Conference for the 60th Anniversary of MTA 1955-2015
Translation's horizons: back to the future
You better werk. Camp representations of
Rupauls Drag Race in Spanish
Subtitles
Ivn Villanueva Jordn
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH CAMP IN TRANSLATION
Ethnographic work with Peruvian drag queens (Lima, 2013) on gender discourses,
performance and performativity.
Research Informant/gatekeeper changed her professional name several times in a
6-month period.
Tyra Fox (professional/artistic name)
Tyra Refox (first change of name)
Tyra Extravaganza Refox (second change of name: longer)
(Extravagnaza. Noun used by American drag queens.)
(Longer names according to American drag conventions.)
Tyra and other fellow drag queens gathered periodically to watch RuPauls Drag
Race (on-line streaming, fansubbed episodes)
Influence of subtitled episodes in the use of language: Peruvian drag queens
adopted and adapted the language they could hear and read to their colloquial
interactions and the ways they (re)presented themselves.
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WHO IS RUPAUL?
WHAT IS RUPAULS DRAG RACE?
Reality television show (U.S.A.)
Drag queen competition
Seven seasons (2009 2015...)
Academic impact
Essays published in different journals (Gender,
Media, Cultural Studies)
First book of essays, The Makeup of RuPauls
Drag Race (Daems, 2014)
Usual discussions: Postmodern identities, camp
and kitsch
aesthetics,
gender/transgender
studies, cultural representations, new normal,
etcetera.
Availability
U. S. A.
Peru & LatAm.
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LOGO
NETFLIX -> professional subtitles
On-line -> non-prof. subtitles
3
RPDRA | Season 6 | Episode 1 | An example of camp talk
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GAYSPEAK
(Starting in the 1940s, the way sexual minorities use language has been of interest to different
disciplines [linguistics, anthropology, psychology, sociology, literary theory, etc.])
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GAYSPEAK & CAMP TALK
Gay. Sexual identity
Camp. Aesthetics related to gay identity
+General
+Specific
Related to the way gay subjects speak
considering the following variables:
Related to strategic speech used by gay
subjects in particular situations based on a
shared cultural background.
Lexicon
Semantics
Intonation
Syntax
(and other language categories related to
descriptive linguistics)
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Pragmatics
Semiotics
Politics
Poetics
Discourse
Categories used for sociolinguistic studies
and critical discourse analysis
5
GENDER, CAMP AND TRANSLATION
A quick review of advances on this matter
Translation Studies and Gender Studies (1980 2000s)
Influences: Feminism (second wave) and neofeminisms, visibilization efforts
Issues: Overgeneralization or biased understanding of gender as woman
Translation and queer
Queering Translation (Conference in Vienna, 2015), Spurlin (2014)
Children literature and manipulation (Villanueva, 2011), Mazzei (2007)
Work from the social sciences about the translation of queer (semantics and language
transfer)
Translation and identities
Harvey
(2000a; 2000b; 2000c; 2002; 2003; 2014)
Camp, Camp talk, identity and community makeup through
translation, American gay literature (1970) translated into French
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Ranzato
(2014) Gayspeak, camp talk, dubbing, English-Italian
TRALIMA
Research group, Basque Country
The representation of woman/women in audiovisual translated products
Villanueva Jordn - RPDR Subtitles
ANALYZING CAMP REPRESENTATIONS IN RPDR
Methodology used to analyze the Spanish subtitles of RPDR
Descriptive study based on a contrastive / comparative corpus
Textual universe
(Luna, 2002)
2 episodes from season 6 (propositive sampling)
Complete dialogue lists in English and Spanish (professional
subtitles and non-professional subtitles)
General corpus
All camp segments form the English dialogue list
Classification according to different categories of camp talk
Specific corpus
Representative sampling of camp segments in English and
Spanish versions (TT1: professional, and TT2, non-professional)
Identification of translation shifts between ST and TT1, and ST and TT2
Contrast of translational variations between TT1 and TT2
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GENERAL CORPUS CLASSIFICATION CHART
(Harvey 2000a adapted by Villanueva)
ESTRATEGIA
DESCRIPCIN
Mezcla de campos o dialectos en un enunciado.
Paradoja
Coocurrencia de referencias explcitas e implcitas s obre temas que se
Explicitacin e implicitacin
Uso contradictorio de valores y
discutan.
Uso de referencias culturales elitistas para hablar de experiencias
significados
Alta c ultura vs c ultura popular
cotidianas.
Sustantivos propios c on marcas de Uso de sustantivo propios con marcas de gnero opuestas a las del
gnero
sujeto nombrado.
Concordancia de categoras gramaticales v inculadas c on los s ustativos
Marcadores de gnero
Inversin, irona o sarcasmo
de referencia: sustantivos y adjetivos, determinantes y s ustantivos,
gramaticales
Relacin inversa (inesperada) de
pronombres y s ustantivos.
Usos idiolectales de la lengua que se oponen a patrones como frases
signos
Rutinas retricas inesperadas
hechas
Sistema de valores establecido
Enunciados que se oponen a un sistema de v alores compartido
Usos de cortesa
Falsa empata o solidaridad ambivalente
Humor lingstico
Actitud ldica relacionada con la
forma y el significado de la lengua
Sobrenombres o calificativos que s e basan en caractersticas del s ujeto
Conciencia lingstica
Denominacin motivada
u objeto nombrado; tienen una carga teatral e irnica elevada.
elevada
Juegos de palabras
Juegos de palabras basados en su forma o significados.
Referencias sexuales v eladas por usos de la lengua o enunciados sin
Fuerza pragmtica
Dobles sentidos
implicancias s exuales usuales.
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EVIDENCIA LINGUSTICA
Incongruencia en el registro
Villanueva Jordn - RPDR Subtitles
GENERAL CORPUS CLASSIFICATION CHART
(Harvey 2000a adapted by Villanueva)
ESTRATEGIA
Parodia
Citacin de enunciados con fines
transgresores
Maneras aristocrticas
EVIDENCIA
LINGUSTICA
Uso del francs
Insinuacin
Hiprbole
Feminidad por
Exclamacin
Vocativos
DESCRIPCIN
Uso del francs con el fin de lograr el efecto de refinamiento.
Se plantea que uno de los interlocutores es femenino o demasiado
femenino mediante el uso de un sustantivo no relacionado
Se plantea que un sujeto tiene acciones o realiza actos femeninos
mediante referentes hiperblicos
Teatracalidad de las expresiones, alzar la voz
Formas de referirse al interlocutor como si se tratara de un
camarada del cotilleo
Saber comunitario
Uso de palabras y referencias
culturales que demuestran
pertenencia a la comunidad.
Unidad semitica
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Lxica
Extralingstica
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Se utilizan palabras del sociolecto camp en un enunciado.
Se hace referencia a un elementos culturales de la identidad gay.
Classification and contrast
#
Source Text
Target
text 1
(professional)
Target text 2
(non-professional)
15
Gia is
a
fishy
girl.
She
is
C.C.C.
Crazy,
coo
coo,
cunt.
Gia
tiene
pinta
de
pescado.
Es
CCC.
C uchi
Caliente
Cucu.
Gia
es
una
chica
caliente.
Ella
es
C.C.C.
Crazy,
Cuckoo,
Cunt.
17
She
was
really
living
for
herself,
girl.
Estaba
sobreviviendo!
Ella
realmente
vive
para
s
misma,
chica.
19
Come
on
season
six.
Lets
get
six-y.
Sexta
temporada,
pongmonos
sexty!
Vamos
temporada
6,
seamos
feroces.
S,
zorra,
trabaja.
Tienen
correo
de
RuPaul.
S,
perra,
W ORK!
SHEMAIL!
20 Yes,
bitch,
work.
78 You
got
shemail.
We
keep
interrupt
this
kiki to
bring
you
a
special
bulletin.
[]
Las
interrumpimos
para
darles
un
boletn
especial.
[]
So,
dont
adjust
your
sets
As
que
no
ajusten
sus
televisores
porque
este
79
because
this
extravaganza
is
been
espectculo
es
transmitido
en
S.A.D.
Sombra
de
Alta
broadcast
in
H.D.S.
Thats
High
Definicin.
Definition
Shade.
[]
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Interrumpimos
este
KIKI,
para
darles
un
boletn
especial.
[]
As
que
no
ajuste
sus
sets,
porque
extravaganza
est
siendo
transmitida
en
H.D.S.
eso
es
HIGH
DEFINITION
SHADE.
10
Classification and contrast
#
Source Text
Target
text 1
(professional)
T2(non-professional)
120
Condragulations,
Laganja.
Felicitaciones,
Laganja.
Shifts
Condragulaciones,
Laganja
Parte
superior
de
la
pantalla
entre
corchetes
[America
tiene
Carisma,
Singularidad,
Osada
y
Talento]
Welcome
to
the
main
stage
of
Americas
got
Bienvenidos
al
escenario
de:
Amrica
tiene
carisma,
250 Charisma,
Uniqueness,
originalidad,
coraje
y
talento.
Bienvenidos
al
escenario
Nerve
and
Talent.
principal
de
Americas
Got
[C.U.N.T.]
Charisma,
Uniqueness,
Nerve
&
Talent.
Mis
piernas
estn
bronceadas
My
legs
are
bronzed
and
y
curtidas
por
los
dioses,
Mis
piernas
estn
bronceadas
para
los
dioses,
271 tanned
for
the
gods.
hacindole
honor
a
la
veracidad
de
Kim
K.
sirviendo
Kim
K
Realness.
Serving
Kim
K.
realness.
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11
GENERAL FINDINGS
RPDR professional subtitles and non-professional subtitles differ in various ways.
[Netflix] Professional subtitles usually miss the point of camp statements.
Semiotic and pragmatic elements are lost in translation
(maybe because they were never found).
These subtitles also try to recreate humor cues through the generalization
of some cultural/community-specific referents. However, most of the time,
these new signs are not related or relevant for the scenes or even for RPDR
general content.
[Funsubs] Non-professional subtitles of RPDR vary in quality
Not all dialogues are translated (possibly related to linguistic competences)
As different subtitles of the same episodes coexist: subtitling protocols
cannot be identified
There is some tendency to borrow words (gay/drag lexicon)
Literal translations are regular in the case of semiotic/pragmatic or other l
linguistic constraints
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12
FINAL COMMENTS
On the function of subtitles
Subtitles are more accessible for non-professionals (fans, specialists, activists)
Subtitles can be define not only from a technical perspective (constraints)
They can be regarded as an expression of agency:
Representations of what they understand and want other to understand
as well.
Subtitles have started to play a role in the social construction of identities:
Self-representation, symbolic play
Affective communities (practice communities, as in this study)
Political activism
Social activism
(Prez-Gonzales, 2014; Ho, 2009; Daz-Cintas, 2015)
On the translation of camp
Drag queen used to be translated as travesti or transformista (Spanish)
Camp is present in the media more than ever (2000 till now)
A diachronic study of the translation of camp into Spanish may be needed to
see how language has changed.
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13
Thank you.
Special thanks to Lourdes Quiroz.
Ivn Villanueva Jordn
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
[email protected]
