An initial analysis of the macro-context, as discussed by Gambier, was undertaken.240 Gambier describes the various factors contributing to ‘context’,
which he then breaks down further into aspects of ‘macro context’ and ‘micro context’. Gambier’s discussion of these factors is in relation to their influence on the subtitler’s choice of strategies. He notes that the AVT context ‘…ne semble pas avoir […] de frontières, tout en affectant le choix des microstratégies de traduction’.241 The purpose of this analysis is both to understand the relevance of
the langage de banlieue in terms of its usage in the subtitled films, but also to understand why the subtitler might have chosen a certain translation solution. Although Gambier’s overarching ideas have been used, they have been developed here for the purposes of this research project, and certain aspects have been expanded upon using the work of other researchers. For instance, Gambier’s brief discussion of paratext is elaborated upon through reference to work by Genette, but also by Gray, who relates the notion of paratext to film specifically.242 In
addition, the nature of film as polysemiotic is discussed in relation to Taylor’s multimodal analysis, which allows for the identification of some particularly pertinent aspects of the various semiotic channels for consideration. Gambier suggests that analysis of four main areas should be undertaken in order to have a grasp of a film’s macro-context. These are the general cultural context,
240 Gambier, ‘Créativité et decision’, pp. 188–89.
241 ‘Does not seem to have […] limits, while nonetheless influencing the choice of micro-strategies in translation.’ Gambier, ‘Créativité et decision’, p. 188.
242 Gérard Genette, ‘Introduction to the Paratext’, New Literary History, 22.2 (1991), 261–272; Jonathan Gray, Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoliers, and Other Media Paratexts (New York and London: New York University Press, 2010).
distribution and marketing, target audience and film genre. Analysis of the context (both macro- and micro-) is important because, as Gambier notes
Le spectateur se servira du « contexte » pour interpréter la référence, le traducteur pour sélectionner une solution, le chercheur pour
décrire ou expliquer ce choix du traducteur.243
Thus, the contextual analysis carried out in Chapter Four will allow for: an examination of the contexts of release and reception, and some insight into the viewers’ expectations; an understanding of specific translation solutions and potential reasons for their selection; and therefore, the tools with which to identify and explain the strategies applied by the translator and the potential impact of these on the subtitled film.
General cultural context
Within the general cultural context, external factors which may affect the film’s translation and/or reception have been considered. For example, in the case of
banlieue film, the socio-political context in which the film was released is of great
value in terms of determining the significance of the film: are the events surrounding the release of the film likely to affect the kind of audience which may watch the film? To what extent does the film intervene in social debates or position itself in relation to dominant representations? For instance, the significance of La haine being made following the death of Makomé M’Bowolé has already been noted. This timing, combined with the use of authentic footage from riots, and a plotline surrounding a victim of police violence who is in hospital in a critical condition, lends a realist tone to the film which highlights its relevance to current affairs in the contemporary French society into which it was released.
A concern with the context of release overlaps significantly with paratextual theory. The notion of paratext was first put forward by Gerard Genette who related this concept specifically to literature, highlighting the significance of the elements surrounding a text, and through which an audience accesses it.244
Genette broke the paratext down further into two categories; epitext - those
243 ‘The viewer will use “context” to interpret a reference, the translator to choose a solution, the researcher to describe or explain the translator’s choice.’ Gambier, ‘Créativité et decision’, p. 189.
elements surrounding a text’s release, such as interviews and newspaper articles, and peritext – the elements ‘within’ or ‘attached to’ the text, but not necessarily part of it, such as the title, cover, or chapter headings, for example. This theory has been developed considerably by Jonathan Gray, who applies it to the case of film and TV in the present day.245 Gray expands Genette’s theory to incorporate
the specificities of the audiovisual medium. For example, a DVD can include a director’s interview or ‘making of’ footage; this information might have originally formed part of the epitext of a film’s release, but later forms part of the peritext on the DVD edition. He highlights the importance of paratext in an audience’s decision to watch a film, noting that this decision can be influenced by ‘the actors, the production personnel, the quality of the previews, reviews, interviews, the poster […] what cinema it is playing at[…].’246 This can be linked to the earlier
discussion of the target audience for subtitled banlieue film in the UK; these are usually screened at independent or art house cinemas, which often attract an audience of upper middle class over 35-year-olds.247 The very fact that banlieue
film is screened in such venues results in exposure to certain demographics, and perhaps even non-exposure to others. Although at the time the subtitler is commissioned, s/he does not know in which cinemas the film will be screened (s/he may even be creating them for a film festival), s/he does have an idea of the genre of the film. Since many banlieue films are screened in similar situations, and arguably to similar audiences, this could also inform the approach taken by the subtitler.
The significance of the paratext in shaping audience expectations is also recognised by Gambier.248 Therefore, in this phase of the macro contextual
analysis, director interviews, marketing materials, and newspaper articles were analysed. Gambier notes: ‘Ces éléments créent, préfigurent, orientent les attentes, les besoins, avant même que le film sorte sur les écrans de la ville’.249
This information, therefore, when combined with the general cultural context,
245 Gray. 246 Ibid. p. 25.
247 Figures from 2010; Mike Gubbins, ‘Art House On Demand’, Movie Scope, 2012
<http://www.moviescopemag.com/market-news/featured-editorial/art-house-on-demand/> [accessed 26 September 2016].
248 Gambier, ‘Créativité et decision’, pp. 188–89.
249 ‘These elements create, presage, and direct [viewers’] expectations and needs, before the film even appears in the cinema.’ Ibid. p. 189.
could inform the subtitler’s work, and the audience’s reading of a film (subtitled or not). Not only could the paratext encourage or discourage viewers’ attendance at the cinema, or purchase of the DVD, it could also continue to shape their interpretation of the film, even after they have finished viewing an item.250 Thus,
the paratext is an important consideration when examining how a given translation may be received, not only within the context of a specific scene, but also within the context of the film’s release. The analysis of the paratext examined how far viewers of the film (both native French and non-French-speaking British viewers) might understand references to France, to the issues presented in the films such as migration, identity and exclusion, and to additional themes which may arise. Thus, this analysis of the French and Anglophone paratexts for each film will serve to clarify the reception context and its influence on readings of the film.
The paratexts also allowed for an examination of the socio-political messages addressed in the films, either in terms of themes highlighted, or messages/intentions which are explicitly explained by the director. This then offered further information concerning the language in the film, and whether certain aspects of it were particularly important in a specific case. This could then be linked to Goudaillier’s list of themes in banlieue language which, he notes, has a particularly rich vocabulary concerning certain issues which are perhaps more prevalent in the banlieue, including, for example, drugs, sex and ‘illicit business’.251 Some of the themes noted by Goudaillier also emerged as prevalent
themes in a number of the works considered for inclusion here, and there is thus a clear overlap between linguistic themes in the langage de banlieue, and themes represented on screen in banlieue film, which warrants further investigation within the case study analysis of the films selected for this project. These thematic factors and socio-political messages will also certainly have an impact upon the target audience for subtitled banlieue films, and the themes which a potential audience would be expecting, and paying close attention to, when viewing the film.
250 Gray, p. 45. 251 Goudaillier, p. 17.
Target Audience
The general target audience for art-house cinema, and by extension, banlieue film was discussed earlier on in relation to banlieue cinema more generally. It was established that it is difficult to ascertain for whom the subtitler was translating in each specific case study. Further, it is also challenging to identify one specific target audience for each set of subtitles, since they may have been written with an ‘international’ audience in mind, and perhaps later added to a UK DVD or Netflix release of the film. However, there are additional aspects of the macro- contextual analysis which will inform our understanding of potential viewers’ expectations for each case study film. Elements of the paratext will indicate whether the marketing of the film could lead to certain groups of viewers being more likely to watch the film than others. This should be considered in relation to the notion of ‘bridging the gap’ between source culture and target culture.252
Considering banlieue film in particular, the audience might have a greater or lesser tolerance for swearwords depending on aspects of the film which were foregrounded in the marketing. This could inform the subtitler’s choice of strategies. An important consideration here would also be how far elements of the Source Culture presented in the film may be recognisable to the Target Audience – if there are certain cultural references featured in the film which are also shared with the Target Audience, or another culture to which the Target Audience is regularly exposed, this may have implications in terms of semiotic cohesion, which will be discussed shortly.
Film Genre
Following the structure of Gambier’s description of various factors contributing to the context in AVT, certain aspects are noted under the heading of genre filmique. In the case of banlieue film - and, indeed, within the criteria for selection of films for case study analysis - elements such as themes and characterization (particularly its linguistic manifestations), are key features which make a banlieue
film a banlieue film. The amount and function of any dialogue within a film varies
from genre to genre.253 An action film, for example, will often have less dialogue
252 Nida notes that in translation in general, where the ‘gap’ between cultures is smaller, the translator usually faces fewer big issues, but where languages are close then ‘false friends’ can pose a challenge. Eudene Nida, ‘Principles of Correspondence’, in The Translation Studies
Reader, ed. by Lawrence Venuti, 3rd edn (London: Routledge, 2012), pp. 141–55 (p. 145).
compared to other genres; this dialogue may then be even further reduced in the subtitles, in order to avoid distracting the target audience and weakening the impact of any special effects, for instance.
The storyline and themes should also be identified and understood, they may allow for identification of key scenes or discussions. Where utterances have a significant role in the plot, although they may not seem to be of great importance in a particular scene, they may have been prioritised in the subtitles, perhaps at the expense of other information within a scene. Similarly, the language used in a film could reflect certain themes - considering for example, the significance of race in many banlieue films. The langage de banlieue often reflects the fact that race is not a taboo subject in the banlieue; 254 this is not necessarily the case in the United
Kingdom, so the translation of these terms can prove challenging.
Elements of characterization (and relationships between characters), where manifested linguistically, were pinpointed. In the case of banlieue film, where socio-political messages are often conveyed regarding members of the banlieue community and their experiences, individual and collective identity are important. Immigration being a recurring theme in these films, some characters’ origins are evident linguistically, through an accent, or the language in which they communicate with family members. It was noted earlier that many residents of
banlieue maintain connections with both the French language and culture, and
the native language and culture of relatives. This is an important element of life in the banlieue and of the past which may shape a character and their experiences. The close linguistic analysis of the subtitles will be explained later under micro-contextual analysis.
The use of a certain register or vocabulary could demonstrate the difference in status between two characters, or the closeness of their relationships. An understanding of relationships between the characters in a film informs the analysis of certain exchanges and register shifts in a character’s dialogue. An understanding of key relationships in the case study films also informed the selection of specific examples and sequences for analysis.
The final point under the subheading of genre relates to elements of intertextuality within a film. This is linked to genre in the case of banlieue films as some of them draw on the success of earlier films, a good example of this would be Les Kaïra (Gastambide, 2012), which parodies some elements of La haine (Kassovitz, 1995). In this case it might be argued that in order to retain the elements of intertextuality of the source text, any linguistic references should be translated in such a way that they are recognisable to the TA (though they may not have the same relevance if they are references to French films). Where the SL of the texts referenced is English, the original ST quote might be best in the subtitles. An example of this working well could be the extract referenced earlier from La haine, in which Vinz re-enacts a scene from Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) ‘c’est à moi que tu parles?’, which is subtitled using the original line in English from the film ‘You talkin’ to me?’.255
These elements of characterisation and themes identified in the films could also have an effect on the intended function or outcomes of the film; some banlieue films have political implications, or there are certain issues dealt with in them which must be handled sensitively in order to convey socio-political messages in translation.