Những khó khăn trong việc giao dịch các thành tố văn hóa trong tài liệu âm-hình, nghiên cứu qua bộ phim Mỹ Cướp biển vùng Caribê Nơi tận cùng thế giới

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN DUY ANH

AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION PROBLEMS
OF CULTURE-BOUND ELEMENTS:
A STUDY OF THE AMERICAN FILM
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END
Những khó khăn trong việc dịch các thành tố văn hoá
trong tài liệu âm-hình, nghiên cứu qua bộ phim Mỹ:
Cướp biển vùng Caribê: Nơi tận cùng thế giới

M.A. COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60220201

Hanoi, 2016


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN DUY ANH

AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION PROBLEMS
OF CULTURE-BOUND ELEMENTS:
A STUDY OF THE AMERICAN FILM
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END

Những khó khăn trong việc dịch các thành tố văn hoá
trong tài liệu âm-hình, nghiên cứu qua bộ phim Mỹ:
Cướp biển vùng Caribê: Nơi tận cùng thế giới

M.A. COMBINED PROGRAM THESIS
Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60220201
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân

Hanoi, 2016


RESEARCHER’S STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

The work presented in this thesis is, to the researcher’s knowledge and belief, is
original and done by the researcher’s own effort, besides, all sources of the
materials quoted in the thesis are also acknowledged adequately. Finally, the current
thesis has not been submitted for any degree at this university and others and also
has not been published.

Hanoi, 2016

Nguyễn Duy Anh

1


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This MA thesis was successfully completed with the supports of many people to

whom I want to express my gratitude.
Firstly, I want to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Hoàng Văn Vân
for his valuable instruction, aids and encouragement throughout my research
process.
Secondly, I want to express my thanks to the professors, doctors, lecturers and all
other people at the Post-graduate Faculty of ULIS for their lessons and supports
during my MA course.
Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my beloved family and friends
whose supports and understanding contributed a lot in the success of my MA thesis.
Hanoi, 2016
Nguyễn Duy Anh

2


ABSTRACT

In translation studies, the term audiovisual is not so strange to scholars and
researchers. With the development of the film industry around the world, the field
of AVT study plays the role of an effective tool which facilitates the directors and
producers’ need of bringing film products across the country borderline.
As discussed by many scholars, the notion of culture plays an essential role in
translation. In AVT where the verbal text is supported by the other media, the
cultural elements become a challenge. Thus, this study aims at investigating the
issue of culture-bound elements in audiovisual translation.
Analysing the selected American film entitled Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s
End, the study seeks to (1) identify the culture-bound elements in the film, (2) find
the translation problems of these elements and (3) suggest some strategies to
improve the translation of these elements. The study is hoped to bring some helpful
insights to the translation of films.

3


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Presently, with the advance of science and technology, the film industry is also
rapidly developing in both quantity and quality. All nations across the world have
developed for themselves different film culture and at different level of
development. A movie is not only a product of entertainment. It shows the level of
development of the country where it comes from, and re-animates the language,
culture as well as the history, the society and the beauty of this country.
At the end of the era of the silent films, when the language was bought into the
movies as an effective tool of expression, a new problem also rose, challenging film
directors and producers all over the world: their audiovisual products must be
translated in order to bring them across the boundaries of language and culture. The
term audiovisual translation (AVT) was born as a tool to facilitate the understanding
and transferring of culture and ideas which are presented in film products and other
audiovisual products such as TV show, TV dramas and video games.
AVT has become an important part of our daily life. Many scholars and scientists
have been investing their properties and intelligence into the subject. As a result,
many documents namely Topics in Audiovisual Translation by Pilar Orero (2004),
Jorge Dìaz Cintas and Gunilla Anderman’s Audiovisual Translation: Language
Transfer on Screen (2009) were created. The information for the field is also
provided in many academic associations in the world, such as the European
Association for Studies in Screen Translation (ESIST).
A feature film, or a movie, is a complete product which consists of many features.
These features include the language of the film, presenting the verbal
communication, and the non-verbal communication, namely the music, sounds,
objects, gestures of the characters and other features. Besides, the film contains the

4


cultural characteristics of the country where it was produced and also the social
characteristics of the historical periods that it presents. These features of a feature
film bring lots of challenges to translators.
Translators are the people who bring the understanding of the texts to the “readers”
from different language communities and at different knowledge background. When
translating a movie, translators have a very important role of not only transferring
the meaning of the language of the directors but also transferring the culture from
the source to the target language. In the translation of a movie, there are many
difficulties for translators in terms of language and culture. The audience’s main
need is to understand what the characters are talking about on the screen. However,
there is another issue that is not less important: it is that the translation must be
acceptable in the receptive society. This problem lies on the differences between the
two communities with different cultures and civilizations.
Focusing on culture-bound elements, this thesis has the main aim of identifying the
problems in terms of culture that occur during the English – Vietnamese translation
of the American feature film entitled: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
directed by Gore Verbinski. This is an American entertaining movie; however, it
also contains many features for translators to concern. The film was written based
on a historical period in the past in the Caribbean area, when the pirates were a part
of the society. During that era, most of the countries were under the reign of
feudalism, in which the social values, the culture background and also the language
style were very different from present. One of the film’s appealing factors is that
when watching it, the audience will come through many different tones of feeling,
from horror to romance, from hatred to love, and from peace to war. Telling the
story of a golden reign of pirates of the Caribbean area, the film consists of
elements from many cultural backgrounds, from the mysterious China to the wild

Africa, thus, it is really a challenge for translators to transfer the culture-bound

5


elements in this movie to the audiences who speak another language and come from
another community.
The differences in culture may cause translators to misunderstand the text and to
mis-translate it. This study aims to find out the problems related to culture-bound
elements in the conversations of the movie’s characters that bring challenges to
translators and to give some suggestions to transfer these items into Vietnamese. In
Vietnam, there are few researchers interested in this field; therefore, the researcher
hopes to bring some useful suggestions for translators of movies and other
audiovisual products. The study, thus, is expected to be helpful for translators and
interpreters of other fields.
2. Aim, Objectives and Research Questions
The overarching aim of this study is to investigate the audiovisual translation
problems of culture-bound elements (CBEs) in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World’s End. This aim is broken to be the following objectives:
 Identifying and categorising the CBEs in the film;
 Finding the translation problems of CBEs in the film;
 Offering some suggestions on using possible strategies for the translations of
CBEs in the film.
To achieve the above aim and objectives, the study raises the following research
questions for exploration:
1. What are the main culture-bound elements contained in the film Pirates of
the Caribbean: At World’s End?
2. What are the major problems in translating the culture-bound elements in the
film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End?
REFERENCES

6


Baker, M. (1994). In Other Words. A Coursebook on Translation. London and New
York: Routledge.
Baker M. & Saldanha G. (2009). Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies.
New York: Routledge.
Bassnet, S. (1980). Translation Studies Reader. London and New York: Routledge.
Bell, R. T. (1991). Translation and Translating. London and New York: Routledge.
Cintas, J. and Remael, A. (2007). Audiovisual translation: Subtitling. Manchester:
St. Jerome Publishing.
Chaume, V. F. (2004). Film Studies and Translation Studies: Two Discipline at
Stake in Audiovisual Translation. In Meta: Translators’ Journal, vol. 49, n. 1,
from //www.erudit.org/revue/meta/2004/v49/n1/009016ar.pdf
Chiaro, D. (2009). Issues in audiovisual translation. In Jeremy Munday (ed.) The
Routledge Companion to Translation Studies. London: Routledge.
Christiane, N. (1997). Translating as a Purposeful Activity. Functionalist
Approaches Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Fiske, J. (1897). Old Virginia and Her Neighbors. Boston and New York: Houghton
Mifflin &Company.
Halliday, M. A. K. & Hasan, R. (1990). Language, Context, and Text: Aspects of
Language in a Social-semiotic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hervey, S. & Higgins, I. (1992). Thinking Translation. London: Routledge.

7


Koller, W. (1989) Equivalence in translation theory. In A. Chesterman (ed.)
Readings in Translation Theory. Helsinki: Finn Lectura, pp. 99–104.
Leppihalme, R. (1997). Culture Bumps. An Empirical Approach to the Translation

of Allusions. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Leppihalme, R. (2011). Relia. In Gambier, Y. & Doorslaer, L. (eds). Handbook of
Translation Studies, Volume 2. Amsterdam: John Benjamin.
Lotman, J. (1978). "On the Semiotic Mechanism of Culture." New Literary History.
Mailhac, J. (1996). The formulation of translation strategies for cultural references.
In Charlotte Hoffmann (ed.) Language, Culture and Communication in
Contemporary Europe. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Munday, J. (2001). Introducing Translation Studies. Theories and Applications.
Londond and New York: Routledge.
Newmark, P. (1988). A Textbook of Translation. London: Prentice Hall.
Nida, E. & C. Taber. (1964). The theory and practice of translation. Leiden: E.J.
Brill.
Nord, C. (1997). Translating as a Purposeful Activity – Functionalist Approach
Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Pedersen, J. (2005). How is culture rendered in subtitles?. In MuTra 2005 –
Challenges of Multidimensional Translation: Conference Proceedings. From
www.euroconferences.info/proceedings/2005_Proceedings/
Pym, A. (1992). Translation and Text Transfer: An Essay on the Principles of
Intercultural Communication. Frankfurt and Main: Peter Lang.

8


Ranzato, I. (2013). The Translation of Cultural References in Italian Dubbing of
Television Series. Unpublised PhD thesis. London: Imperial College.
Ray, M. K. (2008). Studies in Translation. Second Revised and Enlarged Edition.
Delhi: Atlantic.
Sacconi, S. (2013). How The Nanny Has Become La Tata: Analysis of an
Audiovisual Translation Product. Unpublished Master Thesis. Padova:
Universita degli Studi di Padova.

Sofer, M (1999). The Translator’s Handbook. Rockville, Maryland: Schreiber
Publishing.
Tylor, E. B. (1871) Primitive Culture: Research into the Development of
Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art and Custom. London: Bradbury, Evans and
Co., Printers, Whitefriars.
Vinay, J.& Darbelnet, J. (2004). A Methodology for Translation. In Venutti, L (ed.).
The Translation Studies Reader. London & New York: Routledge, 84-112.
Webber, W. K. (1968). Training Translators and Conference Interpreters. London:
Bridgeford.
Dictionaries
Oxford Dictionaries, at: www.oxforddictionaries.com
The Free Dictionary, at: idioms.thefreedictionary.com
Online Sources
www.dialectblog.com/2011/05/24/pirate-accent/ (Retrieved in 2015/06/30).

9


www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/JO391t6cRtGxstjbE4EEmg

(Retrieved

in 2015/10/12).
Film and Script:
Filmscript:

www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/a2/pirates--of-the-caribbean-

worlds-end-script.html (Retrieved in 2015/06/22).
Film and Vietnamese subtitle: www.phimmoi.net/phim/cuop-bien-vung-caribbephan-3-noi-tan-cung-the-gioi-483 (Retrieved in 2015/06/22).

10


I