{"id":1797,"date":"2023-12-05T11:07:24","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T11:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/?p=1797"},"modified":"2023-12-05T11:07:24","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T11:07:24","slug":"interlinguistic-communication-in-1899-a-multilingual-approach-for-a-multilingual-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/interlinguistic-communication-in-1899-a-multilingual-approach-for-a-multilingual-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Interlinguistic Communication in 1899: A Multilingual Approach for a Multilingual Production"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">by Tatiana L\u00f3pez<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">2022 was the year creators of the Netflix show Dark finally came back with their exciting new series <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">1899,<\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"> an amazing journey and a complete revolution in terms of language treatment that I\u2019d describe as an incredible undertaking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"><strong>A multilingual project<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">From the very beginning, we see a show with more than one original language, something which may be quite shocking, especially because there aren\u2019t just two or three languages, but 14! No doubt we are about to enjoy a highly multilingual project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Though the original language is set as English, here is a rough breakdown of all languages involved:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">English: 42%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">German: 18%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Danish: 16%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">French: 9%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Spanish: 7%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Cantonese: 4%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Portuguese: 2%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Polish: 1.5%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Norwegian: 1%<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">A few lines of Japanese<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">One line of Italian, Romanian, Greek, and Serbian.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">As translators, we always avoid originating from pivot languages, but this case is more than justified as finding an audiovisual translator who works with 14 languages seems a bit unrealistic. That is why using an English template (for subtitling) or an English dialogue list (for dubbing) is certainly the best solution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"><strong>Subtitling or dubbing?<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">When choosing whether to sub or dub an audiovisual product, usually plot and languages don&#8217;t come into the discussion. Anyway, both are suitable solutions, and we all choose what we enjoy more, according to our preferences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Nevertheless, this particular case is a tricky one because if the showrunners decided to create a multilingual environment, would the fully <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">monolingual and immersive experience that dubbing provides make any sense? While I think the original intention was to highlight the language diversity, dubbing is available for many languages even though the impact is obviously going to be absolutely different.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">We should all bear this in mind because such effort on the part of the showrunners deserves all our respect. Imagine all the complications for shooting on set with an international crew of interpreters, language assistants and accent coaches because not all the actors are proficient in English. I think if the show, cast and crew are international, viewers shouldn\u2019t miss out on such language variety because dubbing could affect the impact on the viewer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">On the show, sometimes characters don\u2019t understand one another but they just get on with the situation by exploring other communication channels. And the way they run with it turns out to be truly natural. They speak their native language with someone who doesn\u2019t understand, so other kinds of non-verbal communication, such as body language, take over to express their intention. It is just a matter of breaking through the language barrier by finding other ways to communicate. The way one expresses oneself has to adapt to these new situations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">There are plenty of instances like this throughout the show. In the dubs, since everyone speaks the same language, the translator needs to tweak the dialogue in order for it to make sense, while fortunately, this can be faithfully portrayed in the subs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"><strong>Subtitling 1899: A real challenge<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">We all know every translation project involves multiple challenges, but in terms of the use of language in story telling, <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">1899<\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"> is a delightful jumble. The plot is a puzzle full of riddles and mysteries, just like the languages themselves, which are simply a reflection of this wonderful mess.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">In 1899, sometimes language seems to be an obstacle, but I think it is just another way to <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">challenge the audience by showing a specific mood, background, or social status. Characters are not what they seem, and language must express this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">For example, Ramiro always speaks in Spanish with \u00c1ngel, but when he feels anxious or frightened, he turns to his mother-tongue, Portuguese. Ling Yi speaks Chinese with his mother, but she is learning Japanese to put on an exotic appearance. Elliot doesn\u2019t speak in the first episodes, so we have to guess his origin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">There are many more examples, but in an effort to avoid spoilers, let\u2019s just say formal and informal registers, polite and harsh tones, and fluent or broken languages are used for different purposes. For a language enthusiast, it is mind blowing when we realize that we need to pay attention to these subtle aspects of language to be able to decode a hidden message. The show is a very complicated puzzle not only in its plot, but also in the use of language. This is present right from the very beginning. It seems the purpose of the use of different languages is to reflect confusion. I remember when I saw the first episode. I was absolutely shocked because, to me, the language seemed quite modern for the setting. That was the first hint the language code needed to be deciphered as the story went on. Appearances can deceive but so can language, which constantly tricks us throughout such a mind-bending masterpiece.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">By using tricky language to show different intentions, language itself defines the show\u2019s genre. Is <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">1899<\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"> a period drama, a horror series, or a sci-fi show? What it is clear is that we see different and strange worlds as one, and different languages are used to communicate in a strange way. Everything seems chaotic, and genres and languages are meld ed to create that confusion. It seems that future, present and past are connected. In the show, everything is connected by language, and this is one of the many reasons it is an absolutely brilliant linguistic experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Everything seems chaotic, and genres and languages are meld ed to create that confusion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">It seems that future, present and past are connected. In the show, everything is connected by language, and this is one of the many reasons it is an absolutely brilliant linguistic experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Even the English requires close attention, because register, tone, and intention, are as important as usual, but so are fluency and accents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">On the show, native speakers communicate with non-native speakers, so the natural imperfections of broken English lend the dialogue authenticity, and thus must be replicated in subtitles. Also, quite often characters switch to their mother tongue when they cannot express themselves properly. In these cases, fluency increases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Also, many characters speak more than one language, so subtitles must reflect when they are using their mother tongue and when they aren\u2019t. Sometimes this is difficult, especially when certain characters are quite fluent in a second language, but one always expresses oneself more fluidly in their mother tongue. This is the case of the captain, who uses German to talk to the crew but English to talk to the passengers. Other characters, usually lower-class ones, struggle to speak English. Subtitles must reflect this because when non-verbal communication and body language overtake verbal communication, it is remarkable for a viewer to see that the combination of the two works and serves as an analogy for the plot resolution. Only when characters succeed in understanding each other are they able to make decisions and draw conclusions. They\u2019ll survive if they work together. No one can live on their own. Thus, everyone must make an effort to understand each language.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">There are rather interesting situations when someone is not quite fluent in English and must translate into their mother tongue, or when two characters who don\u2019t speak a common language express themselves by using their mother tongue. Communication, once again, works and subtitles must reproduce this perfectly in order for the scene to be as powerful as the original.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">I really think subtitlers have to adapt to all of these different situations because we cannot forget that language embodies cultures, feelings, backgrounds, intentions, and actions. <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">1899<\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"> touches on brain connections and language is part of who we are as individuals, just exactly as our brain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Integrating so many original languages is inspiring and ground-breaking, but also quite challenging and complicated. The representation of so many languages is a beautiful tribute to the importance of native tongue communication as a way of being faithful to ourselves, as we all express ourselves better in our mother tongue. Watching 1899 is like traveling to different places through language, exactly what such a stimulating story does across this wonderful adventure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-title\"><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Tatiana L\u00f3pez<\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"> is a freelance English to Spanish subtitle translator, <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">QC specialist and <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">closed captioner <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">based in Madrid, <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Spain. She is <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">a member of both <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">ATRAE, Asociaci\u00f3n <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">de Traducci\u00f3n <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">y Adaptaci\u00f3n <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Audiovisual <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">de Espa\u00f1a, <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">and DAMA, <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Derechos de autor <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">de Medios Audiovisuales. She has subtitled over 300 TV series and films. Her latest publication is one chapter in: Botella, Carla, and Agull\u00f3, Bel\u00e9n. Mujeres en la traducci\u00f3n audiovisual II. Nuevas tendencias y futuro en la investigaci\u00f3n y la profesi\u00f3n. (Editorial Sind\u00e9resis, 2022), 139-152. <\/span><span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Contact: : <\/span><a class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-underline text-strikethrough-none\" draggable=\"false\" href=\"mailto:cadianalobec@outlook.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cadianalobec@outlook.com <\/a><a class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-underline text-strikethrough-none\" draggable=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tatianalopezperez\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tatianalopezperez\/<\/a>\u00a0<span class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Portfolio: <\/span><a class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-underline text-strikethrough-none\" draggable=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/basededatos.atrae.org\/profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/basededatos.atrae.org\/profile<\/a><a class=\"OYPEnA text-decoration-underline text-strikethrough-none\" draggable=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/basededatos.atrae.org\/profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Tatiana L\u00f3pez 2022 was the year creators of the Netflix show Dark finally came back with their exciting new series 1899, an amazing journey and a complete revolution in terms of language treatment that I\u2019d describe as an incredible undertaking. A multilingual project From the very beginning, we see a show with more than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[650,12],"tags":[692,704,696,42,702,699,695,698,693,705,700,703,691,701,694,697,38,690],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1798,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797\/revisions\/1798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/AVD\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}