Subtitling audiovisual humour: The case of 'early Almodóvar' films during la movida in Spain (1980-1984)

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Published: Feb 9, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2017.9.8
Keywords:
humour, subtitling, translation, verbally expressed humour, Almodóvar, movida

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Alejandro Bolaños García-Escribano
University College London

Abstract

Humour transfer on screen responds to the inner constraints of audiovisual translation. Audiovisual humour imposes further challenges to translators because of its polysemiotic nature. This can be undeniably observed in auteur films that are specifically contextualised in a historical and sociocultural context, such as the ‘early Almodóvar’ films. Pedro Almodóvar’s first four films (1980-1984) were created during the Spanish Movida movement after dictator Franco’s death, corresponding historically to the political Transition of Spain towards democracy. These films have been so important that they can now be considered samples of audiovisual expression of Spanish Movida changes. Verbally Expressed Humour elements in these films represent compelling examples of translation challenges that respond to both the complexity of wordplay transfer and the cultural components of Spain in the 1980s. Sets of examples from Almodóvar’s first films illustrate the difficulties of transferring Verbally Expressed Humour elements in subtitling. This paper finds that humour transfer is accomplished in many different ways by subtitlers, whose translation techniques can be analysed following descriptive studies specifically focused on Audiovisual Translation.

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How to Cite
Bolaños García-Escribano, A. (2018). Subtitling audiovisual humour: The case of ’early Almodóvar’ films during la movida in Spain (1980-1984). MonTI. Monographs in Translation and Interpreting, (9), 219–247. https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2017.9.8
Issue
No. 9 (2017): The Translation of Humour
Section
Articles

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Author Biography

Alejandro Bolaños García-Escribano, University College London

Alejandro Bolaños García-Escribano is a PhD candidate and Teaching Fellow at University College London’s Centre for Translation Studies thanks to a La Caixa Social Foundation studentship. He holds a joint bachelor’s degree on Translation and Humanities Studies from Pablo de Olavide University (Seville), a master’s degree on Translation applied to the Publishing Industry from the University of Malaga, and a master of science on Audiovisual Translation from University College London’s Centre for Translation Studies. He is currently carrying out research on the pedagogical potential of subtitling and cloud-based systems in collaboration with subtitling software developers. He also works as a freelance translator, subtitler and teacher in London.

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