translation

The empire talks back 133
The Wookies are depicted in wholly positive terms in the Star Wars trilogies
and their appearance as large, furry animals further strengthens the benign
association of the creatures with creatures from the child’s nursery rather
than with menacing others from a non-human otherworld. They may revert
to King Kong cameos for the battle against the droid army in Revenge of the
Sith but the principal Wookie character, Chewbacca, is more akin to a
faithful family retainer than a howling monster from out of the unknown.
Part of the ‘domestication’ of Chewbacca in the original trilogy lies in the
translation relationship with Han Solo. Solo by consecutively interpreting
what Chewbacca has to say confers will and intention upon his companion.
Identification is made easier because communication has been established.
The animalistic roars and growls, which might in a non-translated medium
come across as intimidating or threatening, are through the good offices of
translation heard as simply part of a yet another alien language in a galaxy
replete with language difference. Han, the reluctant rebel, cannot go Solo.
He needs the assistance of Chewbacca, C-3PO, Luke Skywalker to survive
and they like him find themselves straddling languages and cultures in a
period of intense crisis and conflict. If the Dark Side of the Force in
Anakin’s own words is heartless egotism, then the Dark Side can only thrive
when Force and Language become synonymous, when translation gives way
to terror and the middle ground becomes a graveyard. Tracing the multiple
presences of translation in mainstream film consumption is a step toward
undoing the dark side of intolerance and investing in a forward-looking
engagement in language and culture with renewed and enduring force.
Seeing could again become a form of believing.