication, as established in the analysis. The audiovisual translation technique used to translate the slang into Polish was significant. The translated Multimedia Products, including Tombstone, The Hateful Eight, and True Grit (2010), have revealed that different types of translation adopted, including dubbing and subtitling, was significant in ensuring that the audience targeted understands the message as depicted. The translation contributes to literature findings by establishing that translation is a significant technique for creating a better understanding of a movie. The proposed strategy has indicated an easy analysis framework for future researchers.

Works Cited

Agnieszka Szarkowska, The Power of Film Translation, 1997, https://translationjournal.net/journal/32film.htm#:~:text=There%20are%20two%20major%20types,the%20target%20audience%20through%20domestication.

Alonso-Pérez, Rosa, and Alicia Sanchez Requena. “Teaching foreign languages through audiovisual translation resources: teachers’ perspectives.” Applied Language Learning 28.2 (2018): 1-24.

Borell, Jonas. “Subtitling or dubbing? An investigation of the effects from reading subtitles on understanding audiovisual material.” (2000). https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1329005/file/1329006.pdf

Coen, Joel, et al. “True Grit.” IMDb, 22 Dec. 2010, www.imdb.com/title/tt1403865/.

Giovanni, Elena Di. “Reception studies and audiovisual translation.” The Palgrave Handbook of audiovisual translation and media accessibility. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2020. 397-413. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-42105-2_20

Gladstein, Richard, et al. “The Hateful Eight.” IMDb, 2015, www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/.

Herbst, Thomas. “Dubbing and the dubbed text–Style and cohesion: Textual characteristics of a special form of translation.” Text typology and translation 26 (1997): 291. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=5jLOKD3gFyMC&oi=fnd&pg=PA291&dq=negative+impact+of+dubbing+and+subtitling+has+received&ots=EbWr45pULf&sig=GUErIhboV_hvIEQyNqaMOt76ZCk

Jacks, James, et al. “Tombstone.” IMDb, 1993, www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/.

Maitland, James. The American slang dictionary. Lulu.com, 2019.

O’Hagan, Minako. “Impact of DVD on translation: Language options as an essential add-on feature.” Convergence 13.2 (2007): 157-168. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1354856507075242

Perego, Elisa, Fabio Del Missier, and Sara Bottiroli. “Dubbing versus subtitling in young and older adults: cognitive and evaluative aspects.” Perspectives 23.1 (2015): 1-21. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0907676X.2014.912343

Sánchez-Mompeán, Sofía. “Prefabricated orality at tone level: Bringing dubbing intonation into the spotlight.” Perspectives 28.2 (2020): 284-299. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0907676X.2019.1616788

Schröter, Thorsten. Shun the Pun, Rescue the Rhyme?: The Dubbing and Subtitling of Language Play in Film. Diss. Estetisk-filosofiska fakulteten, 2005. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:6402