Carol O'Sullivan and Jean-François Cornu (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This rich collection of essays by film historians, translation scholars, archivists, and curators presents film translation history as an exciting and timely area of research. It builds on the last ...
More
This rich collection of essays by film historians, translation scholars, archivists, and curators presents film translation history as an exciting and timely area of research. It builds on the last 20 years of research into the history of dubbing and subtitling, but goes further, by showing how subtitling, dubbing, and other forms of audiovisual translation developed over the first 50 years of the 20th century.
This is the first book-length study, in any language, of the international history of audiovisual translation to include silent cinema. Its scope covers national contexts both within Europe and beyond. It shows how audiovisual translation practices were closely tied to their commercial, technological, and industrial contexts. The Translation of Films, 1900–1950 draws extensively on archival sources and expertise, and revisits and challenges some of the established narratives around film languages and the coming of sound. For instance, the volume shows how silent films, far from being straightforward to translate, went through a complex process of editing for international distribution. It also closely tracks the ferment of experiments in film translation during the transition to sound from 1927 to 1934 and later, as markets adjusted to the demands of synchronised film.
The Translation of Films, 1900–1950 argues for a broader understanding of film translation: far from being limited to language transfer, it encompasses editing, localisation, censorship, paratextual framing, and other factors. It advocates for film translation to be considered as a crucial contribution not only to the worldwide circulation of films, but also to the art of cinema.Less
This rich collection of essays by film historians, translation scholars, archivists, and curators presents film translation history as an exciting and timely area of research. It builds on the last 20 years of research into the history of dubbing and subtitling, but goes further, by showing how subtitling, dubbing, and other forms of audiovisual translation developed over the first 50 years of the 20th century.
This is the first book-length study, in any language, of the international history of audiovisual translation to include silent cinema. Its scope covers national contexts both within Europe and beyond. It shows how audiovisual translation practices were closely tied to their commercial, technological, and industrial contexts. The Translation of Films, 1900–1950 draws extensively on archival sources and expertise, and revisits and challenges some of the established narratives around film languages and the coming of sound. For instance, the volume shows how silent films, far from being straightforward to translate, went through a complex process of editing for international distribution. It also closely tracks the ferment of experiments in film translation during the transition to sound from 1927 to 1934 and later, as markets adjusted to the demands of synchronised film.
The Translation of Films, 1900–1950 argues for a broader understanding of film translation: far from being limited to language transfer, it encompasses editing, localisation, censorship, paratextual framing, and other factors. It advocates for film translation to be considered as a crucial contribution not only to the worldwide circulation of films, but also to the art of cinema.
Joanna Demers
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195387650
- eISBN:
- 9780199863594
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387650.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, History, American
Chapter 3 looked at microsound, a form of electronica often characterized as minimalist. Chapter 4 looks at music that can be described as “maximal” because it tests the physical limitations of ...
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Chapter 3 looked at microsound, a form of electronica often characterized as minimalist. Chapter 4 looks at music that can be described as “maximal” because it tests the physical limitations of listeners through excessive durations and volumes. These various manifestations of excess all purport to transcend meaning, to push sound beyond semiosis to a state in which it communicates directly to listeners’ bodies. The chapter focuses on maximal genres such as drone music, dub techno, and noise music, enlisting theories on excess and the sublime by Georges Bataille and Immanuel Kant. It also situates noise as a reaction to but also a confirmation of traditional notions of beauty in music.Less
Chapter 3 looked at microsound, a form of electronica often characterized as minimalist. Chapter 4 looks at music that can be described as “maximal” because it tests the physical limitations of listeners through excessive durations and volumes. These various manifestations of excess all purport to transcend meaning, to push sound beyond semiosis to a state in which it communicates directly to listeners’ bodies. The chapter focuses on maximal genres such as drone music, dub techno, and noise music, enlisting theories on excess and the sublime by Georges Bataille and Immanuel Kant. It also situates noise as a reaction to but also a confirmation of traditional notions of beauty in music.
Richard Barrios
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377347
- eISBN:
- 9780199864577
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377347.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
A rundown of the individual elements and artists that would join together to form the musical film. To create the songs, studios bought music publishers and hired songwriters to create lower-common ...
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A rundown of the individual elements and artists that would join together to form the musical film. To create the songs, studios bought music publishers and hired songwriters to create lower-common denominator versions of Broadway and pop hits. Music arrangements and sound recording slowly improved, as did photography and editing. Two-color Technicolor was hugely popular, then became a liability through its limited palette and loss of quality control. The personnel drew from both stage veterans and film people: directors such as Lubitsch and Mamoulian, stage and opera stars like Jolson and Lawrence Tibbett, and silent-film performers with acceptable voices, such as Bebe Daniels and Gloria Swanson.Less
A rundown of the individual elements and artists that would join together to form the musical film. To create the songs, studios bought music publishers and hired songwriters to create lower-common denominator versions of Broadway and pop hits. Music arrangements and sound recording slowly improved, as did photography and editing. Two-color Technicolor was hugely popular, then became a liability through its limited palette and loss of quality control. The personnel drew from both stage veterans and film people: directors such as Lubitsch and Mamoulian, stage and opera stars like Jolson and Lawrence Tibbett, and silent-film performers with acceptable voices, such as Bebe Daniels and Gloria Swanson.
Tessa Dwyer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474410946
- eISBN:
- 9781474434720
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474410946.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
With over 6000 languages in the world today, media speak is far from universal, yet the complexities of translation are rarely acknowledged by the industry, or by audiences and scholars. Redressing ...
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With over 6000 languages in the world today, media speak is far from universal, yet the complexities of translation are rarely acknowledged by the industry, or by audiences and scholars. Redressing this neglect, Speaking in Subtitles aregues that the oddities and idiosyncrasies of translation are vital to screen media’s global address. Examining a range of examples from crowdsourced subtitling to avant-garde dubbing to the growing field of ‘fansubbing’, Tessa Dwyer proposes that film, television and video are fundamentally ‘translational’ media. The case studies in this book explore areas of practice that lie beyond the parameters of professional, ‘quality’ practice and are consequently identified as ‘improper’, such as anime fandom, crowdsourced translation, censorship and media piracy. They demonstrate that in many contexts, issues of speed, access, commerce and control take precedence over considerations of quality. These errant modes of screen translation are becoming increasingly paradigmatic of the current translation and media environments, as they become less controlled and more communal in response to new digital technologies and the decentralising impulses of globalisation. By focusing on lines of ‘errancy’ rather than fidelity, this monograph highlights elements of screen translation that are regularly passed over by other studies in order to re-conceptualise questions of cultural value.Less
With over 6000 languages in the world today, media speak is far from universal, yet the complexities of translation are rarely acknowledged by the industry, or by audiences and scholars. Redressing this neglect, Speaking in Subtitles aregues that the oddities and idiosyncrasies of translation are vital to screen media’s global address. Examining a range of examples from crowdsourced subtitling to avant-garde dubbing to the growing field of ‘fansubbing’, Tessa Dwyer proposes that film, television and video are fundamentally ‘translational’ media. The case studies in this book explore areas of practice that lie beyond the parameters of professional, ‘quality’ practice and are consequently identified as ‘improper’, such as anime fandom, crowdsourced translation, censorship and media piracy. They demonstrate that in many contexts, issues of speed, access, commerce and control take precedence over considerations of quality. These errant modes of screen translation are becoming increasingly paradigmatic of the current translation and media environments, as they become less controlled and more communal in response to new digital technologies and the decentralising impulses of globalisation. By focusing on lines of ‘errancy’ rather than fidelity, this monograph highlights elements of screen translation that are regularly passed over by other studies in order to re-conceptualise questions of cultural value.
Ivy G. Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195337372
- eISBN:
- 9780199896929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195337372.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, African-American Literature, American, 19th Century Literature
This concluding chapter extends the book's readings of aurality and visuality over a wide-range of late 20th-century African American cultural production including works by hip hop artists Common and ...
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This concluding chapter extends the book's readings of aurality and visuality over a wide-range of late 20th-century African American cultural production including works by hip hop artists Common and OutKast, political figure Malcolm X, artist Robert Colescott, and musicians Parliament/Funkadelic. Intimating the applicability of the book's critical currency of “the remix,” the chapter illustrates the continued salience of art to political discourse.Less
This concluding chapter extends the book's readings of aurality and visuality over a wide-range of late 20th-century African American cultural production including works by hip hop artists Common and OutKast, political figure Malcolm X, artist Robert Colescott, and musicians Parliament/Funkadelic. Intimating the applicability of the book's critical currency of “the remix,” the chapter illustrates the continued salience of art to political discourse.
Chua Beng Huat
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622098923
- eISBN:
- 9789882206885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622098923.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter aims to address the question, “How does an audience watch/read an imported cultural drama series?” It develops a comprehensive, relatively formal, conceptual framework for the analysis ...
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This chapter aims to address the question, “How does an audience watch/read an imported cultural drama series?” It develops a comprehensive, relatively formal, conceptual framework for the analysis of pan-Asian, transnational pop culture consumption. It specifically explores the circulation and reception of media products in locations where an ethnic-Chinese population predominates, namely the People Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. The possible emergence of a pan-East Asian “community of consumers” and its implication is also investigated. Before exploring the reception of imported drama series, one significant peculiarity of their circulation in Pop Culture China should be noted. It then deals with the question of dubbing and its effect on the audience. Regional marketing of pop cultures is now configured into their production cost. The predominantly ethnic-Chinese locations constitute a subset within East Asia and can be conceptually designated as Pop Culture China, with histories of established networks of production and consumption of Chinese language based genres of pop culture.Less
This chapter aims to address the question, “How does an audience watch/read an imported cultural drama series?” It develops a comprehensive, relatively formal, conceptual framework for the analysis of pan-Asian, transnational pop culture consumption. It specifically explores the circulation and reception of media products in locations where an ethnic-Chinese population predominates, namely the People Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. The possible emergence of a pan-East Asian “community of consumers” and its implication is also investigated. Before exploring the reception of imported drama series, one significant peculiarity of their circulation in Pop Culture China should be noted. It then deals with the question of dubbing and its effect on the audience. Regional marketing of pop cultures is now configured into their production cost. The predominantly ethnic-Chinese locations constitute a subset within East Asia and can be conceptually designated as Pop Culture China, with histories of established networks of production and consumption of Chinese language based genres of pop culture.
Tessa Dwyer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474410946
- eISBN:
- 9781474434720
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474410946.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
In summary, this book proposes that improper sites of subtitling and dubbing provide a key to revaluing translation’s role within screen culture broadly. By analysing a range of emergent practices, ...
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In summary, this book proposes that improper sites of subtitling and dubbing provide a key to revaluing translation’s role within screen culture broadly. By analysing a range of emergent practices, Speaking in Subtitles has explored ‘errancy’ as a fault line rapidly spreading across the surface of contemporary screen translation, transferring attention away from endless, unresolvable debates on ‘quality’ towards the geopolitics that determine and delimit value systems in the first place. The concrete translation practices explored in this book identify language diversity as a major trajectory within digital and online modes of media engagement. Paying attention to improper sites of subtitling and dubbing provides a crucial key, it argues, to revaluing translation’s role within screen culture broadly—these ‘error screens’ are central, not peripheral, to screen culture as the risks of linguistic and cultural mutation that attend interlingual translation keep films, TV programs and other forms of screen media circulating, evolving and living-on.Less
In summary, this book proposes that improper sites of subtitling and dubbing provide a key to revaluing translation’s role within screen culture broadly. By analysing a range of emergent practices, Speaking in Subtitles has explored ‘errancy’ as a fault line rapidly spreading across the surface of contemporary screen translation, transferring attention away from endless, unresolvable debates on ‘quality’ towards the geopolitics that determine and delimit value systems in the first place. The concrete translation practices explored in this book identify language diversity as a major trajectory within digital and online modes of media engagement. Paying attention to improper sites of subtitling and dubbing provides a crucial key, it argues, to revaluing translation’s role within screen culture broadly—these ‘error screens’ are central, not peripheral, to screen culture as the risks of linguistic and cultural mutation that attend interlingual translation keep films, TV programs and other forms of screen media circulating, evolving and living-on.
Tom Whittaker
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190261122
- eISBN:
- 9780190261153
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190261122.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, History, American, History, Western
This chapter addresses Woody Allen’s approach to vocal performance as a means of providing a broader meditation on the ventriloquism of the dubbed voice in film by examining the relationship between ...
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This chapter addresses Woody Allen’s approach to vocal performance as a means of providing a broader meditation on the ventriloquism of the dubbed voice in film by examining the relationship between Allen and his regular Spanish dubbing actor, Joan Pera, in order to explore the wider location of the voice in Spanish dubbing. Dubbing has formed an integral part of Spanish film practices. Yet the discussion of dubbing also provides the opportunity to reflect more widely on the fundamentally split nature of all voices, whether technologized or not. In using Allen’s ‘Spanish double’, the chapter considers two areas of dubbing that have received little academic attention: the vocal performance of the dubbed voice, and its place within the soundtrack of the film. Also addressed are the challenges and contradictions that surround the dubbing of nonverbal sounds, such as the stutters and stammers for which Woody Allen is well known.Less
This chapter addresses Woody Allen’s approach to vocal performance as a means of providing a broader meditation on the ventriloquism of the dubbed voice in film by examining the relationship between Allen and his regular Spanish dubbing actor, Joan Pera, in order to explore the wider location of the voice in Spanish dubbing. Dubbing has formed an integral part of Spanish film practices. Yet the discussion of dubbing also provides the opportunity to reflect more widely on the fundamentally split nature of all voices, whether technologized or not. In using Allen’s ‘Spanish double’, the chapter considers two areas of dubbing that have received little academic attention: the vocal performance of the dubbed voice, and its place within the soundtrack of the film. Also addressed are the challenges and contradictions that surround the dubbing of nonverbal sounds, such as the stutters and stammers for which Woody Allen is well known.
Tessa Dwyer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190261122
- eISBN:
- 9780190261153
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190261122.003.0009
- Subject:
- Music, History, American, History, Western
Returning to the origins of the Mad Max franchise, this chapter focuses on the distinctly regional, Australian voice of the first Mad Max in 1979 in order to pave the way for broader scrutiny of the ...
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Returning to the origins of the Mad Max franchise, this chapter focuses on the distinctly regional, Australian voice of the first Mad Max in 1979 in order to pave the way for broader scrutiny of the role that language and accent play in the series as a whole. Specifically, it deploys the notion of ‘accented filmmaking’ developed by Hamid Naficy to explore the limitations and connotations of the dubbed version of this film prepared by distributor American International Pictures (AIP) for North American audiences. Despite switching accents to mask Mad Max’s Australian origins, AIP’s dub created multiple moments of cultural dissonance that served to emphasise rather than eradicate the film’s accented address.Less
Returning to the origins of the Mad Max franchise, this chapter focuses on the distinctly regional, Australian voice of the first Mad Max in 1979 in order to pave the way for broader scrutiny of the role that language and accent play in the series as a whole. Specifically, it deploys the notion of ‘accented filmmaking’ developed by Hamid Naficy to explore the limitations and connotations of the dubbed version of this film prepared by distributor American International Pictures (AIP) for North American audiences. Despite switching accents to mask Mad Max’s Australian origins, AIP’s dub created multiple moments of cultural dissonance that served to emphasise rather than eradicate the film’s accented address.
Adrián Fuentes-Luque
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Latin America has played a major role in the history of film translation. Most of the research on film and audiovisual translation to date has focused almost exclusively on Europe, and there is ...
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Latin America has played a major role in the history of film translation. Most of the research on film and audiovisual translation to date has focused almost exclusively on Europe, and there is hardly any research on Latin American countries. Apart from the intrinsic interest in and need to expand research to other geographic, linguistic, and cultural contexts, in the case of Latin America there is also a double motive: the magnitude of the Spanish-speaking market; and the fact that, for many years, virtually all the translation into Spanish for audiovisual productions was carried out in specific Latin American countries. This chapter explores the development and implementation of audiovisual translation in the Spanish-speaking context, on both sides of the Atlantic, from intertitles to subtitles, multiple-language versions, and dubbing.Less
Latin America has played a major role in the history of film translation. Most of the research on film and audiovisual translation to date has focused almost exclusively on Europe, and there is hardly any research on Latin American countries. Apart from the intrinsic interest in and need to expand research to other geographic, linguistic, and cultural contexts, in the case of Latin America there is also a double motive: the magnitude of the Spanish-speaking market; and the fact that, for many years, virtually all the translation into Spanish for audiovisual productions was carried out in specific Latin American countries. This chapter explores the development and implementation of audiovisual translation in the Spanish-speaking context, on both sides of the Atlantic, from intertitles to subtitles, multiple-language versions, and dubbing.
Carla Mereu Keating
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.003.0009
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter sheds new light on the strategies that Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Fox developed in the early 1930s to target the Italian-speaking market. It documents how the Italian ...
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This chapter sheds new light on the strategies that Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Fox developed in the early 1930s to target the Italian-speaking market. It documents how the Italian government, local film traders, and the press responded to the majors’ Italian-language production during a critical turning point for the national film industry. The chapter draws on a range of historical records (diplomatic, censorship and administrative state documents, film prints, press reviews, and other publicity materials) from Italian and North-American archives. The findings show that the majors’ experiments with Italian dubbing and versioning were not always successful and elicited ambivalent responses in Italy; the findings also demonstrate the gradual emergence of dubbing as the most commercially viable solution for both the US majors and the Italian establishment. Incongruities in the archival records, and the scarcity of surviving film prints, pose interpretative problems and call for further empirical research in the field.Less
This chapter sheds new light on the strategies that Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Fox developed in the early 1930s to target the Italian-speaking market. It documents how the Italian government, local film traders, and the press responded to the majors’ Italian-language production during a critical turning point for the national film industry. The chapter draws on a range of historical records (diplomatic, censorship and administrative state documents, film prints, press reviews, and other publicity materials) from Italian and North-American archives. The findings show that the majors’ experiments with Italian dubbing and versioning were not always successful and elicited ambivalent responses in Italy; the findings also demonstrate the gradual emergence of dubbing as the most commercially viable solution for both the US majors and the Italian establishment. Incongruities in the archival records, and the scarcity of surviving film prints, pose interpretative problems and call for further empirical research in the field.
Charles O’brien
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.003.0010
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter uses the case of dubbing practices in the early 1930s to consider the possibility that the impact of screen translation techniques on film aesthetics is more significant than has been ...
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This chapter uses the case of dubbing practices in the early 1930s to consider the possibility that the impact of screen translation techniques on film aesthetics is more significant than has been recognised. The focus is on Hollywood’s unexpected adoption in 1931 of voice dubbing as its principal means of preparing films for the main foreign markets. Hollywood’s reliance on dubbing is contrasted with practices in the German film industry, its main rival for the world film market, where films for export were prepared in foreign-language versions rather than dubbed. Dubbing involved more than voice replacement to affect motion picture style in various ways. Trade press documentation is used to suggest that the dubbed American films of 1931 typically featured less speech; fewer close-ups of speaking actors; more reaction shots in dialogue scenes; more cuts overall; framings and props that concealed rather than displayed the actors’ moving lips; and other stylistic quirks.Less
This chapter uses the case of dubbing practices in the early 1930s to consider the possibility that the impact of screen translation techniques on film aesthetics is more significant than has been recognised. The focus is on Hollywood’s unexpected adoption in 1931 of voice dubbing as its principal means of preparing films for the main foreign markets. Hollywood’s reliance on dubbing is contrasted with practices in the German film industry, its main rival for the world film market, where films for export were prepared in foreign-language versions rather than dubbed. Dubbing involved more than voice replacement to affect motion picture style in various ways. Trade press documentation is used to suggest that the dubbed American films of 1931 typically featured less speech; fewer close-ups of speaking actors; more reaction shots in dialogue scenes; more cuts overall; framings and props that concealed rather than displayed the actors’ moving lips; and other stylistic quirks.
Jean-François Cornu
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.003.0011
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Dubbing as a film translation technique has been largely taken for granted since its origins. Yet such origins are rarely looked into from historical, technical, and artistic perspectives. The study ...
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Dubbing as a film translation technique has been largely taken for granted since its origins. Yet such origins are rarely looked into from historical, technical, and artistic perspectives. The study of early French-dubbed Hollywood and European films has a lot to teach us. This chapter examines aspects of voice-acting, lip synchronisation, dialogue alteration, and sound mixing in nine American, German, and British films. It reveals how the makers of French dubbed versions, in Hollywood and in France, were keen on recreating the soundtrack of foreign films according to their own perception of sound and voice treatment, sometimes disregarding the source material to the point of ‘enriching’ it. This approach has major implications for the reception of these versions, but also for the study of the evolution of sound practices in the early sound period. The historical merits of these versions also have significant archival and exhibition implications.Less
Dubbing as a film translation technique has been largely taken for granted since its origins. Yet such origins are rarely looked into from historical, technical, and artistic perspectives. The study of early French-dubbed Hollywood and European films has a lot to teach us. This chapter examines aspects of voice-acting, lip synchronisation, dialogue alteration, and sound mixing in nine American, German, and British films. It reveals how the makers of French dubbed versions, in Hollywood and in France, were keen on recreating the soundtrack of foreign films according to their own perception of sound and voice treatment, sometimes disregarding the source material to the point of ‘enriching’ it. This approach has major implications for the reception of these versions, but also for the study of the evolution of sound practices in the early sound period. The historical merits of these versions also have significant archival and exhibition implications.
Martin Barnier
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.003.0012
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The international film trade changed dramatically with the generalisation of sound films. It became more difficult for Hollywood to export English-speaking films than during the silent era. One ...
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The international film trade changed dramatically with the generalisation of sound films. It became more difficult for Hollywood to export English-speaking films than during the silent era. One solution was multiple-language films, which helped French stars to become even more popular in France. The Hollywood studios quickly opted for dubbing as the best solution. The first two Paramount films dubbed into French were Derelict (as Désemparé) and Morocco (as Cœurs brûlés) in 1931. How were these dubbed versions received by critics and the trade press in France? Popular film magazines did not object to dubbed versions so much, while cinephile magazines considered they were rushed jobs. This chapter studies the evolution of the reception of dubbed films in France in 1931–3, using evidence from the trade and popular press. It traces the beginning of the opposition between original-language versions for upmarket movie theatres, and dubbed versions aimed at popular neighbourhoods.Less
The international film trade changed dramatically with the generalisation of sound films. It became more difficult for Hollywood to export English-speaking films than during the silent era. One solution was multiple-language films, which helped French stars to become even more popular in France. The Hollywood studios quickly opted for dubbing as the best solution. The first two Paramount films dubbed into French were Derelict (as Désemparé) and Morocco (as Cœurs brûlés) in 1931. How were these dubbed versions received by critics and the trade press in France? Popular film magazines did not object to dubbed versions so much, while cinephile magazines considered they were rushed jobs. This chapter studies the evolution of the reception of dubbed films in France in 1931–3, using evidence from the trade and popular press. It traces the beginning of the opposition between original-language versions for upmarket movie theatres, and dubbed versions aimed at popular neighbourhoods.
Rachel Weissbrod
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.003.0013
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter addresses film translation into Hebrew in Mandatory Palestine, from the 1920s to the 1940s, when silent films were gradually replaced by talkies and the need for translation increased. ...
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This chapter addresses film translation into Hebrew in Mandatory Palestine, from the 1920s to the 1940s, when silent films were gradually replaced by talkies and the need for translation increased. It combines ‘macro history’ with ‘micro history’, the study of history through primary sources. Its main primary sources are the autobiographies of two pioneering translators, Ya’akov Davidon and Yerushalayim Segal, who specialised in dubbing and subtitling, respectively. While local production at that time served Zionist ideology, the main function of foreign films was to provide entertainment. Film translators faced two obstacles: official British censorship and the objection on the part of some sectors of Jewish society to the screening of films in foreign languages, considered a threat to Hebrew. Despite these obstacles, translators had the freedom to import, invent, and experiment with new technologies, and to adapt not just the translation to the film, but also the film to the translation.Less
This chapter addresses film translation into Hebrew in Mandatory Palestine, from the 1920s to the 1940s, when silent films were gradually replaced by talkies and the need for translation increased. It combines ‘macro history’ with ‘micro history’, the study of history through primary sources. Its main primary sources are the autobiographies of two pioneering translators, Ya’akov Davidon and Yerushalayim Segal, who specialised in dubbing and subtitling, respectively. While local production at that time served Zionist ideology, the main function of foreign films was to provide entertainment. Film translators faced two obstacles: official British censorship and the objection on the part of some sectors of Jewish society to the screening of films in foreign languages, considered a threat to Hebrew. Despite these obstacles, translators had the freedom to import, invent, and experiment with new technologies, and to adapt not just the translation to the film, but also the film to the translation.
Christopher Natzén
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266434
- eISBN:
- 9780191884191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266434.003.0014
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The main focus of this chapter is how the Swedish film industry settled on subtitling as its method of film translation in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The early 1930s saw a gradual shift towards ...
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The main focus of this chapter is how the Swedish film industry settled on subtitling as its method of film translation in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The early 1930s saw a gradual shift towards favouring subtitling over dubbing and intertitles. Subtitling was further promoted as new methods for providing the subtitles on the film were developed. A second focus in the chapter is the heightened media sensitivity brought on by dubbing and how this may be related to distributors’ experiments in film translation during the early years of conversion to sound. As the years progressed, a consensus developed in Sweden in favour of subtitling, which was perceived as unobtrusive, since it masked the technical construction of the film medium for those spectators who knew the spoken language in the film.Less
The main focus of this chapter is how the Swedish film industry settled on subtitling as its method of film translation in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The early 1930s saw a gradual shift towards favouring subtitling over dubbing and intertitles. Subtitling was further promoted as new methods for providing the subtitles on the film were developed. A second focus in the chapter is the heightened media sensitivity brought on by dubbing and how this may be related to distributors’ experiments in film translation during the early years of conversion to sound. As the years progressed, a consensus developed in Sweden in favour of subtitling, which was perceived as unobtrusive, since it masked the technical construction of the film medium for those spectators who knew the spoken language in the film.
Tom Whittaker and Sarah Wright (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190261122
- eISBN:
- 9780190261153
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190261122.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, American, History, Western
While previous studies on the voice have tended to focus on Hollywood film, this volume aims to extend the field to other cinemas from around the world, encompassing Latin America, Asia and Africa ...
More
While previous studies on the voice have tended to focus on Hollywood film, this volume aims to extend the field to other cinemas from around the world, encompassing Latin America, Asia and Africa amongst others.Traditional theoretical accounts, based on classical narrative cinema, examine the importance of the voice in terms of a desired perfect match between sound and image. But, as this volume illustrates, what is normative in one film industry may not apply in another. The widespread practices of dubbing, postsynch sound and “playback singing” in some countries, for instance, provide an alternative means of understanding the location of the voice in the soundtrack.Through seventeen original chapters, this volume situates the voice in film across a range of diverse national, transnational, and cultural contexts. By taking a comparative view, this volume posits that the voice can be understood as a mobile object, one whose trajectory follows a broad network of global flows. Exploring the cultural transformations the voice undergoes as it moves from one industry to another, the volume addresses sound practices which have been long been neglected, as well the ways in which sound technologies have shaped nationally specific styles of vocal performance.In addressing the place of the voice in film, the book intends to nuance existing theoretical writing on the voice while applying these critical insights in a global context.Less
While previous studies on the voice have tended to focus on Hollywood film, this volume aims to extend the field to other cinemas from around the world, encompassing Latin America, Asia and Africa amongst others.Traditional theoretical accounts, based on classical narrative cinema, examine the importance of the voice in terms of a desired perfect match between sound and image. But, as this volume illustrates, what is normative in one film industry may not apply in another. The widespread practices of dubbing, postsynch sound and “playback singing” in some countries, for instance, provide an alternative means of understanding the location of the voice in the soundtrack.Through seventeen original chapters, this volume situates the voice in film across a range of diverse national, transnational, and cultural contexts. By taking a comparative view, this volume posits that the voice can be understood as a mobile object, one whose trajectory follows a broad network of global flows. Exploring the cultural transformations the voice undergoes as it moves from one industry to another, the volume addresses sound practices which have been long been neglected, as well the ways in which sound technologies have shaped nationally specific styles of vocal performance.In addressing the place of the voice in film, the book intends to nuance existing theoretical writing on the voice while applying these critical insights in a global context.
Sarah Dayens
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719076213
- eISBN:
- 9781781702116
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719076213.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Reggae music is seldom analysed without a reference to the Rastafari movement, the founding event of which was the coronation of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, which took place on November 2, ...
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Reggae music is seldom analysed without a reference to the Rastafari movement, the founding event of which was the coronation of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, which took place on November 2, 1930. In Jamaica, some interpreted it as the fulfillment of the prophecy announced by Marcus Garvey before his departure for the United States. Some scholars have proposed an analysis centered on religion, usually based on the Jamaican case and focused on sacred practices, and the beliefs in which they are grounded. In contrast with the religion-focused approach, other scholars have considered the Rastafari movement from a socio-political standpoint, emphasising its historical emergence in relation to a context of domination and its articulation around the key notion of liberation; these works usually concern the Jamaican case, and often represent a Marxist approach, using terms such as neo-colonialism, social stratification, economic deprivation and racial prejudice. This chapter explores the history of reggae and the Rastafari movement, focusing on dubbing and the emergence of the reggae dancehall.Less
Reggae music is seldom analysed without a reference to the Rastafari movement, the founding event of which was the coronation of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, which took place on November 2, 1930. In Jamaica, some interpreted it as the fulfillment of the prophecy announced by Marcus Garvey before his departure for the United States. Some scholars have proposed an analysis centered on religion, usually based on the Jamaican case and focused on sacred practices, and the beliefs in which they are grounded. In contrast with the religion-focused approach, other scholars have considered the Rastafari movement from a socio-political standpoint, emphasising its historical emergence in relation to a context of domination and its articulation around the key notion of liberation; these works usually concern the Jamaican case, and often represent a Marxist approach, using terms such as neo-colonialism, social stratification, economic deprivation and racial prejudice. This chapter explores the history of reggae and the Rastafari movement, focusing on dubbing and the emergence of the reggae dancehall.
Tessa Dwyer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474410946
- eISBN:
- 9781474434720
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474410946.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Focusing on the polarising nature of sub/dub debates, this chapter provides an overview of attitudes and approaches to screen translation both within and beyond screen culture. Dominating the little ...
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Focusing on the polarising nature of sub/dub debates, this chapter provides an overview of attitudes and approaches to screen translation both within and beyond screen culture. Dominating the little attention paid to translation within Anglophone Screen Studies, and shaping much research within Translation Studies, sub/dub wars encapsulate the entangled prejudices and value politics that beset the field. This chapter revisits insightful arguments posed by New York Times critic Bosley Crowther during his anti-subtitle campaign, before expanding the frame of reference for this debate by turning to Translation Studies and national screen translation preferences beyond the Anglo-American context.Less
Focusing on the polarising nature of sub/dub debates, this chapter provides an overview of attitudes and approaches to screen translation both within and beyond screen culture. Dominating the little attention paid to translation within Anglophone Screen Studies, and shaping much research within Translation Studies, sub/dub wars encapsulate the entangled prejudices and value politics that beset the field. This chapter revisits insightful arguments posed by New York Times critic Bosley Crowther during his anti-subtitle campaign, before expanding the frame of reference for this debate by turning to Translation Studies and national screen translation preferences beyond the Anglo-American context.
Tom Whittaker and Sarah Wright
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190261122
- eISBN:
- 9780190261153
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190261122.003.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, American, History, Western
The chapter defines the concept of the ‘mobile voice’, an understanding of the voice in film that challenges traditional theoretical accounts, based on classical narrative cinema, which examine the ...
More
The chapter defines the concept of the ‘mobile voice’, an understanding of the voice in film that challenges traditional theoretical accounts, based on classical narrative cinema, which examine the importance of the voice in terms of a desired perfect match between visuals and sonic effects. But as the chapters of this volume illustrate, what is normative in one film industry may not apply in another. The widespread practices of dubbing, postsynch sound, and ‘playback singing’ in some countries, for instance, provide an alternative means of understanding the location of the voice in the soundtrack. The mobile voice is thus a powerful means of transcultural contact. It provides a means by which to nuance existing theoretical writing on the voice while applying these critical insights in a global context.Less
The chapter defines the concept of the ‘mobile voice’, an understanding of the voice in film that challenges traditional theoretical accounts, based on classical narrative cinema, which examine the importance of the voice in terms of a desired perfect match between visuals and sonic effects. But as the chapters of this volume illustrate, what is normative in one film industry may not apply in another. The widespread practices of dubbing, postsynch sound, and ‘playback singing’ in some countries, for instance, provide an alternative means of understanding the location of the voice in the soundtrack. The mobile voice is thus a powerful means of transcultural contact. It provides a means by which to nuance existing theoretical writing on the voice while applying these critical insights in a global context.
