What follows is a brief account of the historical factors that influenced the choice of the film translation mode in some European countries. There are several factors that contributed to the fact that France decided to adopt dubbing when it comes to translating foreign films. First, "France always felt it had a cultural mission within the film art form" (Danan 1991: 610). The French seem to be one of the few nations deeply concerned about the purity of their culture and they strive to protect it from any foreign (read: mostly American) influence. Second, "standardised French was (...) historically a successful instrument of political and cultural centralisation" (Danan 1991: 612). Furthermore, many French speakers believe that their language is superior, and some French speakers appear to be truly convinced that it has remained the lingua franca; at least that seemed to be true some years ago (see Hendrykowski 1984: 250). This view still persists in the official circles, which is reflected in how the Acad�mie Fran�aise perceives its role now 2: A la fin du XXe si�cle, c'est une autre t�che qui attend l'Acad�mie. La langue a atteint la pl�nitude de ses qualit�s, qui en ont fait depuis deux si�cles le langage des �lites du monde entier. Le rayonnement de la langue fran�aise est menac� par l'expansion de l'anglais, plus pr�cis�ment de l'am�ricain, qui tend � envahir les esprits, les �crits, le monde de l'audiovisuel. Le d�veloppement de l'anglais est souvent favoris� par l'irruption des nouvelles techniques, le d�veloppement acc�l�r� des sciences, le rapprochement inou� que permettent les m�dias et les autres moyens de communication, tous facteurs qui bousculent le vocabulaire traditionnel et imposent � marche rapide l'adoption de nouveaux mots. Le 4 ao�t 1994 est vot�e la loi relative � l'emploi de la langue fran�aise (dite � loi Toubon �), qui favorise l'emploi du fran�ais dans les inscriptions, les documents publics ou contractuels, les services publics, les congr�s, les m�dias, etc.3 In addition, the French have always perceived translation of any kind as a violation, which is clearly visible in the words of Victor Hugo expressing his views in the name of the entire nation: "when you offer a translation to a nation, that nation will almost always look at translation as an act of violence against itself" (qtd. by Andr� Lefevere 1992: 14). And last but not least, one of the factors which contribute to the choice of dubbing as the film translation mode is the fact that the French are accustomed to hearing French both on TV and in cinemas due to a significant number of domestic productions dominating the market. Thus, such audiences automatically demand domestication in the form of dubbing. The foregoing reasons make the French dub rather than subtitle foreign films. Germany, Italy and Spain form a completely different group. Just a few decades ago, they were fascist countries convinced of their own superiority and excellence, and the "post-war film industries were a direct legacy of earlier fascist governments" (Danan 1991: 611). The dictators were fully aware that "hearing your own language serves to confirm its importance and reinforces a sense of national identity and autonomy" (Mera 1999: 82). For example, in Spain: Franco also ruled against any non-dubbed version in an attempt to keep the supremacy of the national language as the expression of cultural, political and economic power. (Del Camino Gueti�rrez Lanza 1997: 44)
Queda prohibida la proyecci�n cinematogr�fica en otro idioma que no sea el espa�ol, salvo autorizaci�n que conceder� el Ministerio de Industria y Comercio y siempre que las pel�culas en cuesti�n hayan sido previamente dobladas. El doblaje deber� realizarse en estudios espa�oles que radiquen en el territorio nacional y por personal espa�ol. (ibidem) 4
Therefore, it should not be surprising that movie audiences in Spain have become accustomed to the film-dubbing technique over the years. Bearing in mind that audiences are becoming larger and the general public does not tend to make an effort to read the subtitled text on the screen, it is not going to be easy to eradicate this long-standing tradition in Spain. (ibid.: 44)
In contrast to larger countries, such as France, Italy, Spain and Germany discussed above, smaller countries, like the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal�to name just a few�followed a different path with regard to film translation. Their decision to adopt subtitling as the major translation mode was motivated by several factors: small size of their populations, which translated into limited receipts from box office tickets sales; low cost of subtitling in comparison with dubbing; presence of more than one language in a country (e.g. Belgium) where double subtitles in two languages are screened; significant number of imported films, etc. The film industry, however, is not limited solely to Europe. The entire contemporary world is inundated with American productions. It all began at the turn of the 20th century when the United States began to establish its unquestionable position among the mighty of this world. By 1890, 'the frontier' had disappeared. It was the time for America to decide whether or not it would follow the footsteps of other empires and acquire some land for colonies, which at that time was the actual sign of power. The US, however, due to several factors, resolved not to imitate the traditional patterns. Instead, it expanded the Monroe Doctrine5 and became the world's dominant power by shifting the strategy to cultural and economic hegemony: "The United States has pursued massively exploitative neo-colonial policies, running local economies through multinational corporations without actually 'possessing' the countries as colonies" (Robinson 1997: 17). The so-called American way of life, the free market economy, and democracy became instant symbols of American culture. It is possibly through films�among other factors�that American values spread all over the world and began to signify universal, ideal, or standard values. This can be treated as another form of colonisation.
"Globally, this is the age of mass communications, of multimedia experiences and a world where audiences demand the right to share the latest text, be it film, song, or book simultaneously across cultures" (Bassnett qtd. by �lvarez 1996: 1). Therefore, there is a huge demand for (mainly) American productions and, in response to it, markets are flooded with them. The issue of power in translation seems to be especially pertinent and applicable to contemporary cinema. As a host of translation scholars has agreed recently, translation does not take place between words but rather between cultures. The text is perceived as an integral part of the world and not as "an isolated specimen of language" (Snell-Hornby 1998: 43). Consequently, the process of translation is seen as cross-cultural transfer, which is determined by the degree of prestige the source and target cultures have, as well as by their reciprocal relations. English-speaking countries, and the United States in particular, have the upper hand and are pulling the strings in the movie industry today: "globalisation is generally synonymous with unidirectional Anglicisation, the dominance of the English language and Anglo-American culture at the expense of other languages and cultures" (Cronin 1996: 197). An interesting point that proves American dominance and its narrow-mindedness concerning other cultures are the 'Oscars' awarded annually by the Academy Awards, an institution which aspires to global renown, where among a host of categories there is one given to the best 'foreign' film, "where 'foreign' means anything that is not English" (Mera 1999: 79). However, it is not only money that decides on the choice of translation mode. The choice of the translating strategy largely depends on the attitude of the target culture vis-�-vis the source culture, and it is not uncommon that it is political factors that determine the chosen mode. On the whole, Western European countries do not openly oppose American productions. In Arabic countries, on the contrary, there is a strong resistance towards adopting the norms and habits of the (American) adversary. In contrast and opposition to Hollywood, Indian cinematography, under the name of Bollywood, has developed and now flourishes in its own territory as well as in other countries with strong anti-American attitudes. Some experts claim that "globalisation isn't merely another word for Americanisation�and the recent expansion of the Indian entertainment industry proves it" (Power & Mazumdar 2000: 52). Moreover, being anti-American in the Middle East works in Bollywood's favour. It is "the non-American quality of Indian movies that draws audiences" (ibid.: 56). Quite naturally, many people are more likely to choose a film concerning issues familiar to them. In conclusion, it becomes apparent that translating films is not merely a linguistic problem but rather an activity that is "conditioned to a large extent by the functional needs of the receiving culture and not, or not just, by the demands made by the source films" (Delabastita 1990: 99).
Domestication is here understood�after Lawrence Venuti�as "translating in a transparent, fluent, 'invisible' style in order to minimise the foreignness of the target text" (Munday 2001: 146). The result is that all foreign elements are assimilated into the dominant target culture, thus depriving the target audience of crucial characteristics of the source culture, which is also shown in the following quote: The dominant trend towards domestication in translating from American English over the last three centuries has had a normalising and neutralising effect, depriving source text producers of their voice and re-expressing foreign cultural values in terms of what is familiar (and therefore unchallenging) to the dominant culture. (Hatim and Mason 1997: 145).
Translation is often regarded with suspicion because it inevitably domesticates foreign texts, inscribing them with linguistic and cultural values that are intelligible to specific domestic constituencies. This process of inscription operates at every stage in the production, circulation, and reception of the translation. It is initiated by the very choice of a foreign text to translate, always an exclusion of other foreign texts and literatures, which answers to particular domestic interests. It continues most forcefully in the development of a translation strategy that rewrites the foreign text in domestic dialects and discourses, always a choice of certain domestic values to the exclusion of others. And it is further complicated by the diverse forms in which the translation is published, reviewed, read, and taught, producing cultural and political effects that vary with different institutional contexts and social positions. (Venuti 1998: 67).
Dubbing can also be perceived as "an assertion of the supremacy of the national language and its unchallenged political, economic and cultural power within the nation's boundaries" (Danan 1991: 612). By implementing policies, governments of dubbing countries stressed the importance of the existence of one standardised national language, often banning the use of dialects in order to strengthen the national unity. For example, in Italy, where the process of country unification was completed only in 1870, there were still many regions in 1920s and 1930s in which only local dialects were spoken, while modern Italian was virtually a foreign language. Mussolini ruled that all the imported movies had to be in standard Italian, which made the cinema a major means of imposing a national language. Among all kinds of film translation, dubbing is the one that interferes the most in the structure of the original. Many critics raise objections as to its authenticity. In principle, dubbing is considered by some to be less authentic than subtitling because "the original performance is altered by the addition of a different voice" (Mera 1999: 80). The unity of the soundtrack inevitably undergoes reprocessing and it is more difficult for the viewer to believe and trust the new voices of�often very famous�actors. Therefore, in many dubbing countries, e.g. in Italy, some dubbing actors are used consistently with a particular actor. This, in turn, may lead to insuperable problems, as was in the case of one Italian dubbing artist who dubbed the voices of both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino for a number of years until the two actors met on the set of Heat in 1995. For obvious reasons, another actor was needed to substitute for one of the stars. This, however, did not satisfy Italian audiences, who felt there was something wrong with Pacino's voice as it was not what they were used to hearing. Some claim, however, that it is dubbing�and not any other form of screen translation�that can aspire to being the 'ideal' form of film translation in terms of faithfulness, on the assumption that strictly linguistic considerations should not determine the overall value of a translation. In dubbing, the translator has to be faithful not only in the theatrical sense but also in terms of phonological synchronisation (see Pieńkos 1993: 131). What is more, dubbing is closer to the original in the sense that as far as the viewing process is concerned "only decoding of the moving images and sound are required" (Mera 1999: 80), which actually seems to be more authentic. In dubbing there are frequent incongruities between what real actors say and how they move their lips, and the dubbed voices, which affects the audience, largely on a subconscious level. However, recent technology has developed a method of digital alteration of real actors' lip movement in order to fit new translated dialogue: The slight tampering with the image by adapting the movements of the characters' lips to the dubbing script has yielded magnificent results whenever it was implemented and can ultimately solve the infamous shortcomings of lip-movement dischrony, especially in close-ups. (Karamitroglou 1998)
Undoubtedly, dubbing is a powerful target culture-oriented tool which makes the source text conform as much as possible to standards held by the target culture, which in fact is consistent with Venuti's definition of domestication.
Foreignisation is an approach to translation which can be described as "sending the reader abroad," as Venuti aptly put it (qtd. by Munday 2001: 147). It is a method which assumes that the translated text does not 'pretend' to be an original (as is the case with domestication) and where the foreign identity of the source text is highlighted�which makes the ideological dominance of the target culture impossible. Foreignisation privileges the source culture, and it evokes a sense of 'otherness,' emphasising the foreign nature of a film. Amongst the major methods of translating films, subtitling involves the least interference with the original; in other words, it is the most neutral, minimally mediated method. Therefore, it is subtitling that contributes to experiencing the flavour of the foreign language, its mood and the sense of a different culture more than any other translation mode. This is mainly due to the fact that the original soundtrack and dialogues are not tampered with, as is the case in dubbing. Moreover, "hearing the real voices of the characters not only facilitates understanding in terms of the specific dialogue or plot structure, but gives vital clues to status, class and relationship" (Mera 1999: 75). Although there are significant cuts in the length of the dialogues due to the intrinsic nature of subtitling, much of what is lost can be compensated for while hearing the original. Subtitling is becoming a preferred mode of translation not only owing to financial considerations�it is much cheaper to satisfy the expanding needs of film markets by providing subtitles, which are more economical and easier to produce�but also because "to viewers in subtitling countries, the economic advantages are secondary; retaining the authenticity of the original production is paramount" (Gottlieb 1997: 310). For these viewers, subtitling is a more authentic mode than dubbing. The audience is not allowed to forget about the foreignness of a translated film and is constantly reminded of its authenticity as it hears the original dialogues throughout the film. Because English has been the lingua franca in the modern world for a number of years, knowledge of this language has increased dramatically and is now widespread. For example, in Greece over 60% of people between the ages 15-28 hold the Cambridge First Certificate (see Karamitroglou 1999). Accordingly, many people (in the subtitling countries) go to cinemas because they are offered a unique chance to listen to the original English dialogue; they only consult the subtitles when they find it necessary. However, this situation increases the criticising power of such people and makes them act as experts in the field of subtitling, which in fact they are not. Obviously, dubbers do not have to confront such a problem, as the audience is not given a chance to compare the original dialogues with their translation. Interestingly, because of the 'otherness' that subtitling emphasises, it can sometimes be perceived�in the case of non-English speaking films�as "a hindrance to the potential enjoyment of a film or television programme by the narrow-mindedness of the English speaking nations" (Mera 1999: 79). In recent years there has been a considerable rise in the interest in multiculturalism and national diversity, along with the departure from the notion of melting pot. For several decades almost every country in the world has cultivated its own unique tradition of filmmaking as well as rendering foreign productions into the target language. Certain styles have come to be known and instantly recognised by viewers world-wide. Translation in the form of subtitling seems to go along those lines. While meeting and satisfying viewers' expectations and curiosity concerning other cultures, it ensures the originality and hence the foreignness of films. At the same time, unlike dubbing, it allows the original soundtrack to be retained and thus "the integrity of a holistic performance to be preserved" (Mera 1999: 75). Thus, the characteristic features of particular artists' style are maintained and insights into the characters can be gained "through the inflections of their voices" (ibidem). It is frequently the case that during the course of a film there appear some non-verbal signs, e.g. notices, tokens, trademarks or road signs in the background. These seem to give away dubbing, which attempts to function as the original; at the same time the signs give more credibility to subtitling, which from the very beginning makes it clear that what the audience is watching is actually foreign. It is also easier for the subtitler to explain the meaning of the sign by inserting a subtitle with the target language equivalent (e.g. in capital letters or italics to differentiate it from spoken utterances), than it is for the dubber to solve such a problem. The foreignisation of a film can be augmented by the fact that subtitling involves a change from a spoken medium, the original, to a written medium in the form of one- or two-liners at the bottom of the screen. Mera claims that: "subtitles change film from an audio-visual medium to a more literary medium which requires a greater level of attention from a viewer than a dubbed film" (1999: 79). However, latest research with regard to the cognitive activity required by subtitling from viewers (see Delabastita 1990: 98) demonstrated that reading subtitles does not require a conscious cognitive effort on the part of those accustomed to this mode of translation. People who read subtitles do not exhibit the typical eye movement patterns of 'ordinary' reading behaviour. Rather, their eyes tend to make no more than a few quick jumps from one keyword to another. The whole process of subtitle perception tends to be largely automated, so much so that viewers who have no need of subtitles find it hard to avoid reading them (ibidem). The obvious downside of subtitling are the enormous shortcuts made in the process. Some researchers counted that as much as half of the original dialogue is lost due to the spatial constraints (see de Linde & Kay 1999). The translator not only translates but also resolves which fragments to omit, which of them are irrelevant, and which are vital to the target audience. In an attempt to convey 'the core' of the script, translators often forget that it is not only the dialogues from the main plot that constitute the substance of a film. Other factors, such as various dialects, idiolects, register or expressions of politeness, which frequently undergo reduction, can be equally important in the full comprehension of a particular work. Consequently, "the minor subtractions that litter these scenes may not seem significant in terms of the general understanding, but during the course of a whole film they add up to a large number of drastically altered meanings" (Mera 1999: 78). On the other hand, there are instances in which subtitlers patronise their audience by supplying the subtitles which are obvious and transparent. For example, some commonly comprehensible expressions like "yes" or "no" are rendered unnecessarily in countless cases. Also various onomatopoeic expressions such as "Grrr! Grrr!" (in Cinema Paradiso) leave at least some of the viewers dissatisfied, as they feel they are looked upon condescendingly. Sometimes, however, some onomatopoeic expressions vary from language to language, as is the case with some other animal sounds. For instance, in Snatch one of the protagonists imitates the sounds made by a pig, saying: "oink oink", which was�quite understandably�rendered into Polish as "chrum chrum" since those two onomatopoeic expressions differ noticeably. All of the foregoing clearly reflects the crucial role of the translator in the translation process. From the discussion above, it clearly appears that subtitling can be considered part of the foreignisation realm: the crucial role of the source culture is stressed, foreign identity highlighted and the influence of the target culture minimised.
Films can be a tremendously influential and extremely powerful vehicle for transferring values, ideas and information. Different cultures are presented not only verbally but also visually and aurally, as film is a polysemiotic medium that transfers meaning through several channels, such as picture, dialogue and music. Items which used to be culture-specific tend to spread and encroach upon other cultures. The choice of film translation mode largely contributes to the reception of a source language film in a target culture. On balance, there is no universal and good-for-all mode of translating films. As was stated above, the methods are dependent upon various factors, such as history, tradition of translating films in a given country, various audience-related factors, the type of film to be rendered, as well as financial resources available. What is also of primary importance here is the mutual relationship between the source and target cultures, as it will also profoundly influence the translating process. All things considered, the two major translation modes, i.e. dubbing and subtitling, can be said to occupy the two opposite ends of the domestication-foreignisation continuum. As it was shown in this article, dubbing is a domesticating strategy which neutralises foreign elements of the source text and thus privileges the target culture. In contrast, subtitling is an example of a foreignising strategy since it stresses the foreign nature of a film and it is a source-culture-bound translation. It is clear that translated material can be domesticated or foreignised to different extents, and hence be placed somewhere along the domestication-foreignisation continuum.
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