Subtitling Tarantino’s offensive and taboo dialogue exchanges into european spanish: the case of Pulp Fiction

[EN] The manner offensive and taboo language is subtitled becomes a delicate and controversial practice given that this type of language functions as a lexical vehicle that provides information on the characters’ personality, social class, and setting and can provoke a strong reaction on viewers (Díaz Cintas, 2001). The omission of offensive/taboo words can therefore be said to entail a loss in their communicative function. From a Descriptive Translation Studies approach, the goals of this paper attempt to shed some light on the way the film Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) was subtitled into European Spanish by delving into diverse matters such as: (1) the translation strategies utilised by the subtitler; (2) the way offensive/taboo dialogue exchanges were transferred on the screen; and (3) proving whether the cases of neutralisation and omission of the load of these terms might have been justified by the technical constraints of subtitling.[ES] La manera en la que el lenguaje ofensivo y tabú se subtitula representa una práctica delicada y polémica pues este lenguaje funciona como vehículo léxico que aporta información sobre la personalidad, clase social y entorno de los personajes, pudiendo provocar una reacción fuerte en la audiencia (Díaz Cintas, 2001). Se podría decir que la omisión de términos ofensivos y tabú implica la pérdida de la función comunicativa de los mismos. Partiendo de un enfoque basado en los Estudios Descriptivos de Traducción, los objetivos de este artículo se centran en arrojar luz sobre la forma en la que el filme Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) se subtituló a español europeo, explorando así pues: (1) las estrategias traductológicas empleadas por el subtitulador; (2) la manera en la que los diálogos ofensivos/tabú fueron transferidos a la pantalla; (3) la posible influencia técnica de aquellos casos en los que la carga ofensiva y tabú queda neutralizada u omitida.Ávila-Cabrera, JJ. (2015). Subtitling Tarantino’s offensive and taboo dialogue exchanges into european spanish: the case of Pulp Fiction. Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas. 10:1-11. doi:10.4995/rlyla.2015.3419.11110Allan, K., & Burridge, K. (2006). Forbidden Words. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511617881Azzaro, G. (2005). Four-Letter Films: Taboo Language in Movies. Rome: Aracne.Bucaria, C. (2009). "Translation and Censorship on Italian TV: An Inevitable Love Affair?", VIAL. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6: 13-32.Chaume, F. (2004). Cine y traducción. Madrid: Cátedra.Dalzell, T. and Victor, T. (2008). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (8th ed). London and New York: Routledge.Díaz Cintas, J. (2001). "Sex, (Sub)Titles and Videotapes", in L. Lorenzo García, and A.M. Pereira Rodríguez (eds.), Traducción subordinada II: el subtitulado (inglés – espa-ol/galego). Vigo: Universidad de Vigo. pp. 47-67.Díaz Cintas, J. and Remael, A. (2007). Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester: St Jerome.Hughes, G. (2006). An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul language, and Ethnic Slurs in the English-Speaking World. New York and London: M.E. Sharpe.McEnery, T. (2006). Swearing in English. Bad Language, Purity and Power from 1586 to the Present. London and New York: Routledge.Montagu, A. (1973). The Anatomy of Swearing. London and New York: Macmillan and Collier.Robson, C. (2011). Real World Research: A Resource for Users of Social Research Methods in Applied Settings (3rd ed.). Chichester: Wiley.Toury, G. (1980). In Search of a Theory of Translation. Tel Aviv: Porter Institute.Venuti, L. (2008). The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. London and New York: Routledge.Vinay, J-P. and Dalbernet, J. (2000). "A Methodology for Translation", in L. Venuti (ed.), The Translation Studies Reader (2nd ed.). London and New York: Routledge. pp. 84-93.Wajnryb, R. (2005). Expletive Deleted: A Good Look at Bad Language. New York: Free Press