Проблемы перевода англоязычных фильмов (The problems of translation English films)

Introduction
Theoretical Part
Chapter I. Theoretical questions of translation
1. The history of translation
2. The art of translation
2.1. Literary translation as a profession
3. Translation and translatability
3.1. Available translation procedures
3.2. Grammatical difficulties of translation
4. Semantic structure of the word
5. Writing style and national mentality
Chapter II. Film translation
1.The power of film translation.
2. Types and history of film translation.
3. The function of film titles
3.1 Film titles translation
Practical Part
Chapter III. The problems of translation English film “Snatch” to the Russian language
1. General characteristic of Russian translations of the film “Snatch”
2. Comparison of two variants of Russian translation (“official” and “right”) in the aspect of the original text reflection
2.1. Specific features of the film’s title translation
2.2. Specific features of the heroes’ names translation
3. Semantic development of the initial text
4. The search for Russian equivalents for the English speech units
5. Adoption of the English speech units
6. Compensation for loss the in the translation process
6.1. Semantic loss
6.2. Stylistic loss
7. Using of the polysemy
8. Reproduction the lingvocultural specific features of the film in the Russian translations
8.1. Using phraseological units and idioms in the English and Russian versions
9. Expressive and evaluative language means in the initial scenery and its Russian translations
10. Using jargon and slang lexis in the original and Russian translations
Conclusions
Bibliography

Проблемы перевода англоязычных фильмов (The problems of translation English films)

2.2. Specific features of the heroes’ names translation
Appropriate translation the names and the surnames of the main heroes of the film is also difficult question. But the nickname translation is much difficult and labor-intensive work. In my paper I do not touch the phonetic aspect of the names’ and nicknames translation, there are a lot of examples in the other research works3. I just deal with the semantic side of the nickname translation, because in “Snatch” we can find a lot of different relationships between people and as a result and linguistic reproduction of the real events.
TURKISH. The main hero in the film has such a strange name, in the beginning he says about himself: “My name is Turkish. It’s a strange name for the Englishman, isn’t it?” And then he briefly explained thewhole story connected with his name. Whether the name of the hero strange or not, translator should transmit it correctly. The official translation says that TURKISH is Турок, the Puchkov’s one says that TURKISH is Турецкий. I think both variants are possible, the first one can exist, because it sounds like nickname, the second one can exist because it is correct from the morphological point of view.
BRICK TOP. This is not the name or surname, this is a nickname and two Russian translations give the different variants. The official one says that BRICK TOP is Рыжий, and Puchkov’s one says that BRICK TOP is Кирпич. We can explain the etymology both of them. In English nouns and adjectives don’t differ from morphological point of view, they differs only according to their position in text, so the word brick can be both noun and adjective. In the first case it can be translated as кирпич in the second one – as рыжий (the color of hair). The word top also as a noun has several meanings: верхушка or голова. So, both two variants of translation are possible from the language point of view, but Кирпич is better from the extra linguistic point of view, because an actor is not red-haired.
BULLET TOOTH TONNY. In the film we also can find the story of this interesting nickname of the top London gangster. I am not going to retell it, I will just analyze the existing translations: they are also not the same. The first is Тонни Пуля-Зуб and the second – Тонни Пуля-в-зубах. Both variants are interesting, but both are not exact. I think that the precise translation will be Пулезубый Тонни (his tooth were made from the bullet metal), but is sounds a bit awkward.
GORGEOUS GEORGE. This is the nickname of the unlicensed boxer. It is made by adding an adjective gorgeous to the name of the person. Here also the translations are different: Великолепный Джордж and Роскошный Джордж. I think that the first one is more precise, because the Russian word роскошный has other English equivalents: luxurious; magnificent, splendid, sumptuous, etc.
Translation the names of secondary heroes. In the film there are also some secondary heroes that have interesting nicknames. For example, the beginning gangster of the London’s suburb BAD BOY LINKOLN. The official translation borrows in name in Russian – Бэд Бой, but Dmitry Puchkov do the artistic translation of this name – Плохиш:
VINNY. We have told you before Lincoln, you stick to being a gangster and leave this game to me and Sol.
First variant: «Бэд Бой, сколько можно повторять, оставайся гангстером, оставь это нам с Солом».
Second variant: «Плохиш, сколько тебе можно говорить: занимайся бандитизмом, а эту игру оставь для меня с Солом».
Actually in the original was not the phrase “bad boy”, there was Linkoln, so the both translations in fact are not precise, but the second one is better.
The analogous situation happens with the nicknames of the boxers. For example Bomber Harris in the first variant of translation is exactly Бомбер Харрис, but in the Puchkov’s one he is Бомбардировщик Харрис, of course the second variant sounds more vividly and keenly.
DOUG. Bookies? What you betting on?
Russian variant: «К букмекерам? На кого ставишь?»
FRANKY FOUR FINGERS. Bomber Harris.
First variant: «Бомбер Харрис».
Second variant: «На Бомбардировщика Харриса».
The same Puchkov does with the nicknames of other boxers:
TOMMY. John "The Gun?" Or "Mad Fist" Willy?
First variant: «Как насчет Джона-Пистолета? Или Безумного Вилли?»
Second variant: «Джон-Пистолет подойдет? Или Вилли-Cумасшедший Кулак?» (You see that Безумный Вилли is not the same as Вилли-Cумасшедший Кулак.)
The proper translation of the heroes’ names and particularly their nicknames plays the grate role in the film interpreting. It can be more interesting when the heroes have “saying” names that it will be just English borrowings.
3. Semantic development of the initial text
In the Russian translation of the film we can find places where the sense of the original text is somehow developed and differs from the original. Let me show some examples:
BORIS (speaking with Tommy). Heavy is good. Heavy is reliable. If it doesn’t work you can hit him with it.
The first variant: «Тяжелый – хорошо, если не выстрелит, то им всегда можно ударить». (This translation is not full, the phrase Heavy is reliable is omitted and there is not semantic development)
The second variant: «Тяжесть – это хорошо. Тяжесть – это надежно. Даже если не выстрелит – таким всегда можно врезать по башке». (The original phrase is not only fully translated, but also has a semantic and stylistic development: the last word of the phrase are developed and we have not only exact translation им всегда можно ударить, but таким всегда можно врезать по башке.)
It was the example of semantic and stylistic development form the Puchkov’s translation, which is more vivid, but in the official translation places where the original text is developed in the process of the translation also exist. Let me show some examples^
SOL. What's that Vince? («Что это такое, Винс?»)
VINNY. Err, it's a dog Sol. («Это собака, Сол».)
SOL. You aren't bring that thing in here. («Не смей таскать сюда эту гадость». The not developed translation will be эту вещь.)
VINNY. It's in here, what's the problem, it's only a dog. («Это всего лишь собака, Сол». Here we have an ellipsis, the bald phrase is omitted.)
SOL. Where did you get it? («Где ты ее взял?»)
VINNY. Those gypsies, they threw it in with a load of moody gold. («У цыган. Они выпустили ее с мешком краденого золота». Here the translation is more or less correct.)
This is another example of the initial text semantic development:
VINNY. I will raise hell my old son.
The first variant: «А я хочу всех напугать. Я хочу устроить панику». (The bald phrase in the translation is extra phrase that we don’t we in the original. It helps a spectacular to understand better the mocking effect of the situation and to transmit the phraseological unit to raise hell.)
SOL. That’s gonna raise more than pulses.
The first variant: «Да ты самого черта напугаешь! Ты там бойню устроишь, а не панику!» (Here we also have the semantic development of the initial text. The bald phrase is extra phrase that was included in Russian text in order to show the reaction of Sol better.)
TOMMY. Just give us my money and you can keep your caravan.
Russian variant: «Извини Микки, отдай деньги, а прицеп оставь себе». (There are no words “Exuse me” in the original.);
TYRONE. It's too tight.
Russian variant: «Там слишком тесно».
VINNY. Too tight? You could land a jumbo fuckin jet in there.
First variant: «Слишком тесно? Да там самолет можно посадить!»
Second variant: «Слишком тесно? Да туда, б***, боинг можно посадить!»
SOL. Leave him alone, he's a natural.
First variant: «Оставь его в покое, он прирожденный водитель».
Second variant: «Оставь его в покое, такой уж он есть, правда, Тайрон?»
As we can see, the semantic development of the initial text is common for both artistic and literal translations. It helps the spectacular to understand better the whole situation, it fills up the phraseological units that can’t be translated directly, it correlates the translation to the exact scene in the film.
4. The search for Russian equivalents for the English speech units
Sometimes the English original text cannot be translated exactly into Russian, and the translators should choose other way to the translation4. Because of these there are different variants in Russian translations. Here I put some examples from the scenery.
HANDS. Frankie, stay out of any casinos, you hear me? You’ve done a good job, bub, don’t go and fuck it up.
The first variant: «И Фрэнки, держись подальше от казино! Ты хорошо поработал, малыш! Не стоит все портить, верно?»
The second variant: «И вот что еще, Фрэнки, держись подальше от казино! Ты хорошо поработал, сынок! Смотри, не загуби все дело, хорошо?»
In this example we have the phrase don’t go and fuck it up, which couldn’t be properly translated into Russian, so the first and the second translations differ.
Here is another example of searching appropriate Russian equivalents for English original:
GORGEOUS GEORGE. It’s a camp site. It's a pikey campsite. («Это же табор, цыганский табор». – both translations are equal.)
TOMMY. Ten points.
The first variant: «Ты угадал».
The second variant: «Пять баллов». (Dmitry Puchkov is trying to transmit the English phraseological unit ten points by using its Russian analogue пять баллов keeping the style of the dialogue.)
GORGEOUS GEORGE. What are we doing here? («И что мы здесь делаем?»)
TOMMY. We are buying a caravan.
The first variant: «Покупаем прицеп».
GORGEOUS GEORGE. Off a pack of fucking pikies? What's wrong with you? This'll get messy.
The first variant: «У кучки паршивых цыган? Да что с тобой? Мы вляпаемся!» (The Russian colloquial word is used, it is an appropriate equivalent to English phraseological unit.)
TOMMY. Not if you’re here.
The first variant: «С тобой не вляпаемся». Without the context these to constructions – English and Russian – don’t correlate with each other at all. С тобой не вляпаемся is used in the Russian version, because an appropriate grammar construction used in English does not sounds natural in Russian.
HANDS. And he's gone gambling? You are talking about Franky "I have a problem with gambling" fuckin Four Fingers, you are talking about Doug.
The first variant: «И этот идиот решил играть? Мы говорим о четырехпалом Френки, у которого проблемы с азартными играми?» (Typical English definition"I have a problem with gambling" is replaced by subordinate clause у которого проблемы с азартными играми in Russian.)
DOUG. What am I, telepathic?
The first variant: «Ави, я не телепат!» (The adjective telepathic is substituted by the noun of the same root in Russian translation.)
The best possible translation, I think, will be the following one: «Ави, я что, телепат?»
Some more examples.
MICKY. He's a good dog. He'll get a little homesick for a while but he'11 get over it.
The first variant: «Хорошая собака. Держи его крепче, он поначалу немного поскучает, а потом привыкнет»;
TOMMY. You said get a good deal so...
First variant: «Ты сказал сбить цену».
Second variant: «Но ведь это ты сказал, что это хорошая сделка». (Different possible variants of Russian translation that correlate with each other: сбить цену and хорошая сделка.)
TURKISH. I felt to recognize correlation between loosing 10 grand, hospitalizing Gorgeous and a good deal?
Russian variant: «Не вижу связь между потерей 10 штук, госпитализацией Джорджа и снижением цены!» (It is better to say: «Не могу увидеть связь…»)
As a conclusion to this part of the work I can say that the search for Russian equivalents for the English speech units is the general mechanism of cultural accommodation of the foreign film to the Russian spectacular. Another one will be analyzed further in the work.
5. Adoption of the English speech units
Adoption or borrowing is a translation procedure whereby the translator uses a word or expression from the source text in the target text holus-bolus. Borrowings are normally printed in italics if they are not considered to have been naturalized in the target language. But we rarely hear the borrowing in the speech that is the problem. Let me analyze some examples form the film.
When Turkish was talking with Tommy about buying new caravan he answered to the Tommy’s question “What’s wrong with this one?” using the following phrase:
TURKISH. Oh nothing Tommy, it's tip top, it's just I am not sure about the color.
The first variant: «Да ничем, Томми! Он в полном порядке, только цвет мне не очень нравится».
The second variant: «C этим все в порядке, Томми, все тип-топ! Я только не совсем уверен в выборе цвета».
The second variant is closer to the original text because of grammar structure similarity, but this similarity oversteps the limits. Puchkov uses the literal translation of the English phraseological unit tip-top that sounds strange in Russian, he unjustifiedly adopts this idiom. From this point of view the first variant of translation is better and sounds more natural.
One more example:
DOUG. Listen if the stones are kosher then I'll by em. And now excuse me, it’s a lunch time.
The first variant: «Послушай меня, если камни кошерные, я их куплю. А теперь прошу меня извинить, я иду обедать». (the whole bald phrase sounds a bit awkward because of the pathetic style.)
The second variant: «Послушай меня, если камни кошерные, я их куплю. А сейчас извини, у меня ланч». (Puchkov uses the English borrowing, because lunch in England is not exactly the same as обед in Russia.)
The best translation, I think, will be this one: «А сейчас извини, время обедать».
One more interesting example I found in the dialog between Sol and Bad Boy Linkoln, when they were talking about artificial diamond. Sol said about it: “It’s Mickey Mouse”. He used the phraseological unit. The first variant translates it as «Это игрушка» and the second as «Это Микки Маус». From were can the typical Russian spectacular know the peculiarities of English phraseology? So, of course the first variant of translation is better.
As we can see using an adoptions sometimes is not defensible in the text, because the spectacular don’t know these words and should guess their meaning by the context, very often is distracts the attention of spectacular and disturbs the process of film enjoying.
6. Compensation for loss the in the translation process
Very often not all phrases in the text can be appropriate translated from English into Russian, so the translator should compensate this failure by other means5.
BRICK TOP. However, you do have all of the characteristics of a dog Gary, all except loyalty.
The first variant: «Хотя у тебя есть все качества собаки, за исключением верности». (Here we do not have any compensation of the grammar sense loss, and the phrase sound strange and incomplete.)
The second variant: «Тем не менее, по всем признакам ты самая настоящая собака! По всем, кроме верности». (This variant is better, the spectacular understands the sense of the phrase.)
Here is the example, when both variant of translation do not compensate the loss in sense and stylistic.
VINNY. Fuck me, you want this man to drive us Sol?
First variant: «Черт, ты же сказал, что он умеет водить машину, Сол».
Second variant: «Сол, ***, мне показалось, что ты сказал, что он умеет водить машину!»
Neither the first, nor the second variant of the Russian translation do not transmit the sense of the phrase well, they distort it. I think that an appropriate translation of the bald phrase will be the following: «И ты хочешь, чтобы он вел машину, Сол?»
6.1. Semantic loss
In the film we can find the moment, when the sense of the original text was lost in the Russian version. In this chapter of my work I will analyze such moments and show, which pieces of sense were lost.
BRICK TOP. Do you reckon that’s what people should do for me, do you Gary, do me proud? (The bald phrase was omitted in Russian translations.)
The first variant: «Ты считаешь, что люди должны это делать для меня, меня ублажать?»
The second variant: «Ты считаешь, что именно это людям следует делать для меня?»
GARY. That’s what you deserve Mr Mclean.
Both variants: «Вы этого заслуживаете, сэр». The point is than in the whole film in Russian translation we don’t know the name of the pig gangster. We just know his nickname – Brick Top. It is unaccountable why I both variants translators had omitted Brick Top’s surname.
Another example of omitting the phrase.
TOMMY. How are ya?
The first variant: «Как поживаете?»
The second variant: «Как дела?»
MICKY. I am well sir, well, quite well, the weather is being kind to us but the engines aren't.
First and second variants: «Погода к нам добра».
Actually, translators transmit only one third of the whole English phrase. And where are other two thirds, I want to ask?
Here is the example not only the omitting the phrase and loosing the sense but also facts misrepresenting.
GORGEOUS GEORGE. You want to stay down my friend, I promise you, you want to stay down.;
The first variant: «Ты должен лежать, ты должен лежать! Обещаю, ты будешь лежать!» (Wrong modality is used, we should translate not like должен, but like хотеть: «Я обещаю, ты захочешь лежать!» The sense in this case is controversial.)
TURKISH. You're not exactly Mr Current Affairs, are you Tommy? Mad Fist went mad, and the "Gun" shot himself.
First variant: «Да ты отстал от жизни, Томми! Безумный Вилли сошел с ума, а пистолет застрелился».
Second variant: «Я смотрю, ты не в курсе, да? Сумасшедший Кулак сошел с ума, а пистолет застрелился!»
In the both translations is loss the English original definition of Tommy – Mr Current Affairs (Мистер Недавние Происшествия) – that is typical way of characterizing people in English language tradition.
TYRONE. Look, you hassle me, see what happens.
First variant: «Это потому что вы меня задергали». (In this variant the cause-effect relation is lost.)
Second variant: «Слушайте, вы меня дергали, вот теперь радуйтесь!» (This variant transmit the original sense very well.)
6.2. Stylistic loss
During the difficult process of the film translation it is possible to loose not only the original sense, but also the original peculiarities of the text. In order to translate the phrase correctly the translator should pay attention to the situation when this or that phrase was said and to the context of the dialog.
Let me show some examples.
TOMMY. It's that campsite.
The first variant: «Это кемпинг». (It is translated like the simple monologue statement without surprise and objection tint, the style and the peculiarity of the situation were lost.)
The second variant: «Но это ведь кемпинг». (Here the style and the intonation of the original phrase is preserved. The phrase sound natural like in the original dialogue.)
Here I show the example of the dialogue between Turkish and Tommy where in the first variant of translation the style and the intonation of the original dialogue is not preserved.
TURKISH. Fuck me, hold tight, what's that?
The first variant: «Черт, постой-ка! Что что?» (The curse that showed Turkish’s surprise is toned down.)
The second variant: «Е***-колотить! Держите меня крепче! Что это такое?» (The curse that showed Turkish’s surprise is translated more or less correctly.)
TOMMY. It's my belt, Turkish.
The first variant: «Это мой ремень». (The address Turkish is omitted, the phrase sounds like it is from the monologue.)
The second variant: «Это мой ремень, Турецкий!» (The address Turkish is not omitted.)
TURKISH. No Tommy, there's a gun in your trousers. What is a gun doing in your trousers?
The first variant: «Нет, Томми, у тебя в штанах пистолет. Что он там делает?» (The phrase in your trousers is substituted by the pronoun.)
The second variant: «Нет, Томми, у тебя пистолет в штанах! Что делает пистолет у тебя в штанах?» (The translation is exact.)
TOMMY. It's for protection.
Both variants: «Это для защиты!»
TURKISH. Protection from what, the Germans? Err what's to stop it blowing your balls off every time you sit down? Where did you get it?