Strategies of Official and Non-official Subtitles

Zeinab Nasrollahi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

All gratitude and praise is due to God, the Almighty, who bestowed upon me the willingness to learn. First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Tajvidi for his efforts to enhance the quality of this work. I also wish to extend thanks to Dr. Mollanazar for his reading of and commenting on the present work. My heartfelt thanks also go to Dr. Farahzad who kindly accepted to read and evaluate this research.

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CHAPTER ONEIntroduction

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IntroductionStatement of the ProblemResearch QuestionsTheoretical Framework

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1. What are the most-common strategies used in official subtitling?2. What are the most-common strategies used in non-official subtitling?

• DTS• Gottlieb’s Model

• MMT• Subtitling•Official Subtitles• Non-official Subtitles

CHAPTER TWOReview of the Literature

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Gottlieb’s ModelStrategy Character of

TranslationApplies to Media-Specific

(1) Expansion Expanded expression, adequate rendering

Cultural specific references etc. No

(2) Paraphrase Altered expression, adequate rendering

Non-visualized language specific phenomena

No

(3) Transfer Full expression, adequate rendering

Neutral discourse slow tempo No

(4) Imitation Identical expression, equivalent rendering

Proper nouns, international gatherings etc.

No

(5) Transcription Anomalous expression, adequate rendering

Non-standard speech etc. Yes

(6) Dislocation Differing expression, justified content

Musical or visualized language specific phenomena

Yes

(7) Condensation

Condensed expression, concise rendering

Normal speech Yes

(8) Decimation Abridged expression, reduced content

Fast speech of some importance

Yes

(9) Deletion Omitted expression, no verbal content

Fast speech of less importance Yes

(10 Resignation Differing expression, distorted content

Untranslatable elements No7

CHAPTER THREEMethodology

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IntroductionFramework of DTS , Comparative Model of ResearchNaturalistic, Empirical Research, both Qualitative and Quantitative

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The Corpus

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NameWord Count Duration

Total 20% Official Non-official

1 Spy Game 8968 2127 00:43:34-01:01:50

18:16 00:48:15-01:12:30

24:15

2 Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers

11022 2195 01:25:30-02:02:29

37:59 01: 25:52-02:06:01

41:09

3 Constantine 5520 1119 00:36:11-00:55:16

19:05 00:37:37-00:56:51

19:14

4 V for Vendetta 12317 2611 00:40:35-00:59:46

19:11 00:42:46 -01:04:24

22:38

5 Mission: Impossible III

5002 1055 00:24:29-00:33:54

09:25 00:30:06-00:39:55

09:49

6 Eragon 4380 903 00:34:01-00:49:48

15:47 00:35:42-00:52:22

17:20

7 I Am Legend 4136 820 00:32:11-00:57:46

25:35 00:33:57- 01:00:41

27:44

8 Eagle Eye 11134 2120 00:35:11-00:56:45

21:34 00:40:48- 01:02:10

22:22

9 Transformers: Revenge of the

Fallen

14293 2800 00:41:16-01:07:02

26:46 00:52:24-01:20:10

28:46

Total 76772 15750 - 193 - 213

Unit of Analysis

Words Two Sentences

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Main Categories

RepetitioAdiectioDetractioTransmutatioSubstitutio

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CHAPTER FOURData Collection, Research Findings

and Results

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Spy Game

14Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

50

100

150

200

250

Lord of the Rings

15Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Constantine

Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

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V for Vendetta

Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

50

100

150

200

250

300

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M:I:III

Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

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Eragon

Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

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I am Legend

Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

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Eagle Eye

Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

50

100

150

200

250

300

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Transformers

Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

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CHAPTER FIVEConclusion

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Repetitio

24Transfer Imitation Transcription

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Detractio

Deletio

n

Conde

nsati

on

Decim

ation

Obliter

ation

Incom

pletio

n0

50

100

150

200

250

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Transmutatio

Dislocation Conversion Deacronimization Justification0

50

100

150

200

250

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Adiectio

Addition Expansion Bifurcation Duplication Completion0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

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Substitutio

Paraphrase Resignation Modification0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

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Frequency of Subtitling Main Categories

29Repetitio Adiectio Detractio Transmutatio Substitutio

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Pedagogical Implication

Necessity of Academic Acknowledgement of SubtitlingData Point for Translation Trainees and Novice TranslatorsTeaching Translation StrategiesEvaluation and (Self-) AssessmentInvestigating Normative Translational Behavior

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Suggestions for Further Research

Replicating This StudyDesigning a Teaching Method and SyllabusReduction Rates of DVD and TV SubtitlingReduction Rates for Different PeopleSDHThe Impact of Governmental Regularities and Rulings

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THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION