Cover not available
Article published In:
Target
Vol. 34:1 (2022) ► pp.67–97

On norms and taboo

An analysis of professional subtitling through data triangulation

ORCID logo | University of Lisbon
Within Audiovisual Translation Studies, many studies have been dedicated to the subtitling of taboo words. Most of this research has been restricted to quantitative and qualitative data about translation strategies, with comparably less attention given to translation norms. As norms cannot be directly observed, their investigation raises methodological challenges for empirical studies. This paper proposes a model for the investigation of translation norms by triangulating data on observed regularities in the English to Portuguese subtitling of taboo words in a corpus of movies broadcast on Portuguese FTA (free-to-air, open-signal) television between 2001 and 2015, with questionnaire data on subtitlers’ attitudes towards the subtitling of taboo words on television. The results enable the identification of the most frequent subtitling strategies, their possible motivations, and the relevance of two contextual variables (time period and channel typology). Using the results, a (potential) norm regarding the subtitling of taboo words in Portugal is formulated. However, some of the data, both textual and extratextual, raise the question of whether there is also a competing norm at play.
Keywords: translation norms, professional subtitling, taboo language, data triangulation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background: Norms, taboo and subtitling
    • 2.1Translation norms
    • 2.2Taboo language
    • 2.3The subtitling of taboo words
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Data triangulation in the investigation of norms
    • 3.2Research design
      • 3.2.1Textual sources: Corpus analysis
      • 3.2.2Extratextual sources: Questionnaires
  • 4.Findings and discussion
    • 4.1Corpus-related findings
      • 4.1.1A typology of strategies
      • 4.1.2Results: Frequency of strategies in the corpus
      • 4.1.3Contextual variables
    • 4.2Questionnaire findings
      • 4.2.1Respondents’ perceptions of frequently used translation strategies in the subtitling of taboo words on Portuguese television
      • 4.2.2Respondents’ attitudes towards translation strategies for the subtitling of taboo words on Portuguese television
      • 4.2.3Respondents’ attitudes towards the six specific translation strategies for the subtitling of taboo words on Portuguese television
      • 4.2.4Respondents’ motivations for the omission strategy
      • 4.2.5Respondents’ motivations for the maintenance strategy
      • 4.2.6The existence of guidelines or instructions for the subtitling of taboo words
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • Filmography
  • References
Published online: 25 May 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.20020.xav
References

Filmography

Clark, Larry
. dir. Another Day in Paradise 1998 USA: Chinese Bookie Pictures.Google Scholar
Mendes, Sam
. dir. Jarhead 2005 USA: Universal Pictures, Red Wagon Entertainment, Neal Street Productions, Motion Picture KAPPA Produktionsgesellschaft.Google Scholar
Scorsese, Martin
. dir. Goodfellas 1990 USA: Warner Bros.Google Scholar
. dir. The Departed 2006 USA: Warner Bros, Plan B Entertainment, Initial Entertainment Group, Vertigo Entertainment, Media Asia Films.Google Scholar
Tarantino, Quentin
. dir. Pulp Fiction 1994 USA: Miramax, A Band Apart, Jersey Films.Google Scholar
Waller, Andrew
. dir. American Pie: Beta House 2007 USA: Rogue Pictures, Neo Art & Logic, Higher Learning Productions, Universal Pictures.Google Scholar
Akmajian, Adrian, Richard Demers, Ann Farmer, and Robert Harnish
2001 Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Allan, Keith, and Kate Burridge
2006 Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 “Swearing.” In Comparative Studies in Australian and New Zealand English: Grammar and Beyond, edited by Pam Peters, Peter Collins, and Adam Smith. 361–386. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ameri, Saeed, and Khalil Ghazizadeh
2015 “A Norm-Based Analysis of Swearing Rendition in Professional Dubbing and Non-Professional Subtitling from English into Persian.” Research in English Language Pedagogy 2 (2): 78–96.Google Scholar
Ávila Cabrera, José Javier
2014 The Subtitling of Offensive and Taboo Language: A Descriptive Study. PhD diss. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.Google Scholar
Azzaro, Gabriele
2005 Four-Letter Films: Taboo Language in Movies. Roma: Aracne.Google Scholar
Bartsch, Renate
1987 Norms of Language: Theoretical and Practical Aspects. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Bednarek, Monika
2019 “The Multifunctionality of Swear/Taboo Words in Television Series.” In Emotion in Discourse, edited by J. Lachlan Mackenzie and Laura Alba-Juez, 29–54. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beers Fägersten, Kristy
2012 Who’s Swearing Now? The Social Aspects of Conversational Swearing. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Beers Fägersten, Kristy, and Karyn Stapleton
2017 Advances in Swearing Research: New Languages and New Contexts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beseghi, Micòl
2016 “WTF! Taboo Language in TV Series: An Analysis of Professional and Amateur Translation.” In Ideological Manipulation in Audiovisual Translation, special issue of Other Modernities 02/2016: 215–231.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre
1977 Outline of a Theory of Practice [orig. Esquisse d’une théorie de la pratique , précédé de trois études d’ethnologie kabyle ]. Translated by Richard Nice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Briechle, Lucia, and Eva Duran Eppler
2019 “Swearword Strength in Subtitled and Dubbed Films: A Reception Study.” Intercultural Pragmatics 16 (4): 389–420. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brownlie, Siobhan
2003 “Investigating Explanations of Translational Phenomena: A Case for Multiple Causality.” Target 15 (1): 111–152. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, Chapman
2004 “On the Hong Kong Chinese Subtitling of English Swearwords.” Meta 49 (1): 135–147. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew
1998 “Description, Explanation, Prediction: A Response to Gideon Toury and Theo Hermans.” Current Issues in Language and Society, 5 (1–2): 91–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2016 Memes of Translation: The Spread of Ideas in Translation Theory. Rev. ed. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 “A Note on Norms and Evidence.” In Reflections on Translation Theory. Selected Papers 1993–2014, edited by Andrew Chesterman, 185–192. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coleman, Julie
2012 The Life of Slang. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cressman, Dale L., Mark Callister, Tom Robinson, and Chris Near
2009 “Swearing in the Cinema: An Analysis of Profanity in US Teen-Oriented Movies, 1980–2006.” Journal of Children and Media 3 (2): 117–135. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crisafulli, Edoardo
2010 “Taboo Language in Translation.” Perspectives 5 (2): 237–256. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Delabastita, Dirk
2002 “A Great Feast of Languages: Shakespeare’s Multilingual Comedy in ‘King Henry V’ and the Translator.” The Translator 9 (2): 303–340. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Denham, Kristin, and Anne Lobeck
2013 Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Boston: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Díaz Cintas, Jorge
2001 La Traducción Audiovisual: El Subtitulado [Audiovisual translation: Subtitling]. Salamanca: Almar.Google Scholar
2003 Teoría y práctica de la subtitulación. Inglés – Español [Theory and Practice of Subtitling. English-Spanish]. Barcelona: Ariel Cine.Google Scholar
Díaz Cintas, Jorge, and Aline Remael
2007 Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Enell-Nilsson, Mona
2014 “Lost in Translation? – Swearing in the Swedish Millennium Films and their German and Finnish Translations.” In Swearing in the Nordic Countries, edited by Marianne Rathje, 99–124. Copenhagen: Dansk Sprognævn.Google Scholar
Ferklová, Sofie
2014 Subtitles vs. Dubbing: Approaches to Translation of Swear Words and Slang in Film. MA diss. Masaryk University.Google Scholar
Filmer, Denise
2012 “The ‘Gook’ Goes ‘Gay’: Cultural Interference in Translating Offensive Language.” Intralinea 141. [URL]
Gambier, Yves, and Luc van Doorslaer
eds. 2010 Handbook of Translation Studies. Vol. 11. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
García Manchón, Paula
2013 A Corpus-Based Analysis of Swearword Translation in DVD Subtitles and Internet Fansubs. MA diss. Universidad Complutense.Google Scholar
Goddard, Cliff
2015 “ ‘Swear Words’ and ‘Curse Words’ in Australian (and American) English: At the Crossroads of Pragmatics, Semantics and Sociolinguistics.” Intercultural Pragmatics 12 (2): 189–218. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Han, Chong, and Kenny Wang
2014 “Subtitling Swearwords in Reality TV series from English into Chinese: A Corpus-Based Study of The Family .” Translation and Interpreting 6 (2): 1–17.Google Scholar
Hermans, Theo
1996 “Norms and the Determination of Translation: A Theoretical Framework.” In Translation, Power, Subversion, edited by Román Álvarez and M. Carmen-África Vidal, 24–51. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
2009 Translation in Systems: Descriptive and System-Oriented Approaches Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Hjort, Minna
2009 “Swearwords in Subtitles: A Balancing Act.” In The Translation of Dialects in Multimedia, edited by Michaela Giorgio Marrano, Giovanni Nadiani, and Christopher Rundle. Special issue of Intralinea. [URL]
IBM Corp.
2013 IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.Google Scholar
Ivarsson, Jan, and Mary Carroll
1998 Subtitling. Simrishamn: TransEdit.Google Scholar
Kaye, Barbara K., and Barry S. Sapolsky
2004 “Watch Your Mouth! An Analysis of Profanity Uttered by Children on Prime-Time Television.” Mass Communication and Society 7 (4): 429–452. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 “Taboo or Not Taboo? That is the Question: Offensive Language on Prime-Time Broadcast and Cable Programming.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 53 (1): 22–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kenny, Dorothy
2009 “Corpora.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha, 59–62. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Khoshsaligheh, Masood, Saeed Ameri, and Milad Mehdizadkhani
2018 “A Socio-Cultural Study of Taboo Rendition in Persian Fansubbing: An Issue of Resistance.” Language and Intercultural Communication 18 (6): 663–680. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lie, Sondre
2013 Translate This, Motherfucker! A Contrastive Study on the Subtitling of Taboo Words. MA diss. Universitetet I Oslo.Google Scholar
Ljung, Magnus
2011 Swearing: A Cross-Cultural Linguistic Study. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mattsson, Jenny
2006 “Linguistic Variation in Subtitling: The Subtitling of Swearwords and Discourse Markers on Public Television, Commercial Television and DVD.” In MuTra – Audiovisual Translation Scenarios, Copenhagen 1–5 May 2006, Proceedings, edited by Mary Carroll, Heidrun Gerzymisch-Arbogast, and Sandra Nauert, 47–56. Saarbrücken: Advanced Translation Research Centre, Saarland University.Google Scholar
Massidda, Serenella
2015 Audiovisual Translation in the Digital Age: The Italian Fansubbing Phenomenon. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McEnery, Tony
2006 Swearing in English: Bad Language, Purity and Power from 1585 to the Present. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Meylaerts, Reine
2008 “Translators and (Their) Norms: Towards a Sociological Construction of the Individual.” In Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies: Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury, edited by Anthony Pym, Miriam Shlesinger, and Daniel Simeoni, 91–102. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Midjord, Margit Siri
2013 Swearing in Subtitles. MA diss. Aarhus University.Google Scholar
Nguyen, Thi Mai Khanh
2015 Well, Fuck! A Comparative Case Study in DVD Subtitling: The Linguistic Transfer of Taboo Language in Reservoir Dogs from English into Dutch. MA diss. Utrecht University.Google Scholar
Norrick, Neal R.
2012 “Swearing in Literary Prose Fiction and Conversational Narrative.” Narrative Inquiry 22 (1): 24–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
PTC (Parents Television Council)
2010 “Habitat for Profanity: Broadcast TV’s Sharp Increase in Foul Language.” [URL]
Roberto, Maria Teresa, and Maria José Veiga
2003 “Translating taboo.” In Estudos de Tradução: Actas de Congresso Internacional [Translation Studies: Congress proceedings], edited by Maria Zina Gonçalves de Abreu and Marcelino de Castro, 255–278. Cascais: Principia.Google Scholar
Robinson, Douglas
1999 “Looking Through Translation: A Response to Gideon Toury and Theo Hermans.” In Translation and Norms, edited by Christina Schäffner, 113–122. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Rosa, Alexandra Assis
2010 “Descriptive Translation Studies.” In Gambier and Van Doorslaer 2010, 94–104. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saldanha, Gabriela, and Sharon O’Brien
2013 Research Methodologies in Translation Studies. Manchester: St Jerome.Google Scholar
Sapolsky, Barry S., Daniel M. Shafer, and Barbara K. Kaye
2010 “Rating Offensive Words in Three Television Program Contexts.” Mass Communication and Society 14 (1): 45–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scandura, Gabriela
2004 “Sex, Lies and TV: Censorship and Subtitling.” Meta 49 (1): 125–134. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schäffner, Christina
2010 “Norms of Translation.” In Gambier and Van Doorslaer 2010, 235–244. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 “Norms.” Seminar presented at CETRA, 25 August 2014, KU Leuven.Google Scholar
Soler Pardo, Betlem
2011 Swearing and Translation: A Study of the Insults in the Films of Quentin Tarantino. PhD diss. Universitat de Valencia.Google Scholar
Stapleton, Karyn
2010 “Swearing.” In Interpersonal Pragmatics, edited by Mirian A. Locher and Sage L. Graham, 289–306. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toury, Gideon
2012 Descriptive Translation Studies – and Beyond. Rev. ed. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Valdeón, Roberto A.
2020 “Swearing and the Vulgarization Hypothesis in Spanish Audiovisual Translation.” Journal of Pragmatics 1551: 261–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xavier, Catarina
2009 Esbatendo o tabu: estratégias de tradução para legendagem em Portugal [Blurring the taboo: Subtitling strategies in Portugal]. MA diss. University of Lisbon.Google Scholar
2017 “Manipulating Taboo in Film Discourse: The Case of Subtitling in Portugal.” In Cinematic Narratives: Transatlantic Perspectives, edited by Morris Beja, Ellen Carol Jones, Cecilia Beecher Martins, José Duarte, and Suzana Ramos, 159–173. Lisbon: Humus.Google Scholar
2019 Tabu e Tradução Audiovisual: um estudo descritivo de normas de tradução para legendagem de linguagem tabu em contexto televisivo [Taboo and Audiovisual Translation: A descriptive study of translation norms for the subtitling of taboo on television]. PhD diss. University of Lisbon.Google Scholar