Exploring the Strategies of Translating Cultural References in Kurdish Subtitling

A Case Study

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24086/cuejhss.v7n1y2023.pp50-57
Keywords: Audiovisual Translation‎, Cultural references, Kurdish subtitling, Subtitling, Translation strategies, Translation studies

Abstract

The current study investigates the strategies of translating cultural references applied in the Kurdish subtitles of the American movie entitled ‘Scent of a Woman’. This research also determines the parameters that affect the application of translation strategies in the Kurdish subtitles on the movie. In doing so, the English audio scripts (i.e., source text) and their Kurdish subtitles (i.e., target text), were compared and interpreted in accordance with Pedersen’s taxonomy of subtitling strategies and parameters (2011). The results revealed that all the translation strategies proposed by Pedersen (2011) were used in the Kurdish subtitles. However, due to the consideration of the ‘monocultural parameter’, the subtitler most frequently used the strategy of retention in the Kurdish subtitles. On the other hand, he used the strategies of omission and official equivalence least frequently. It is also shown that the parameters affecting the application of subtitling strategies were monocultural, transcultural, infracultural, and polyesemiotics. In sum, the cultural differences between SL and TL made the subtitler adopt justifiable strategies depending on availability of specific parameters.

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Author Biographies

Hersh A. Omer, Department of English Language, College of Education and Languages, Charmo University, ‎Chamchamal, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Hersh Abdulrahman Omer is an MA student at the Department of English, College of Education and Languages, Charmo University. He got B.A degree in Translation. His research interests are Translation Pedagogy, Translation and Technology.

Sirvan Aminzadeh, Department of Translation, Cihan University-Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Sirvan Aminzadeh is a Lecturer at the Department of Translation, College of Arts and Letters, Cihan University-Erbil. He got the B.A. degree in English Translation, the M.A. degree in Translation Studies, and the Ph.D. degree in Translation Studies. His research interests are in Translation Pedagogy, Translation and Technology, and Literary Translation. 

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Published
2023-02-10
How to Cite
Omer, H., & Aminzadeh, S. (2023). Exploring the Strategies of Translating Cultural References in Kurdish Subtitling. Cihan University-Erbil Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(1), 50-57. https://doi.org/10.24086/cuejhss.v7n1y2023.pp50-57
Issue
Vol 7 No 1 (2023)
Section
Articles

Copyright (c) 2023 Hersh A. Omer, Sirvan Aminzadeh

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