The translation of law enforcement and drug dealers' slang in "The Wire"

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Sleng policajaca i dilera u prijevodima serije "Žica"
• Author: Luka Boričević
• Mentor: Nataša Pavlović (mentor)
• Mentor: Vinko Zgaga (mentor)
• Committee member: Kristijan Nikolić (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Vinko Zgaga (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Nataša Pavlović (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2022-05-11, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

When translating slang, the subtitler must decide whether to preserve or standardize the expression. The decision is based on the time and space constraints, but also affected by paratextual considerations such as the type of client (public/private TV), their norms and instructions. This study was conducted to inspect their influence on slang preservation vs. standardization through a comparative analysis of the Croatian subtitles of The Wire S01E01 which aired on both a public (HRT) and a commercial (HBO) TV network. A specific focus was put on the vulgar slang, examining the proportion of preserved, toned down and omitted vulgarisms in the target texts. Seeing that HRT is a public broadcaster committed to promoting the Croatian language and culture, it is to be expected that standard Croatian is preferred and most of the profanity avoided in the subtitles. Therefore, it is hypothesized that more slang expressions are standardized, and more vulgar slang is omitted or toned down in HRT compared to HBO subtitles. The results have confirmed the hypotheses. HRT subtitles preserved ~30 % of slang expressions compared to ~45 % in HBO subtitles. Furthermore, in HRT subtitles ~66 % of vulgarisms have been omitted, compared to ~45 % in HBO.

Abstract (croatian)

Prilikom podslovljavanja slenga, prevoditelj/ica mora odlučiti hoće li ga očuvati ili standardizirati. Na tu odluku utječe ograničenje prostora i vremena, ali i vanjskih utjecaja na ciljni tekst, kao što su vrsta klijenta (javna/privatna TV), njihove norme i upute. Ovo je istraživanje provedeno kako bi se provjerio njihov utjecaj na očuvanje ili standardizaciju slenga kroz komparativnu analizu hrvatskih podslova pilot epizode serije Žica koja je emitirana na javnoj (HRT) i komercijalnoj (HBO) televiziji. Istraživanje se fokusiralo i na pregled strategije prevođenja vulgarnog slenga, odnosno njegovog očuvanja, ublažavanja ili izbacivanja iz konačnog prijevoda. Budući da je HRT javna televizija čiji su ciljevi promocija hrvatskog jezika i kulture, može se očekivati da je u podslovima preferiran standardni hrvatski jezik, dok se vulgarni izrazi izbjegavaju. Stoga hipoteze predlažu da je više elemenata slenga standardizirano, a elemenata vulgarnog slenga ublaženo ili izbačeno iz HRT-ovih u odnosu na HBO-ove podslove. Rezultati potvrđuju inicijalne hipoteze, budući da je u podslovima HRT-a očuvano ~30 % slenga u odnosu na ~45 % u podslovima HBO-a. S druge strane, iz HRT-ovih podslova izbačeno je ~66% vulgarnog slenga, u usporedbi s ~45% koliko je izbačeno iz podslova HBO-a.

• Keywords: subtitling; slang; preservation; standardization; vulgar slang; The Wire
• Keywords (english): podslovljavanje; sleng; očuvanje; standardizacija; vulgarni sleng; Žica
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:683239
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Translation; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2022-05-17 21:26:43