Lezione 2

1. Lezione 2

2. Media empowerment Given that language is an empowering tool, the mass media have had an important role to play in many places in promoting literacy or consolidating language policy. For example, television is recognised to have had a major role in the dissemination of the Italian language against the background of widespread dialect use.

3. … by extension the translation of media products has brought entire populations into contact with foreign cultures, however skewed these representations have often been. From the earliest films, mass audiences were introduced, for example, to American culture, even if reduced at times to ‘Cowboys and Indians’.

4. Schlesinger (2010) Key words for the 21st century; Inter-sub-disciplines (subtitling/audiosubtitling/real time subtitles) Technology (eye-tracking, statistical surveys) LANGUAGE RIGHTS language serving as a bridge “we are agents of change”

5. Audiovisual Translation (AVT) ‘the least studied of all branches of translation’ Sergio Viaggio 1992

6. Appraisal Appraisal is … the language of evaluation, attitude and emotion, of judgement, appreciation and engagement. (see Martin, 2000) It can be explicit or implicit, positive or negative.

7. How is it expressed? Adjectives Adverbs Verbs Nouns

8. Affect happy, sad, sure, bored proudly, passionately vow, suspect, trust fear, glee

9. Judgement greedy, innocent, crazy rightly, wrongly terrorise, deceive integrity, racism, liar

10. Appreciation unique, interesting, tedious beautifully, monotonously harmonise, unify best-seller, quality-time

11. U.S. model (Audio Description Coalition - Standards) Allow listeners to form their own opinions and draw their own conclusions. Don’t editorialise, interpret, explain, analyze or ‘help’’ listeners in any other way.

12. Describe objectively If the conclusion is that a character is angry, describe what led to that conclusion – the gestures/facial expressions of the character.

13. and Use only those adjectives and adverbs that do not offer value judgements and that are not themselves subject to interpretation.

14. The English Patient screenplay Shocking bursts of gunfire. Carefully, the Beduoin eases the mask… The effect is curious. It’s a warrior’s face. Kip is young, lithe, contained, utterly focussed. Hana hurries past, walking carelessly up the road. It’s so surreal.

15. The English Patient AD Bullets tear holes in the fuselage. ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ a young Sikh officer. Hana walks past. ___________________________

16. Sad (Orero 2010) “the eyelids droop as the inner corners of the brows rise, the corners of the lips pull down, and the lower lip pushes up in a pout”

17. Alternative suggestions She is sad She looks sad. She has a sad look on her face.

18. Atemporal/Temporal • She is sad (adjective or noun) – atemporal • She is frowning (verb) - temporal

19. Video Wallander (2009) • (use special glasses)

20. Wallander Soaring over steel grey water …with flat fields stretching out into the distance. this is Sweden appraisal non-finite clause

21. Wallander … A narrow trackmeanders though the headland’s rough, undulating terrain noun phrase themeverb variation vivid description

22. Wallander … Parked up is a car. Two young women … stridepurposefully away from the car human theme non-finite clause verb variation appraisal

23. Wallander The driver’s right eyelid flickers faintly His hand rests on the dashboard His taxi-driver ID .. is speckled with blood. tight anaphoric reference colourful lexis

24. Wallander… One of the women lets a blood-soaked knife fall from her hand. anchoring (credits) Kenneth Branagh Wallander Firewall

25. Wallander … Wallander’s estate car draws to a halt on the grassy headland introduction of main reiteration character and status

26. Wallander … The two teenagers are sitting placidly in the back of the police car. Wallander stares at them thoughtfully as it passes. appraisal

27. Wallander … Later, in an interview room at the police station, Sonia sits solemnly …Wallander sits back frustratedly subject time adjunct place adjunct appraisal

28. Wallander … Wallander’s mobile. He holds the phone in his hand It displays the name Inga. written information isolated noun phrase Arriving home wearily …

29. Appraisal … steel grey water … (implicit coldness, negative, graded) ‘Appraisal resources are used to establish the tone or mood of a passage of discourse’. (Martin and Rose, 2003)

30. Appraisal … stride purposefully … (force, appreciation, positive)

31. Appraisal … sitting placidly … (judgement – quiet, correct – but they’ve just commited murder! Cf. … Sonia sits solemnly …(judgement, serious, balance – but she’s provoking!)

32. Linguistic aspects: Theme • Audiodescription involves a particular use of language – present tense, solely declarative, vivid vocabulary, etc. • It also displays particular theme choices and progression. • All clauses are declarative, so often the subject is theme, often pronouns, predominantly, if not exclusively, third person.

33. Relevance to AD Theme structures and theme patterns affect information structure and information flow. They determine ease of comprehension and semantic relevance. The blind audience, more than most, need clear presentation of information.

34. Theme reiterationThe English Patient (1995) • 01:04:04 A Red Cross troop train. • A young French-Canadian nurse, Hana, adjusts the belt of her uniform. • She walks into a carriage where wounded soldiers lie one above the other on bunks. • (Passing between them) she stops beside a young man. • 01:04:39 She bends over him. • 01:04:45 She moves on between the bunks. • 01:04:58 She joins her colleagues.

35. The English Patient Number of clauses: Screenplay 2,700 Audiodescription 747

36. Thematisation - Screenplay

37. Thematisation - audiodescription

38. Theme comparison When the figures are adjusted, we see that the screenplay thematises twice as many nouns, but fewer pronouns. Perhaps because the describer uses anaphoric reference more tightly for reasons of time.

39. tight anaphoric reference The horribly burned pilot has been found by nomads. … they cover his blackened flesh. He is barely alive. They investigate his belongings.

40. Theme comparison 2 The AD uses almost twice as many place adjuncts and three times as many manner adjuncts. Presumably this is because the blind audience need spatial orientation and need more information on how things are being done. The temporal dynamic seems to need no extra input.

41. Theme comparison 3 But the most striking feature is the massive use of non-finite clauses in the AD and their virtual absence in the screenplay.

42. Marked themes: non-finite clauses Passing between them,… Swathed in blankets,… Seated behind the pilot,… Standing behind a railing,… Forcing open a door,… Wearing a simple skirt,… Finishing his photography,…

43. Dialogue • We do and we are while we speak. • But for the blind, characters in films speak their roles but cannot be seen ‘doing’ or ‘being’. • Non-finite phrases provide that input succinctly.

44. But in AD translation what considerations come into play? • One consideration is not to translate and start from scratch. • Another is to use the original AD as a template for all other translations. • Another is to consider that different nationalities/cultures /languages may need different adaptations.

45. In translation (The English Patient) A translation into Italian of the audiodescription seems to follow the English theme patterns and descriptions almost completely. Exceptions: (1) Dimly, he sees the outline of his rescuers (-) riesce a malapena a vedere il profilo dei suoi salvatori Desperately she runs towards the mangled jeep (-) corre disperatamente verso la jeep distrutta

46. The West Wing • Chaume