[Multilingual Monday] Perepea
I've said, repeatedly, that translation is just as much of an art as it is a science. It's one thing to directly translate, say, lines of dialogue in a story, sentence for sentence. But does the MEANING remain? What is said is as important as why it is said and what remains unsaid, so indeed, conveying that same "feeling" in another language can be just as much an art as it is a science.
Let's take a look at different kinds of translations, watching English get ported to a number of countries. Won't you join me as we use Family Guy as an example of translation?
Yes, really.
Many jokes can be dependent upon language. To the left is the source language (English), featuring Stewie's awkward pronunciation of "Cool Whip," putting emphasis on the "H". Immediately porting it to another language, there are several problems: will somone in, say, Spain, know what Cool Whip is? And even if they would, would anyone actually pronounce the H?? The right shows how Spain's dubbing handled the problem -- even though the package clearly says COOL WHIP, they replace it with local product Batida, and play upon the B/V pronunciation depending upon the placement of the letter in the word. This was pretty damned creative in my opinion.
Not every language-based joke is successfully ported. In the left example, Peter is in rehab and is asked his name, and he tries to make one up based on what he sees (pea, tear, gryphon -- crap!). The Latin American dub of the show, however, doesn't even bother to translate the joke. and thus one needs to know English to understand why Peter's response for a name is "Pe tir grifon".
The Italian version of the show changes a joke entirely; on the left is Peter watching Dennis Miller, leaving him to wonder what "rant" means, but in the Italian version Dennis' spiel is quite different, leaving Peter to wonder about the simplest thing said -- "Who is Dante Alighieri??"
Another gag that depends on knowledge of English -- with the letters on the board the answer has to be "GO FUCK YOURSELF", right? Wrong. The contestant in the German version explains what the puzzle REALLY says in German, but there's no further explanation.
Another "what do you do when X doesn't exist??" In this case, the original episode has Stewie trying to watch Mr. Belvedere, but would Hungarian audiences know what that show even is? Instead, hear him try to shut his family up with Ducktales ... it's unique as, while that version is on the right, the left features a scene from the same episode in Italian, where apparently they DID have Mr. Belvedere. Huh, who knew??
I'd love your examples of television, film, or books that have had to do a "dodge" because of cultural or linguistic reasons. Did it succeed? Why or why not?
Let's take a look at different kinds of translations, watching English get ported to a number of countries. Won't you join me as we use Family Guy as an example of translation?
Yes, really.
Many jokes can be dependent upon language. To the left is the source language (English), featuring Stewie's awkward pronunciation of "Cool Whip," putting emphasis on the "H". Immediately porting it to another language, there are several problems: will somone in, say, Spain, know what Cool Whip is? And even if they would, would anyone actually pronounce the H?? The right shows how Spain's dubbing handled the problem -- even though the package clearly says COOL WHIP, they replace it with local product Batida, and play upon the B/V pronunciation depending upon the placement of the letter in the word. This was pretty damned creative in my opinion.
Click to viewNot every language-based joke is successfully ported. In the left example, Peter is in rehab and is asked his name, and he tries to make one up based on what he sees (pea, tear, gryphon -- crap!). The Latin American dub of the show, however, doesn't even bother to translate the joke. and thus one needs to know English to understand why Peter's response for a name is "Pe tir grifon".
The Italian version of the show changes a joke entirely; on the left is Peter watching Dennis Miller, leaving him to wonder what "rant" means, but in the Italian version Dennis' spiel is quite different, leaving Peter to wonder about the simplest thing said -- "Who is Dante Alighieri??"
Another gag that depends on knowledge of English -- with the letters on the board the answer has to be "GO FUCK YOURSELF", right? Wrong. The contestant in the German version explains what the puzzle REALLY says in German, but there's no further explanation.
Another "what do you do when X doesn't exist??" In this case, the original episode has Stewie trying to watch Mr. Belvedere, but would Hungarian audiences know what that show even is? Instead, hear him try to shut his family up with Ducktales ... it's unique as, while that version is on the right, the left features a scene from the same episode in Italian, where apparently they DID have Mr. Belvedere. Huh, who knew??
I'd love your examples of television, film, or books that have had to do a "dodge" because of cultural or linguistic reasons. Did it succeed? Why or why not?