The intralingual subtitling of The Wire
Changes of style and substance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.24620Keywords:
audiovisual translation, characterisation, intralingual subtitling, powerAbstract
This article examines the effects of the omissions made in the intralingual subtitling of the cult TV series The Wire, building on previous research. By extracting the English subtitles from the DVD box set and comparing them to the audio dialogue, I ascertain which features are omitted from the subtitles. A qualitative analysis reveals that the omission of features that contribute to interpersonal meaning has a cumulative effect on the representation of characters and their relationships. Furthermore, the subtitles frequently omit spatial information, which is shown to be key in constructing the nuanced hierarchical structure of the institutions and their players. The qualitative findings are supported by a quantitative analysis of the correlations between the cuts and their effects. It is argued that because interpersonal relations and social structures are so intrinsic to The Wire's message, the ideational meaning of the subtitled text suffers. The results are pertinent to the ongoing debate on the merits of verbatim versus edited subtitles, and point to the need for stylistic considerations to be implemented into subtitling practice.
References
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Caffrey, C. (2009) Relevant Abuse? Effects of Abusive Subtitling Strategies on Viewer Assessment of TV Anime. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. Dublin City University: Dublin.
Chaume, F. (2003) Doblatge i Subtitulació per a la TV. Vic, Bacelona: Eumo Editorial.
Chaume, F. (2004) Discourse markers in audiovisual translating. Meta 49 (4): 843–855. https://doi.org/10.7202/009785ar
Cuenca, M. J. (2000) Defining the indefinable? Interjections. Syntaxis: An International Journal of Syntactic Research 3: 29–44.
Culpeper, J. (2001) Language and Characterisation: People in Plays and Other Texts. London: Longman.
Curtis, N. (2009) Bluffers guide to The Wire. London Evening Standard. Available online: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bluffers-guide-to-the-wire-6911591.html
d’Ydewalle, G., Van Rensbergen, J. and Pollet, J. (1987) Reading a message when the same message is available auditorily in another language: The case of subtitling. In J. K. O’Regan and A. Lévy-Schoen (eds) Eye Movements: From Psychology to Cognition, 313–321. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
de Linde, Z. (1995) Read my lips: Subtitling principles, practices and problems. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 3 (1): 9–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.1995.9961245
de Linde, Z. and Kay, N. (1999) The Semiotics of Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Díaz Cintas, J. and Remael, A. (2007) Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Fernández, A., Matamala, A. and Vilaró, A. (2014) The reception of subtitled colloquial language in Catalan: An eye tracking exploratory study. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 11: 63–80.
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Hoover, D. L. (2007) Corpus stylistics, stylometry, and the styles of Henry James. Style 41 (2): 174–203.
Independent Television Commission (1999) Independent Television Commission (ITC) Guidance on Standards for Subtitling. Available online: http://sign-dialog.de/wp-content/richtlinien_199902_england.pdf
Ivarsson, J. and Carroll, M. (1998) Subtitling. Simrishamn, Sweden: TransEdit.
Kelly, L. W. (2009) Casting The Wire: Complicating the notions of performance, authenticity and ‘otherness’. Dark Matter: In the Ruins of Imperial Culture 4. Available online: http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2009/05/29/casting-the-wire-complicating-notions-of-performance-authenticity-and-otherness/
Kova?i?, I. (1992) Jezikoslovni Pogled Na Podnaslovno Prevajanje Televizijskih Oddaj [Linguistic Aspects of Subtitling Television Programmes]. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana.
Kozloff, S. (2000) Overhearing Film Dialogue. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Künzli, A. and Ehrensberger-Dow, M. (2011) Innovative subtitling: A reception study. In C. Alvstad, A. Hild and E. Tiselius (eds) Methods and Strategies of Process Research: Integrative Approaches in Translation Studies, 187–200. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.94.14kun
Luyken, G. M., Herbst, T., Langham-Brown, J., Reid, H. and Spinhof, H. (eds) (1991) Overcoming Language Barriers in Television: Dubbing and Subtitling for the European Audience. Manchester: European Institute for the Media.
McIntyre, D. (2018) Assessing the value of research on language. In D. McIntyre and H. Price (eds) Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda, 17–28. London: Routledge.
McIntyre, D. and Lugea, J. (2015) The effects of DHOH subtitles on the characterisation process in HBO TV series The Wire. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 23 (1): 62–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2014.919008
McIntyre, D. and Walker, B. (2013) Missed cues: Subtitles and characterisation in the BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Paper presented at the 33rd Conference of the Poetics and Linguistics Association. Heidelberg University, Germany, 2 August.
Ochs, E. (1989) Introduction. In E. Ochs (ed.) The Pragmatics of Affect. Special issue of Text 9 (1): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.1989.9.1.1
Ofcom (2006) Television access services review statement 2006. Available online: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-codes/tv-access-services/access-services-review
Ramos Pinto, S. (2013) From the ideal to the real viewer: A reception study of subtitling practices and their effects on viewers. Research Seminar presented at the University of Leeds, 11 December.
Reid, H. (1987) The Semiotics of subtitling, or why don’t you translate what it says? European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Review 38 (6): 28–30.
Romero-Fresco, P. (2009) More haste less speed: Edited versus verbatim respoken subtitles. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 6: 109–133.
Schiffrin, D. (1987) Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611841
Simon, D. (2008a) Lauren Laverne interviews David Simon. The Culture Show Uncut, 2008/2009 episode 7, broadcast 17 July. London: BBC Productions. Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cnkk9
Simon, D. (2008b) (dir. and author). The Wire. DVD box set. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video.
Sorlin, S. (2016) Language and Manipulation in House of Cards: A Pragma-stylistic Perspective. London: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55848-0
Szarkowska, A., Krejtz, I. and Krejtz, K. (2013) Do shot changes really induce the re-reading of subtitles? Paper presented at the 5th International Media for All conference: Audiovisual Translation: Expanding Borders. 25–27 September, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Szarkowska A, Krejtz, I., Pilipczuk, O., Dutka, L. and Kruger, J. L. (2016) The effects of text editing and subtitle presentation rate on the comprehension and reading patterns of interlingual and intralingual subtitles among deaf, hard of hearing and hearing viewers. Across Languages and Cultures 17 (2): 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1556/084.2016.17.2.3
Taavitsainen, I. (1997) Genre conventions: Personal affect in fiction and non-fiction in early modern English. In M. Rissanen, M. Kytö and K. Heikkonen (eds) English in Transition: Corpus-Based Studies in Linguistic Variation and Genre Styles, 185–266. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Toolan, M. (2011) ‘I don’t know what they’re saying half the time, but I’m hooked on the series’: Incomprehensible dialogue and integrated multimodal characterisation in The Wire. In R. Piazza, M. Bednarek and F. Rossi (eds) Telecinematic Discourse: Approaches to the Language of Films and Television Series, 161–183. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Trotta, J. and Blyahher, O. (2011) ‘Game done changed’: A look at selected AAVE features in the TV series The Wire. Moderna Språk 106 (1): 15–42.
Brondeel, H. (1994) Teaching subtitling routines. Meta 39 (1): 26–33. https://doi.org/10.7202/002150ar
Burkeman, O. (2009) Arrogant? Moi? Interview with David Simon. The Guardian, 28 March. Available online: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/28/david-simon-the-wire-interview
Busfield, S. and Owen, P. (eds) (2009) The Wire Re-Up: The Guardian Guide to the Greatest TV Show Ever Made. London: Guardian Books.
Caffrey, C. (2009) Relevant Abuse? Effects of Abusive Subtitling Strategies on Viewer Assessment of TV Anime. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. Dublin City University: Dublin.
Chaume, F. (2003) Doblatge i Subtitulació per a la TV. Vic, Bacelona: Eumo Editorial.
Chaume, F. (2004) Discourse markers in audiovisual translating. Meta 49 (4): 843–855. https://doi.org/10.7202/009785ar
Cuenca, M. J. (2000) Defining the indefinable? Interjections. Syntaxis: An International Journal of Syntactic Research 3: 29–44.
Culpeper, J. (2001) Language and Characterisation: People in Plays and Other Texts. London: Longman.
Curtis, N. (2009) Bluffers guide to The Wire. London Evening Standard. Available online: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/bluffers-guide-to-the-wire-6911591.html
d’Ydewalle, G., Van Rensbergen, J. and Pollet, J. (1987) Reading a message when the same message is available auditorily in another language: The case of subtitling. In J. K. O’Regan and A. Lévy-Schoen (eds) Eye Movements: From Psychology to Cognition, 313–321. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
de Linde, Z. (1995) Read my lips: Subtitling principles, practices and problems. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 3 (1): 9–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.1995.9961245
de Linde, Z. and Kay, N. (1999) The Semiotics of Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Díaz Cintas, J. and Remael, A. (2007) Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Fernández, A., Matamala, A. and Vilaró, A. (2014) The reception of subtitled colloquial language in Catalan: An eye tracking exploratory study. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 11: 63–80.
Gottlieb, H. (1992) Subtitling: A new university discipline. In C. Dollerup and A. Lindegaard (eds) Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Talent and Experience, 161–170. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.56.26got
Gottlieb, H. (1994) Subtitling: Diagonal translation. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 2 (1): 101–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.1994.9961227
Halliday, M. A. K. (1976) Halliday: System and Function in Language, ed. G. Kress. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold.
Hoover, D. L. (2007) Corpus stylistics, stylometry, and the styles of Henry James. Style 41 (2): 174–203.
Independent Television Commission (1999) Independent Television Commission (ITC) Guidance on Standards for Subtitling. Available online: http://sign-dialog.de/wp-content/richtlinien_199902_england.pdf
Ivarsson, J. and Carroll, M. (1998) Subtitling. Simrishamn, Sweden: TransEdit.
Kelly, L. W. (2009) Casting The Wire: Complicating the notions of performance, authenticity and ‘otherness’. Dark Matter: In the Ruins of Imperial Culture 4. Available online: http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2009/05/29/casting-the-wire-complicating-notions-of-performance-authenticity-and-otherness/
Kova?i?, I. (1992) Jezikoslovni Pogled Na Podnaslovno Prevajanje Televizijskih Oddaj [Linguistic Aspects of Subtitling Television Programmes]. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana.
Kozloff, S. (2000) Overhearing Film Dialogue. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Künzli, A. and Ehrensberger-Dow, M. (2011) Innovative subtitling: A reception study. In C. Alvstad, A. Hild and E. Tiselius (eds) Methods and Strategies of Process Research: Integrative Approaches in Translation Studies, 187–200. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.94.14kun
Luyken, G. M., Herbst, T., Langham-Brown, J., Reid, H. and Spinhof, H. (eds) (1991) Overcoming Language Barriers in Television: Dubbing and Subtitling for the European Audience. Manchester: European Institute for the Media.
McIntyre, D. (2018) Assessing the value of research on language. In D. McIntyre and H. Price (eds) Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda, 17–28. London: Routledge.
McIntyre, D. and Lugea, J. (2015) The effects of DHOH subtitles on the characterisation process in HBO TV series The Wire. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 23 (1): 62–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2014.919008
McIntyre, D. and Walker, B. (2013) Missed cues: Subtitles and characterisation in the BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Paper presented at the 33rd Conference of the Poetics and Linguistics Association. Heidelberg University, Germany, 2 August.
Ochs, E. (1989) Introduction. In E. Ochs (ed.) The Pragmatics of Affect. Special issue of Text 9 (1): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.1989.9.1.1
Ofcom (2006) Television access services review statement 2006. Available online: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-codes/tv-access-services/access-services-review
Ramos Pinto, S. (2013) From the ideal to the real viewer: A reception study of subtitling practices and their effects on viewers. Research Seminar presented at the University of Leeds, 11 December.
Reid, H. (1987) The Semiotics of subtitling, or why don’t you translate what it says? European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Review 38 (6): 28–30.
Romero-Fresco, P. (2009) More haste less speed: Edited versus verbatim respoken subtitles. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 6: 109–133.
Schiffrin, D. (1987) Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611841
Simon, D. (2008a) Lauren Laverne interviews David Simon. The Culture Show Uncut, 2008/2009 episode 7, broadcast 17 July. London: BBC Productions. Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cnkk9
Simon, D. (2008b) (dir. and author). The Wire. DVD box set. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video.
Sorlin, S. (2016) Language and Manipulation in House of Cards: A Pragma-stylistic Perspective. London: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55848-0
Szarkowska, A., Krejtz, I. and Krejtz, K. (2013) Do shot changes really induce the re-reading of subtitles? Paper presented at the 5th International Media for All conference: Audiovisual Translation: Expanding Borders. 25–27 September, Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Szarkowska A, Krejtz, I., Pilipczuk, O., Dutka, L. and Kruger, J. L. (2016) The effects of text editing and subtitle presentation rate on the comprehension and reading patterns of interlingual and intralingual subtitles among deaf, hard of hearing and hearing viewers. Across Languages and Cultures 17 (2): 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1556/084.2016.17.2.3
Taavitsainen, I. (1997) Genre conventions: Personal affect in fiction and non-fiction in early modern English. In M. Rissanen, M. Kytö and K. Heikkonen (eds) English in Transition: Corpus-Based Studies in Linguistic Variation and Genre Styles, 185–266. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Toolan, M. (2011) ‘I don’t know what they’re saying half the time, but I’m hooked on the series’: Incomprehensible dialogue and integrated multimodal characterisation in The Wire. In R. Piazza, M. Bednarek and F. Rossi (eds) Telecinematic Discourse: Approaches to the Language of Films and Television Series, 161–183. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Trotta, J. and Blyahher, O. (2011) ‘Game done changed’: A look at selected AAVE features in the TV series The Wire. Moderna Språk 106 (1): 15–42.
Published
2019-05-20
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
How to Cite
Lugea, J. (2019). The intralingual subtitling of The Wire: Changes of style and substance. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 12(1), 23-49. https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.24620
