A Study of Applied Strategies in Translating Idiomatic Expressions in Two Movie Subtitles: Bring It On & Mean Girls

Subject Areas : Research in English Language Pedagogy

Mahmood Hashemian ¹ , Atefeh Arezi ²

1 - Shahrekord University
2 - Department of Foreign Languages, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

Received: 2017-10-17 Accepted : 2017-10-17 Published : 2017-10-17

Keywords: idiom, Translation strategies, Subtitle,

Abstract :

Idiomatic expressions are considered as a part of everyday language. In other words, they are the essence of each language and one of the most problematic parts to cope with, especially in the process of interlingual translation. Furthermore, there is sometimes no one-to-one equivalent for the idioms of the source language (SL) in the target language (TL). This study aimed at investigating the applied strategies in the translation of idiomatic expressions in 2 American subtitled movies, namely Mean Girls (2004) and Bring It On! (2009), through using Baker’s (1992) proposed procedures in translating idiomatic expressions in translation studies. To this aim, the idiomatic expressions were extracted from the original versions of the movies and compared with the subtitled translations in Persian. Analysis of the relevant data indicated that the chi-square results were not significant at χ2 (3, N = 2) = 1.188, p = 0, considering p ˂ 0.05. Therefore, Baker’s (1992) strategies were not distributed equally between these two movies. Moreover, the “omission” strategy with the frequency of 40 was the topmost used strategy in these movies.

References:

Baker, M. (1992). In other words: A course book on translation. London and New York: Routledge.
Belfaqeeh, N. (2009). Strategies for translating idioms and culturally-bound expressions within the human development genre. Unpublished  master’s  thesis,  University  of Birmingham.  
Cacciari, C. (1993). The place of idioms in a literal and metaphorical world. In C. Cacciari and P. Tabossi (Eds.), Idioms: Processing, structure, and interpretation (pp. 27-55). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cacciari, C., & Glucksberg, S. (1991). Understanding idiomatic expressions: The contribution of word meanings. In Simpson G.B. (Ed.), Understanding word and sentence (pp. 217-240). North Holland: Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
Cacciari, C., & Tabossi, P. (Eds.). (1993). Idioms: Processing, structure, and interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Delabastita, D. (1989). Translation and mass communication: Film and TV as evidence of cultural dynamics. Babel, 8(4), 193-218.
De Linde, Z., & Kay, N. (1999). Processing subtitles and film images: Hearing vs. deaf viewers. The Translator, 5(1), 45-60.
Dumas, B. K., & Lighter, J. (1978). Is slang a word for linguists? American Speech, 53(5), 14-15.
Elkilic, G. (2008). Turkish students’ understanding of transparent and opaque idioms in English in reading as well as speaking. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 4, 27-41.
Fernando, C. (1996). Idioms and idiomaticity.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gottlieb, H. (1992). Subtitling: A new university discipline. In C.Dollerup & A. Loddegaard (Eds.), Teaching translation and interpreting: Training, talent, and experience (pp. 161-170). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Haghshenas, Z. (2012). A cross-cultural study of animal symbolism in the Persian. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 131-146.
Khosravi, S., & Khatib, M. (2012). Strategies used in translation of English idioms into Persian in novels. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(9), 1854-1859.
Langasher, W.R. (1968). Language and its structure: Some fundamental linguistic concepts. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World Inc.
Larson, M.L. (1984). Meaning-based translation: A guide to cross language equivalence. London and New York: University Press of America.
Lorscher, W. (1991). Translation performance, translation process, and translation strategies. A psycholinguistic investigation. Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
Marashi, H., & Poursoltani, k. (2009). An analysis of Farsi into English subtitling strategies employed in Iranian feature film. Journal of Teaching English as a Foreign Languageand Literature, 1(1), 15-29.
Mieder, W. (1982). Proverbs in Nazi Germany: The promulgation of antisemitism and stereotypes through folklore. The Journal of American Folklore, 95(378), 435-464.
Moon, R. (1998). Fixed expressions and idioms in English: A corpus-based approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation.
Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Nunberg, G. (1978). The pragmatics of reference. Berkeley, CA: Indiana University Linguistics Club.
Pedersen, V. H. (1997). Description and criticism: Some approaches to the English translation of Hans Cristian Anderson. In A. Trosborg (Ed.), Text typology and translation (pp. 99-113). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Pym, A. (2010). Exploring translation studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Shojaei, A. (2012). Translation of idioms and fixed expressions: Strategies and difficulties. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1220-1229.
Titone, D. A., & Connine, C. M. (1994). Descriptive norms for 171 idiomatic expressions: Familiarity, compositionality, predictability, and literality. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity, 9, 247-270.
Tousi, S. (2011). Employing compensation strategy in translation of idioms: A case study of the translation of Mark. International Journal of Linguistics, 1-9.
Venuti, L. (1995). The translator’s  invisibility:  A history of translation. London & New York: Routledge.
Yoshikawa, H. (2008). International intelligibility in world English: Focusing on idiomatic expressions. International Communication Studies, XVII(4), 219-226.