UTF-8__0415396417Translation

ISSUES IN AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATIONinformation about them, audiences have become extremely knowledgeableand this may cause producers to think twice before censoring. 149.4.2.3 VISUAL VERBAL VERSUS SPOKENAnything written on screen, especially elements which are read aloud by theactors, is problematic to convey in another language. In The Da Vinci Code,the main characters need to unravel a number of anagrams and cryptic rhymeswhich can be clearly seen, in English, on the screen. For example, viewers seethe anagrams ‘O Draconian devil!’ and ‘So dark the con of Man’ and are aidedin unravelling them (respectively Leonardo Da Vinci and Madonna of theRocks) through the visualization of the code-breaking process by lighting upcertain portions of the letters. Obviously this requires radical adaptations forboth a convincing dub and subtitle. Denton (1994: 31) provides an example ofa complex interaction of written and spoken signs from A Fish Called Wanda.Otto, Wanda’s lover, is in the bathroom making a series of loud invectivesagainst the British: ‘[the British] … counting the seconds to the … weekend,so they can dress up as ballerinas and whip themselves into a frenzy at the …’.At this point Otto comes across a note from Archie (with whom Wanda isabout to have an affair), which he opens. The letter contains an address thatis shown on screen:So see you at the flat at 4.It’s 2B St. Trevor’s Wharf E.1.All my love,ArchieOtto reads the note aloud so that the entire dialogue becomes:[the British] … counting the seconds to the … weekend, so they can dress up asballerinas and whip themselves into a frenzy at the … [reads note that audiencecan see] … flat at four, 2B St … To be honest I … er … hate them.It would not be possible to transpose the phonological connection betweenthe flat number ‘2B’ and ‘to be’ so the Italian repair strategy becomes:… contano i secondi che mancano all’arrivo del fine settimana per potersi vestirecome delle ballerine e andarsi ad ubriacare … [reads] nell’appartamento Quattroal 2B … due bi … cchieri e poi crollano.[lit. they count the seconds till the weekend so they can dress up like ballerinasand get drunk … in apartment Four, 2B … two gl … glasses and they drop].The translation of manga (Japanese comic books, see section 9.0) creates arelated problem. In the original these comic books are written from top to161