THINKING ITALIAN TRANSLATION 111

performer is not given a tongue-twister to sing, but also to avoid nonsense: in Ronald Millar's Robert and Elizabeth, for instance, `while earth contains us two' can come out as `while earth contains a stew' when sung. Given these factors, it is not surprising that translators of songs and libretti sometimes take considerable liberties with ST literal meaning.

Translators actually do a great deal of their work in a written medium, even when it involves an oral text or texts. Inevitably, metamorphoses result from the crossover from written to oral and vice versa. These metamorphoses are essentially due to the fact that writing is such a pale copy of speech in terms of expressive force. Crossover in the process of translation may take a number of forms. We shall mention four, and there will be an opportunity to try some of these out in the practical.

In the first type of crossover, the translator starts with an oral ST, and then uses a written transcript to compose a TT which is on paper, but suitable for oral performance. Song lyrics are typically translated in this way. In the second type of crossover, the translator starts with a written ST, considers how it might be performed orally, and then composes a TT which is on paper, but suitable for oral performance: this is generally how plays are translated. Third, the translator may start with a written script, try out the ST orally, and then produce a TT suitable either for silent reading or for oral performance, or for both. Poetry is usually translated like thisÐa good example is the second translation of the Scialoja poem on p. 60. In the fourth type, the translator starts with an oral ST and its transcript, and produces a TT for silent reading: this is how film subtitles are generally produced.

Subtitling is a very useful exercise in a course like this. As a form of gist translation, it has special requirements that force the student to focus especially sharply on many of the issues raised in this chapter and previous ones. And, while working in a written medium, under very tight constraints of time and space, the translator will often want to hint at some of the oral characteristics of the STÐprincipally features of language variety. This is especially true of feature films, where it might be misleading to suggest that the ST character `talks like a book'.

Even without the equipment for subtitling film or videotape, it is possible to do a useful introductory exercise using an ordinary audiocassette. There will be a chance to do such an exercise in Practical 11. To help in preparation for it, here are some general notes on subtitling as practised by professionals, followed by a sample of the amateur version using an audiocassette.

NOTES ON SUBTITLING

The subtitler/translator usually has a transcript of all the verbal content of the film, known as a `dialogue list'. The dialogue list does not include details of cuts. The subtitler runs the film on a viewing/editing table, measuring the time of each phrase, sentence and shot to determine when titles should start and stop.

112 TEXTUAL GENRE AND TRANSLATION ISSUES

This process is called `spotting'. The technicalities vary, depending on whether one is working with 35 mm film or videotape, but the essential rules are the same (throughout, subtitles are referred to as `titles'):

·A single-line title requires at least two seconds' viewing time.

·A double-line title requires at least four seconds.

·Never show a title for less than two seconds or more than six seconds.

·Avoid carrying a title over a cut (except in newsreel with many cuts).

·Voices off, such as telephone voices or narrations, are in italics (unless the speaker is present but simply not in camera view).

·Observe the basic rules of punctuation but, where the end of a title coincides with the end of a sentence, omit the full stop.

·In two-line titles, try to make the second line shorter than the first, but do not be inflexible: the first line should read well and not end clumsily.

·Make every title a clear statement. Avoid ambiguity (unless the ST is significantly ambiguous): viewers have little time to take in the message, and cannot turn back as they can with a book or a newspaper.

·When a sentence is split over more than one title, end the first one with three suspension points, and begin the next one with three suspension points.

·Do not use telegraphese: viewers rarely have time to work it out.

When timings are short, it is sometimes helpful to have two speakers' dialogue as a double-line title (ideally for question and answer). In such cases, use a dash to introduce each line, and range left, so that the titles are not centred on the screen. For example:

±Where have they gone today?

±To the country

Here is an example of how to split a whole sentence over two or more titles. The text itself conveys the point we are making: `In such cases, it is especially important to make each title sensible in itself, unless the speaker is rambling, delirious, or similar, so that viewers maintain a steady understanding of the dialogue.' This would be effectively subtitled as follows:

Title 1 In such cases¼

Title 2 ¼it is especially important to make each title sensible in itself¼ Title 3 ¼unless the speaker is rambling, delirious, or similar, so that¼ Title 4 ¼viewers maintain a steady understanding of the dialogue

Here is an example of how not to do it:

Title 1 In such cases, it is especially¼

Title 2 ¼important to make each title sensible¼

THINKING ITALIAN TRANSLATION 113

Title 3 ¼in itself, unless the speaker is rambling, delirious, or similar, so that¼

Title 4 ¼viewers maintain a steady understanding of the dialogue

The main weakness of this version is that breaks between titles correspond to neither the structure nor the oral phrasing of the sentence. Despite the suspension points, Title 2 looks like the end of the sentence or clause, and Title 3 like the start of one. The result is that the `unless' clause looks like a clause parenthetically inserted in mid-sentence: the text might seem to be saying `In itself, unless the speaker is rambling in such a way that viewers maintain a steady understanding [¼]'. But the anticipated resolution of this apparent sentence does not materialize, so that the viewer is (at best) momentarily puzzled.

Note that the maximum number of spaces allowed for a line varies, depending on the equipment used. We shall take as an example 36, which is not untypical. This includes letters, spaces between words, and punctuation marks. So, for instance, the following title is exactly 36 spaces long:

¼so that viewers maintain a steady

Sample subtitling exercise

Dialogue list

(Contextual information. The dialogue is part of an interview with Riccardo Pradella, director of the Teatro dei Filodrammatici, Milan. `I' denotes the interviewer, `P' denotes signor Pradella.)

i.Ecco, oggi mi sembra che in Italia c'è un fiorire di nuovi interessi per il teatro, specialmente tra i giovani. Voi avete programmi speciali, delle¼ direi quasi dei prezzi speciali per i giovani?

p.Sì.Devo dire che la¼l'incremento importante, considerevole, che c'è stato riguardo al pubblico teatrale che c'è stato sicuramente in questo¼questi sette anni e non solo per il `Filodrammatici' ma anche per le altre iniziative, è dovuto anche al fatto che un grosso interesse l'hanno portato gli studenti.

i.Ecco, come vi siete avvicinati agli studenti, che direi, forse inizialmente avranno guardato con sospetto al teatro `dalle poltrone rosse di velluto'?

(Adapted from Pradella 1982:5)

Spotting

Following the taped text on the dialogue list, mark off convenient sections coinciding, if possible, with pauses and intonational cues in the spoken delivery. Each of these sections will subsequently form the basis of a subtitle. (The more spontaneous the speech, however, the more likely it is that the pauses will sometimes clash with those implied by grammar. This happens here, especially in signor Pradella's reply. As we shall see, this may entail redistributing the

114 TEXTUAL GENRE AND TRANSLATION ISSUES

message between the sections created by spotting.) At the end of spotting, the dialogue list will look something like this:

i. Ecco, oggi mi sembra che in Italia / c'è un fiorire di nuovi interessi per il teatro, / specialmente tra i giovani. / Voi avete programmi speciali, delle¼/ direi quasi dei prezzi speciali per i giovani? /

p. Sì.Devo dire che la¼1'incremento / importante, considerevole, che c'è stato / 5 riguardo al pubblico teatrale che c'è stato sicuramente in questo¼ questi sette anni / e non solo per il `Filodrammatici' ma anche per le altre iniziative, / è dovuto anche al fatto che un grosso interesse l'hanno portato gli studenti. /

i. Ecco, come vi siete avvicinati agli studenti, / che direi, forse inizialmente 10 avranno guardato con sospetto / al teatro `dalle poltrone rosse di velluto'? /

Timing

The sections marked off in spotting are numbered, and the time between the start of one section and the start of the next is measured (with a stopwatch if possible, but the second hand on a watch will do for our purposes).

The timing of the subtitles is based on these measurements. (Remember that any pauses in and between sentences are part of the overall time the text lasts.

These are useful allies for the subtitler, because they give extra time for the viewer to digest the titles.) The timed list should look like this:

Creating subtitles

Each of the spottings into which the dialogue list has been divided is translated into English, observing the following constraints:

(i)Not more than two lines can be shown on the screen at once.

(ii)Lines cannot be longer than 36 spaces.

(iii)The maximum time available for displaying each subtitle is given by the timing measurements above; allow at least two seconds for a single-line title,

THINKING ITALIAN TRANSLATION 115

and at least four seconds for a two-line title (but not more than six seconds for any title).

Here is a possible TT (the times given in brackets are moments during which no title is shown):

There are two reasons for having the brief periods with no title on screen. First, the speakers sometimes speak very slowly. Second, more problematically, signor Pradella's reply (titles 6±10) is relatively complex. The two `che c'è stato' clauses and the parenthetic `e non solo [¼] iniziative' greatly delay the arrival of `è dovuto' and obscure the function of `anche'. In addition, the second `che c'è stato' is an untidy insertion, one of those sudden afterthoughts so common in spontaneous oral texts. Of course, reading the printed transcript, one can spend time over it and make sense of it. And watching the interview, a speaker of Italian will be able to filter out the grammatical fractures and follow what is being said, especially with the help of facial and gestural cues. The subtitle viewer, however, is unlikely to pick these up, and cannot go back and puzzle the text out. This, together with the severe constraints on time and space, is why the text has been recast, avoiding the relative clauses and the parenthesis, and inserting an explicit cohesion marker, `though', in title 9. The 1.5-second gap after title 8 reinforces this cohesion, announcing a new stage in the argument.

For comparison, here is a version of Signor Pradella's reply which matches the ST structure more closely. The risk of confusion for the viewer is clearly much greater:

Title 6 5.0 Yes. I ought to say that the very considerable increase¼

116 TEXTUAL GENRE AND TRANSLATION ISSUES

Consideration of the two factors we mentioned at the outsetÐthe author's attitude to treatment of the subject matter, and whether the text is an oral or a written one Ðconcentrates the translator's mind on four groups of vital strategic questions. First, what are the salient features of the ST? What do these features imply about its purpose? What genre do the features and purpose suggest it belongs to? Second, does the ST have recognizable genrespecific characteristics that require special attention? If so, which of them should be retained in translation? Third, what TL genre(s) provide a match for the ST genre? What do existing specimens of these TL genres suggest regarding formulation of the TT? Fourth, what genre should the TT ultimately belong to, and what genre-specific features should it have?

Two words of caution are needed here. First, it is easy for student translators to begin their strategic considerations something like this: `This text belongs to genre A, therefore it has characteristics x, y and z.' This is putting the cart before the horse. It is much more useful to identify the text's characteristics first, and then, on that basis, to assign it to a genre. This results in a more sensitive appraisal of the true purpose of the text, which in turn makes it easier to be flexible and to recognize cases where, as very often happens, the ST actually has a blend of featuresÐit may be predominantly typical of one genre, but also have features from other genres or even other genre categories. So, for example, instruction manuals may vary in character between the empirical and the persuasive categories. Advertising commonly shares features with literary texts, as do religious and philosophical texts. The same is even true of some empirical texts, such as Goethe's scientific treatises in verse. Religious texts, such as sermons, often share features with persuasive texts. Many legal or administrative textsÐcontracts or memoranda of agreement, for instance combine empirical and persuasive genre-features. Texts often contain quotations from texts that belong to other genresÐfor example, the biblical extract in the empirical text on Chernobyl in Practical 2.1.

Such `hybridization' in genre is common in journalism, and in parody and satire, which can make wholesale use of a mixture of features from various genre categoriesÐthe ST in Practical 10.2 is an example. Such blends may theoretically constitute sub-genres and subdivisions of subgenres, but that is not our concern: our aim here is to encourage and enable students to isolate the salient features and the purpose of an ST, so that they can relate these to the purpose of the TT and thus be in a position to develop an appropriate translation strategy.