chapter 1 introduction

National Taipei University of Technology
應用英文系碩士班
碩士學位論文
Department of English
Master Thesis
文化獨特性：以南方四賤客動畫配音翻
譯為例
Cultural Specificity: Research on the Dubbing
of the Animation South Park
研究生：施起揚
Qi-Yang Shi
指導教授：蔡逸萍 博士
Advisor: Dr. Claire Tsai
中華民國 104 年 1 月
January 2015
摘
要
論 文 名 稱 ： 文 化 獨 特 性 ： 以 南 方 四 賤 客 動 畫 配 音 翻 譯 為 例
頁數：八十五頁
校所別：國立台北科技大學應用英文系研究所
畢業時間：一百零三學年度第一學期
學位：碩士
研究生：施起揚
指導教授：蔡逸萍博士
關鍵詞：影音翻譯、文化獨特性、翻譯策略
國內影音翻譯研究多注重於翻譯策略之探討，較少觸及翻譯策略之背後理
論及非文字溝通管道的研究。本研究探討翻譯學中，跟影音翻譯有關的理論及
概念。因為資料性質緣故，本研究的重心會偏向配音翻譯。研究以個案研究的
方法進行，以文本分析的方式擷取大量例子。文本分析的資料來源為美國知名
電視動畫「南方四賤客」的英文版及官方中文版，資料範圍涵蓋第一季到第七
季。研究者致力在英文版和中文版中蒐集文化獨特性的資料。經過文本分析和
比較後，研究者發現中文版譯者在作品中加入大量譯入語文化，並消除原文之
文化概念及詞彙。但因為中文版有相當明顯的譯者中介，所以不能將官方中文
版「南方四賤客」看作單純的歸化或在地化翻譯。「南方四賤客」的中文版受
到更多因素的影響，包含其情境喜劇類型，動畫表現方式，以及翻譯當時的譯
入語文化影響。
i
ABSTRACT
Title：Cultural Specificity: Research on the Dubbing of the Animation South Park
Pages：85
School：National Taipei University of Technology
Department：Department of English
Time：January 2015
Degree：Master
Researcher：Qi-Yang Shi
Advisor：Dr. Claire Tsai
Keywords：audiovisual translation, culture-specific, translation strategies
This thesis scrutinizes current concepts and paradigms of Translation Studies
related to audiovisual translation (AVT), and major attention is paid to the dubbing of
an animated TV series, South Park. Close textual analysis on the dubbed texts
constitutes the main body of the thesis, and special attention is devoted to
culture-specific situations and translation strategies of the texts. Based on the textual
analysis, it is indicated that there is a high degree of transformation in the target text.
The translator becomes so visible that the Chinese version of South Park should not be
merely regarded as a domesticated version of the original. It is revealed that genre,
medium, and the target culture also exert significant influence on the target text, which
help to create a peculiar work as the Chinese version of South Park.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to extend my gratitude to many people, but due to the space
constraint, the most important ones will be mentioned here. To begin with, my advisor,
Dr. Claire Tsai, helped me a lot. I have met her numerous times to discuss the seminar
presentation necessary for the master degree as well as the master thesis itself. She
gave me useful advices and encouraged me to keep working on the master thesis, and
she is very patient with my questions. She even provided me with a part-time job of the
research assistant during the period when I just finished my job as a substitute teacher.
Next, I would like to pay special thanks to my parents. I owed them a great deal of
physical and mental support. In the period when I was unemployed, they do not force
me to look for a new job; instead, they encouraged me to prepare for the civil service
examinations and, at the same time, finish the thesis as soon as possible. I would also
like to thank Dr. Ya-mei Chen for being my thesis committee member, and I received
valuable advice from her. I also gave my sincere appreciation to another committee
member, Dr. Yu-Ling Chung, for her precious time on my thesis. My last thanks goes
to New Taipei City Library, Shulin Pengcuo Reading Room (樹林彭厝圖書閱覽室). It
provided a quiet space for me to work on my thesis, and I spent much time there
reading books, constructing ideas, and finishing the thesis.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHINESE ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... i
ENGLISH ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. iv
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1
1.1 State of Affairs .................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Purpose of Study, Background, and Research Questions ................................... 2
1.3 AVT and its Connection with Translation Studies .............................................. 5
1.4 Outline of the Thesis ........................................................................................... 8
Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 10
2.1 Audiovisual Translation .................................................................................... 10
2.2 Equivalence ....................................................................................................... 17
2.3 Functional Approach and Skopos ..................................................................... 20
2.4 The Cultural Turn.............................................................................................. 27
2.5 Adaptation or Translation.................................................................................. 31
2.6 Summary ........................................................................................................... 34
Chapter 3 CASE STUDY 1: THE UNORTHODOX...................................................... 36
3.1 South Park......................................................................................................... 36
3.2 Introduction of Data Collection ........................................................................ 37
3.3 Research Method .............................................................................................. 38
3.4 Focus on the Target Culture .............................................................................. 38
3.5 Shift of Emphasis to the Source Culture ........................................................... 50
3.6 Summary ........................................................................................................... 54
Chapter 4 CASE STUDY 2: CULTURAL TERMS ....................................................... 56
4.1 Individual Names .............................................................................................. 57
4.2 The Then Current Affairs .................................................................................. 65
4.3 Summary ........................................................................................................... 67
Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS...................................................... 68
5.1 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 68
5.2 Implications and Limitations ............................................................................ 71
References ....................................................................................................................... 73
Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 79
iv
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 State of Affairs
With the advancement of technology, audiovisual works are disseminating broadly
in the modern world. One of the major contributors of these works is the Anglophone
world and consequently, most of these works circulated around the world are made in
English, and they need to be translated when they reach different locales. In Taiwan,
similar conditions are widely observed. Audiovisual works from foreign countries,
particularly English-speaking countries, are in great numbers in movie theaters and TV
channels. Among these works, a part of them consists of animated works. Research on
the translation of animated movies and TV series can be found abroad and at home (see
Juan José Martínez-Sierra, 2006; Luo, 2007; Colm Caffrey, 2008; Eleonora Fois, 2012).
There are some studies on the language use of animated products, and they mainly
discuss translation strategies and discourse attributes (see Peter Howell, 2007; Luo,
2007; Muños Gil, 2009). The target readership is also a research focus, and the language
use of different ages receives much attention (see Esko Hellgren, 2007; Cheng, 2009;
Melek Ortabasi, 2009). However, little investigation is carried out in the rendering of
American animated TV series whose target readership is adults. More importantly, the
way (how) and the reason (why) the translation is made in a certain way are neglected.
In the present study, the author aims to explore how different translation theories relate
to audiovisual translation (AVT), and why they function in a certain manner, by
examining a popular American animated TV series, South Park, and its Chinese version
1
aired in Taiwan. The characteristics of this study lead the author to the domain of
Translation Studies, particularly, audiovisual translation.
1.2 Purpose of Study, Background, and Research
Questions
The Chinese version of South Park is a dubbed animated sitcom, with a great deal
of colloquial languages used in the program. The most distinguished characteristic of
the Chinese version is the heavily localized language and content, which draws
audience’s attention and provokes debates on issues related to translation. Personally,
the author is interested in South Park because of its entertaining and sometimes
thought-provoking plot. But as far as a researcher is concerned, the main incentive is the
translation part, especially after a comparison is made between the dubbed text of the
original and that of the Chinese version. Secondly, it is possible that the study, which
will be conducted through a case study model, helps translators deal with similar
audiovisual products, and guidelines can be established accordingly. Furthermore, this
study can facilitate the research on AVT from an empirical angle. All data are excerpted
from episodes that were aired on TV, and related translation theories are investigated to
give interpretation of the dubbed text. Briefly speaking, most attention in this thesis will
be placed on the explanation of the peculiar ways in which the dubbed text is made in
the Chinese version.
The text in South Park should be understood in its wider sense. It includes verbal
components which consist mainly of dialogues and songs. Verbal elements with visual
presentation, such as street signs and newspaper titles, are also considered a part of the
script. Even the nonverbal elements like pictures and graffiti play a role. This paper
aims to scrutinize the dubbed scripts in the original and target video clips, extracting the
2
texts as a main source of analysis. Important points to be made are how the original is
translated and why it is translated in a certain way. In the Chinese version of South Park,
a huge degree of transformation is the most apparent trait as long as a simple
comparision between the source and target text is made. However, it is essential to note
that not all texts undergo this kind of transformation. There are sporadic cases and
situations for the translator to do the transformation. Extra attention will be paid to
explain why some choices are made, while others are not adopted. Because of the
intricate nature, such as the complete transformation of the original topic in the Chinese
version of South Park, ordinary paradigms of AVT will be implemented to foreground
their importance, advantages and disadvantages, and inadequacy.
The target audience of the Chinese version are assumed to be composed of adults,
as it is suggested by the composition of netizens who participate in the discussion of this
TV series. Luo (2007) indicates that the TV series of South Park is full of controversial
issues which are only suitable for adults (p. 24). If the translator takes the target
audience into consideration, basically s/he has two options. One is to keep the foreign
elements in the Chinese version. Compared with children, adults in Taiwan have a
deeper understanding of American culture, and they can appreciate the original content
better. The other is to localize the culture-specific components. In order to cater for the
taste of adults, localized elements are often directed to current events and celebrities to
create similar effects, satirical feelings, and locally-associated responses. The author
assumes that while entertainment is the main goal, tacit understanding of the referred
objects in the target culture is intended to be reached. A sense of connection and
mockery is the translator’s purpose. Nevertheless, there are also situations where the
translator rewrites particular chunks to develop a different context. The rewritings are
not resulted from either the desired function of the target text or the needs of the target
3
audience. There are more reasons to be revealed.
A bulk of culture-related concepts and items are exhibited in the animated TV
series South Park, and they resulted in a sense of alienation if viewers do not have
enough exposure to the source culture. In audiovisual products like South Park, culture
is shown both in the verbal and nonverbal forms, but the primary channel of message
transmission is still the verbal one. Hence, translation plays an indespensable role in
aiding the target audience to have access to the foreign culture. Translation are deeply
intertwined with culture owing to the fact that language and culture are intricably
interconnected. Nathalie Ramière (2006) suggests that translators translate “whole texts
which are culturally embedded”, and translation depends on “a community of
references” which is familiar to most members in the source culture (p. 152).
Overcoming the unfamiliarity with this community of references becomes a desirable
choice for the translator. This process is often carried out in the form of domestication, a
concept favored by American translation industry (cf. Venuti, 2008). Domestication is
often resorted to as a means to fit into the target culture, and it is welcome to the target
readers in literary translation. A brief reason is that the domesticated translation is read
like a piece of work written in the native language of the target readers. However, the
translated audiovisual works are not perceived of as originally made in viewers’ native
language. The presence of visual elements in the target work, which constantly reminds
the target audience of the foreign nature, is the main cause. By presenting some extreme
examples, the author attempts to reveal that more factors should be taken into account,
especially when it comes to AVT. One of the traditional ideas about translation is to be
faithful to the original, but as stated earlier, it is a questionable solution as far as AVT is
concerned. Furthermore, if the present study is taken into consideration, it is necessary
to take a broader theoretical underpinning from the perspective of language, people, and
4
the socio-cultural environment.
To summarize, the author intends to use the Chinese version of South Park as an
instrument to reflect traditional TS paradigms on AVT, hoping to find the interrelated
domain that benefits each other.
Following the train of thought, major research questions are listed below:
1. What are the dubbing strategies and translation strategies applied in the Chinese
version of South Park?
2. Why does the Chinese version of South Park undergo such a great degree of
transformation?
In order to answer these questions, relevant literature will be reviewed in the
following chapter. The reasons for the selection of specific literature are to be provided
in the next section of this chapter.
1.3 AVT and its Connection with Translation Studies
Related concepts and paradigms will be examined to show their relevance to the
present study. The strengths and weaknesses of each paradigm will be offered as a
departure point for further investigation. Review on related literature is especially
essential for the study of audiovisual translation (AVT), since AVT owes a large amount
of theoretical foundations to traditional translation studies. The burgeoning of AVT is
closely associated with the incorporation of translation theories and some
newly-developed fields of study, such as adaptation and rewriting.
In Translation Studies, AVT is a relatively new academic subdiscipline. It is a term
involving the translation of audiovisual products, whereas translation is considered a
5
much broader term. In this vein, AVT has been considered a branch of translation
studies. However, current trends show that AVT has gradually emerged as an
“independent research topic” (Cristina Valentini, 2008, p. 37). This viewpoint shows
that AVT in translation studies attempts to lay a foundation in its own right. In AVT,
although the linguistic transference is the subject under much scrutiny (see Chen, 2004;
Veiga, 2009), it does not mean that the audiovisual part is left unnoticed. The reason for
AVT’s independence in research is the co-existence of its translational and audiovisual
part. In the translational part, AVT distinghishes itself from traditional translation in
linguistic respects. AVT is less static and more flexible. Jorge Díaz-Cintas and Aline
Remael (2007) compare and generalize in their book that the current development of
translation is far beyond the notion of formal fidelity, and it is especially apparent in the
case of subtitling and other forms of AVT (pp. 10-11). Audiovisual part often functions
as a supporting channel in meaning conveyance and interpretation. It is particularly this
part that makes AVT differ from traditional translation. However, in the introduction to
creativity in cartoon translation, Cui Song (2012) asserts that information conveyed by
“other semiotic systems”, such as the visual images and acoustic signs in cartoons,
could cause constraints in translation (p. 126). The assertion corresponds to the flexible
nature in AVT, and it is seen as a contradiction to the prevailing idea of equivalence in
translation.
Traditional ideas about equivalence in translation is outdated in AVT. The most
frequent argument is the assumption of AVT as a constrained form of translation. De
Linde and Kay (1999) specify that “the amount of dialogue has to be reduced to meet
the technical conditions of the medium and the reading capacities of non-native
language users” (pp. 1-2). Because of the reduction of dialogic length, the basic concept
of formal correspondence in the equivalence paradigm fails to apply to the translation of
6
audiovisual products. Besides, AVT differs from traditional translation in that the mode
of message transmission changes after the source is translated. For example, a written
book in the original language remains a written one after translation. Interpreting
maintains its oral characteristic. In subtitling, however, what is oral in the original
becomes written in the target language on the screen. In addition, technical obstacles
need to be surmounted, and oftentimes they are the fleetingness of scene changes and
the tiny space on the screen that restrict the translation of original dialogues. Magdalena
Panek (2009) even calls subtitling an “artistic translation process” and attributes the
constraints to the fact that subtitles should be integrated into the accompanying
communicative channels (p. 31). On the one hand, there is the technical confinement
imposed on AVT. On the other hand, the interaction of subtitles with other
communicative channels is easily observed. Therefore, the translation strategies
concerned with equivalence, such as literal translation, is regarded inadequate. Some
will argue that the notion of dynamic equivalence proposed by Eugene Nida (1964) still
operates. However, Nida’s argument at that time has no connection with any audiovisual
elements. His due attention is to create a “linguistic” translation that fits into the needs
of the target culture. Human agents and the medium in which the translation occurs are
mostly neglected. Furthermore, the tendency of spliting translation into the source or
target orientation falls into the translation dichotomy, which often manifests itself as
domestication or foreignization. The author believes that not all translation should, and
can, be classified into domestication or foreignization, an often-quoted concept
proposed by Lawrence Venuti (1995; 2008). It is especially true in AVT. The dichotomy
is just two of the many possibilities and options for the translator to choose from. More
emphasis should be placed on the translators, the target audience of the translation, and
the socio-cultural situation in which the translation is made.
7
The translators and the target audience are crucial factors that should be taken into
account. Translators are people under the control of government laws. In Taiwan,
language policy has been playing a central role in the distribution of foreign media
products. The enforcement of “Establishment and Management Law for Radio and
Television Station” by Executive Yuan in 1963 regulated that language used in
television programs should be Mandarin Chinese only (Luo, 2007, p. 2). This regulation
performed the function of unifying language use in Taiwan, and it helped the industry of
dubbing develop. However, after the introduction of Cable TV Law in 1993 and the
opening of cable TV market, more foreign films and TV programs are imported to
Taiwan in the original voice with additive subtitles. The proportion of dubbed programs
in Taiwan is decreasing, and dubbing is restricted to several genres: American cartoons,
Japanese animations, Korean dramas, educational programs, and documentary films
(Luo, 2007, p. 3). The enforcement of related laws and the thriving of TV market
explain why some kinds of foreign TV programs are preferred to be dubbed, while
others are subtitled. Based on the socio-cultural backgrounds illustrated above, the
reason for South Park as a dubbed program is partly provided. Certainly, these
backgrounds concern much with the technical aspects of AVT, and when it comes to the
textual dimensions, theories of both traditional translation and AVT are able to give a
detailed account of the translational part. In Chapter Two, these theories and their
relationship with the present study will be given a thorough discussion.
1.4 Outline of the Thesis
This thesis comprises five chapters. Chapter one involves the rationales for doing
this research, and overarching research questions are provided accordingly. An
introduction to audiovisual translation will be made, and reasons for reviewing specific
8
translation concepts and theories will also be provided. Chapter two delves into related
concepts and paradigms, and it makes close association with the present study. Related
books and journal articles are reviewed to show how scholars think about these concepts
and paradigms, and the author also provides his own perspectives as reflections.
Chapter three includes many extreme and interesting examples. These examples shows
how transformative a text might become. The author will explain these examples by
adopting existing concepts or by creating rules based on the facts observed. Chapter
four can be seen as a succession to chapter three, with only the examples being
relatively “traditional” than chapter three. Compared with other similar translated works,
they are still regarded as unique. The last chapter will discuss the findings and
implications from chapter three to chapter four. Limitations of this study and
suggestions for further research are also included in this chapter.
9
Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter comprises four sections. Section one illustrates AVT in general, and
pays close attention to the distinctive features of subtitling and dubbing. Section two
centers on the equivalence paradigm. Related concepts and theories are illustrated to
demonstrate their categorization and connection among each other. The connection with
AVT is also examined to show its applicability and inadequacy. Section three points out
the over-emphasis of the equivalence paradigm on the source text. Emphasis is placed
on the function a translation is intended to fulfil. The last section attempts to examine
AVT from a cultural perspective, with the argument of defining a target text as a
translation or an adaptation. Besides, translation strategies involving culture are
discussed, and special attention is drawn on strategies for Extralinguistic Culture-bound
References (ECRs) as solutions to translation problems.
2.1 Audiovisual Translation
Audiovisual translation (AVT) is a rapidly-growing branch in the academic field.
Yves Gambier (2008) points out a fast development of AVT in recent 10 years by
judging from the increasing number of “conferences, theses, and manuals on the
subject” (p. 11). As this branch becomes an independent discipline, the rules and
formations are established. The categorization of audiovisual materials, according to
Díaz-Cintas (2009), includes categories such as films, TV series, corporate videos,
reality shows, and even video games (p. 6).
10
Traditionally speaking, the text type approach developed by Katharina Reiss in the
1970s is considered one of the starting points for AVT. It was then termed audio-medial
translation in Reiss’ categorization, and was never developed because her focus was on
fields of advertising. The possibility created by Reiss is that a new discipline could be
introduced into translation studies. AVT does not open up a ground until the seminal
paper written by Dirk Delabistita (1989). In this article, some of the most important
elements of this type of translation were recognized. Among them are the verbal, the
literary and theatrical, the proxemic and kinetic, and the cinematic which Delabistita
classifies into the “multi-code type of communicaiton” (p. 196). This multi-code
modality may help to shape a widely-used model in audiovisual works. Díaz-Cintas and
Remael (2007) depict the combination of four channels: the visual, the acoustic, the
verbal, and the non-verbal (p. 46) channels in their introduction to AVT. Delia Chiaro
(2009) also describes that “screen products […] are polysemiotic; in other words, they
are made up of numerous codes that interact to produce a single effect” (p. 142). The
characteristics of the multi-code type are also illustrated in other reviews. Henrik
Gottlieb (2009) states that audiovisual products are “polysemiotic in nature, and the
information conveyed through the non-verbal channels will often help get the message
across to target audiences” (p. 25). Isabel Hurtado de Mendoza Azaola, in the discussion
of intertextuality in AVT, maintains that screen products consist of “several
intermingling codes […] of text, images and soundtrack” (2009, p. 72). All these
statements imply that meaning is generated through the interaction of the channels and
codes involved. In terms of AVT, it is this polysemiosis that distinguishes AVT from
traditional translation.
Polysemiosis is of great significance in AVT. Besides linguistic expressions,
images play a paramount role in viewers’ interpretation of audiovisual works. Patrick
11
Zabalbeascoa (2008) claims that although the audience of the source and target
language view the same screen products, “images are actually different, since they are
received and interpreted differently from one viewer to the next” (p. 33). Viewers have
different focuses, and it is more apparent if they come from different socio-cultural
settings (ibid). This viewpoint echoes with the explanation made by Díaz-Cintas and
Remael. They believe that “images are far from universal. Indeed, they are
culture-bound references in themselves and always subject to ideological framing.”
(2007, p. 46). If the translation task is taken into consideration, the most difficult
situation occurs when a linguistic expression refers to an entity existing only in the
source culture. In translation, when foreign items are nonexistent in the target culture, or
they are unknown to the majority of the target audience, it is what Rabadán termed a
“referential vacuums” (in Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2007, p. 164). They are regarded as
the most problematic aspect in AVT. As such these vacuums have to be filled by finding
alternatives to conventional solutions. The alternatives and conventional solutions to
AVT are mostly done in two major forms: subtitling and dubbing.
The fundamental difference between subtitling and dubbing lies in how each
method conveys meanings. By “how” the author means the perceptive channel each
method implements. Subtitling is the translation of the spoken language in audiovisual
materials. As Silvia Bruti (2009) states, it is a “translational strategy that turns an oral
source text into a written target text” (p. 230). Subtitling involves two languages and “a
process of information transfer from the source language (SL) to the target language
(TL) and information reconstruction in the TL, following TL writing conventions”
(Chen, 2004, p. 122).
For the sake of the present study, more emphasis will be placed on dubbing.
Dubbing is another AVT strategy by which the original dubbed text is translated first
12
into the target text in the written form, and then the written text is uttered by voice
actors and actresses in the target language. According to Díaz-Cintas (2009), dubbing
involves “replacing the original soundtrack containing the actors’ dialogue with a target
language recording that reproduces the original message, […] in such a way that target
viewers are led to believe that the actors on screen are actually speaking their language”
(p. 4). Dubbing thus has the following characteristics:
First, dubbing is a replacement of the original soundtrack with a target language
recording. The target language (TL) audience watch foreign productions in their native
language, creating an illusion that the foreign productions are domestic ones. Because
of the absence of the ST’s dialogue, dubbing can be more creative, and, in an uncertain
way, “more vulnerable to manipulation” (Koolstra et al, 2002, p. 335). Secondly,
compared with subtitling, dubbing is not so subjective to time limitation in each scene
on screen. It is not so crucial to condense the content in dubbing because the speech
rates of most languages do not vary so much. In South Park, the present case under
study, some of the lines are short dialogue exchanges. The speech rates of Chinese and
English are roughly the same. It takes less time to listen to a dialogue than read a
subtitle. In a given time, more information can be transmitted in the form of dubbing.
The third characteristic is the issue of authenticity. Although Díaz-Cintas (2009) states
that target viewers are led to believe that the characters on the screen are speaking the
viewers’ native language (p. 5), it is an ideal condition. In fact, Jan-Emil Tveit (2009)
claims that a character loses his/her authenticity when s/he is “deprived of their voice
and instead the audience hears the voice of somebody else” (p. 92). In view of the loss
of authenticity, lip synchronization is often mentioned as one of the solutions. However,
for animated sitcoms like South Park, lip synchronicity is not as important as ordinary
films. It is acceptable if the opening and closing of mouth match with the voice.
13
Furthermore, the viewers’ processing effort of watching dubbed programs is less than
that of watching subtitled ones. The author contends that the triple-channel perception
in subtitling (listening, watching, and reading) is converged into two channels of
listening and watching, thus alleviating the processing effort.
Different countries and regions have their preference for subtitling or dubbing
because of cultural and economic factors. When it comes to the foreign audiovisual
works in Taiwan, a large portion of them, such as American TV series and movies, are
subtitled. Nevertheless, it does not mean that dubbing is invisible on the screen. Some
TV dramas from Korea and Japan are dubbed in Mandarin so that the audience can
“listen to” them while working on other tasks. Dubbing is also applied in some TV
series, especially cartoons and animations. Another reason for dubbing is that the
cognitive load of watching dubbed programs is less than that of watching subtitled ones.
In Cees Koolstra’s words, it takes more “mental effort” to watch subtitled programs than
dubbed ones (2002, p. 332). This viewpoint is supported by some eye-movement studies
(d’Ydewalle et al, 1991), which show that reading subtitles is unavoidable as long as
they appear on the screen.
In addition, there are approximately two characteristics of AVT which are observed
in ordinary animated foreign movies and TV series in Taiwan.
One characteristic of these ordinary works is that the domesticated parts often
consist of short linguistic expressions in a sentence or paragraph. There are nouns,
adjectives, and sometimes verbs which undergo transformations. Those expressions are
short chunks and phrases because they are the “problematic points” in translation.
Problematic points are largely composed of culture-specific items in the source culture,
and the items are replaced by corresponding ones in the target culture. This is the
solution often resorted to in every encounter, and the reason why this solution is
14
employed is two-fold. First, the translator assumes that the corresponding items bring
out the same connotations for the target audience as those for the original audience.
Although it is doubtful to accept the concept of value correspondence once two cultures
are involved, it is still a better choice for the translator. Another reason is the
convenience for target viewers, even if the desired connotations are not grasped. Target
viewers are familiar with the corresponding items, and they are able to reach a faster
understanding of the intended meaning in the source text. The fast understanding is an
important criterion for AVT, since footnotes or extra explanations are not so feasible in
the viewing process.
The other characteristic of a typical AVT work is the conformation to the source
text content in general. As stated above, culture-specific expressions are replaced by
their correspondences for the purpose of the same connotations or viewers’ convenience.
The content of larger textual strings such as monologues or long dialogue exchanges
remains intact. The observation punctuates that, if a particular part of source text is not
regarded as culture-specific, a literal translation is more likely to be adpoted. There are
also two reasons. First, a literal translation of non-culture-specific textual strings is
reasonable. A literal rendering of the source texts which are not presumed
culture-specific causes little difficulty in viewers’ understanding, and any domesticated
rendering of the non-culture-specific texts seems unnecessary. Second, it takes more
effort for the translator to transform ordinary textual strings. The transformation is a
challenge to the translator’s creativity. It violates the principle of “mini-max effect” for
the translator, which means achieving a maximum effect with a minimum effort in
translation (Gutt, 1998, p. 43). Basically speaking, the translator of ordinary audiovisual
works does not “rewrite” the story. What s/he does is to put more effort in handling the
problematic points in translation, trying to make them comprehensible for the audience.
15
Except for the problematic points, the rest parts which do not curtail the comprehension
are, most of the time, translated literally.
In contrast, the Chinese version of South Park in Taiwan departs from other similar
AVT works in that the degree of transformation is beyond viewers’ expectation. This is
perhaps resulted from the belief that the translation of situation comedy should be as
hilarious as possible. Muños Gil (2009) finds that “irony, sarcasm and humorous
elements, such as puns, jokes and plays on words” reappear in comedies (p. 143).
Furthermore, the place where the problematic points are spotted and the way they are
tackled in the Chinese version are sometimes different from common practice. The
ordinary source texts which do not result in translation problems are also transformed.
The excessive transformation is not so much considered a traditional manifestation of
domestication, because the transformation is not always compatible with the nonverbal
foreign elements on screen. Viewers of the Chinese version are reminiscent of the
presence of foreign elements, which prevents the translation to be misunderstood as a
piece of work originally written in their native language. On the other hand, a
domesticated work attempts to diminish the foreignness of the original, which creates an
illusion that the translated text is a native creation.
The distinct features of AVT do not distance itself from a kind of constrained
translation, as De Linde and Kay (1999, pp. 1-2) put it. Key words such as condensation
and reduction are always mentioned. For example, Maria Jose Veiga (2009) explains
that condensation is usually adopted in AVT because in a given time, “a much larger
volume of text can be assimilated aurally than visually” (p. 164). In this example, how
to transform a large volume of oral messages into short dubbed dialogues is a difficult
problem, particularly when the text is in another language. With regard to the translation
of South Park, it is indispensable to comment on the notion of equivalence. The Chinese
16
version of South Park is a dubbed screen product, which means more information can
be conveyed in a given time. Certainly, there is still a degree of reduction in the transfer
of texts. The amount of texts and the changes of meaning between the original and the
target are the core issues in the equivalence paradigm.
2.2 Equivalence
What is generally understood as equivalence in translation is that the product of the
translating process, the target text, should be similar to the source text. In the linguistic
domain of translation, it is this very concept, be that similarity or resemblance, that
distinguishes translations from non-translations. Translation has its antecedent as a point
of departure, and from this point similar texts are produced. In the early definition of
translation, the notion of equivalence is always mentioned. For example, Eugene Nida
and Charles Taber (1969) proclaim that “translating consists in reproducing in the
receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message” (p. 12).
Ian Catford (1965) defines translation as “the replacement of textual material in one
language (SL) by equivalent material in another language (TL)” (p. 20). Note in the two
examples equivalence is presented as equivalent message or material. Current definition
of equivalence is developed toward the direction of value assessment. Anthony Pym
(2010) posits that “a translation will have the same value as (some aspect of) its
corresponding source text”. He suggests that the value concerns three factors: form,
reference, and function (pp. 7-8). The form is basically all the linguistic elements found
in the source and target texts. When tackling this kind of equivalence, Christiane Nord
(2005) points out that the target text is usually expected to be rendered “faithfully” all
the relevant features of the source text (p. 25). However, in the case of subtitling, the
faithful rendering of ST to TT seems less important. Technically speaking, the limitation
17
of time and space on the screen usually causes a reduced translation. Linguistically
speaking, subtitling as a translation “can never be a complete and detailed rendering.
And neither should it, for that matter” (Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2007, p. 145). Because
all the accompanying non-verbal channels interact with the interpretation of subtitles, a
thorough translation is not necessary. It is also true in dubbing, as non-verbal channels
play an interactive role in viewers’ understanding of the dubbed text.
In terms of the incompatibility of equivalence on the level of form, further
observation is made on the factors of reference and, particularly, of function. Nida’s
dynamic equivalence (1964) has a functionally-inclined concept, which is similar to the
factor of function. In Nida’s concept, the translation has to be “tailored to the receptor’s
linguistic needs and cultural expectation” (p. 166). In brief, translation has to be natural,
because it is receptor-oriented. Further, the cultural expectation implies that the effects
of translation have to reach some standards. Lawrence Venuti illustrates that “the
receptors of a translation should comprehend the translated text to such an extent that
they can understand how the original receptors must have understood the original text”
(in Waard and Nida, 1986, p. 36). Thus, translation is not understood as the mere
transfer of linguistic elements, but the reproduction of function attempting to achieve
the same effect. However, the author argues that the idea of the “same effect” is only an
illusion. It is unjustifiable that the target-text audience share the same experience with
that obtained by the source-text audience. Hurtado (2009) suggests that “signs can be
interpreted in many different ways by different individuals” (p. 72). With different
background knowledge and cultural cultivation, every individual reacts differently to a
text. This is the case of individuality, the discrepancy among the receptors of the same
text. When it comes to the comparison between the receivers of source text and target
text, the uncertainty is more salient. Nord argues that “every TT receiver will be
18
different from the ST receiver in at least one respect: they are members of another
cultural and linguistic community.” (2005, p. 58). Therefore, it is shown that the
equivalence of effect is not applicable, especially when the effect is intended to be
performed in AVT. In AVT, other channels except the verbal one will interfere with and
worsen a unified interpretation of the verbal elements. Though scholars like Jan
Pedersen (2007) propose that cultural-bound references in AVT should be dealt with by
dynamic equivalence to achieve a communicative translation, which she calls
“equivalence of effect” (p. 33), the proposal only concerns the verbal elements. The role
of the addressees and translators are largely negelcted, thus creating the boundary of the
equivalence paradigm. As AVT is not merely the transcoding of textual strings, the
author proposes that the purpose an AVT is intended to serve is more important. The
purpose is decided on the target audience and the translator. It is the target audience who
have expectations for the translation, or at least it is the assumed expectations
speculated by the translator or the institution which commissions the translation task
that operate. Translation, therefore, has functions that are waited to be achieved.
Nord (2005) indicates that if translation is viewed in a functional manner,
“equivalence between source and target text is regarded as being subordinate to all
possible translation skopoi” (p. 27). This perspective expands the one-to-one
correspondence between source and target text to many alternatives the translator can
choose from. The distinctive feature of the equivalence paradigm is that the paradigm
puts much emphasis on the relationship between the source and target texts. The
relationship can be formal or dynamic, to use Nida’s (1969) term, or natural or
directional, as Pym (2010) describes it. For the receivers who have no direct access to
the source text, Pym (2010) points out that “equivalence may be a convenient fiction
that allays suspicions of non-similarity” (p. 40). The reason is simple: most users of the
19
target text do not have the ability or time to check how “faithful” the target text is. They
simply believe that the translation is the reproduction of the source text which expresses
the same linguistic meaning. This is the accountability norm (Andrew Chesterman,
1997) which guarantees the ethics of the translator, or on the receivers’ side, the trust in
the translator. However, the author casts doubt on the belief of similarity due to the
specialty of AVT. The author have illustrated previously (cf. p. 11&16) that the
accompanying channels in AVT exert great influence on the interpretation of the target
text. The audiences just follow what they see or hear on the screen in most audiovisual
works. However, the Chinese version of South Park easily contradicts the belief of
equivalence, as nonverbal foreign elements in some episodes remind the target audience
that the dubbed text is not a reproduction of the original. The Chinese version provokes
a thought that other aspects play a central role in the formation of the target text. This
consideration can be exemplified from a functional approach perspective.
2.3 Functional Approach and Skopos
Functional approach derives from the equivalence paradigm, as it is specified by
scholars who advocate that text has effects on the receiver, a viewpoint regarded by the
author as the function of texts. Texts are created by the translator, and when they are put
in audiovisual products, sometimes the contradiction between the verbal and the
non-verbal occurs.
The contradiction between non-verbal images and verbal dialogues is an indication
of the translator’s intervention. The intervention is particularly evident in the Chinese
version of South Park, since the non-verbal elements remind the target audience that
South Park is completely American, but the verbal ones often suggest otherwise. In his
master thesis, Luo notes that South Park is an “adult-oriented cartoon series” which is
20
filled with coarse language and close reference to American social events and celebrities
(2007, p. 27). The audience understand that the translation is a tailor-made product for a
particular target group, which consists of Taiwanese adult viewers. The translation
shows that the recipient is taken into consideration, and this is what Nord (2005) calls
an “instrumental translation” (p. 81). In an instrumental translation, translaiton is
viewed as an instrument that transmits messages in a new communicative environment.
The intention of that translation is to “fulfil its communicative purpose without the
recipient being conscious of reading or hearing a text which, in a different form, was
used before in a different communicative situation” (ibid). Nord’s idea is that the
translation is read as if it were written originally in the receiver’s language. In the
current study, however, the audience immediately notice that the text is a translation,
and that the source text must be used before in a different environment. The awareness
is raised because the target text is presented in an audiovisual product. Although it
seems that Nord’s idea is incompatible with the current study, the incompatibility is
resulted from the fact that AVT is polysemiotic in nature. The fulfilment of the
communicative purpose still applies. The functional approach encompasses three
dimensions that attempt to explain the relationship between the source text and the
target text. They are translation commission, source-text analysis, and the functional
hierarchy (in Jeremy Munday, 2008, pp. 82-83).
The first dimension contains information such as the intended function, the
addressees, and the time and space of the text reception. Basically speaking, the
intended function in the product of AVT will be roughly the same as that in the original,
since the genre of the original and the Chinese version remains the same (sitcom).
However, the addressees, the time, and the space of text reception in the source and
target cultures differ considerably. In order to achieve the same fucntion in the
21
translation, the translator has to take into account the addressees as well as the time and
space the translation is aimed to be received. In the present case, it can be said that the
translation is influenced by the addressees. To be more specific, it is the envisaged
addressees a translator assumes in a particular time and place that determine how a
translator translates.
The source-text analysis is distinct from the equivalence paradigm. Equivalence
tends to focus on the difference/similarity of linguistic expressions between the source
and target texts. On the other hand, the source-text analysis is carried out to “decide on
functional priorities of the translation strategy.” (Nord, 1997, p. 62). It puts more
emphasis on the macro structures and the content as a whole. If the translator does a
thorough analysis of the source text in South Park, s/he will know that some intratextual
factors listed by Nord (2005) have substantial influence on the possible translation
strategies. For example, the recognition of subject matter, content, and audience’s
presuppositions vary considerably between the source and target culture. In the original,
the subject matter and content are quite American-oriented. The original audience
realize that the sitcom attempts to point out numerous seemingly popular but
unreasonable phenomena in a mocking and parodied way. On the contrary, the target
audience are not as familiar with those topics as the original ones. Presuppositions are
the real-world situations expected to be known by the audience. However, when the
translation work is involved, the translator has to consider the target audience. The shift
from the source audience to the target audience entails a change of presuppositions, and
oftentimes it is about the difference in background knowledge. Hence, the subject
matter and content are greatly modified to ensure a better understanding. Among the
available translation strategies, the author assumes that adaptation is a feasible solution
after comparing the source and target text in the South Park TV series. According to the
22
classification made by Tomaszkiewicz (1993, p. 223-227), adaptation as a translation
strategy in film subtitling attempts to provoke similar connotations to the original. This
is done through the adjustment of the translation to fit the target language and culture.
The prerequisite of this adjustment is the tackling of culture-specific items in the
translation process.
If culture-specific items and events are in great numbers, Maria Jose Veiga (2009)
suggests that the translator use recontextualisation (p. 166) to narrow down linguistic
and cultural gaps. Recontextualisation creates an innovative context for the target text,
and it facilitates the same viewing experience. Hickey (1998, p. 222) also defines
recontextualisation as a disposal of all the literal meaning in the linguistic transfer. The
author suggests that this is a kind of rewriting or adaptation of the original. However,
recontextualisation is chiefly limited to the modification of the textual elements in AVT
based on the arguments above. It is interesting to note that although images in AVT
remain the same, and some scholars contend that images are perceived differently (Zoe
Pettit, 2009; Patrick Zabalbeascoa, 2008; Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2007), they hardly
think of the possibility that images themselves can be changed forcibly to match the
new target text. The word “image” is a general term. According to the nature of
polysemiosis in AVT, it is made up of the verbal-visual channel such as written signs
and non-verbal visual channel like pictures. Actual examples will be presented in
Chapter Three. The source text and some of the images in the original version are
greatly modified. It seems that the translator has a particular purpose that cannot be
served by the traditional translation strategies. The purpose of a translation leads to the
discussion of skopos theory. In addition, the author believes that the target audience
play a crucial role. As stated earlier in this paper, the envisaged audience have a
consequential influence on the translator. The fact that the translator and the target
23
audience are both taken into consideration is a characteristic of skopos theory.
The Greek word skopos is created by Hans J. Vermeer. Vermeer (1989) defines the
word as a “technical term for the aim or purpose of a translation” (p. 227). In this sense,
translation is more like an activity, or as Vermeer concludes it, “part of a theory of
translational action” (ibid). Every action has its aim, and this is the basic definition in
his argument. The aim of a translation is not only dependent on the source text. It is,
most of the time, target-side oriented. This viewpoint is similar to the dimension of
functional hierarchy in the functionalist approach. The functional hierarchy established
by Nord (2005) suggests that when undertaking a translation, there are three consecutive
stages. The first is to decide whether the translation is “documentary” or “instrumental”.
Next, the choice of functional elements that needs to be adapted to the TT addressees’
situation. Last, the decision on the translation type (source or target-side oriented). In
fact, Vermeer (2004) does not deminish the value of the source text, for he specifies that
“[t]he skopos can also help to determine whether the source text needs to be translated,
paraphrased or completely re-edited” (p. 237). He points out that the skopos theory does
not mean that a translation must always “adapt” to the target culture. The source-text
orientation is just one of the many possibilities of the translation choice. What matters
most is the purpose of the translation. The author agrees with his perspective. For one
thing, AVT is an obvious activity of translation because of the existence of foreign
elements in audiovisual products. This characteristic implies that there is always a
source text on the spot, no matter it is presented in a verbal or non-verbal form. The
denial of the source text is impractical. For another, there is no definite or perfect
translation. It is commonplace for different translators to produce several “versions” of
an original work during the same period.
In the case of AVT, for example, fansubs and the official version of the same work
24
always differ. Fansubs are products which are produced by fans and for fans. According
to the author’s long experience of watching fansubs of Japanese animes, the main
purpose of fansubs is to transmit the foreign elements to their full extent. Howell (2007)
also concludes that in anime films, “[s]ubtitling is ... ‘foreignizing’ in that it does not
replace the original text as is usual in general translation” (p. 305). As the purpose is set,
the commonest translation strategy imployed by fansubbers is a literal rendering of the
original, which keeps most of the foreign elements for the target viewers.
However, most of the emphasis of skopos theory still rests on the target side. The
most frequent argument of the theory is like what Vermeer (2004) argues in his article
that “one must translate, consciously and consistently, in accordance with some
principle respecting the target text” (p. 234). But he also points out that the theory does
not consist of fixed principles, and they have to be determined “in each specific
case”(ibid). The reason for his argument is that the target text, which he calls translatum,
is target-culture oriented. If the meaning of a source text is intended to be understood
after translation, following the target norms is necessary. The goals for the source and
target texts may diverge greatly, as suggested by an often-quoted example of Gulliver's
Travels. Even in cases where the goals are the same, the translation is not merely a
trans-coding. A translation is context-based, and the context is realized in the
target-culture situation. Mary Snell-Hornby (2006) also points out that when translation
is more adaptive, it is seen as “how it serves its intended purpose” (p. 53). This notion
of translation is against the former criterion of SL equivalence (ibid) and can be applied
to real translation practice. Snell-Hornby thus concludes that the skopos is the most
significant factor. “The purpose or function of the translation in the target culture, as
specified by the client or the envisaged user-expectation” (p. 54), determines the shape
of translation. The purpose is set in a translation brief issued by a commissioner or a
25
client. The author suggests that the envisaged user expectation also plays an important
role, especially with regard to AVT. A translation brief is similar to a general guideline,
but the envisaged user-expectation derives from a group of target audience. The target
audience comprise a given group of people with particular ages, genders, educational
and cultural background. Though it is impossible for the television station or the
translator to ascertain exactly who is watching South Park, at least the reference can be
made to the audience of the original, and the translator can adopt the strategies to fit the
envisaged audience. This adaptation becomes a kind of prediction, for no one fully
knows how to translate to completely fulfil the user expectation. The reliable tool for
the translator is his/her assessment of the audience and his/her knowledge of the society
in which the translation is to be carried out. This assumed fulfilment is illustrated in
Isabel Hurtado de Mendoza Azaola’s viewpoint that a translation should be
“prospectively adequate to a target-text skopos.” (2009, p. 74). Therefore, translation is
regarded as an activity of cultural transfer. In this transfer, adequacy to a certain goal is
intended to be achieved. In fact, the author assumes that the genre and medium of the
original determine the skopos to a large extent, and adequacy is dependent on this
skopos. In the case of South Park, the genre is situation comedy. The skopos is chiefly
amusement. If the goal of amusement can be reached, a huge degree of modification in
the translation is natural and acceptable. Nevertheless, some will question whether a
huge transformation is necessary. Here the medium has a big influence. South Park is an
animation, and exaggerations are more tolerable due to the fictitious nature presented in
the product. Genre and medium thus help to achieve the prospective adequacy of a
traget-text skopos. The word “prospective” is quite the opposite to the retrospective
nature used in the equivalence paradigm. In the equivalence paradigm, the target text is
retrospectively equivalent to the source text.
26
Though it is an advancement that the consideration of translation moves from text
transfer to function fulfilment, extralinguistic elements are largely ignored. The author
aims to further delve into the interaction between culture and translation. The
interaction depends on the larger issues of context, history, and convention in a given
society, as described by Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere (1990, p. 11). In addition to
the issues related to the social environment in which the translation is made, the people
concerned will also be taken into consideration. They are mainly the translator and the
target culture receivers.
2.4 The Cultural Turn
The linguistic theories of translation before 1990s dominate the academia, with
examples such as equivalence, text types, and functionlist approach prevailing in
Translation Studies (TS). However, accompanied by studies on intercultural
communication and globalization, the 1990s have seen a shift from translation as text to
translation as culture and politics. This is what Mary Snell-Hornby (1990) terms “the
cultural turn”. The cultural turn represents a tendency that goes beyond language and
sheds more light on the interaction between translation and culture. In audiovisual
translation (AVT), culture is an issue under much scrutiny (Jorge Díaz Cintas, 2009; Zoe
Pettit, 2009; Jan Pedersen, 2005, 2007; Magdalena Panek, 2010; Nathalie Ramière,
2006). In dealing with culture problems, most works focus primarily on the linguistic
transposition and translation strategies. There is little, if any, studies on the factors that
govern how and why a given decision is made, nor is the relationship between the
translator and the socio-cultural context in which s/he situates fully investigated. Thus,
the author intends to borrow from André Lefevere’s concept of “translation as
rewriting” (1992) to probe into the Chinese version of South Park.
27
Though closely associated with comparative literature, in the reception and
rejection of literary text, Lefevere (1992) highlights the importance of power, ideology,
institution and manipulation (p. 2). People in these positions are the ones who rewrite
literature and regulate the dissemination of literary texts. Due to the substantial
transformation of the text in the Chinese version of South Park, it is not suitable to fit
the present study into the equivance-based translation theories. Rather, the
transformation should be seen as a rewriting of the original. Lefevere (1992) illustrates
that “translation is the most obvious recognizable type of rewriting” (p. 9) and claims
that, in literary translation, the literary system is controlled by three respects:
professionals within the literary system, patronage outside the literary system, and the
dominant poetics. In the case of South Park, the professional is the translator; the
patronage concerns the ideology of the translator, and the poetics illustrates the genre of
South Park. Though whether the claim is suitable for AVT needs further research, the
statement that is representative of the relationship between poetics, ideology, and
translation is delineated as follows:
On every level of the translation process, it can be shown that, if linguistic
considerations enter into conflict with considerations of an ideological and/or
poetological nature, the latter tend to win out. (Lefevere, 1992, p. 39)
For Lefevere, ideology and poetics are considered the most pivotal part in
translation. This is true, to some extent, for the Chinese version of South Park. The
translator, based on the observation on the target text, conforms and even yields to the
preferred poetics in sitcom translation. Nevertheless, the statement is not applicable to
the aspect of translator’s ideology. In Lefevere’s taxonomy, ideology is imposed upon
28
the translator by “patronage”. Lefevere (1992) explicates that patronage are “the powers
(persons, institutions) that can further or hinder the reading, writing, and rewriting of
literature” (p. 15). But the patronage per se cannot explain the complete transformation
in the Chinese version of South Park, since only a few animated TV series aired in
Taiwan, such as The Simpsons, show a huge degree of transformation. Because no
ethnographic approach is employed in this study, it can only be speculated that the
commissioner of translation has control over the end product. Shiau (2008) explains that
the television station Channel [V] Taiwan1, a Taiwanese affiliate of Channel [V], makes
effort to adapt and dub the show in Taiwan, but further details of the dubbing process
are not provided. Therefore, the author tentatively proposes that the cultural background
in a given society at a specific moment can be seen as a source of patronage. The
translator is subconsciously and/or consciously influenced by the society in which s/he
dwells, and the influence is reflected on the end-product as in the Chinese version of
South Park. It is easily observed that familiar figures and events are usually involved to
poke fun at the then social environment in Taiwan. From this viewpoint, translators are
culturally-shaped entities who deviate from the tradition of mere linguistic transfer
when they translate, and AVT in particular can also be exemplified by a literary frame in
the cultural turn.
Although AVT can be probed from a cultural angle, more empirical studies are
beneficial in developing innovative theories. In her article about the translation turn in
cultural studies, Bassnett (1998) points out that “theory was not to exist in the abstract”,
and “it [should] be dynamic and involved a study of the specifics of translation. Theory
and practice were to supply mutual nourishment” (pp. 124-125). From this perspective
does the importance of case study come into prominence, because the problematic
1
Channel [V] Taiwan was rebranded as Fox Taiwan on September 1, 2012.
29
translation points always appear in the text, not in the sphere of theory. The
representation of culture in AVT is conspicuous when culture-specific items have their
roles in the translation process. As Jan Pedersen (2005) puts it, culture-specific items
result in the “translation crisis point” that is problematic in translation (p. 113).
Culture-specific items are things that belong to a certain culture; they are not shared by
other places and are considered a source of “referential vacuum” (p. 164), as Rabadán
(1991, p. 164) terms it. Pym (2004) calls it “cultural embedding” and regards it as “the
most serious source of resistance to distribution” (p. 129). This resistance is resulted
from the lack of referent in the target culture. Due to the fact that there is no
corresponding items in the target culture that reflect the similar value, the importation of
foreign elements does not create the effect as that perceived by the original audience.
However, it does not mean that culture-specific items are untranslatable. In
showing that the reading of a text is subject to cultural values, Snell-Hornby specifies
that “the text is no longer a static vessel containing an author’s intended meaning that
can supposedly be reproduced in translation […]; translation turns into a kind of
transformation” (2006, p. 62). The translator becomes a visible and active participant in
this transformation. In fact, as AVT is considered a form of constrained translation, the
manipulation and adaptation are easily observed. In addition, Díaz-Cintas and Remael
(2007) further elaborate on the nature of subtitling and describe it as a “vulnerable
translation” (p. 57). The co-existence of source text soundtrack and target text subtitles
is basic to their argument, because “subtitles must also stand up to the scrutiny of an
audience” (idid). Although this argument is manily concerned with subtitling, dubbing
is also vulnerable to the non-verbal channels presented on screen. The basic claim is
that the audience watch the audiovisual work which contains non-verbal foreign
elements, but they listen to their native language. In this stage, the manipulation of the
30
translator and the poetics of the dubbed text become so obvious that the audiovisual
work is perceived as a form of rewriting, or, a type of adaptation which has been
prevailing in recent development of Translation Studies.
2.5 Adaptation or Translation
The question of whether the Chinese version of South Park is a translation or an
adaptation needs to be analyzed from different perspectives. Pym (2004) points out that
when people are asked about the difference between translation and adaptation, their
answers tend to concern “the right to add things or to take things away” (p. 87). This
viewpoint originates from a text-oriented angle. The general idea about translation is
that the amount of translated texts is roughly the same as the original. Adaptation, on the
other hand, concerns an expanded or an abridged end-product. John Milton also
indicates that “an adaptation will usually contain omissions, rewritings, maybe additions,
but will still be recognized as the work of the original author” (2009, p. 51). The
statement is a combination of the textual and perceptive viewpoint, with an
identification of the adaptation as a derivative work. It indicates that an adaptation is not
considered a new creation, even if it is partially rewritten. The transformation of textual
elements does not influence the perception that a given piece of work derives from an
original. Based on Pym’s argument, the Chinese version of South Park is tended to be
viewed as a kind of translation. Although a small reduction is unavoidable, the length of
the dubbed text in the Chinese version is almost the same as that in the original. On the
other hand, though some parts of the Chinese version are completely rewritten, the
nature of audiovisual works constantly reminds the audience of the original. It is this
awareness of a previous work that makes the Chinese version of South Park a form of
adaptation.
31
Moreover, there are other viewpoints about the definition of adaptation. Eleonora
Fois (2012) maintains that the translator’s choices become “more intrusive, ranging
from reshaping some parts, to cutting others” in an adaptation. (p. 2). Intrusion,
intervention, and manipulation are words used when talking about the influence of the
translator, and most of the time it is the target culture that affects the translator. Fois
(2012) also mentions that “the great attention paid to the adequacy/acceptability
relationship in the target text” is what differs translation from adaptation (p. 3). She
borrows the concept of “norms” developed by Giden Toury (1995). Translation is to
adequacy what adaptation is to acceptability. Adequacy is how complete a translation is
toward the norms of source culture, while acceptability is the inclination for target
culture norms. The tendency of defining adaptation as the deviation from the original
and the adherence to the target culture is also illustrated in Venuti (2007). In his
discussion of film adaptation, Venuti elucidates that translation and adaptation are both
classified as derivative works. “[T]ranslators are required by their publishers, often
explicitly in contracts, to render the source text without any deletions and with only […]
additions” (p. 29). In contrast, an adaptation departs from the original, and it is
“submitting […] to various kinds of manipulation and revision” (idid). Venuti’s idea
about translation accentuates the obvious influence of the commissioner on translators.
Translators are restricted to translation commissions, and only limited modification is
allowed. On the other hand, it is indicated by Venuti that manipulation plays an
important role in an adaptation. To sum up, Fois and Venuti’s illustrations of adaptation
put much emphasis on the part of intrusion and manipulation. If their illustrations are
taken into account, the Chinese version of South Park is regarded as a kind of
adaptation into the target culture, because it is easy for the audience of the Chinese
version to notice the translator’s manipulation on the texts.
32
The applicability of these theoretical concepts needs to be examined through close
textual analysis. Various translation strategies warrant further investigation as well. In
the realm of AVT, Díaz-Cintas and Remael (2007) conclude that the translation
strategies more often used in AVT are (1) Loan (2) Calque or literal translation (3)
Explicitation (4) Substitution (5) Transposition (6) Lexical recreation (7) Compensation
(8) Omission (9) Addition (p. 202). If the range is narrowed down to translation
strategies for culture-related items in AVT, reference is made to Jan Pedersen (2007,
2009) and her taxonomy of rendering Extralinguistic Culture-bound References (ECRs).
ECR, according to the definition of Pedersen (2005), is illustrated in the following:
Extralinguistic Culture-bound Reference (ECR) is defined as reference that is
attempted by means of any culture-bound linguistic expression, which refers to
an extralinguistic entity or process, and which is assumed to have a discourse
referent that is identifiable to a relevant audience as this referent is within the
encyclopedic knowledge of this audience (p. 114).
ECRs are references to things outside the linguistic domain, although they are
expressed linguistically. The decisive point is that they are entities that you may not
know even if you have a good command of that language. When translation is involved,
literal translation often results in problems because the target audience lack the
necessary encyclopaedic knowledge of that reference. Pedersen further points out that in
dealing with ECRs, the subtitler can take advantage of cultural substitution in two ways:
“(1) to domesticate the text by using a TC (Target Culture) ECR or (2) to use a better
known (i.e. transcultural) ECR from the SC (Source Culture) or a third culture known
both in the SC and the TC” (2007, p. 32).
33
Cultural substitution is similar to transposition in the classification based on
Díaz-Cintas and Remael (2007) presented above. The main similarity between the two
is the replacement of one cultural concept with another. The search for the replacement
depends mostly on the translator’s choice, and the choice is made by the cultural
environment in which the translator is cultivated. Translators are mostly translating into
their native language, and they are influenced by their home environment. To put it
therotically, it is the norm (Toury, 1995) that has substantial influence on translators. In
the Chinese version, some people cast doubt on the replacement of SC ECRs with TC
ECRs or transcultural ECRs, saying that these references in the original are well-known
enough that a literal translation suffices. However, the author contends that a literal
translation of ECRs cannot bring out the connotation behind the target text; there is only
the denotation. It is the connotation that determines how a text is perceived, because
connotation is context-based in a specific environment. In the Chinese version of South
Park, the complete maintenance of the original context is infeasible, and so is the
connotation of ECRs if they are rendered literally.
2.6 Summary
The review on equivalence suggests that after technical and linguistic
considerations are taken into account, equivalence paradigm is insufficient in explaining
the actual condition of AVT. Factors outside the linguistic domain often determine the
way in which AVT is shaped. Functionalist approach and skopos theory proposed by
Nord and Vermeer respectively demonstrate that functional fulfilment for the target
audience plays a central role in AVT. The purpose of a translation is a determining
factor in the creation of the target text. However, the background parameters concerning
the social environment and culture settings in the target culture influence the translator’s
34
choice to a large extent. Translation strategies are adopted accordingly. The Chinese
version of South Park as an extreme form of AVT provokes a debate on the difference
between translation and adaptation. Culture-specific items, whether they are in the
source or target culture, are good examples to examine the translation strategies
implemented in the Chinese version.
In the next two chapters, the author undertakes detailed textual analysis of a variety
of examples from South Park to further examine the relevance and boundaries of
theories and concepts discussed in this chapter.
35
Chapter 3
CASE STUDY 1: THE UNORTHODOX
This chapter concerns the first phase of data collection and data analysis in this
thesis. The author will retrieve texts from the English and Chinese versions as a major
source of data. In terms of data, it mostly consists of dialogue exchanges and
monologues which are representative enough to show how deviated the Chinese version
is. The data will be retrieved from several episodes ranging from Season 1 to Season 7,
and as long as any particular example is deemed appropriate, it will be provided in the
next two chapters. The “case study” is composed of several examples which are
considered special even in the Chinese version. In other words, they are unorthodox by
standards of ordinary AVT in Taiwan. Comparisons between the source text and the
target text will be carried out in every example, and they are always demonstrated with
back translation to ensure easy access to the readership and ample justification for each
ensuing argument.
3.1 South Park
South Park, in its Chinese official title 南方四賤客, is created by Trey Parker and
Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. The cartoon series is both
famous and notorious for its coarse language and brave attempt to reveal and satirize a
lot of events that worth public attention and contemplation. Four main characters
correspond to the Chinese title, and they are Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh,
and Kenny McCormick. The story in the series always revolves around them. In fact,
36
there are other characters that play pivotal roles during the series, and occasionally the
emphasis will be shifted to them. The series has no central and continuous plots, and
each episode can be seen as a separate unit. Nevertheless, there is basic connection
among episodes, and sometimes two or more episodes are used to deal with one single
story.
South Park is a sitcom full of culture-specific items. It shows the authentic and
sometimes exaggerated American way of life. However, the audience realize that the
sitcom attempts to point out numerous seemingly popular but unreasonable phenomena
in a mocking and ironic way. To achieve the effect of mockery and irony, this sitcom
involves current events and cultural background knowledge in the U.S., which cause
comprehension difficulty for foreign viewers.
3.2 Introduction of Data Collection
This paper is written in a case study manner. The case study does not consist of
only a single event or story; it is composed of many examples. Some short examples are
presented within the text, while other longer or more representative examples are shown
in tables to make it easy to read. Data is retrieved from both the original dubbed text
and the target dubbed text of the South Park TV series, and the data encompasses
different seasons and episodes.
The process of data collection is divided into several phases. Firstly, the author
watches almost all episoeds of the Chinese version of South Park to check the target
dubbed texts, searching for chunks and dialogues which have Taiwanese elements or
inconsistency with the nonverbal channels, such as pictures, on screen. The reason is
that it is unlikely to listen to local names when foreign figures are shown if a literal
rendering is adopted; it is quite possible that there is a certain degree of transformation.
37
The clips in which Taiwanese celebrities, events, traditions, and inconsistency appear
are annotated. The second phase is to find the corresponding chunks and dialogues in
the original dubbed text to ensure that there are actual transformations. The task is
carried out by listening to the Chinese version while looking at the original scripts
shown on script websites. Next, chunks and dialogues in the target dubbed texts are
transcribed, while the corresponding ones in the original texts are copied down from
script websites. The author also watches the original version of South Park to make sure
that the copied texts are accurately transcribed.
3.3 Research Method
As the collection of data is complete, close textual analysis will be made on the
source and target text. Back translation will be provided in every example to make
comparison and foreground the degree of transformation, and readers who are not
acquainted with Chinese will have easy access to the target text. No fixed theoretical
frameworks are to be adopted to analyze all the data. Different concepts and theories
will be implemented as long as they are solid enough to explain a given example.
Furthermore, the author will conclude the information in the examples to develop his
arguments, trying to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the paradigms in the
literature review chapter.
3.4 Focus on the Target Culture
Close textual analysis will be implemented on both source text and target text of
the animated TV series South Park. After the analysis, a comparison is made to make
explicit the distinction between the source and target text. Translation strategies and
possible reasons for the adoption of given strategies will be expounded after each
38
example. Back translation is always provided as a means to assist reading and facilitate
the comparison.
This section puts consequential emphasis on the part of target culture. Oftentimes it
is revealed in this section that the source text contains little, if any, elements which are
unknown or culture-specific to the target audience. In this situation, the source text is
assumed to be rendered literally in traditional AVT practice. However, the Chinese
version shows that the practice can be modified. The modification is seen in several
examples. The first one is from Season 7, Episode 3, Toilet Paper.
Season 7, Episode 3
Toilet Paper
In this episode, the four boys decided to make a retribution to their art teacher by
“toilet papering” her house after being given detention. Example 1 shows how they talk
about their revenge.
Example 1
The original
Stan: Mrs. Streibel thinks
she's so cool!
The Chinese version
上流美以為她是誰啊？
Back translation
Who the hell does
High-class Mei think she
is?
Kyle: How dare she talk to
us like that?!
靠！學佛了不起啊。
Damn it! Do you think
learning Buddhism is
something you can brag
about?
Kenny: (Yeah, how the
有牛郎就跩喔。
You boast yourself because
fuck is that?!)
you have male escorts?
39
Cartman: We can't let her
我才不會就這樣算了
get away with this! I think
tonight we need to do
something drastic.
咧。今天晚上，我就要讓 with this! I think tonight
上流美知道我們的厲害。 we need to do something
Stan: Like what?
是有多厲害？
Cartman: Like find out
where Mrs. Streibel lives,
and go over there, and...
我們先去摸清楚她的底
We can reveal her secrets
細，再給她來個…呃…白 first, and give
色恐怖。
her …er…White Terror.
I can't let her get away
drastic to High-class Mei.
Like what?
TP her house.
Kenny: (Yeah!)
耶
(Yeah!)
Kyle: TP her house?
白色恐怖？
White Terror?
Cartman: Toilet paper!
Cover her house in toilet
paper.
對啊。最可怕的恐怖攻
擊。
Yeah. The most horrifying
terrorist attack.
In this piece of dialogue, “Mrs. Streible” is replaced with “High-class Mei”, a
nickname for a local TV celebrity only known to the target viewers. In AVT, the change
of personal names is often resorted to when the names have real referents or
connotations only recognizable by the original audience. In subtitling, the change of
“clearly audible names” may cause problems because the name on the soundtrack
contradicts the name in the subtitle (Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2007, p. 205). However, the
constraint in dubbing is much less. There is no contradiction, unless in a rare situation
where the target viewers see the visual name while hearing a different name. The freer
nature of dubbing thus provides more space for the translator to deal with names.
In subtitling strategies proposed by Díaz-Cintas and Remael (2007), the
replacement of one cultural concept by another is named transposition. At first glance,
the dialogue seems to be an application of transposition. But the name “Mrs. Streibel” in
the source text has no cultural reference or connotation. “High-class Mei” is used
40
because this episode begins with a scene in an art classroom and a teacher walking
through the class. It is possible that the translator connects the image of an art teacher
with that of High-class Mei. Chun-Mei Hsu (許純美), nicknamed as High-class Mei, is
a Taiwanese figure known for her exaggerated dress and performance style. The author
assumes that this is the reason for her being selected, because her unique “artistic” style
correspondes well to the stereotype of an art teacher. Once the selection is made in the
first dialogue exchange, the following two exchanges are seen as a parody of her
notable behaviors, such as Buddhism learning and the scandal of going out with male
escorts. It is worthy to note that the first three dialogue exchanges in the source text are
not concerned with culture-specific items. They are not even considered problematic
points in translation. Nevertheless, the Chinese version still rewrites the original
dialogue, because the transformation has been made at the beginning of this episode.
Once the original dialogue is rewritten, the coherence among dialogue exchanges
becomes the most important factor. Fluency reduces the sense of incongruity between
speech and on-screen images, and it makes the target text sounds natural.
In the following dialogue exchanges, the first problematic point of translation
appears: TP one’s house. Although the idea is explained immediately after the
abbreviation (Toilet paper! Cover her house in toilet paper), the term is neither rendered
literally nor domestically. The translator adopts a term “White Terror” to describe the
prank’s very nature. Toilet papers are white, and the deed of toilet papering one’s house
causes a great deal of trouble, just like a terrorist attack. However, as the term “White
Terror” is introduced, the target audience can not grasp the meaning until the following
scenes of toilet papering are shown. The term “White Terror” does not make clear the
prank; rather, it mystifies the original dialogues. Furthermore, “White Terror” is a term
representing a period of political suppression in Taiwan. Some of the adult audience
41
know or even experience the suppression themselves, so there is a special meaning in
this term. This connection may mislead the target audience and give them some
incorrect expectations about the plot afterwards. To sum up, this dialogue is an example
of plot rewriting. What matters most is not the culture-specific items or problematic
points in translation, but the consistency among dialogues as well as between images
and dialogues.
The next example is also from Season 7, Episode 3. The four boys put into practice
their revenge. They went to a supermarket to buy tolilet papers. It starts with a picture
shown below.
Example 2
The original
The Chinese version
The example demonstrates that images in AVT can be changed. The common
solution in similar audiovisual works is to add a translated title near the image or at the
bottom of the screen as a subtitle. Sometimes the image is just left intact. In the Chinese
version, the signboard is directly replaced by a new one with Chinese characters. But it
is not a literal translation of the original. The translator does not transliterate the original
word “Henry”. On the contrary, s/he uses a famous brand name of a hypermarket in
Taiwan, Carrefour (家樂福). However, this is not the end of the transformation. Due to
the fact that Chinese is a language full of homophones, the translator uses a homophone
(with a different tone) to replace the first character of the Chinese official name for
Carrefour (家樂福→「賈」樂福). In fact, the replacement can be seen as a parody of the
42
hypermarket Carrefour, because the audience will notice the translator’s intention at first
sight. The translation also falls into the category of explicitation, which means making
the target text more accessible to the target audience. However, the brand name in the
original is not culture-specific. “Henry” is only a given name that has little reference to
anything, and “supermarket” is so commonplace that a literal translation suffices. A
literal translation is adequate in bringing out the full meaning. Explicitation in this
example is not used to explain anything obscure, but to enhance a feeling of familiarity
with some degree of wordplay.
Another example of the translation of the terms which are not culture specific
delineates that, when hilarity and absurdity of the plot become the first priority, the
coherence of scenario plays a crucial role. This example mainly centers around the
conversation between the four boys and a cashier in the checkout counter. The shopping
carts are stacked with packages of toilet papers, and Kyle is worried about being
suspected.
Example 3
The original
Kyle: Don't you guys
think this is a little
suspicious? We should
buy something else so it
doesn't look obvious.
Cartman: Okay. Here we
go, pack of chewing gum.
The Chinese version
買這麼多別人會不會懷
疑啊？還是買點別的東
西掩護一下吧。
Back translation
Don't you guys think this is a
little suspicious if we buy so
much? We should buy
something else to cover it
up.
也可啊。就這個，洋蔥青 Okay. Here we go, pack of
箭。
onion flavored Doublemint.
everything you need?
嗨，小朋友，要去遠足
啊？
Hello boys. You wanna go
hiking?
Cartman: Yep. All set.
嗯，對啊。
Yep.
Cashier: Hello boys. Find
43
Cashier: So, what are you 那你們要去哪裡遠足
啊？
kids up to tonight?
Cartman: Oh, we're just
gonna watch some TV,
maybe play a board
game.
Cashier: Nice relaxing
night at home, huh?
So, where do you want to
go for a hike?
喔，我們要去參觀台北一 Oh, we are going to visit
零一的地下停車場。
the underground parking
lot in Taipei 101.
好，祝你們玩得愉快啊。 OK. Have a good time.
阿！對了，你們要記得
careful with this chewing 喔，吃完洋蔥口味的口香
gum. Don't go sticking it 糖，不可以隨便玩親親
喔。
under tables.
Cashier: Now you kids be
Now, you kids should
remember. Do not play
kissing games after
chewing the onion flavored
chewing gum.
The first change in the target text is that the generic term “chewing gum” is
replaced by a famous chewing gum brand “Doublemint” in Taiwan. This is a strategy
similar to that used in Example 2, which enhances a feeling of familiarity. Although
general argument in AVT maintains that hyponyms, such as a brand name of chewing
gum, narrow down the meanings of words and are seldom used, the source text has a
determining role. If the source expression has little or no reference to anything
particular, both a literal translation and explicitation will do in the target text. The option
depends largely on the translator’s choice. In order to show the absurd situation and the
cashier’s insensitivity, the translator rewrites the whole story. It is unusual for a cashier
to think about going hiking when four kids buy a large amount of toilet papers. In
answering the greeting, it is also unreasonable for the kids to say that their destination is
an underground parking lot. Maybe the only phrase that makes sense is Taipei 101, a
famous tourist attraction in Taiwan. It is more strange to wish people a nice trip after
knowing that their destination is the underground parking lot in Taipei 101. Furthermore,
the onion flavored chewing gum is hardly seen on the market, and it makes the final
44
dialogue exchange coherent with the previous purchase of onion flavored Doublemint.
In the case of South Park, once the plot does not contradict the images,
considerable rewriting of the original dialogue is regarded natural. The next example
from the same episode justifies the viewpoint.
Example 4
The Original
Cashier: You know, son, I
remember you comin' in
last week and buying this
much toilet paper.
Cartman: Heh yeah, that
The Chinese version
Back translation
咦，我記得上禮拜，你好 You know, son, I remember
像也來買過不少這玩意兒 you comin' in last week
啊。
and buying this much toilet
paper.
是啊，我用量大嘛。
Heh yeah, I used much.
that's right.
Kyle: You TP'ed a house
last week, Cartman?
你上禮拜也幹過白色恐怖 You White Terrored a
啊？
house last week, Cartman?
Cartman: No. Last
沒有啦，上禮拜我那個來 No. Last week I got my
了咩。
period.
Thursday night was fajitas
night.
Kyle: Oh. Uuugh!
喔…吭?
[Oh. Uuugh?]
The cashier recalls that Cartman has also bought much toilet paper last week. Kyle
asks Cartman whether he toilet papered a house last week. Cartman replies that last
Thursday night was “fajitas” night. Fajitas refers to a dish of Mexican grilled meat,
which can be viewed as a culture-specific term unknown to the target audience. General
solution to the translation of exotic cuisine is either to remain the foreign flavor by
direct translation or extra explanation, or to replace the original with local cuisine which
has similar properties.
In this example, however, neither a direct translation nor a local replacement is
implemented as a solution; the translator’s creativity prevails over the traditional
45
solutions. The Chinese version is likely to be inspired by the fact that sometimes fajitas
gives people diarrhea, and much toilet paper is used. Cartman’s answer of getting his
period is certainly absurd, but Kyle’s disgusting and unbelievable response rationalizes
this answer. Images play a complementary role in the interpretation of the dubbed text.
No contradiction is found in this example, and any concept of equivalence and cultural
substitution is not adopted. Translator’s choice predominates in this case. The choice is
made based on the skopos of the translation of situation comedy: to make people feel
that the plot is funny and absurd. It is assumed that the only problem is caused by the
fact that some people may not accept the conspicious modification of a boy getting his
period.
Because of being afraid that Kyle will rat them out, Cartman invites Kyle to ride
on a boat to have a “talk”, and Cartman decides to kill Kyle on the boat. In the boat
riding scenes, the boat ride is translated into “rowing the dragon boat”. This again can
be seen as a free translation or an adaptation of a phrase; the source text “boat ride”
does not contain any culture-specific items, but it still undergoes a domesticated
translation which involves the tradition of Dragon Boat Festival. Actually the scenes are
reference to the 1974 movie The Godfather Part II by Francis Ford Coppola. Here the
Chinese version makes explicit the reference by adding a text box of the movie’s
Chinese title on screen, whereas in the original there is no title or text box at all. The
addition can be seen as an obvious explicitation of the tacit reference for the target
audience. In the conversation between Kyle and Cartman below, dialogues are
transformed in order to make the reference more tangible.
Example 5
The Original
Cartman: So how are
things, Kyle?
The Chinese version
你最近過得怎麼樣啊？
46
Back translation
So how have you been,
Kyle?
Kyle: Terrible. Every time
I close my eyes I see the
house we TP'ed. I see the
tears of our art teacher
and hear the screams of
her daughters.
無敵糟。這幾天我老是夢
見「教父續集」的畫面。
艾爾帕西諾還拍我肩膀
叫我忘了上流美老師家
的事。
Cartman: And you feel like 這麼說你還是覺得有罪
惡感。
you have to confess.
Terrible. These days I
have been dreaming of
the scenes in “The
Godfather Part II”. Al
Pacino patted me on the
shoulder, telling me to
forget what had
happened to High-class
Mei’s house.
And you still have a sense
of guilt.
Al Pacino is the actor portraying Michael Corleone in The Godfather series. In
Taiwan, he is well-known for his role in the movie, and be able to be directly connected
with the movie. This “translation” performs like an adaptation or a “recontextualisation”
(Veiga, 2009, p. 166) which informs the viewers of the reference to the scenes in the
sequel. In the original, the reference is intended to be implicitly detected, but the
Chinese version makes the reference explicit. The drawback of the adaptation is that it
does not correspond with the previous dream scenes of the toilet papering deeds, though
they are not presented in this conversation. This type of explicitation bears no
resemblance to the current definition of explicitation, which states that the source text is
made more accessible by using hyponyms or hypernyms (Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2007,
p. 203). The same condition occurs in the name calling of an imprisoned character in the
same episode. The prisoner was put into jail because of his repeated toilet papering
deeds. The interview of the police officer with the prisoner is a parody of the 1991
movie The Silence of the Lambs by Jonathan Demme. In the original South Park, the
parodied Dr. Hannibal Lecter is called Josh, while in the Chinese version, he is
mentioned several times as 人魔/人魔醫生 (Dr. Hannibal). What is not a cultural term
(Josh) becomes a term loaded with foreign elements, and the term is familiar to the
47
target audience. In Pedersen’s (2007) classification of cultural substitution, this strategy
roughly belongs to the second which uses a better known (i.e. transcultural) ECR from
the SC (Source Culture) to do the replacement. The difference between Pedersen’s
category and the example lies in that the original name does not contain ECRs. Using
ECR from the SC in the Chinese version is to elicit the connotation behind the original
name. Another distinction is that the replacement is done in a rewriting manner, which
is seldom seen in AVT because of the fact that most replacement occurs in every
encounter of culture-related terms. Translation itself is a problem-solving process, and
cultural replacement is at the core of the process. In fact, this is the traditional
perspective, but the Chinese version of South Park breaks the boundary, creating texts
that are internally coherent and externally irrevelant to the original. The deviation from
the original is not caused by culture-specific references in the source text, such as the
case in Example 5. The genre of sitcom increases the degree of deviation. As for South
Park, the animated form and the particular audience group of adults both lead to a
greater degree of transformation. Genre, audiovisual form, and the audience all
contribute to the huge deviation from the original. The next example illustrates how a
rewriting is carried out in a different episode.
Example 6
The Original
Kenny: (Kyle, I'm gonna
camp and watch the
The Chinese version
Back translation
大人都不在，我要去演遊 Adults are gone. I want to
民，要不要一起去?
play homeless people. Do
meteor shower. Do you
wanna come and see it
with me?)
Kyle: I can't watch the
meteor shower with you,
Kenny. I have to go to
Jewbilee.
you wanna go with me?
ㄘㄟ、，我要去超黨派童 Oops, I have to go to
軍營，我不能跟你去。
Beyond Party Scout
Camp. I can’t go with
you.
48
Kenny: (What's that?)
超黨派?
Beyond Party?
Kyle: It's what we do in
Jew Scouts. Usually we
just sit around and make
stuff. But tonight, because
there's a meteor shower,
父母拋棄小孩的招式
啊。就是圍著一圈火做蠢
事，每年都會搞一些主
題，這次是為了股價跌破
六千點祈福，超乾燥吧。
It’s how parents get rid of
their kids. They do silly
things around a campfire.
Every year there are some
topics. This time the topic
we're gonna do some big
thing out in the woods.
It's gonna suck ass, I'm
is to pray for the stock
market that drops under
6000 points. It’s very
boring, isn’t it?
sure.
In this episode, Kyle is going to attend a gathering called Jewbilee, an event held in
Jew Scouts and is peculiar to Jewish group. At the same time, Kenny is hanging around.
Kyle wants to invite Kenny, but the invitation is rejected by Kyle’s mother due to the
fact that Kenny is not a Jewish kid. The only culture-specific term is Jewbilee, which is
translated as Beyond Party Scout Camp. The concept of breaking the boundary between
political parties is prevalent in Taiwan during the period the translation is made. The rise
and fall of stock market was also another issue under much discussion. It is assumed
that they are the impetus for the translator to employ a rewriting style. Coherence
among dialogue exchanges becomes the top priority. Coherence is revealed in the
relationship between political parties and the stock market, since politics and economics
are closely related. It does not matter whether the source text has culture-bound
references or not. The effect of entertainment and the reference to the current events in
the target culture predominate in the Chinese version.
The above examples are mainly those of rewriting which are not caused by
culture-specific items. Examples of culture-specific items are “fajitas” and “Jewbilee” ,
but they are not tackled in a traditional way. Cultural substitutions in the target culture
are observed in Example 1 with High-class Mei and White Terror, Example 2 with
49
Carrefour, Example 3 with Doublemint and Taipei 101, Example 5 with The Godfather
Part II and Al Pacino. No matter what their original forms are, the target text always
contains something which is easily recognized by the target audience. The source text
does not play a crucial part in text formation; it functions like a source of inspiration for
the translator to create texts. Example 4 is the only exception, but in fact, the target text
「我那個來了」(I just got that; I got my period) is an euphemism for the menstrual
cycle. Roughly speaking, it can be regarded as a culture-specific term only known to the
target audience. The next section also includes examples of obvious adaptation, but they
are tackled in a different way.
3.5 Shift of Emphasis to the Source Culture
Generalization of culture-specific items is also discovered in the Chinese version
of South Park. Use of hypernyms is often considered when no counterparts can be
found in the target culture. For example, in Season 6, Episode 3, an episode entitled
Asspen, which itself is a wordplay (Aspen→“Ass”pen), the four boys and their parents
are going to visit the ski resort in Aspen, which is located in Colorado. Owing to the fact
that Taiwan has no ski resorts and Aspen is not famous enough for the target audience to
make the impression of a luxurious ski weekend, Aspen is translated as five star ski
vacation. The place name is completely omitted. In the following conversation, Kyle’s
father fears that he cannot afford the vacation, and one of the parents says that they can
attend a “timeshare” presentation in Aspen to get a free tour. Timeshare is not a popular
concept in the target culture. There is even no widely-circulated translated term for it, so
the timeshare presentation is simply rendered as 座談會 (an informal discussion
meeting). As they get to their destination, a signboard of the presentation office echoes
with the ensuing greetings from the hosts of the Chinese version. The signboard reads
50
that the ski club is a fraud gang, which is shown in the Chinese version in Example 1.
Example 1
The original
The Chinese version
As the parents are ready for skiing, the hosts of the presentation appear. They greet
the parents in the following way.
Example 2
The original
The Chinese version
Man: Hello, folks, I'm Phil 大家好，我是坑人滑雪俱
樂部的尚線， 這位是藍
and this is Josh. We're
賺。
with the Aspen
Time-Share Company.
Back translation
Hello, folks, I’m
Shangxian and this is
Langzhuan. We’re with
the Fraudulent Ski Club.
The Parents: Hello.
你好啊。
Hello.
Josh: You folks enjoying
大家還喜歡這裡吧？
You folks enjoying here?
喜歡的不得了。
We love here so much.
the condo?
Sheila: It's lovely. Thank
you.
Example 1 proves again that images in such animated TV series can be changed,
even though the meaning conveyed is totally different. Once the alternation is made in
the image, the same utterance in the conversation must be transformed in order to reach
coherence in the target text. Since the topic of the episode is skiing, the translation of
“Time-Share Company” as a ski club corresponds with the previous conversation about
skiing. The translation avoids the culturally unfamiliar idea of sharing property
51
ownership in resorts. For the reason of using 坑人 (fraudulent) as the club name, it can
be conceived of as a combination of hilarious elements and the herald of following plots.
Living in the condo in tourist attractions is an idea which is foreign to the target
audience, and the deixis “here” is used to replace the unfamiliar term. It is another
example of generalization. The entire episode does not contain anything about the
translation of condos, which is a manifestation of coherence in the target text. Finally, it
is worthy to mention that the translation of the two salesmen’s names “Phil” and “Josh”
as 尚線 and 藍賺 is not arbitrary. The aim is multifaceted. First, 尚線 (Upline) and
藍賺 (Blue diamond) are technical terms in direct selling. Though the Chinese
characters are different, the pronunciation is the same. Viewers will understand the
intended meaning of the two terms as they listen to the dialogue while subtitles are
presented. Secondly, the terms are compatible with the following translation of
timeshare, which is rendered as “direct selling”, a generic term widely known in the
target culture. Lastly, the terms are the wordplay based on the homophonous nature of
the Chinese language, and the target audience can sense the connotation of the terms.
This is a strategy often implemented to provoke feelings of hilarity. In Taiwan, subtitles
are added in some dubbed programs to facilitate viewing experiences. In the Chinese
version of South Park, it is often used to strengthen the effect of wordplay. For example,
personal names of celebrities are heard with similar or identical pronunciation, but the
Chinese characters are different.
In the following plots, the two salesmen of the timeshare company coax the parents
into buying timeshare properties. The parents are hesitant because they want to ensure
their ownership. As the technical terms for direct selling are adopted in the previous
translation of timeshare, the subsequent source text must be transformed to maintain the
coherence with the previous translation. In the original text, one of the parents doubts
52
whether he can buy his own condo in Aspen with only eight thousand dollars, whereas
in the Chinese version, the place name and the amount of money are totally omitted, and
a new situation is created.
Example 3
The original
Randy: So then it's not
really ours.
Phil: Sure it is, one
twenty-fourth and a half
yours! You see,
time-share has made it
possible for even
working-class people like
you to say, "I've got a
little place in Aspen."
Josh: Try it. Try saying it.
"I've got a little place in
Aspen."
The Parents: I've got a
little place in Aspen.
The Chinese version
這聽起來很像老鼠會。
Back translation
It sounds like a pyramid
scheme.
你誤會了，直銷絕對不是 You got it wrong. Direct
老鼠會。直銷等於是自己 selling is definitely not a
做老闆，時間自由自在， pyramid scheme. Direct
又有機會變成藍鑽，不入 selling means you are the
會實在太可惜了。
boss; you are free to use
your time, and you have
the chance to advance to
the blue diamond. It is so
pitiful not to join the
club.
是啊，千萬別放棄。我的 Yes, never give up. That’s
賓士就是這樣賺來的。
how I earned my Benz.
可是，我們想先去滑雪。 But we want to ski first.
Example 3 is regarded as a combination of strategies. The combination includes
generalization, omission, substitution, and rewriting. As a matter of fact, the rewriting
falls into the category of “situational substitution” in the taxonomy for rendering ECRs
in subtitling, which represents a replacement of the sourct text ECR with anything that
“fits the situation” (Pedersen, 2009, p. 95). However, the rewriting is not exactly the
same as situational substitution, for the ECRs in the source text are timeshare and Aspen,
but the target text is rewritten entirely. Aspen occurs three times, and three renderings
53
appear: the blue diamond, Benz, and ski. This may correspond with the definition of
situational substitution, but the degree of correspondence is uncertain because the
renderings between the source and target languages are not one to one. Aspen is
transformed as blue diamond, omitted throughout, generalized as the sport of skiing,
and substituted by Benz, a German automobile manufacturer.
Besides, the last dialogue exchange in the original demonstrates that dubbing is
less constrained and more vulnerable to manipulation than subtitling. With the same
source text “I've got a little place in Aspen”, the last two dialogue exchanges of the
target text are completely different. Credibility gaps occur if the Chinese version is
subtitled, because the audience hear the same sentence twice with different subtitles. In
dubbing, it is easy for the translator to manipulate the dubbed text. For the target
audience, it is hard to notice the manipulation. The distinctions are the characteristics
specific to dubbing. Furthermore, the problems of different accents and languages that
do not belong to the original and the target languages are easier to be solved in a dubbed
form. For example, one of the characters in South Park is an African American, and the
Chinese version makes him a person of Shandongnese descent. Shandong (山東) is a
province of China, and it is well-known in Taiwan for its special accent. The character
in the Chinese version always speaks with a strong accent, which corresponds to the
African American accent in the original. The personal characteristic, if shown in a
subtitled form, cannot be presented to the full extent.
3.6 Summary
In this chapter, it is revealed that transformation occurs in many situations which
are not culture-specific. Coherence between dialogues and images as well as among
dialogues themselves becomes the most important factor. As long as the target text can
54
form a story in its own right, it is considered a feasible option in translation. The
compability with other semiotic channels also plays a crucial role, but the genre of the
audiovisual production also exerts its influence. Comedy is a genre more tolerant of
manipulation, and forcible changes on images and texts are perceived as “irony, sarcasm,
and humorous elements” in this genre, as suggested by Muños Gil (2009, p. 143). To
sum up, there is no equivalence in the examples above. Functions and skopos of the
translation prevail, but it is observed that the translator and the socio-cultural
environment in the target culture have a paramount influence on the target text. The
target text is not an ordinary translation, but a rewriting which focuses heavily on the
receiving end. More influence parameters are to be presented in the next chapter, with
examples of different situations and their translation strategies.
55
Chapter 4
CASE STUDY 2: CULTURAL TERMS
In this section, source text cultural terms are replaced with cultural terms in the
target text, which is a common strategy sought by translators of animated cartoons in
Taiwan. For example, In his master thesis on the translation of the animated pictures
Shrek, Cheng (2009) cites an example of the conversation between the donkey and
Shrek, which has a reference to Shirley Bassey (p. 55-56). Shirley Bassey is a reputable
Welsh female singer who is famous enough to be recognized in Great Britain, Europe,
and the Middle East. However, the target audience in Taiwan have little understanding
about her, and there is no connection between the figure and the particular situation,
which illustrates a bush they have passed three times. The source text juxtaposes the
image of a bush and the style of Bassey, which is symbolic of shiny clothes and curly
hairstyle. On the other hand, the target text replaces Bassey with a famous singer 歐陽
菲菲(OuYang FeiFei), who has similar characteristics, especially in the part of her
hairstyle. The replacement can be deemed as an arbitrary selection, since any celebrity
with the similar features is eligible. The point is to provoke an mental image of the
referred celebrity, and once this mental image is compatible with the situation on screen,
the translation is regarded as a feasible solution for the target audience. In the Chinese
version of South Park, this typical strategy is commonly employed as a “traditional”
solution to unfamiliar things, and they can be roughly classified into individual names
and the then current affairs.
56
4.1 Individual Names
It is suggested that a cultural substitute in the target culture, for example, a
celebrity, should contain similar or identical “properties” to those of the cultural terms
in the source culture, but the real situation does not always conform to the principle.
The properties may roughly be defined as the countenance or temperament of that given
person. Sometimes the properties of a target-culture figure match with those of the
source-culture figure; other times they diverge. In this section, several examples will be
given out as evidence.
In Season 7, Episode 5, South Park Elementary School holds a cultural diversity
event in which contestants have to give reports on the role of Latinos in American
technology. When Cartman is on the stage, he plays a ventriloquist act. His left hand
becomes Jennifer Lopez, an American entertainer known for her versatility. It should be
mentioned that the cultural diversity event has been transformed into a selection for
radio personalities from the beginning of this episode. The exact title of the event in the
original is: CELEBRATE CULTURAL DIVERSITY. And the corresponding title in the
Chinese version says: 力與美喇賽 廣播主持人選拔 (Strong and beautiful gibber.
The selection for radio personalities). Again, the original title shown on a banner which
is hung in the event venue is changed into the Chinese characters. Example 1 shows
how the Chinese dubbed text maintains the coherence with the Chinese title and how a
personal name is modified.
Example 1
The original
Thank you. The Latino
culture has been very
influential on the arts in
America. But you don't
have to ask me. You can
The Chinese version
謝謝。既然是廣播主持人
選拔賽，當然要請廣播主
持人來囉。現在就讓我為
大家介紹，全國最受歡迎
的，愛吃早餐的周玉摳。
57
Back translation
Thank you. Now that it is
a selection for radio
personalities, we should
invite a radio personality.
Now I will introduce you
ask my special guest.
the person. The most
Miss Jennifer Lopez.
popular radio personality
across the country; the one
who likes to eat breakfast,
Clara Chou.
If the translator intends to adapt to the target culture by eliminating every foreign
element, s/he can just choose a figure in the target culture who has similar properties
with those of the original figure. Jennifer Lopez is generally seen as an actress and a
singer, but 周玉摳, here again a play on words, does not share all of the same features
with Jennifer Lopez. The only connection, assumed by the author, is the fame the two
women own. In fact, it is still possible to rationalize this rendtion, because a
transformation is made on the Latino culture issue first. It is revealed from the
beginning of this episode that the concept of Latino culture issue is replaced by a
selection for radio personalities. The whole transformation in the title of the Latino
event and the names of celebrity can be considered a cultural substitution, although it is
true that the equation is not so typical since the topic of Latino culture is not replaced by
a correspondent cultural term or concept. It is only the personal name that undergoes an
equal transformation, which means that the two personal names in the source and the
target dubbed texts are both loaded with specific cultural background. In this sense, a
typical cultural substitution is achieved. The author presumes that the modification of
the Latino topic into a radio personality selection is carried out to achieve two goals.
One is to omit foreign elements unfamiliar to the target audience. Taiwanese audience
are generally regarded as unknown to the role Latinos play in American arts, and a
literal translation may confuse the target audience and make them bored. The other goal
is to “set a stage” for the following rendering of personal names. Maybe it is the
translator’s intention that all American celebrities are to be replaced with Taiwanese
ones, but the Taiwanese celebrities do not necessarily share all of the properties with
58
those in the original.
Once a new stage is established, related figures are eligible for selection. As
described by Veiga (2009), the stage setting in the target dubbed text resembles
“recontextualisation” in which a background different from the original is created in the
target text. Owing to the fact that the selection for radio personalities becomes the new
stage, the figure in the target text is designated to be a person with broadcasting
background. In the entertainment industry, Jennifer Lopez is seen as one of the most
renowned American celebrities of Hispanic descent, and Clara Chou (周玉蔻; 周玉摳)
is selected because of the same reasoning. This parallel is reflected in the Chinese
dubbed text as “the most popular radio personality across the country”. Although the
two celebrities share only the quality of fame, this quality offers a solid reason for a
given choice in the translation. At this moment a rule is formed: In terms of fame,
Jennifer Lopez is to the Hispanic descent what Clara Chou is to the radio personality.
The connection between Jennifer Lopez and her Hispanic background is maintained in a
different form as that between Clara Chou and the radio personality field. The author
argues that the maintenance is regarded as the coherence among two languages in
translation, which means that the relationship between Jennifer Lopez and her Hispanic
background is kept in the target dubbed text.
Within the same language, coherence still exists. For example, the sentence
following the above-mentioned sentence is 愛吃早餐的周玉摳 (Clara Chou who likes
to eat breakfast), and the clause is subtle even in the target culture unless the target
audience know that during the period the Chinese version was aired, Clara Chou hosted
a radio program called 飛碟早餐(UFO breakfast). If they do not know the program, or
even if they know the program but have no idea about who is hosting the program, this
sentence may become a problematic point in viewers’ comprehension. The situation
59
shows that sometimes the strategy of cultural substitution has its limitation as far as
particular time and space are concerned.
In terms of the cultural substitutes in the target text and their possible constraints,
there is another example from an earlier episode which demonstrates how cultural terms
in the source text are replaced with those in the target text. In Season 2, Episode 14,
Chef, the South Park Elementary School chef, is involved in a lawsuit about musical
plagiarism. In this episode, Chef discovers that Alanis Morissette's (fictional) hit song
"Stinky Britches" is a song that he wrote twenty years ago This example is a typical
form of proper name substitution in the Chinese version.
Example 2
The original
Recording: Stinky britches,
you've got those stinky britches
Stinky britches, you've got-
The Chinese version Back translation
出人頭地，就要靠 If you want to be successful,
援助交際
you got to have a
compensated dating.
Chef: Well, you see, Mr. Big
聽到了嗎，製作人
Well, you see, Mr. Big
Record Producer, "Stinky
Britches" was something I
wrote several years ago.
先生，援助交際是
俺好幾年前的作品
Record Producer,
Mr. Big Record Producer:
Hmmm. I really see no
resemblance between that song
Hmmm. I think that your
song bears no resemblance
and "Stinky Britches" by our
嗯...我覺得你唱的
援助交際，跟我們
旗下的羊奶文唱的
援助交際完全不一
artist, Alanis Morissette.
樣啊
Yang.
Compensated Dating was
something I wrote several
years ago.
with the Compensated
Dating by our artist, Faith
In this example, there are two proper names in the original text. One is a fictional
song called “Stinky Britches”, and the other is a Canadian-American singer, Alanis
Morissette. As stated above, a cultural substitute in the target culture should contain
similar or even identical properties to those of the cultural terms in the source culture. In
the target dubbed text, if examined carefully, we will find that “Compensated Dating”
60
has something in common with the fictional song “Stinky Britches”. They are concerned
with women and sex, and more importantly, “Compensated Dating” is also a fictional
song. The phrase “Compensated Dating” in the target dubbed text can be seen as a
situational substitution which is defined as “anything eles that fits the situation”
(Pedersen, 2009, p. 166) in AVT, and it is a category in the classification of Pedersen’s
cultural substitution.
In addition, more emphasis should be placed on the replacement of Alanis
Morissette with Faith Yang (楊乃文; 羊奶文). There is no new stage in the target text,
but there are similarities between the two. First of all, no literal translation is adopted
because Alanis Morissette is not a singer famous enough, at least in the target culture, to
provoke the feeling that she has a hit song. On the other hand, Faith Yang is quite
well-known at the time this episode was aired, and the target audience will think that
she must be a singer with a lot of hit songs. However, Morissette and Yang have
common grounds. Both of them are music award winners. Morissette has won seven
Grammy Awards, and Yang is the Golden Melody Awards winner in 2000. In this
episode, the title “Best Female Singer” is mentioned several times before Faith Yang. As
regards the two music awards, the annual Taiwanese Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎)
is seen as the equivalent to Grammy Awards. As a result, the replacement of Alanis
Morissette with Faith Yang is considered a typical “cultural substitution” since it is
based on the similar properties shared by the two figures.
Speaking of the effect created by a cultural substitute of the target culture,
Pedersen (2007) elaborates that the translator has sought equivalence of effect rather
than equivalence of information (p. 33) to help the viewers access the source text in an
easy and comfortable way. Pedersen, however, argues that the cultural substitution by
target cultural ECRs involves “a breach of reference”: the ST ECR refers to one
61
ECR; the TT ECR to another (ibid). The breach of reference, in her words, causes
“credibility gaps”. From Pedersen’s perspective, it seems that the translator is lying to
his/her audience (2007, p. 33). It is possible that Pedersen reaches her conclusion
because of the nature of audiovisual products. The audience will not believe in the
veracity of the subtitled or dubbed texts as long as the non-verbal channels, such as
pictures, suggest that the referred object is actually a foreign thing with a domestic
name or title.
Nevertheless, the author believes that credibility in audiovisual translation is not
always of great importance. It should be decided on each specific case, and the genre,
particularly sitcom, makes it less important. In the case of dubbed programs, the
compatibility between images and dubbed texts is more critical in genres related to
information, especially truth conveyance. However, if the program is intended to
entertain the audience, the issue of credibility is not so consequential. In the next
example from the same Season 2, Episode 14, it is revealed that the equal effect pursued
by the translator prevails over the adherence to the credibility.
In this example, Chef is accused by “Mr. Big Record Producer” mentioned in
Example 2. A television shows that a reporter is in front of the courthouse, and he gives
a report as Example 3
Example 3
The original
Reporter: And so, on this
fifteenth day of what is
considered to be the most
important trial of the... day,
Johnny Cochran has
appeared to defend Capitalist
Records. The question now is,
will Cochran use his famous
The Chinese version
目前轟動一時的著作
Back translation
權官司，已經正式進入
第 15 天，由陳水炳代
表控方滾球唱片公司。
整個案子最受到矚目
的就是，阿炳會不會採
用他赫赫有名的伊利
安星球答辯法。
has lasted for 15 days.
62
The hot copyright lawsuit
Chen Shui-bian has
appeared to defend Rock
Records. The most
popular topic of this case
is, will Chen Shui-bian use
his famous “Aryan
"Chewbacca" defense?
Planet” defense?
Cartman: What's a Chewbacca
defense?
屁啦！那什麼哇ㄎㄧ
ㄤ啊？
Damn! What the hell is it?
Kyle: I don't know.
靠，不瞭。
Damn, I don’t know
Stan: That's what Cochran
是阿炳在總統競選案
用的辯證法。
That’s what Chen
Shui-bian used in the
used in the O.J. Simpson
trial.
presidential election trial.
What we have to pay attention to is the cultural substitutes in the target dubbed text.
First, Johnny Cochran is a lawyer, and he is best known for his defending role in the O.J.
Simpson trial. Certainly, he is a figure little known in the target culture. This figure is
replaced by a household name, 陳水炳 (陳水扁, Chen Shui-bian). Note again that the
last Chinese character of the name is replaced with a near homophone (扁→炳), a
technique always implemented in the Chinese version to avoid direct reference and to
have a play on words in order to give implicit reference. Since Johnny Cochran has
made his appearance before in this episode, the target audience must see a breach of
reference. This breach is compensated for by the fact that the stage is set in a courtroom,
and the target culture substitute “Chen Shui-bian”, though widely known as the former
president of Taiwan, is also famous as an attorney2. The author speculates that, even if
the original Johnny Cochran is transliterated into Chinese, the effect of the
transliteration is the same as that of a generalization of the name. The generalization can
be realized as the word “attorney” or “attorney Johnny Cochran”, though it does not
provoke any connotation among viewers. Hence, a household name may become a
better option since it stirs the related knowledge of the referred person. The only
problem is that the audience need to have a basic understanding about Chen Shui-bian’s
2
Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is a former Taiwanese politician who was president from 2000 to 2008. He
passed the bar exams before the completion of his junior year in college.
63
another background, and the understanding is probably time-specific even to the target
audience.
The fictional Capitalist Records is a parody of the actual record label Capitol
Records located in California. In Taiwan, there is no official name for the record label,
so the translator uses a famous record label, Rock Records, with a change of the
Chinese character (滾石→滾球) to reflect the parody in the original. The Chinese title
also shows two possiblities the translator intends to achieve. One is to transmit a
message that the record label is a fictional company, and the other is to demonstrate a
shared quality of fame between the two record labels. In this case, the real intention of
the translator cannot be ascertained; it is the audience’s comprehension that determines
the effect of the dubbed text.
When fictional characters are involved in translation, the situation becomes more
complex. Chewbacca is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Although it has
a Chinese name because of the distribution of the Star Wars movie in Taiwan, it is not
famous enough to be recognized by general audience. As a result, the translator creates
a non-existent noun “Aryan Planet” (伊利安星球), which means a planet in the outer
space, to illustrate the character shown on screen. Owing to the fact that both of the
terms are fictional, they share the same property in this respect. In addition, the last
cultural term in the source text is the O.J. Simpson trial. Though the trial is not so
unknown in the target culture, the translator still insists to omit anything that is foreign
to the target audience. It is also inevitable for the translator to do so, becuase
maintaining the coherence with the previous setting is the technique that facilitates the
smoothness of the plot. In other words, in any given episode, the translation of a
particular phrase is always influenced by something preceding it if that particular phrase
is related to the “something”. In this case, the same formula in Example 1 is applied
64
again: Johnny Cochran is to the O.J. Simpson trial what Chen Shui-bian is to the
presidential election. Coherence within texts is again foregrounded as the governing
factor in the Chinese version.
4.2 The Then Current Affairs
The last determinant in the Chinese version concerns much with current events.
The translator is a social entity who is influenced by the cultural background in a given
society at a specific moment. The translator is subconsciously or consciously influenced
by the society in which s/he dwells, so it is possible that s/he reflects the influence, to
much or less extent, on the translation. In addition to the impact of the socio-cultural
environment on the translator, the genre also exerts huge influence on text formation.
Texts become more flexible if they are going to be applied to the genre of sitcom.
Flexibility brings back to the issue of what kind of purpose the target text intends to
perform on the target audience. If the original topic in the episode is about current
events related to America, it is observed from the Chinese version that the current
events in Taiwan are incorporated a lot into the rewritten plot. For example, in Season 7,
Episode 4, an episode which concerns the topic of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the
controversy between the pro-and-against-war groups is delineated in the following
example. The topic in the target text is changed to the then current events.
Example 4
The original
Mr. Garrison: Oh, and by the
way, children, there's a
walkout scheduled today to
protest the war in Iraq. So,
uh, if you're against the war,
run along outside, and if you're
The Chinese version
喔，對了，今天有一場
追求槍擊真相，討回民
主公道的活動。同學們
可以自由參加。愛台灣
的就去，不愛台灣的就
留在教室裡，把金剛經
65
Back translation
Oh, and by the way, children,
there’s an activity today to
pursue the fact of the
shooting incident and
regain democracy. You are
free to take part in. If you
for the war, uh, stay here and
抄兩百遍。
love Taiwan, go to join it. If
you don’t love Taiwan, stay
we'll do math problems.
in the classroom and copy
down the Diamond Sutra
200 times.
Example 4 shows a complete rewriting of the original. The original is about the
plot that some townspeople in South Park are protesting against the war, whereas others
are supporting it. The target text is completely unrelated to the war issue. It is about the
current events in Taiwan when this episode was aired on TV. Although not explicitly
implied, the phrase “the fact of the shooting incident” refers to the 3-19 shooting
incident which is an assassination attempt on the then President Chen Shui-bian and
Vice President Annette Lu occurring on March 19, 20043. Considering the time (2005)
this episode was broadcast on TV, it can be postulated that the translation is deeply
inspired by this incident. The tendency of reflecting on and satirizing the current
situations in Taiwan is widely adopted in the Chinese version, and it is not restricted
only to the plot which deals with the current events in America. When there are plots
that are considered “foreign”, it is highly possible that this strategy will be
implemented.
However, there are always exceptions to rules. The last sentence “we’ll do math
problems” is transformed into “copy down the Diamond Sutra 200 times”. This
transformation is deemed as the demonstration of translator’s free choice to its full
extent. It is assumed by the author that the sentence is rendered this way because of the
influence of the channel and genre of the media. The animated channel and the genre of
sitcom all contribute to the rendition. Besides, the personal traits of the person who
utters this sentence will influence how the words are translated. Mr. Garrison is a
3
The 3-19 shooting incident is controversial because it occurred on the day before Taiwan’s 2004
presidential election. Chen’s opponents believed that the incident was faked in order to win the sympathy
of voters in the upcoming election. Activities following the incident included protest activities and the
election recount because Chen won by a small margin.
66
teacher in the South Park Elementary School who is notorious for his weird remarks and
behaviors, and it lessens the absurdity of the Diamond Sutra rendering.
4.3 Summary
To summarize, internal factors such as the genre and co-texts, and external factors,
such as the translator and the social environment which cultivates the translator, all
explain the special transformation realized in the Chinese version of South Park.
Cultural terms, particularly individual names which have the connection to specific
social background, are localized. The reason why they are localized is not only
concerned with the omission of the unfamiliarity or foreignness, which is always
provided as the reason behind the “domestication” of similar animated sitcoms. The
author proposes that there are more causes. The first is the coherence with a previously
transformed stage in the target version. The second is regarded as the intention to
provoke connotations among target viewers by the sharing of similar properties. The last
reason is dependent on the translator’s reflection on the current socio-cultural situations
at the time the translation was carried out. The reflection is often realized in mockery of
celebrities in Taiwan, but it should be noted that not all mockeries in the target dubbed
text are criticism. Sometimes the mockeries only belong to the teasing of those
celebrities, and because of the change of Chinese name characters, the effect of teasing
is often achieved in a tacit understanding between the translator and the target audience.
Things are not indicated directly, but people who are in sync with the translator or
familiar with the current events can associate the names on TV with the indirect
indication. In this sense, the Chinese version is more like an easy game of cooperation
which recruits participants who have a sound understanding of Taiwanese society.
67
Chapter 5
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
5.1 Conclusions
In AVT, the traditional perspective of equivalence is not sufficient enough to
explain the end products. To be brief, there is not much equivalence between the source
text and the target text. The insufficiency manifests itself in two respects: the quantity
and the quality of the target texts. In the aspect of the quantity of the text, a constrained
form of translation is the most conspicuous characteristic pertaining to the target text no
matter what kind of form the AVT is presented in. The constraint is resulted from the
fact that AVT is a kind of translation which has limited time and space available for
itself and its audience. As for the aspect of the quality of the text, subtitling and dubbing
should be discussed respectively. In subtitling, it is an ordinary phenomenon that the
target text is relatively close to the source text in the transmission of meaning. The
relative conformity to the meaning in the original is caused by the presence of the
source text, which is shown in an auditory form as dialogues, with the target text
presented as subtitles. On the other hand, dubbing receives less constraints compared
with subtitling in that the dubbed text exists solely on screen. In addition to the
nonverbal channels such as images which always appear on screen, dubbing only needs
to take notice of the lip synchronicity in real-human movies, leaving more space for the
translator to manipulate the target dubbed text.
In this paper, the word “effect” is always a topic under much scrutiny. In the
general situation, the notion of “equivalence of effect” is pursued by dubbers and
68
subtitlers if they intend to replace the foreign with the domestic. Among solutions to the
translation of culture-specific terms in AVT, extra explanation of these terms is not so
feasible concerning the fleeting nature of audiovisual products. Omission and
generalization of the culture-specifics are considered acceptable, but they cannot
transmit the very essence of the original. In other words, the culture specificity is lost in
the translation. Retention is the strategy that keeps most of the foreign elements, but it is
unable to bring the target audience the effect which is achieved by the source-text
audience. The equivalence of effect is obtained only in the situation where the boundary
of superficial texts is surmounted. The effects of the original cultural terms are
“reproduced” in the target text by corresponding terms. The perception of the target
audience is similar to that of the original audience, and the perception is not produced in
the textual dimension, but in the connotative level the target text creates. In this level,
proper nouns are subjects that are changed most. Translators are seeking proper nouns
in the target culture which shares most properties with those in the source culture. In
this vein, a similar or identical “value” is the desirable goal pursued by the translator.
The meanings of words are sometimes deviated so that they reach the same value as far
as connotations are concerned.
Problematic points in translation is the place which undergoes “cultural
substitution”, but if a given part of source text involves little, if any, cultural elements, it
is kept in the target text since there is no hindrance to understanding. However, what is
special about the Chinese version of South Park is that the source text which contains
little culture-specific information still undergoes substitution. It is observed from the
target text that there is an obvious manipulation made by the translator, thus the author
does not categorize the Chinese version into a domestication of the original based on the
definition by Venuti (1995; 2008). From the target dubbed text, we notice the
69
translator’s purpose and the cultural influence form the socio-cultural environment in
which the translator is cultivated.
The peculiarity of AVT also lies in that there are nonverbal channels which mostly
consist of images. Hence, the interaction between images and target texts needs to be
taken into consideration. It is often emphasized that the compatibility between images
and subtitled/dubbed texts is of great importance. Nevertheless, the author proposes that
the compatibility is not a tenet which should always be followed. Genre has a
consequential influence on the degree of the adherence to the tenet. Sitcom is the genre
which tolerates larger degree of deviation from the tenet. Furthermore, what matters
more is the coherence among textual strings. If there is a new stage set in the target text,
the related terms should be changed in order to meet the coherence with the previous
setting. The smoothness of the texts increases readibility, and it makes the target dubbed
text sound natural.
The last finding is that the then current situations in Taiwan are incorporated into
the target text. Based on the time a given episode is broadcast on TV, it is revealed that
there are some traces of the social and cultural parameters which are deeply influenced
by the factor of time. The translator does parody of celebrities and events which are
well-known in Taiwan by using Chinese homophones, and this technique is unique to
the Chinese version. Some homophones cannot be detected unless they are shown in
subtitles. Celebrities and events in Taiwan at that time were also satirized to have a
reflection on the situations in Taiwan, and the incorporation of those “Taiwanese flavor”
is intended to create satirical feelings, similar effects, and locally-associated responses
from the then audience who are familiar with Taiwanese society. Even today audience
can discern some deeply-concerned issues at that time by simply watching the Chinese
version. Because of these characteristics, the Chinese version of South Park, from the
70
author’s perspective, is more like an adaptation which modifies the function of this
animated sitcom to a certain extent.
5.2 Implications and Limitations
Due to the fact that the Chinese version of South Park is a dubbed animated
product, it is suggested that similar programs have a wider range of manipulation as
long as coherence is taken into account. If a more adaptive approach is intended to be
implemented in other similar products, the cultural substitution in the Chinese version
may become a good role model. What is also implied from the study is that the
boundary of AVT become less fixed, for example, on the ground that images can be
changed. Ordinary AVT strategies fit into this study, but more facts are interpreted in the
fashion of cultural translation which is seldom touched in the research of AVT.
The limitation of this study should be discussed from several dimensions. First,
there is only one TV series in the case study. All data are collected from the American
animated sitcom South Park, which causes the boundary of data collection. More
importantly, no quantitative research method is applied in this study. A quantitative
research method, such as the counting of cultural terms in the source text and the
categorization of translation strategies applied in the corresponding rendition,
demonstrates a general tendency. On the other hand, a qualitative research method
focuses more on each specific case, giving detailed illustrations of the target text. In this
paper, a thorough descriptive analysis is implemented because of the transformative
nature of the target text. If a traditional quantitative research method is used, the
peculiarity of the Chinese version cannot be fully accentuated. There will only be tables
and graphs which show general trends rather than specific reasons behind each example.
The combination of the two methods should be put into consideration in the situation
71
where more than one audiovisual products are involved, and it is especially essential if a
cross-comparison is intended to be applied in further research.
Furthermore, another dimension of limitation is the lack of interviews with the
relevant staff, such as the translator or the dubbing actors, of the Chinese version. The
analysis of examples is carried out based on the author’s interpretation, and it is unlikely
to ascertain the exact reason for why the target dubbed texts undergo such a great degree
of transformation without the information from staff members. If viewpoints and
reasons from staff members can be collected, it will be beneficial to testify the
translation strategies of AVT and the author’s interpretation.
The next major limitation concerns much to the Chinese version itself. Honestly
speaking, the Chinese version is an extreme manifestation of AVT; it is much more
radical than any other audiovisual products. As a result, some strategies and their
applications are not universal in explaining animated works, let alone ordinary
audiovisual products. In fact, this paper is a departure point for further research on the
translation of animation, and a larger scale of investigation is needed to be considered if
further research is going to be conducted. For example, the translation of the same
products by fans can be incorporated into a larger research to make comparisons with
the official version. Lastly, this paper is an attempt at implementing more theoretical
framings than those which are often practiced in AVT. The author believes that AVT is a
discipline which borrows much from related fields, and a broader perspective of
animation translation can be gained if more paradigms covered under or related to
Translation Studies can be taken into account.
72
References
Bassnett, S. & Lefevere, A. (Eds.). (1990). Translation, History, and Culture, London
and New York: Routledge.
─ (1998). Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation. Multilingual
Matters.
Bruti, S. (2009). The Translation of Compliments in Subtitles. In J. Díaz Cintas (Ed.),
New Trends in Audiovisual Translation (pp. 226-238). Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters.
Caffrey, C. (2008). Viewer Perception of Visual Nonverbal Cues in Subtitled TV
Anime. European Journal of English Studies, 12(2), 163-178.
Catford, J. C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation, London: Oxford University
Press.
Chen, S.-J. (2004). Linguistic Dimensions of Subtitling. Perspectives from Taiwan.
Meta, 49(1), 115-124.
Cheng, N. H. (2009). The Study of Strategic Translation Approaches to Animated
Pictures in Taiwan: Analyzing the Appropriateness of Language Usage from
Children Literature Perspectives. Unpublished master’s thesis, National Yunlin
University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan. [程南豪. (2009). 台灣動
畫字幕翻譯策略探討:從兒童文學的角度分析語言使用的適當性]. 雲林科技大
學. 碩士, 133.
Chesterman, A. (1997). Memes of Translation: The Spread of Ideas in Translation
Theory (Vol. 22). John Benjamins Publishing.
Chiaro, D. (2009). Issues in Audiovisual Translation. In J. Munday (Ed.), The
73
Routledge Companion to Translation Studies (pp. 141-165). London: Routledge.
D’Ydewalle, G., C. Praet, K. Verfaillie and J. van Rensbergen (1991). Watching
Subtitled Television: Automatic Reading Behavior. Communication Research, 18,
650-666.
De Linde, Z. and Kay, N. (1999). The Semiotics of Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome
Publishing.
Delabastita, D. (1989). Translation and Mass-Communication: Film and TV
Translation as Evidence of Cultural Dynamics. Babel, 35(4), 193-218.
Díaz Cintas, J. (2009). Introduction – Audiovisual Translation: An Overview of Its
Potential. In J. Díaz Cintas (Ed.), New Trends in Audiovisual Translation (pp.
1-18). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Díaz-Cintas, J., & Remael, A. (2007). Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester:
St. Jerome Publishing.
Fois, E. (2012). Audiovisual Translation: Theory and Practice. Between, 2(4), 1-16.
Gambier, Y. (2008). Recent Developments and Challenges in Audiovisual Translation
Research. In Chiaro, D., Heiss, C. & Bucaria, C. (Eds.), Between Text and Image:
Updating Research in Screen Translation (pp. 11-33). Amsterdam: John
Benjamins Pub Co.
Gottlieb, H. (2009). Subtitling Against the Current: Danish Concepts, English Minds.
In J. Díaz-Cintas (Ed.), New Trends in Audiovisual Translation (pp. 21-43).
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Gutt, E. A. (1998). Pragmatic Aspects of Translation: Some Relevance-Theory
Observations. The Pragmatics of Translation, 41-53.
Hellgren, E. (2007). Translation of Allusions in the Animated Cartoon The Simpsons
(Master's thesis, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland). Retrieved from
74
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe20071508
Hickey, L. (1998). Perlocutionary Equivalence: Marking, Exegesis and
Recontextualisation. In Leo Hickey (ed.), The Pragmatics of Translation (pp.
217-232). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Howell, P. (2007). Character Voice in Anime Subtitles. Perspectives: Studies in
Translatology, 14(4), 292-305.
Hurtado de Mendoza Azaola, Isabel. (2009). Translating Proper Names into Spanish:
The Case of Forrest Gump. In J. Díaz Cintas (Ed.), New Trends in Audiovisual
Translation (pp. 70-82). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Koolstra, C. M., Peeters, A. L., & Spinhof, H. (2002). The Pros and Cons of Dubbing
and Subtitling. European Journal of Communication, 17(3), 325-354.
Lefevere, A. (1992). Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame.
London: Routledge.
Luo, W. Y. (2007). Translating the Untranslatable in Taiwan''s Dubbing Translation: An
Analysis of Translation Strategies. Unpublished master’s thesis, National Yunlin
University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan. [羅文言. (2007). 譯出原
文中之不可譯：台灣配音翻譯策略之分析]. 雲林科技大學. 碩士, 81.
Luyken, G., T. Herbst, J. Langham-Brown, H. Reid and H. Spinhof (1991).
Overcoming Language Barriers in Television: Dubbing and Subtitling for the
European Audience. Manchester: European Institute for the Media.
Martínez-Sierra, J. J. (2006). Translating Audiovisual Humour. A Case Study.
Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 13(4), 289-296.
Milton, J. (2009). Translation Studies and Adaptation Studies. Translation Research
Projects, 2, 51-58.
Munday, J. (2008). Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications.
75
Routledge.
Muños Gil, M. (2009). Dubbing The Simpsons in Spain: A Case Study. In J.
Díaz-Cintas (Ed.), New Trends in Audiovisual Translation (pp. 142-157).
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Nida, E. A. & C. R. Taber. (1969). The Theory and Practice of Translation, Leiden: E.
J. Brill.
Nida, E. A. (1964). Toward a Science of Translating, Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Nord, C. (1997). Translation as a Purposeful Activity: Functional Approaches
Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
─ (2005). Text Analysis in Translation: Theory, Methodology, and Didactic
Application of a Model for Translation-Oriented Text Analysis. Rodopi.
Ortabasi, M. (2007). Indexing the Past: Visual Language and Translatability in Kon
Satoshi's Millennium Actress. Perspectives, 14(4), 278-291.
Panek, M. (2010). Subtitling Humor-The Analysis of Selected Translation Techniques
in Subtitling Elements Containing Humor. Grin Verlag.
Pedersen, J. (2005). How is Culture Rendered in Subtitles? In EU-High-Level
Scientific Conference Serie-MuTra 2005–Challenges of Multidimensional
Translation: Conference Proceedings. 113-130.
─ (2007). Cultural Interchangeability: The Effects of Substituting Cultural
References in Subtitling. Perspectives, 15(1), 30-48.
─ (2009). Subtitling Norms for Television. John Benjamins Publishing.
Pettit, Z. (2009). Connecting Cultures: Cultural Transfer in Subtitling and Dubbing. In
J. Díaz Cintas (Ed.), New Trends in Audiovisual Translation (pp. 44-57). Toronto:
Multilingual Matters.
Pym, A. (2004). The Moving text: Localization, Translation, and Distribution. John
76
Benjamins Publishing Company.
─ (2010). Exploring Translation Theories. Routledge.
Ramière, N. (2006). Reaching a Foreign Audience: Cultural Transfers in Audiovisual
Translation. The Journal of Specialised Translation, 6, 152-166.
Rabadán, R. (1991). Equivalencia y Traduccion: Problematica de la Equivalencia
Translemica Inglés/Español, Leon, Universidad de Leon, Secretariado de
Publicaciones.
Shiau, Hong-chi. (2008). Animating the Cute, the Mean and the Beautiful: The
Production and Consumption of Animation: Taiwan's Struggles in the Age of
Globalization. Saarbrucken [Germany]: VDM, Verlag Dr. Muller.
Snell-Hornby, M. (1990). Linguistic Transcoding or Cultural Transfer: A Critique of
Translation Theory in Germany. In S. Bassnett and A. Lefevere (Eds.),
Translation, History, and Culture, (pp. 79-86). London and New York:
Routledge.
─ (2006). The Turns of Translation Studies: New paradigms or Shifting Viewpoints?
John Benjamins Publishing.
Song, C. (2012). Creativity in Translating Cartoons from English into Mandarin
Chinese. The Journal of Specialised Translation, 124-135.
Tomaszkiewicz, T. (1993). Les opérations linguistiques qui sous-tendent le processus
de sous-titrage des films. Poznan: Adam Mickiewicz University Press.
Toury, G. (1995). Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. John Benjamins
Publishing.
Tveit, J.-E. (2009). Dubbing versus Subtitling: Old Battleground Revisited. In J.
Díaz-Cintas & G. M. Anderman (Eds.), Audiovisual Translation: Language
Transfer on Screen (pp. 85-96). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
77
Valentini, C. (2008). Forlixt 1 – The Forlì Corpus of Screen Translation: Exploring
macrostructures. In Chiaro, D., Heiss, C. & Bucaria, C. (Eds.), Between Text and
Image: Updating Research in Screen Translation (pp. 37-50). Amsterdam: John
Benjamins Pub Co.
Veiga, Maria Jose. (2009). The Translation of Audiovisual Humour in Just a Few
Words. In J. Díaz Cintas (Ed.), New Trends in Audiovisual Translation (pp.
226-238). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Venuti, L. (1995). The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. London and
New York: Routledge.
─ (2007). Adaptation, Translation, Critique. Journal of Visual Culture, 6(1), 25-43.
─ (2008). The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. 2nd Ed. Routledge.
Vermeer, H. J. (2004). Skopos and Commission in Translational Action. In L. Venuti
& M. Baker (Eds.). The Translation Studies Reader (pp. 227-238). London:
Routledge.
Waard, J. D., & Nida, E. A. (1986). From One Language to Another: Functional
Equivalence in Bible Translating. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Zabalbeascoa, P. (2008). The Nature of the Audiovisual Text and Its Parameters. In J.
Díaz-Cintas (Ed.). The Didactics of Audiovisual Translation (pp. 21-37). John
Benjamins Pub Co.
78
Appendix
3.3 Focus on the Target Culture
Example 1
[Cut to after school. The art teacher sits at her desk watching the boys work on a proper
vase on the pottery wheel. Kyle is pressing the pedal. The boys are angry at their
teacher]
Stan:
Mrs. Streible thinks she's so cool!
Kyle:
How dare she talk to us like that?!
Kenny:
(Yeah, how the fuck is that?!)
Cartman:
We can't let her get away with this! [voicing dropping to almost a whisper] I
think tonight we need to do something drastic.
Stan:
Like what?
Cartman: Like find out where Mrs. Streible lives, and go over there, and... TP her house.
Kenny:
(Yeah!)
Kyle:
TP her house?
Cartman: Toilet paper! Cover her house in toilet paper.
Kyle:
Oh.
[sensing Kyle's reluctance] What's the matter, Kyle? You chicken? [begins
Cartman: strutting like a chicken and making chicken noises. Kyle kicks Cartman in the
balls in anger] Ugh! [drops to his knees, then gets one leg up]
Teacher: Quiet, boys. This isn't playtime, you're being punished!
Stan:
[glares back at her, then softly] Fine! But we'll have the last laugh tonight,
artwhore!
Cartman: [in pain] Yeah! Payback time, you ugly skank!
Example 3 & 4
[Henry's Supermarket, day. A man watches his son ride in a coin-operated ride outside
the store. Inside, the four boys approach checkout line 3 with two carts stacked high
with packages of Kush Tush toilet paper.]
Stan:
D'you think that's enough?
79
Cartman: Should be fine.
Kyle:
Don't you guys think this is a little suspicious? We should buy something else
so it doesn't look obvious.
Cartman:
Okay. [reaches behind the other boys and grabs something] Here we go, pack
of chewing gum. [tosses it into the first cart. They approach the cash register]
Cashier: Hello boys. Find everything you need?
Cartman: Yep. All set.
[begins scanning the packages] Mokay, let's see here. Toilet paper ["beep"
$1.50 for a four-pack] Toilet paper ["beep"] Toilet paper ["beep"] Toilet
Cashier:
paper ["beep"] Toilet paper ["beep"] So, what are you kids up to tonight?
["beep"]
Cartman: Oh, we're just gonna watch some TV, maybe play a board game.
Nice relaxing night at home, huh? Toilet paper ["beep"] Toilet paper ["beep"]
Aaand toilet paper ["beep." He picks up the gum] Eh, hey. [holds up the gum]
Cashier:
Now you kids be careful with this chewing gum.Don't go sticking it under
tables.
Stan:
Okay.
Okay. Toilet paper ["beep"] Toilet paper ["beep"] Tooilet paper ["beep."] You
Cashier: know, son, I remember you comin' in last week and buying this much toilet
paper. ["beep"]
Cartman: Heh yeah, that that's right.
Cashier: ... Toilet paper ["beep"] Toilet paper ["beep"]
Kyle:
You TP'ed a house last week, Cartman?
Cartman: No. Last Thursday night was fajitas night.
Kyle:
Oh. [flashes disgust] Uuugh.
Example 5
[Stark's Pond, night. A low fog moves over the surface of the water]
Kyle:
What's this all about, Cartman?
Cartman:
I just wanted to see how you're doing, Kyle. Why don't we go out for a little
boat ride?
Kyle:
A boat ride?
Cartman: I just thought we should find a private place to... talk.
Kyle:
Well, okay.
80
Could you help me put this cement block and chain in the boat? [Kyle walks
over and helps Cartman load the block and chain onto the boat. Kyle then
hops in. Cartman retrieves a bat, loads it onto the boat, and hops in. The boat
Cartman:
begins to float away from the shore.] Okay, let's go. [starts to row. The boat
heads for the middle of the pond, and eerie music plays] So how are things,
Kyle?
Terrible. Every time I close my eyes I see the house we TP'ed. I see the tears
of our art teacher and hear the screams of her daughters.
Kyle:
Cartman: And you feel like you have to confess.
I don't know what to do. [Cartman reaches for the bat while Kyle has his back
to him] Part of me feels like I wanna end it all now. [Cartman takes aim] Tell
people what heppened. You know, I never knew how beautiful this pond was
before. [Cartman moves the bat around, measuring Kyle] So cold. The world
can feel like that. [Cartman moves forward, ready to whack him] So calm on
the outside, as if nothing bad ever happens. [Cartman takes a whack at Kyle's
head, but all Kyle does is blink] Ow. [rubs his head and turns around] What
the hell are you doing, Cartman?!
Kyle:
Cartman:
I'm killing you. But unfortunately I could only afford a Wiffle ball bat, so it's
gonna take a while. [whacks him again]
Kyle:
Cartman!
Cartman:
Don't fight it, Kyle, it will only take longer. Just slip into sweet
unconsciousness. [whacks him twice more]
Kyle:
You wanna kill me?! Fine! [turns around and crosses his arms] I can't live
like this anymore! Go ahead! Do it! [Cartman lowers the bat and thinks a bit,
then resumes whacking Kyle. Once. Then eight more times.]
Cartman: Won't be long, Kyle. [whacks him three more times.]
Example 6
[The living room. Kyle walks across to the front door and opens it]
Kyle: Oh! Hey, Kenny.
Kenny:
(Kyle, I'm gonna camp and watch the meteor shower. Do you wanna come and
see it with me?)
Kyle: I can't watch the meteor shower with you, Kenny. I have to go to Jewbilee.
Kenny: (What's that?)
Kyle:
It's what we do in Jew Scouts. Usually we just sit around and make stuff. But
tonight, because there's a meteor shower, we're gonna do some big thing out in
81
the woods. It's gonna suck ass, I'm sure.
Kenny: (Oh, that's alright.)
Kyle: Hey! Maybe you can come with me. Then it won't suck so hard.
3.4 Shift of Emphasis to the Source Culture
Example 2
[The adults sit around a coffee table while the kids sit at the dining table eating
breakfast behnd them. The adults are getting dressed for the day]
Sheila:
Oh, this is gonna be so much fun; I haven't skied in years!
Chris:
Where are Butters and Eric?
Stan:
They're still asleep.
Chris:
Butters? Eric? Come on! We gotta get to the powder! [a knock on the door,
and Linda rises to answer it. Two men enter]
Man:
[brunet] Hello, folks, I'm Phil and this is Josh [a blond]. We're with the
Aspen Time-Share Company. [the other parents gather 'round]
The
Parents:
Hello.
Josh:
You folks enjoying the condo?
Sheila:
It's lovely. Thank you.
Example 3
[The meeting, meanwhile. Phil and Josh are presenting the time-share plan]
Phil:
And so, we think we can convince you to buy one of our comdos that's
opening right here in Phase 4.
Josh:
That sounds like a GREAT investment opportunity!
Gerald: I I'm sorry, but none of us can really afford to own our own vacation condo.
Randy:
Yeah, and to be honest, we're just doing this meeting because of the two nights
free deal.
Phil:
Oh, I know, that's what everybody says - "Not me, I can't afford it." But what
if I told you you could own one of our properties for only eight thousand
dollars?
Josh:
Wow!
Sheila:
For only eight thousand dollars we can buy a condo here?
Phil:
Well you see, "time-share" means you buy the condo with about twenty other
82
people like yourselves [exits screen left and immediately enters screen right]
You [puts his hands together] "share" the condo with other investors and pick
the [points to his watch] "time" you want to stay.
Josh:
[makes a fist with his right hand] Share, [makes a fist with his left hand] time.
[joins his fists together] Time share.
Randy:
So then it's not really ours.
Phil:
Sure it is, one twenty-fourth and a half yours! You see, time-share has made it
possible for even working-class people like you to say, "I've got a little place
in Aspen."
Josh:
Try it. Try saying it. "I've got a little place in Aspen."
The
I've got a little place in Aspen.
Parents:
Phil:
Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? Say guys, how'd you like to tell that hot
secretary "I've got a nice little place in Aspen"? Hahaha. Just kidding, wives.
4.1 Proper Names
Example 1
All right, students, members of the school board. Our last speaker will
Principal
Victoria:
discuss the important role of Latinos in the arts. Here is... Eric Cartman.
[reads again in disbelief] Eric Cartman? [a smattering of applause from the
kids in the crowd]
Cartman:
[approaches the mic with his left hand behind his back] Thank you. The
Latino culture has been very influential on the arts in America. But you
don't have to ask me. You can ask my special guest. Miss Jennifer Lopez.
Kids:
Jennifer Lopez?
Kyle:
No way.
[shows off his left hand, which is open] Miss Lopez, come on out here. [the
Cartman:
hand closes to become a fist, and that fist has a face and hair painted on it]
Example 2
Chef:
Children, I wrote that song twenty years ago!
Cartman: You wrote it?
Chef:
Yeah! Back when I used to be in the rock business. And now it looks like
some big record company has published one of my songs.
83
Kyle:
Wow, then you should get money for it!
Chef:
Aw, I don't want any money. I'd just like to see my name on the credits, that's
all.
Kyle:
Then we should go to the record company. My dad's a lawyer, dude; he tells
me about this stuff all the time.
Chef:
will go. I'll play them my version of the song.
[California. Chef's song is heard]
Recording:
Chef:
Stinky britches, you've got those stinky britches
Stinky britches, you've got- [click]
Well, you see, Mr. Big Record Producer, "Stinky Britches" was
something I wrote several years ago.
[has a long lock of hair going from right to left on his balding head]
Mr. Big Record
Hmmm. I really see no resemblance between that song and "Stinky
Producer:
Britches" by our artist, Alanis Morissette.
Chef:
Huh??
Kyle:
It's the same goddamned song!
Chef:
Now, look. I'm tryin' to be cool about this! But you just can't rip
people's music off! It's against the law!
Example 3
[A TV shows a reporter in front of the courthouse. The boys are at Cartman's house,
watching the report. Cartman is eating Cheesy Poofs, as usual]
And so, on this fifteenth day of what is considered to be the most important
Reporter: trial of the day, Johnny Cochran has appeared to defend Capitalist Records.
The question now is, will Cochran use his famous "Chewbacca" defense?
Cartman: What's a Chewbacca defense?
Kyle:
I don't know.
Stan:
That's what Cochran used in the O.J. Simpson trial.
[tosses away the empty Cheesy Poofs box] God-damned, I hate that Cochran
Cartman: guy. If he was here in front of me, I'd be like, "Ay! You stupid son of a bitch,
you d-. I b-. I'ma I'm gonna kick you in the nuts!"
Kyle:
I'm sure that would scare the hell out of him, Cartman.
Gerald:
[the trial is being aired live] And so, in summation, ladies and gentlemen of
the jury, you've heard the version of my client's song recorded over twenty
years ago. You've heard the EXACT SAME song produced by these cheats in
84
the past month [shot of producer and Cochran]. I'd say it's pretty much an
open-and-shut case. Make the right decision. Thank you. [one person claps.
Gerald goes back to his table and tells Chef] I've got 'em. [Chef grins and
gives his thumbs-up approval]
Judge
Moses:
Cochran:
[gavels] Mr. Johnny Cochran, your closing arguments.
[rises and approaches the jury] Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury,
Chef's attorney would certainly want you to believe that his client wrote
"Stinky Britches" ten years ago. And they make a good case. Hell, I almost
felt pity myself. But ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, I have one,
final, thing I want you to consider. [walks to a display stand and pulls down
a screen] Ladies and gentleman, this is Chew-bacca. [true] Chewbacca is a
Wookie from the planet Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca LIVES in the planet
Endor. Now think about that. That does NOT MAKE SENSE.
Gerald:
[softly, pounds on the table] Damn it!
Chef:
[softly] What?
Gerald:
[softly] He's using the Chewbacca defense!
Example 4
[South Park Elementary, day. The bell rings. The fourth graders are still chatting as Mr.
Garrison enters.]
Mr.
Okay, children, let's take our seats. Did you take attendance, Mr. Slave?
Garrison:
Mr. Slave:
[at his own little desk off to the side] All donesy wunsy. [has a clipboard to
prove it]
Mr.
Okay, let's all take out our math homework and go over the problems.
Garrison:
Cartman:
[searching his notebook] Mmmath homework, Mmmath homework. Where
did I file that?
[about to write on the board, but turns around] Oh, and by the way, children,
Mr.
there's a walkout scheduled today to protest the war in Iraq. So, uh, if you're
Garrison: against the war, run along outside, and if you're for the war, uh, stay here and
we'll do math problems. [the kids quickly stare at each other]
All data are retrieved from http://www.spscriptorium.com/ScriptGuideIndex.htm
85