Description
Sociocultural awareness through dubbing Disney film songs into Greek
Konstantinos Karantzis
M.A. ‘English Language, Linguistics and Translation’, Specialization ‘Translation Studies and Interpreting’
Given the universal appeal of animation films and the importance of the messages they convey to a young audience, songs play a significant role in the filmmaker’s intention to summarize the plot of animation films for young audiences to consolidate the film message. The question arises as to whether shifts in pragmatic meaning occur in the process. The case study focuses on the ways sociocultural awareness is constructed through songs in children’s films, which address a rather ambivalent audience, namely, children and parents. The study analyzes four Disney film songs and their Greek dubbed versions to examine if and how sociocultural values, in these songs, have been transferred in the dubbed Greek versions. It focuses on pragmatic shifts which translators allowed into the target versions to enhance the summarizing function of the songs in a culturally familiar manner. Findings show that dubbers interfere with the religion, race and gender narratives of animation films to match those circulating in target environments. The significance of research lies in that it shows the liberties dubbers take in rendering animation film songs, making it a subgenre of its own.
