Article published In:
BabelVol. 68:4 (2022) ► pp.586–609
A three-layered typology for the subtitling of taboo
A corpus-based proposal of methods, strategies, and techniques
The translation of taboo words has attracted scholars’ interest in studying it in the audiovisual context over the
last decades. The surge of research on this predominant form of translation in everyday life has brought to light the
communicative, pragmatic, and semiotic aspects as well as the technical constraints for subtitling taboo words. Previous research
has primarily taken a quantitative method, discussed issues that justify their results, and suggested possible outcomes from a
potential receiver’s point of view. While contributing to existing related literature, this paper argues that there is a need for
a thorough, detailed examination of translation options in subtitling taboo words. The paper presents a three-layered typology of
methods, strategies, and techniques, which provides a comprehensive description of audiovisual translators’ options. Following a
bottom-up/top-down approach, the proposed typography is then put to the test in a corpus-based case study comprising six movies
and their professional subtitles broadcast on Portuguese televisions.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 3.Theoretical background
- 3.1Strategies: Terminological and methodological issues
- 3.2The concept of strategy
- 3.3Types of strategies for the subtitling of taboo words
- a.Method
- b.Strategy
- c.Technique
- 3.4A three-layered typology of methods, strategies, and techniques for the subtitling of taboo words
- Addition
- Maintenance
- Dysphemism
- Euphemism
- Standardization
- Omission
- 4.A corpus-based case study
- 4.1Methodology
- 4.1.1Data collection
- 4.1.2The movies
- 4.1.3Methods
- 4.1.4Software
- 4.2Results
- 5.Concluding remarks
- 5.1On a three-layered typology for the subtitling of taboo
- 5.2Limitations and directions for future research
- Notes
-
References
References (45)
References
Allan, Keith, and Kate Burridge. 2006. Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Allan, Keith, and Kate Burridge. 2009. “Swearing.” In Comparative Studies in Australian and New Zealand English: Grammar and beyond, edited by Pam Peters, Peter Collins, and Adam Smith, 359–384. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ameri, Saeed, and Khalil Ghazizadeh. 2014. “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](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ávila Cabrera, José Javier. 2014. “The Subtitling of Offensive and Taboo Language: A Descriptive Study.” Ph.D. diss., UNED-Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
Beseghi, Micòl. 2016. “WTF! Taboo Language in TV Series: An Analysis of Professional and Amateur Translation.” Altre Modernità, Special Issue Ideological Manipulation in Audiovisual Translation. [URL]
Chen, Chapman. 2004. “On the Hong Kong Chinese Subtitling of English Swearwords.” Meta 49 (1): 135–147. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chesterman, Andrew. [2005] 2017. “Problems with Strategies.” In Reflections on Translation Theory: Selected Papers 1993–2014, edited by Andrew Chesterman, 201–212. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Coleman, Julie. 2012. The Life of Slang. Oxford, UK and New York: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Delisle, Jean. 1993. La traduction raisonnée. Ottawa: Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Denham, Kristin, and Anne Lobeck. (2010) 2013. Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction. Boston: Wadsworth.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Díaz Cintas, Jorge. 2001. “Sex, (Sub)Titles and Videotapes.” In Traducción subordinada II: el subtitulado (inglés-español/galego), edited by Lourdes Lorenzo García and Ana M. Pereira Rodríguez, 47–67. Vigo: Universidade de Vigo.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
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](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ferklová, Sofie. 2014. “Subtitles vs Dubbing: Approaches to Translation of Swearwords and Slang in Film.” MA diss., Masaryk University.
Forutan, Moein Khakshour, and Ghasem Modarresi. 2018. “Translation of Cultural Taboos in Hollywood Movies in Professional Dubbing and Non-professional Subtitling.” Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 47 (6): 454–473. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Freud, Sigmund. [1913] 1973. Totem and Taboo and Other Works. London: Hogarth Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
García Manchón, Paula. 2013. “A Corpus-based Analysis of Swearword Translation in DVD Subtitles and Internet Fansubs.” MA diss., Universidad Complutense.
Gambier, Yves. 2010. “Translation Strategies and Tactics.” In Handbook of Translation Studies, edited by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Doorslaer, 412–418. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
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](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Izwaini, Sattar. 2018. “Censorship and Manipulation of Subtitling in the Arab World.” In Fastforwarding in Audiovisual Translation, edited by Jorge Díaz Cintas and Kristijan Nikoli, 47–58. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jääskeläinen, Riitta. 1993. “Investigating Translation Strategies.” In Recent Trends in Empirical Translation Research, edited by Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit and John Laffling, 99–120. Joensuu: University of Joensuu.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jääskeläinen, Riitta. 1999. Tapping the Process: An Explorative Study of the Cognitive and Affective Factors Involved in Translating. Joensuu: Joensuun Yliopisto.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kearns, John. 2009. “Strategies.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, 2nd ed., edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha, 282–286. London: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Khoshsaligheh, Masood, Saeed Ameri, and Milad Mehdizadkhani. 2018. “A Sociocultural Study of Taboo Rendition in Persian Fansubbing: An Issue of Resistance.” Language and Intercultural Communication 18 (6): 663–680. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lie, Sondre. 2013. “Translate This, Motherfucker! A Contrastive Study on The Subtitling of Taboo Words.” MA diss., Universitetet I Oslo.
Lörscher, Wolgang. 1991. Translation Performance, Translation Process and Translation Strategies: A Psycholinguistics Investigation. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
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, edited by Mary Carroll, Heidrun Arbogast, and Sandra Nauert, 47–56. University of Copenhagen.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Miquel Cortés, Consuelo. 2004. “Traducción y (Auto-)censura: el caso de Kill Bill en España y Latinoamerica.” Jornades de foment de la Investigació 10. [URL]
Molina, Lucía, and Amparo Hurtado Albir. 2002. “Translation Techniques Revisited: A Dynamic and Functional Approach.” Meta 47 (4): 498–512. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Newmark, Peter. [1988] 1995. A Textbook of Translation. London: Prentice Hall.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Płońska, Dagmara. 2014. “Strategies of Translation.” Psychology of Language and Communication 18 (1): 67–74. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pym, Anthony. 2018. “A Typology of Translation Solutions for Spanish-English.” Jostrans: Journal of Specialised Translation 301: 41–65.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
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 Abreu and Marcelino de Castro, 255–278. Cascais: Principia.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sanz-Moreno, Raquel. 2018. “Audio Description of Taboo: A Descriptive and Comparative Approach.” SKASE. Journal of Translation and Interpretation 11 (1): 92–105.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Soler Prado, Betlem. 2011. “Swearing and Translation: A Study of the Insults in the Films of Quentin Tarantino.” Ph.D. diss., Universitat de Valencia.
Trupej, Janko. 2019. “Avoiding Offensive Language in Audiovisual Translation: A Case Study of Subtitling From English to Slovenian.” Across languages and cultures 20 (1): 57–77. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Vinay, Jean-Paul, and Jean Dalbernet. [1958] 2000. “A Methodology for Translation.” In The Translation Studies Reader, edited by Lawrence Venuti, 84–93. London and New York: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Xavier, Catarina. 2009. “Esbatendo o tabu: estratégias de tradução para legendagem em Portugal.” MA diss. University of Lisbon.
Xavier, Catarina. 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 norms within the subtitling of taboo on TV]. Ph.D. diss., University of Lisbon.
Yuan, Long. 2016. “The Subtitling of Sexual Taboo from English to Chinese.” Ph.D. diss., Imperial College London.
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Jiang, Qihang & Stephen Doherty
2024.
A corpus-based study on the English-Chinese swearwords produced by amateur (fansubbing) and professional (prosubbing) subtitling.
Perspectives ► pp. 1 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Valdeón, Roberto A.
2024.
The translation of swearwords: A pragmatics perspective.
Journal of Pragmatics 224
► pp. 74 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.