Manipulation of Ideological Items in the Audiovisual Translation of Voiced-Over Documentaries in the Arab World
In a widely globalized world, the influence of audiovisual translation on the culture and identity of audiences is unmistakable. However, in the Arab World, there is a noticeable disproportion between this growing influence and the research carried out in the field. As a matter of fact, the voiced-over documentary is one of the most abundantly translated genres in the Arab World that carries lots of ideological elements which are in many cases rendered by manipulation. However, voiced-over documentaries have hardly received any focused attention from researchers in the Arab World. This paper attempts to scrutinize the process of translation of voiced-over documentaries in the Arab World, from French into Arabic in the present case study, by sub-categorizing the ideological items subject to manipulation, identifying the techniques utilized in their translation and exploring the potential extra-linguistic factors that prompt translation agents to opt for manipulative translation. The investigation is based on a corpus of 94 episodes taken from a series entitled 360° GEO Reports, produced by the French German network ARTE in French, and acquired, translated and aired by Al Jazeera Documentary Channel for Arab audiences. The results yielded 124 cases of manipulation in four sub-categories of ideological items, and the use of 10 different oblique procedures in the process of manipulative translation. The study also revealed that manipulation is in most of the instances dictated by the editorial line of the broadcasting channel, in addition to the religious, geopolitical and socio-cultural peculiarities of the target culture.
[1] A. Darwish, Translation Applied! Melbourne: Writescope Publishers, 2010.
[2] A. Lefevère, Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. London and New York: Routledge, 1992.
[3] J. Díaz-Cintas and A. Remael, Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. London & New York: Routledge, 2007.
[4] J. Díaz-Cintas, Introduction: Audiovisual Translation Comes of Age. In D. Chiaro, C. Heiss & Chiara Bucaria, (Ed.). Between Text and Image: Updating Research in Screen Translation, pp. 1-9, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2008.
[5] Y. Gambier, Recent Developments and Challenges in Audiovisual Research. In D. Chiaro, C. Heiss & Chiara Bucaria (Ed.). Between Text and Image: Updating Research in Screen Translation, pp. 11-33. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2008.
[6] R. Agost, Audiovisual Translation: A Complex and Unstable Field of Research at the Service of All. International Journal of Translation, 23(2), 7-14, 2011.
[7] M. Gamal, Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World: A Changing Scene. Translation Watch Quarterly, 3(2), 78-126, 2007.
[8] M. Gamal, Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World: Mapping the Field, 2014 (Online). (Accessed: 30th July 2015). Retrieved from http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=851
[9] www.at-turjuman.com/ (Online). (Accessed: 22nd January 2019)
[10] C. A. Ferguson, Diglossia. Word, 15, 325-340, 1959.
[11] C. Horn, Diglossia in the Arab World. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 5, 100-104, 2015.
[12] S. Abu-Rabia, Effects of Exposure to Literary Arabic on Reading Comprehension in a Diglossic Situation. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal (13), 147-157, 2000.
[13] E. P. C. Franco, Documentary Film Translation: A Specific Practice? In A. Chesterman et al. (Ed.). Translation in Context, pp. 233-242. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2000.
[14] E. Espasa, Myths about Documentary Translation. In: P. Orero, (Ed.). Topics in Audiovisual Translation, pp. 183-197. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2004.
[15] A. Matamala, Main Challenges in the Translation of Documentaries. Perspectives. Studies in Translatology, 17(2), 93-107, 2009.
[16] F. Kaufmann, Un exemple d’effet pervers de l’uniformisation linguistique dans la traduction d’un documentaire: de l’hébreu des immigrants de “Saint-Jean” au français normatif d’ARTE (An Example of the Evil Effect of Linguistic Uniformisation in the Translation of a Documentary: from the Hebrew of the Immigrants from Saint-Jean to the Normative French in ARTE). Meta, 49(1), 148-160, 2004.
[17] I. Hoorickx-Raucq, Mediating the Scientific Text. A Cultural Approach to the Discourse of Science in Some English and French Publications and TV Documentaries. Jostrans, 3, 97-108, 2005.
[18] M. Thawabteh, Linguistic, Cultural and Technical Problems in English-Arabic Subtitling. SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpreting. 5(1), 2001.
[19] J. S. Nelson, The Ideological Connection: Or, Smuggling in the Goods, Part II. Theory and Society 4, 573-590. 1977.
[20] J. L. Sullivan, J. E. Pierson and G. E. Marcus, Ideological constraint in the mass public: A methodological critique and some new findings. American Journal of Political Science 22, 233–249. 1978.
[21] H. M. Kritzer, Ideology and American Political Elites. Public Opinion Quarterly, 42:4, 484–502. 1978.
[22] E. Smith, The Levels of Conceptualization: False Measures of Ideological Sophistication. The American Political Science Review, 74:3. 685-696, 1980.
[23] K. Knight, Ideology in the 1980 election: ideological sophistication does matter. Journal of Politics 47, 828–853. 1985.
[24] T. W. Adorno, E. Frenkel-Brunswik, D. Levinson and R. N. Sanford, The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper & Row. 1950.
[25] K. Loewenstein, The Role of Ideologies in Political Change. Interna-tional Social Science Bulletin 5 (1): 51-74. 1953.
[26] H. McClosky, Consensus and Ideology in American Politics. American Political Science Review, 58, 361-382, 1964.
[27] G. Sartori, Politics, Ideology, and Belief Systems. The American Political Science Review, 63(2), 398-411, 1969.
[28] M. Rejai, Political Ideologies: A Comparative Approach. Armonk. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1991.
[29] J. Gerring, Ideology: A Definitional Analysis. Political Research Quarterly, 50(4), 957-994, 1997.
[30] www.britannica.com (Online). (Accessed: 22nd January 2019).
[31] J. Boase-Beier and M. Holman (eds.), The Practices of Literary Translation, Constraints and Creativity. St. Jerome Publishing, 1998.
[32] G. L. Scandura, Sex, Lies and TV: Censorship and Subtitling. Meta, 49(1), 125-134, 2004.
[33] A. Remael and J. Neves, Introduction. A Tool for Social Integration? Audiovisual Translation from Different Angles. Linguistica Antverpiensia, 6, 7-22. 2007.
[34] R. Flynn, 2014 (Online). (Accessed: 15th December 2017). Retrieved from https://racheljeanflynn.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/language-culture-and-censorship-a-glimpse-into-the-world-of-audiovisual-translation/.
[35] Sakr, N. (2002). Testing Time for Al-Jazeera. ISIM Newsletter 9, January 2002, p. 21 (Online). (Accessed: 10th June 2015). Retrieved from https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/17572/ISIM_9_Testing_Time_for_Al-Jazeera.pdf?sequence=1.
[36] Toury, G. (1980). In Search of a Theory of Literary Translation. Tel Aviv: Porter Institute.
[37] T. Hermans, The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation. London: Croom Helm, 1985.
[38] Snell-Hornby, M. (1988). Translation Studies. An Integrated Approa ch. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
[39] S. Bassnett and A. Lefevère, General Editor’s Preface. In A. Lefevère, (Ed.). Translation, Rewriting, and Literary Fame. London: Routledge, 1992.
[40] J.-R. Lambert and H. Van Gorp, On describing translations. In T. Hermans (Ed.), The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation, pp. 42-53. London: Croom Helm, 1985.
[41] D. Katan, Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing, 1999.
[42] F. Farahzad, A Gestalt Approach to Manipulation in Translation. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 6, 153-158, 1999.
[43] P. Fawcett, The Manipulation of Language and Culture in Film Translation. In M. Calzada Pérez (Ed.). Apropos of Ideology, pp. 145-163. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing, 2003.
[44] Kramina, A. (2004). Translation as Manipulation: Causes and Consequences, Opinions and Attitudes. Studies about Languages, 6, 37-41.
[45] ARTE Distribution, 2017 (Online). (Accessed: 21st January 2017). Retrieved from https://sales.arte.tv/fiche/2481/360__GEO
[46] Pewforum, 2009 (Online). (Accessed: 21st January 2017). Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/.
[47] Pewforum, 2012 (Online). (Accessed: 21st January 2017). Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/.
[48] J -P. Vinay and J. Darbelnet, Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais. Paris: Didier: Georgetown University Press, 1958/2000.
[1] A. Darwish, Translation Applied! Melbourne: Writescope Publishers, 2010.
[2] A. Lefevère, Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. London and New York: Routledge, 1992.
[3] J. Díaz-Cintas and A. Remael, Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. London & New York: Routledge, 2007.
[4] J. Díaz-Cintas, Introduction: Audiovisual Translation Comes of Age. In D. Chiaro, C. Heiss & Chiara Bucaria, (Ed.). Between Text and Image: Updating Research in Screen Translation, pp. 1-9, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2008.
[5] Y. Gambier, Recent Developments and Challenges in Audiovisual Research. In D. Chiaro, C. Heiss & Chiara Bucaria (Ed.). Between Text and Image: Updating Research in Screen Translation, pp. 11-33. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2008.
[6] R. Agost, Audiovisual Translation: A Complex and Unstable Field of Research at the Service of All. International Journal of Translation, 23(2), 7-14, 2011.
[7] M. Gamal, Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World: A Changing Scene. Translation Watch Quarterly, 3(2), 78-126, 2007.
[8] M. Gamal, Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World: Mapping the Field, 2014 (Online). (Accessed: 30th July 2015). Retrieved from http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=851
[9] www.at-turjuman.com/ (Online). (Accessed: 22nd January 2019)
[10] C. A. Ferguson, Diglossia. Word, 15, 325-340, 1959.
[11] C. Horn, Diglossia in the Arab World. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 5, 100-104, 2015.
[12] S. Abu-Rabia, Effects of Exposure to Literary Arabic on Reading Comprehension in a Diglossic Situation. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal (13), 147-157, 2000.
[13] E. P. C. Franco, Documentary Film Translation: A Specific Practice? In A. Chesterman et al. (Ed.). Translation in Context, pp. 233-242. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2000.
[14] E. Espasa, Myths about Documentary Translation. In: P. Orero, (Ed.). Topics in Audiovisual Translation, pp. 183-197. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2004.
[15] A. Matamala, Main Challenges in the Translation of Documentaries. Perspectives. Studies in Translatology, 17(2), 93-107, 2009.
[16] F. Kaufmann, Un exemple d’effet pervers de l’uniformisation linguistique dans la traduction d’un documentaire: de l’hébreu des immigrants de “Saint-Jean” au français normatif d’ARTE (An Example of the Evil Effect of Linguistic Uniformisation in the Translation of a Documentary: from the Hebrew of the Immigrants from Saint-Jean to the Normative French in ARTE). Meta, 49(1), 148-160, 2004.
[17] I. Hoorickx-Raucq, Mediating the Scientific Text. A Cultural Approach to the Discourse of Science in Some English and French Publications and TV Documentaries. Jostrans, 3, 97-108, 2005.
[18] M. Thawabteh, Linguistic, Cultural and Technical Problems in English-Arabic Subtitling. SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpreting. 5(1), 2001.
[19] J. S. Nelson, The Ideological Connection: Or, Smuggling in the Goods, Part II. Theory and Society 4, 573-590. 1977.
[20] J. L. Sullivan, J. E. Pierson and G. E. Marcus, Ideological constraint in the mass public: A methodological critique and some new findings. American Journal of Political Science 22, 233–249. 1978.
[21] H. M. Kritzer, Ideology and American Political Elites. Public Opinion Quarterly, 42:4, 484–502. 1978.
[22] E. Smith, The Levels of Conceptualization: False Measures of Ideological Sophistication. The American Political Science Review, 74:3. 685-696, 1980.
[23] K. Knight, Ideology in the 1980 election: ideological sophistication does matter. Journal of Politics 47, 828–853. 1985.
[24] T. W. Adorno, E. Frenkel-Brunswik, D. Levinson and R. N. Sanford, The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper & Row. 1950.
[25] K. Loewenstein, The Role of Ideologies in Political Change. Interna-tional Social Science Bulletin 5 (1): 51-74. 1953.
[26] H. McClosky, Consensus and Ideology in American Politics. American Political Science Review, 58, 361-382, 1964.
[27] G. Sartori, Politics, Ideology, and Belief Systems. The American Political Science Review, 63(2), 398-411, 1969.
[28] M. Rejai, Political Ideologies: A Comparative Approach. Armonk. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1991.
[29] J. Gerring, Ideology: A Definitional Analysis. Political Research Quarterly, 50(4), 957-994, 1997.
[30] www.britannica.com (Online). (Accessed: 22nd January 2019).
[31] J. Boase-Beier and M. Holman (eds.), The Practices of Literary Translation, Constraints and Creativity. St. Jerome Publishing, 1998.
[32] G. L. Scandura, Sex, Lies and TV: Censorship and Subtitling. Meta, 49(1), 125-134, 2004.
[33] A. Remael and J. Neves, Introduction. A Tool for Social Integration? Audiovisual Translation from Different Angles. Linguistica Antverpiensia, 6, 7-22. 2007.
[34] R. Flynn, 2014 (Online). (Accessed: 15th December 2017). Retrieved from https://racheljeanflynn.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/language-culture-and-censorship-a-glimpse-into-the-world-of-audiovisual-translation/.
[35] Sakr, N. (2002). Testing Time for Al-Jazeera. ISIM Newsletter 9, January 2002, p. 21 (Online). (Accessed: 10th June 2015). Retrieved from https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/17572/ISIM_9_Testing_Time_for_Al-Jazeera.pdf?sequence=1.
[36] Toury, G. (1980). In Search of a Theory of Literary Translation. Tel Aviv: Porter Institute.
[37] T. Hermans, The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation. London: Croom Helm, 1985.
[38] Snell-Hornby, M. (1988). Translation Studies. An Integrated Approa ch. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
[39] S. Bassnett and A. Lefevère, General Editor’s Preface. In A. Lefevère, (Ed.). Translation, Rewriting, and Literary Fame. London: Routledge, 1992.
[40] J.-R. Lambert and H. Van Gorp, On describing translations. In T. Hermans (Ed.), The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation, pp. 42-53. London: Croom Helm, 1985.
[41] D. Katan, Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing, 1999.
[42] F. Farahzad, A Gestalt Approach to Manipulation in Translation. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 6, 153-158, 1999.
[43] P. Fawcett, The Manipulation of Language and Culture in Film Translation. In M. Calzada Pérez (Ed.). Apropos of Ideology, pp. 145-163. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing, 2003.
[44] Kramina, A. (2004). Translation as Manipulation: Causes and Consequences, Opinions and Attitudes. Studies about Languages, 6, 37-41.
[45] ARTE Distribution, 2017 (Online). (Accessed: 21st January 2017). Retrieved from https://sales.arte.tv/fiche/2481/360__GEO
[46] Pewforum, 2009 (Online). (Accessed: 21st January 2017). Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/.
[47] Pewforum, 2012 (Online). (Accessed: 21st January 2017). Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-executive-summary/.
[48] J -P. Vinay and J. Darbelnet, Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais. Paris: Didier: Georgetown University Press, 1958/2000.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:78758", author = "S. Chabbak", title = "Manipulation of Ideological Items in the Audiovisual Translation of Voiced-Over Documentaries in the Arab World ", abstract = "In a widely globalized world, the influence of audiovisual translation on the culture and identity of audiences is unmistakable. However, in the Arab World, there is a noticeable disproportion between this growing influence and the research carried out in the field. As a matter of fact, the voiced-over documentary is one of the most abundantly translated genres in the Arab World that carries lots of ideological elements which are in many cases rendered by manipulation. However, voiced-over documentaries have hardly received any focused attention from researchers in the Arab World. This paper attempts to scrutinize the process of translation of voiced-over documentaries in the Arab World, from French into Arabic in the present case study, by sub-categorizing the ideological items subject to manipulation, identifying the techniques utilized in their translation and exploring the potential extra-linguistic factors that prompt translation agents to opt for manipulative translation. The investigation is based on a corpus of 94 episodes taken from a series entitled 360° GEO Reports, produced by the French German network ARTE in French, and acquired, translated and aired by Al Jazeera Documentary Channel for Arab audiences. The results yielded 124 cases of manipulation in four sub-categories of ideological items, and the use of 10 different oblique procedures in the process of manipulative translation. The study also revealed that manipulation is in most of the instances dictated by the editorial line of the broadcasting channel, in addition to the religious, geopolitical and socio-cultural peculiarities of the target culture.
", keywords = "Audiovisual translation, ideological items, manipulation, voiced-over documentaries. ", volume = "13", number = "5", pages = "627-10", }
