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- Volume 35, Issue 3, 2023
Target. International Journal of Translation Studies - Volume 35, Issue 3, 2023
Volume 35, Issue 3, 2023
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Translation and streaming in a changing world
Author(s): Jinsil Choi, Kyung Hye Kim and Jonathan Evanspp.: 319–330 (12)More Less
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The audience strikes back
Author(s): Chiara Bucariapp.: 331–353 (23)More LessAbstractNewer distribution models and delivery mechanisms for audiovisual content have, over the years, contributed to the emergence of different dynamics between the consumers (or end-users) of these audiovisual texts and their providers on a global scale. Fans and casual viewers alike have now become more vocal in expressing their dissatisfaction with subtitled or dubbed content that is not up to their standards. In this article, I take a macro-level approach to audience studies in audiovisual translation (AVT) by reflecting on if and how viewers’ perspectives are being incorporated into streaming platforms’ policies and sense of accountability towards their subscribers. By analysing a recent case study from Netflix Italia – the Japanese anime Neon Genesis Evangelion (Netflix 2019–2020) – I consider the ways in which the streaming platform took on board the subscribers’ complaints about the quality of the Italian adaptation and modified its offering accordingly. This new dynamic seems to suggest that distributors who are more sensitive to their subscribers’ needs may foster a process of co-creation and meaning-making of the localized content that concretely acknowledges the consumers’ point of view. At the same time it raises issues concerning the impact that the opinions of viewers who are mostly untrained in the standards and practices of AVT might ultimately have in localization and distribution choices.
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Bilingual subtitling in streaming media
Author(s): Katerina Gouletipp.: 354–377 (24)More LessAbstractThis article explores bilingual subtitling, a relatively under-researched mode of audiovisual translation, and its role in the ever-evolving landscape of global media streaming. Originally used for cinema productions in officially bilingual countries and international film festivals, bilingual subtitling has now resurfaced as a response to the growing affordances of streaming media. This article investigates the proliferation of bilingual subtitling tools and practices in different contexts, from PC-based tools and Chrome extensions that add bilingual subtitle features to streaming platforms (Netflix, YouTube) to amateur (optionally bilingual) subtitling streaming services (Viki Rakuten), video sharing websites (Bilibili), and online channels with open bilingual subtitles embedded in their videos (Easy Languages). Bilingual subtitling is further promoted as a pedagogical tool for foreign-language learning that matches the expectations of contemporary learners, especially ‘digital natives’ who have grown up with new online modalities. The conventional ways in which audiences used to engage with audiovisual content have, arguably, been superseded as streaming platforms that offer an abundance of options in terms of language and content are gradually reshaping viewing patterns. Shifting away from long-established patterns of passive TV consumption, this article also sets out to present online collaborations and initiatives that seek to incorporate bilingual subtitles in language learning while promoting the active participation of the audience within the emerging media streaming landscape.
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Translating intercultural interactions in the Netflix-branded film American Factory
Author(s): Bei Hupp.: 378–403 (26)More LessAbstractThe Netflix-branded film American Factory glaringly illustrates China’s and the United States’s contrasting views on capitalism, propaganda, and labour rights. The film directors have argued that the entangling of clashing civilisations that permeates numerous layers of the documentary is delivered in a subtle and nuanced manner. However, the English and Chinese subtitles of the multilingual film’s bilingual dialogue are found to frequently, and usually implicitly, show varying levels of translator intervention that may alter the degree of cultural difference and opposition. By investigating the inherent translator interventions in the presentation of cultural allusions in Netflix’s English- and Chinese-translated subtitles of the bilingual dialogue in the film, this study focuses on the extent to which these interventions are discursively juxtaposed with Netflix’s media logic. Special attention is paid to how intercultural positions are perceived by heterogeneous viewers in China and the United States. This article argues that streaming media giants, such as Netflix, exert an influence on the representation of cultural nuances in multilingual films. Hence, the study calls for a reflexive view of streaming media translation research that acknowledges the complex power dynamics resulting from audio-visual intercultural communication and its corresponding implications for intercultural relations.
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The Boys in the Band
Author(s): Antonio Jesús Martínez Pleguezuelos and Iván Villanueva-Jordánpp.: 404–425 (22)More LessAbstractThis article analyzes the Spanish dubbed version and English-language version of Netflix’s recent adaptation of The Boys in the Band (Mantello 2020), which was initially a theater play by Crowley (1968), and compares it with the first English-language film adaptation (Friedkin 1970), also dubbed into Spanish. The concept of nostalgia is used here to analyze the resemiotization of different audiovisual modes (particularly cinematography) and how they are combined with the linguistic code to reimagine the narrative of the homosexual community in New York at the end of the 1960s. The English versions of the two films (released in 1970 and 2020) repeat the dialogues almost verbatim; however, the versions dubbed into Spanish offer different translation solutions. The time of production of both dubbed versions accounts for the viability of the expression of different sexual identities in the Spanish context at each moment. Based on this, the article reveals how the audiovisual modes of the latest version of The Boys in the Band, including its Spanish dubbing, contribute to nostalgic aesthetics and discursive representation of the emerging cultural and social gay American scene.
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Subtitlers’ beliefs about pivot templates
Author(s): Susana Valdez, Hanna Pięta, Ester Torres-Simón and Rita Menezespp.: 426–454 (29)More LessAbstractStreaming service platforms are said to increase worldwide access to peripheral languages, often via the use of pivot templates. To shed light on how pivot subtitling practices impact language hierarchies and translation quality, we report on the results of an online questionnaire completed by European subtitlers. The questionnaire elicited data on the respondents’ experiences and expectations when translating from pivot templates for streaming services and other media environments (such as cable TV, cinema, and websites). The questionnaire was completed by 370 subtitlers and the elicited data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results suggest that streaming platforms reinforce traditional language hierarchies by strengthening the position of English as a hyper-central language (Heilbron 2010). ‘Peripheral–peripheral’ subtitling practices (e.g., Korean–Danish) occur mainly through pivot templates in English, and so do ‘central–central’ subtitling practices (e.g., German–French). This means that even when the original content is in a language other than English, English is still the most common source language for subtitlers because of the use of pivot templates. Furthermore, according to our respondents, pivot templates are more common in streaming platforms than in other media environments. The use of pivot templates is also reported to negatively impact subtitlers’ working conditions and give rise to particular ethical, linguistic, and technological challenges for which there are currently few guidelines and training opportunities.
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Disruptive AVT workflows in the age of streaming
Author(s): Serenella Massiddapp.: 455–475 (21)More LessAbstractIn the last decade, media industries have witnessed a shift in the way audiovisual content is localised, broadcast, and consumed by multifaceted audiences: from traditional linear TV to subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. While this major shift has been well-documented by media studies scholars (Lotz 2014; Lobato 2017a, 2017b; Storstein Spilker and Colbjørnsen 2020), the overall effect it has had on audiovisual translation (AVT) is relatively under-researched within Translation Studies. Hence, this article aims to delve into the current state of the art of AVT within a mediascape dominated by non-linear over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Drawing on the impact that streaming solutions such as Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Netflix have had on the acceleration of AVT workflows worldwide as a way to localise a high volume of content created to reach global audiences, my analysis focuses on their impact on the way subtitling workflows are managed and turnaround times scheduled. This study focuses on the day-of-broadcast (DOB) model, the media release strategy intended to make audiovisual content available ‘now and everywhere’. The disruptive nature of DOB models in localisation workflows is investigated using a case study, the ad hoc subtitling workflow devised for Netflix’s Chelsea, and analysed using a qualitative research method. The aim is to unveil the practices behind the scenes of the first global talk show subtitled in twenty languages with a turnaround time of only fourteen hours.
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Review of Bielsa (2023): A Translational Sociology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Politics and Society
Author(s): Li Chenpp.: 476–481 (6)More LessThis article reviews A Translational Sociology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Politics and Society
Volumes & issues
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Volume 37 (2025)
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Volume 36 (2024)
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Volume 35 (2023)
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Volume 34 (2022)
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Volume 33 (2021)
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Volume 32 (2020)
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Volume 31 (2019)
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Volume 30 (2018)
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Volume 29 (2017)
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Volume 28 (2016)
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Volume 27 (2015)
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Volume 26 (2014)
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Volume 25 (2013)
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Volume 24 (2012)
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Volume 23 (2011)
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Volume 22 (2010)
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Volume 21 (2009)
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Volume 20 (2008)
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Volume 19 (2007)
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Volume 18 (2006)
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Volume 17 (2005)
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Volume 16 (2004)
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Volume 15 (2003)
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Volume 14 (2002)
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Volume 13 (2001)
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Volume 12 (2000)
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Volume 11 (1999)
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Volume 10 (1998)
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Volume 9 (1997)
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Volume 8 (1996)
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Volume 7 (1995)
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Volume 6 (1994)
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Volume 5 (1993)
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Volume 4 (1992)
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Volume 3 (1991)
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Volume 2 (1990)
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Volume 1 (1989)
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From ‘Is’ to ‘Ought’
Author(s): Andrew Chesterman
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