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A Framework for Interlingual Subtitling in the Global Lives Project

If I render word for word, the result will sound uncouth, and if compelled by necessity I alter anything in the order or wording, I shall seem to have departed from the function of a translator." - Cicero

As Cicero pointed out, the work of translators is difficult stuff. Figuring out how to subtitle 24 hours of video also presents its challenges. The goal of this document is to outline some of the frequently asked questions and provide advice for dealing with common challenges in translating and subtitling the Global Lives films. The document is intended to be edited as a wiki, so feel free to add your own experiences and questions.

Aesthetic Guidelines for Subtitle Presentation in the Global Lives Project

Subtitles in the Global Lives Project should take up a maximum of two lines, containing no more than forty characters and spaces. These subtitles should appear in the bottom panel of the screen, with white letters. In the case that a light background renders the subtitle text unreadable, it is recommended that a semi-transparent black box be inserted to make the letters visible. 

Subtitle presentation rate (words per minute, or reading rate) indicates how much time a viewer sees text written on the screen. Often, subtitling companies recommend subtitle presentation rates of 110 to 140 words per minute. That means that, in general, Global Lives translators should leave viewers about three seconds to read a full line of text, and five to six seconds for two lines. (Semiotics of Subtitling, p.45) When the two lines are not of the same length, the second line should be longer, in order to avoid unnecessary eye movement. 

Each subtitle’s time on the screen should correspond roughly to the time period during which the person is speaking. “Leading” and “Lagging” occur when subtitles precede speech, or linger after the speech has stopped. Global Lives subtitlers ought to avoid excessive leading and lagging, and attempt to synchronize the subtitles to change at natural pauses in speech, or changes of scene. (Semiotics of Subtitling, p.15) 

Subtitles should generally be center justified. When dialogue between two people occurs, the subtitles should be left-justified, and individual speakers should be signaled by adding an em dash “— ” followed by a space at the beginning of each line. To type an em dash in windows, type two hyphens (“--”) between two words, and press space after the second word. To add an em dash on a Mac, use option+shift with the hyphen key. 

[Note: As we are presently using the DotSub.com subtitling tool, it is not possible to left justify titles. However, the dashes are still important as we can later go back and find dialogue lines more easily so that they can be justified.]

Guidelines for Choosing Which Audio Content to Subtitle

Plain Subtitling vs. Closed Captioning

The difference between subtitling and closed captioning is that subtitles are used to adapt undubbed films for foreign audiences, and closed captioning is used to describe on screen action, sounds, and music for deaf audiences. As the Closed Captioned films are frequently unsightly due to a higher number of on screen characters and more punctuation, Global Lives Project films are generally intended to be subtitled, and not close captioned. That means it’s not necessary to translate queues such as [door slams], etc. This decision was made after an informal survey of a handful of GLP contributors based on our judgement that much of the richness of the film lies in the visual aesthetic experience, and as such, deaf viewers ought to still be able to follow the train of events and enjoy the subtitled version. If you feel strongly that we should used closed captioning instead of subtitles, please feel free to speak out in the translation forum on this website.

Subtitling Off Screen Dialogue and Music

In the case that music is playing in the background and no characters are speaking, the lyrics of the music ought to be translated and included as subtitles. When off-screen conversations occur, they should be translated if and when space constraints allow. Again, different speakers should be designated with an em dash “—” at the beginning of each voice change. In the case that off screen conversations occur simultaneously with on screen conversations, the annotation (off screen) can be added to specify which conversation is which. It’s especially important to subtitle dialogue off screen when it relates directly to the on-screen subject’s situation or dialogue.

Helpful Techniques in Translation Methodology

Translating Swear Words

The power of swear words is their emotional charge, from which the literal meaning has faded away. Swear words should not be translated literally, then. Instead, words with an equivalent emotional charge should be found to replace them, such that they provoke the same emotive response in the foreign audience as they do in the native audience. When translators search for adequate substitutes they need to keep a few key questions in mind, including the frequency, range, and emotional intensity attached to both expletives.

In “Linguistic and cultural aspects of the translation of swearing: The Spanish version of Pulp Fiction,” Ana Maria Fernandez Dobao analyzes the translation of expletives in depth while studying Quentin Tarantino’s movie. She provides several examples of successful expletive translation:

Translating Humor

When translating humor, it’s appropriate to adapt the nature of the joke or pun to the target language to using different words to achieve a similar humorous effect.

Oddly enough, in The Semiotics of Subtitling, Linde and Kay also draw on an example from Pulp Fiction to illustrate a successful joke translation:

Works Cited

La Traduccion Audio Visual: El Subtitulado, Cintas, Jorge Diaz, 2001, Ediciones Almar, Barcelona

The Semiotics of Subtitling, Linde, Zoe de and Kay, Neil. 1999, St. Jerome Buplishing, UK

Teoria y Practica de la Subtitulacion: Ingles/Espanol, Cintas, Jorge, 2003, Editora Ariel, Barcelona

Subtitles: on the Foreignness of Film, Egoyan, Atom and Balfour, Ian, 2004 the MIT Press

Translating as a Purposeful Activity, Nord, Christiane

Translation and Language, Fawcett, Peter

“Linguistic and cultural aspects of the translation of swearing: The Spanish version of Pulp Fiction” Fernandez Dobao, Ana Maria

“Subtitling as culture planning and representations of foreign lands: Rotten suburbs, bucks and raw sugar in the English subtitles of Terra Estrangeira, Central do Brasil and Abril Despedaçado,” Ribeiro, Ritalice Ribeiro de, 2003

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