Abstract
In this paper we present a set of strategies for rendering the presence of multiple languages in multilingual films in subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH): vehicular matching, explicit attribution, colour-coding and linguistic homogenisation. We also report on an online study among deaf and hard of hearing Polish participants regarding their preferences for specific SDH strategies. The findings show that, even when they do not know the foreign language involved, most participants prefer more informative strategies where indications of multilingualism are made explicit.
Highlights
In recent years an increasing number of film directors have included foreign language dialogue in their scripts by skilfully interweaving various linguistic codes and elevating the status of multilingualism to an important part of the film narrative
An English-speaking film might contain the French word Bonjour. How can this be signalled in Polish SDH? In Szarkowska et al (2013) we presented the following five strategies to render such instances of multilingualism in SDH: (1) VEHICULAR MATCHING, that is, including the transcribed version of the foreign language spoken in the film, as in: Bonjour
We offered the participants two types of subtitles: one using the explicit attribution strategy traditionally employed in SDH in such cases, which consists of stating in brackets which language is spoken; the alternative set of subtitles used vehicular matching where the actual German words shouted by the soldier were transcribed and shown in the subtitles
Summary
In recent years an increasing number of film directors have included foreign language dialogue in their scripts by skilfully interweaving various linguistic codes and elevating the status of multilingualism to an important part of the film narrative. In many Hollywood productions set in other countries, linguistic verisimilitude is deemed irrelevant Such disregard for preserving representational adequacy and authenticity can be termed, after Sternberg Some filmmakers have openly embraced linguistic verisimilitude, creating multilingual diegetic settings and making their characters speak the actual languages required by the fabula, which often serve as “markers of authentic nationhood” 20) can be termed, after Sternberg (1981), ‘vehicular matching’ It is often found in what Wahl (2005) termed “polyglot films”, that is, films where “languages are used in the way they would be used in reality. Departing from a classification of different types of audience and a relevant typology of subtitling, we propose a possible toolkit for rendering the presence of multiple languages on screen in SDH for viewers with hearing impairments
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