Audiovisual Translation: The consequences of Plurilingualism, Humor and Cultural References on AVT

Abstract

Translation has been employed by humans for decades. Briefly explained, we can define it as the process that allows different audiences to understand mass media and literary productions that were not originally written or recorded in their mother tongue. However, the task of the translator is not as simple as that. It entails an enormous variety of processes where elements, such as culture, humor and over all, the translator’s own choices, have a huge influence on the results. The present Degree’s Final Project carries out a study where the process of translation, specifically the branch of Audiovisual Translation (AVT), will be explained and analysed. Moreover, we will show how humor, cultural references and other factors, like for example plurilingualism or puns, can affect the process of translation. It is also important to mention that the author will develop all these issues both, in a theoretical and a practical way. Furthermore, throughout the theoretical section, a special emphasis will be put on dubbing and subtitling and also, on the most famous authors who have theorized and worked on these notions. Nevertheless as this is not only a theoretical project, we will illustrate the theory through the analysis of some fragments of the TV series Modern Family; the author selected the most illustrative extracts and compared the original version to the dubbed one. All in all, the aim of the present study is to provide solid background knowledge to the readers in order to facilitate the future comprehension of the analysis which will be based on the illustration of how culture, humor and plurilingualism affect translation to such an extent that sometimes the meaning of the source text can be lost.