Found in Translation: An Analysis of Popular American Film in Spain

This research examines American popular film in Spain with the aim of understanding if and how removing a popular text (such as a film) from its original language and socio-cultural context and translating it for consumption in a different language and culture affects the interpretation of the film. The study delves into the very successful 2012 films The Avengers (Joss Whedon) and Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino) and uses textual analyses and comparisons of the original English and the translated Castellano Spanish versions of the films, specifically focusing on the translations, as well as analyses of film reviews and critiques written by both American and Spanish authors, as the primary data sources. Existing literature relating to global popular culture and globalization/Americanization by Mel van Elteren, Marwan Kraidy, and Fabienne Darling-Wolf, among others, informs this study. Kraidy\u27s concept of the translocal, and Darling-Wolf\u27s adaptation of the term, is particularly influential. By comparing the original and translated versions of the films as well as the reviews and critiques serving as the informed American and Spanish perspectives, this research suggests that the translation of Hollywood blockbusters actually does little to affect surface-level meaning, but implies that interpretation happens at a deeper level and therefore the changing cultural context of the translated version very well might affect the deeper meaning of the film