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Target
Vol. 29:3 (2017) ► pp.416–439

How metaphors are rendered in subtitles

ORCID logo | Stockholm University

Metaphors have been thoroughly studied as translation problems in recent decades. However, they are still under-researched in the subfield of audiovisual translation. This is strange since this mode of translation, particularly subtitling, has very special conditions which complicate the translating of metaphors, such as the interplay between dialogue, image and subtitles, as well as severe time and space constraints. This paper investigates how metaphors in the British sitcom Yes, Prime Minister were subtitled into Swedish. The results show that subtitlers treat metaphors as an important language feature, less prone to omission than other features. Furthermore, monocultural metaphors, which are not shared between cultures, are subtitled using more strategies than transcultural ones. Metaphors are also subtitled differently depending on the degree of entrenchment. Typically for metaphor translation, there is a loss of metaphor force, but more research is needed to ascertain whether this is media-specific or a general translation effect of growing standardization.

Keywords: audiovisual translation, subtitling, metaphors, translation strategies, transculturality, image transfer, conceptual metaphor
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Metaphors
  • 3.Translation of metaphors
    • 3.1Translation strategies for metaphors
    • 3.2Subtitling metaphors
  • 4.Material
  • 5.Method
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Main results
    • 6.2Dead metaphors
    • 6.3Stock metaphors
    • 6.4Adapted metaphors
    • 6.5Original metaphors
    • 6.6Mixed metaphors
    • 6.7Extended metaphors
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 20 September 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.16038.ped
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Series 1

Episode 1 The Grand Design” Subtitled by Lotta Almqvist No date
Episode 2 The Ministerial Broadcast” Subtitled by Ansis Grinsbergs No date
Episode 3 The Smoke Screen” Subtitled by Eva Karin Swenson No date
Episode 4 The Key” Subtitled by Annika Brandt No date
Episode 5 A Real Partnership” Subtitled by Annika Brandt No date
Episode 6 A Victory for Democracy” Subtitled by Maria Lyngstam Raud No date
Episode 7 The Bishop’s Gambit” Subtitled by John Åhlén No date
Episode 8 One of Us” Subtitled by Lotta Rossi No date

Series 2

Episode 1, “Official Secrets” Subtitled by Rickard Levin 2001.Google Scholar
Episode 2, “Man Overboard” Subtitled by Rickard Levin 2001.Google Scholar
Episode 3, “A Diplomatic Incident.” Subtitled by Fredrik Krappman 2001.Google Scholar
Episode 4, “A Conflict of Interest” Subtitled by Marie Ekenstav 2001.Google Scholar
Episode 5, “Power to the People” Subtitled by Marie Ekenstav 2001.Google Scholar
Episode 6, “The Patron of the Arts.” Subtitled by Maria Björkman 2001.Google Scholar
Episode 7, “The National Education Service” Subtitled by Maria Grimstad 2001.Google Scholar
Episode 8, “The Tangled Web” Subtitled by Jan Fransson 2001.Google Scholar

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