Subtitling and loss of meaning: politeness features in Pieces d'identite/ID
Date
2009-01-12T10:18:55Z
Authors
Allen, Atanga Anyele
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Abstract
Introduction
This research focuses on subtitling as a discipline in translation studies and
investigates the extent to which constraints in subtitling lead to loss in meaning, in
particular loss of politeness features in the film Pièces d’identité/ID (1998) by
Ngangura because of differences in the expression of politeness in French and English
which are two opposing cultures.
For the past two decades, there has been a growing awareness of African cultural
values across the African continent and the African Diaspora as expressed through
language. The desire to express those cultural values has led to what is termed
“Afritude”1 in Cameroon and other French-speaking West and Central African
countries. The spirit of Afritude has long had a tremendous impact on the way
Africans consider their cultures and cultural values. The pride in their expression has
greatly revolutionised the show business sector: African designers are creating wears
that reflect Africanness; musicians are creating and or modernising African musical
genres (Makossa, Kwaito, Dombolo, Kwassa-kwassa, etc.); writers are moving from
postcolonial themes to other themes which highlight African cultures and values, and
finally, film producers and writers are today some of the pioneers of Afritude in the
Multimedia sector.
Multimedia input in the film industry, through advertisements and the screening of
films, further enforced by the relentless activities of FESPACO2 in the promotion of
African films and documentaries, has led to an increase in the demand for African
films across the continent and beyond. However, between the demand and supply of
these films lies the aspect of language barriers created by the huge variety of
1 This refers to the pride to be African and to consume African as expressed by individuals in
Cameroon and Gabon, through their preference for African designs, music, dances, and films among
others, over those from the Western World. In South Africa the term afrocentrism is used to express
this reality. This term was used during the early 1990s till when I left Cameroun and Gabon around mid
2001. The closest synonym to the term Afritude is Afrocentrism as used in South Africa (Personal
Experience).
2 Festival Panafricain du Cinéma et de la Télévision de Ouagadougou/ Panafrican Film and Television
Festival of Ouagadougou.
2
languages spoken by prospective audiences and consumers. Hence, if the demand for
those films is to be met they have to be translated. Film translation is a mode of
translation which takes place in four different forms: Voice-over, dubbing, surtitling
and subtitling. Voice-overs and dubbing are isosemiotic forms of translation which
involve translating speech into speech while diasemiotic forms like surtitling and
subtitling have to represent the speech from the soundtrack of the film in writing,
usually posted as captions at the bottom of the screen (Hatim and Mason 2000:430).
This research focuses on subtitling and shows how constraints in subtitling
(linguistics, cultural and technical) have in many ways affected the writing of subtitles
in films, and how these constraints have led to loss of meaning, in particular in
relation to politeness features, in scenes depicting interpersonal interactions between
characters in the film Pièces D’identité/ID.