ROZPRAWY

https://dx.doi.org/10.17651/POLON.42.1

ANNA WOJCIECHOWSKA-PIESZKO

Uniwersytet Jagielloński

ORCID: 0000-0002-4670-4121

Translating intertextuality in animated films – an analysis of DreamWorks, Disney and Pixar animations

1. Intertextuality and translation studies

According to Kristeva’s (1972, p. 235) notion of intertextuality, every text builds ties with other texts by modifying them and influencing their content. At the same time, these interrelated texts have an impact on the form of the whole (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, p. 175). Such allusions to other texts appear unavoidable and even obligatory, because every author of a text is surrounded by other texts which they consciously or unconsciously absorb (Urbanek, 2010, p. 196). Although the concept of intertextuality derives from literary studies, it is now widely accepted as an interdisciplinary approach. As stated by Nycz (1990, p. 97), “modern interdisciplinary studies […] have proven that intertextuality is not the sole possession of literary studies but constitutes an implicit or explicit dimension of every type of statement”[1]. This indicates the need for constant research in different scientific areas, which can underline the commonness and complexity of that phenomenon at the same time. The aim of the present article is to analyse intertextual references in four animated feature films – “Shrek” (2001), “Zootopia” (2016), “Wreck-It-Ralph” (2012), and “Toy Story 3” (2010). The focus is on examining how these references were handled in the translation process. The first part of this paper describes the theoretical background of the concept of intertextuality and its significance in translation studies. Starting with a presentation of objectives and methodology, the second part focuses on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the intertextual references occurring in “Shrek”, “Zootopia”, “Wreck-It-Ralph” and “Toy Story 3” taking into account both the sources of these allusions and the translation techniques applied in their Polish and German translations. The analysis closes with some final remarks and conclusions regarding the functions of intertextuality in the four audiovisual texts.

The act of translating involves dealing with two different languages and two different cultures simultaneously, and the source text has to be decontextualized and placed in “a new socio-historical context” (Farahzad, 2009, p. 127). That is why in recent years, translation has been increasingly associated with intertextuality and regarded as an intertextual phenomenon (Klimovich, 2014, p. 256). The strategy of intertextuality appears to be a significant issue in the translation process and according to Heydel it is not an overstatement to call a translation “the highest level of an intertextual relationship” (1995, p. 75). Analogically, Venuti claims that

translation represents a unique case of intertextuality. It in fact involves three sets of intertextual relations: 1) those between the foreign and other texts, whether written in the foreign language or in a different one; 2) those between the foreign text and the translation […]; and 3) those between the translation and other texts, whether written in the translating language or in a different one (2009, p. 158).

It is the translator that “recontextualises the foreign text, replacing foreign intertextual relations with a receiving intertext” (Venuti, 2009, p. 163). As “language itself is often also culture-bound, since we meet ‘culturally specific elements’ in both the language system and in actual usage” (Nedergaard-Larsen, 2010, p. 209), the translator’s cultural knowledge and competences are crucial. According to Döring (2006, p. 16), translators deal not only with language itself, but also with its cultural elements. Implicitly, as “cultural mediators”, they are participants of different foreign cultures, that is why they should have a wide knowledge of their specificities (Döring, 2006, p. 14). Intertextual references can be also implied through wordplay or idiomatic expressions, which constitute another problem affecting our recognition and interpretation of such elements (Martinez-Sierra, 2010, p. 131). A translator interferes with both the cultural and linguistic structure of a source text through their own “baggage” (Federici, 2007, p. 147), which “permeates his/her act of translation and ‘rewriting’ the source text into the target text” (ibid.). This “baggage” encompasses not only their linguistic abilities, but also the cultural or historical knowledge which enables them to translate a foreign text while taking into consideration all the implicit message and differences between the source and the target structures (Federici, 2007, pp. 147–148). As for dubbed animated productions, according to Janikowski (2004, pp. 44–45), the viewer does not need any knowledge in the field of source culture, as the translator identifies intertextual references in a source text and then translates them appropriately or replaces them with other allusions, familiar in the viewers’ culture. In the case of dubbing translation for this kind of purposes the viewer-translator relationship seems to be quite different in comparison to other types of translation. Therefore, paying closer attention to dubbing translators and their actions appears to be of vital importance. When discussing intertextuality in audiovisual materials, Fix (2009, p. 206) proposes the use of the term “intermedial intertextuality”, linking it with the concept of “interactivity”, which in turn is understood “as a form of practical intertextuality: potentially available texts and connecting structures could always be identified and linked in various ways” (Sager, 1997, in Fix, 2009, p. 206). According to Adamzik (2001, p. 254), who appears to embrace the idea mentioned above, for a text to be considered a combination of previous texts, the term discourse must be taken into account. She defines discourse as “an open set of thematically related statements which refer to each other”. These two concepts, i.e., intermedial intertextuality and discourse, will provide the basis for further analysis. One important approach appears to be to analyze translators’ choices in the context of discourse change between the source text and the target text, i.e., whether Polish and German translators tend to stay in the same thematic area when translating intertextual references or decide to change the discourse by applying an appropriate translation technique.

According to Martinez-Sierra (2010, p. 129), the term intertextuality in the context of dubbing “can be defined as the presence in that same text of references to other texts” in written, oral or audiovisual form. As a result, in the case of audiovisual material a multimodal text should be taken into account. Schmitz (2016, p. 333) argues that a multimodal text consists of at least one lingual part and two out of five semantic modes such as a spoken text, a written text, sound, or static and dynamic pictures. Moreover, it should be emphasized that in the case of animated productions, the translator can interfere with a text by making it more understandable for the audience, simplifying it, omitting information or even changing the cultural background (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, p. 202). Additionally, as was observed by Janikowski (2004, p. 43) in the Polish version of “Shrek”, the translator adds some references to Polish culture even if the original version does not imply any intertextuality in a given scene. It should be underlined that it is not only a specific way of adapting the text in “Shrek”, as Bartosz Wierzbięta (the translator) tends to repeat this practice in other animations translated by him, as do some other Polish translators when translating dialogues for dubbing purposes. According to Janikowski (2004, p. 39) this kind of “freedom” has an additional effect on everyday discourse, as phrases from the film dialogues are later on very often used in ordinary conversations. These aspects differentiate animated feature films from other dubbed productions, such as synchronizing the screen adaptation of a novel or a historical film (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, p. 202).

Leppihalme (1997, p. 10) states that references should be divided into two groups[2], 1) proper names and 2) key-phrases (sentences or quotations), which she further divides into direct and indirect allusions. Translating them requires employing relevant techniques and strategies. In Hejwowski’s view (2012, p. 76) a strategy should be understood as a way of acting within a text as a whole, that is as a tendency to domesticate or foreignize it. A technique, on the other hand, is an individual solution to a given translation problem. As the choice of a proper translation technique depends on the type of text and the kind of translation problem involved, different points of view should be compared in order to find an appropriate classification as the golden rule for translating intertextual references. The following table comprises three different sets of translations techniques, i.e., Leppihalme’s (1997, pp. 106–107) solutions to the translation of allusions to proper names and key phrases, Muszyńska’s (2011, p. 298) view on translating intertextual references and Tomaszkiewicz’s (2006) techniques applicable in the translation of cultural content in an audiovisual format:

direct transfer

guidance/

definition

equivalence/ replacement

standard translation

mention the source

adaptation

recreation

reduction

omission

foreignization

substitution

Leppihalme

(1997, pp. 106–107)

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Muszyńska

(2011, p. 298)

x

x

x

x

x

Tomaszkiewicz (2006)

x

x

x

x

x

x

Table 1. Translation techniques

Bearing in mind all the techniques classified in the above table, we can conclude that some of them cannot be applied to the translation of dubbed dialogue because of the technical constraints involved. Primarily, it is impossible to add any guidance (e.g. commentary), a definition or the source of a term or expression in audiovisual materials. Hence, these techniques are automatically eliminated from the final classification. Furthermore, the foreignization included in Leppihalme’s (1997) approach should not be regarded as a translation technique, but rather as a strategy. Since Tomaszkiewicz’s (2006) and Leppihalme’s (1997) views seem to correspond to each other in most cases, a combination of the techniques classified by these scholars will be taken into consideration for the analysis. As a consequence, the final list of translation techniques which can be applied in dubbing translations includes:

1) direct transfer (understood by Tomaszkiewicz (2006, p. 156) and Leppihalme (1997, p. 108) as retaining a given element in the original form; also named as “retention as such” by Leppihalme (1997));

2) equivalence (“finding an element in the target culture that fulfils the same function and evokes the same reaction as the element from the source culture” (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, pp. 164–165), which seems to be the same technique as Leppihalme’s (1997, pp. 110–112) idea of “replacement”);

3) standard translation (in other words, literal translation, described as translating something literally when it “may fuse with minimum change” (Leppihalme, 1997, p. 115));

4) adaptation (replacing an element of the source culture with an element from the target culture, significantly deflecting from the source text (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, pp. 167–168));

5) recreation (creating a totally new element which can replace the source message (Leppihalme, 1997, pp. 122–123));

6) reduction (rephrasing a reference and at the same time avoiding literal translation (Leppihalme, 1997, 120–121));

7) omission (removing a cultural item or allusion, not mentioning it in the target text (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, p. 155; Leppihalme, 1997, p. 121));

8) substitution (“replacing a cultural reference with a context reference”, e.g. with deictic elements (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, p. 168)).

In addition to the choice of appropriate translation technique, the most crucial factor in the translation process is identifying the author’s intention and the function of a given expression in order to trigger the same reaction as in the source text (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, p. 176). Furthermore, Chaume (2007) has listed additional synchrony issues that occur in dubbing-based translations, namely restrictions imposed by characters’ lip movements, gestures and facial expressions, or the length of their vowels, which make this kind of translation a difficult challenge for translation theory and practice today.

2. Objectives and methodology

Although the topic of intertextuality in animation has been touched upon in a number of publications[3], no broader study has yet been undertaken on the problem of translating intertextuality from the perspective of a contrastive analysis between three languages. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to answer the following questions:

1) What are the sources of references for the four animated feature films and do the translators change the discourse when translating their texts into Polish and German?

2) What kind of strategies and techniques do translators use when translating intertextual references from English into Polish and German?

3) What factors influence the application of a particular technique and strategy?

The research material consists of a list of intertextual references identified in four animated films produced by three different studios – “Shrek” by DreamWorks (with dialogues translated into Polish by Bartosz Wierzbięta and into German by Michael Nowka), Disney productions’ “Zootopia” (with dialogues translated into Polish by Bartosz Wierzbięta and into German by Marius Clarén) and “Wreck-It-Ralph” (with dialogues translated into Polish by Jan Wecsile and into German by Tobias Neumann), as well as Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” (with dialogues translated into Polish by Jan Wecsile and into German by Pierre Peters-Arnolds). The corpus[4] comprises proper names and quotations divided into two subcategories: direct and indirect references. The objective is to compare them with their Polish and German translations, identifying the techniques used in both versions. The movies, released in 2001, 2010, 2012 and 2016 respectively, are analysed with the aim of showing the tendencies and trends in the translation of intertextuality over the years. Additionally, as the focus of the analysis will be on movies translated by different translators with similar field experience (two Polish translators and four German translators), bias will be reduced for the results presented in this article. Furthermore, since “Shrek”, “Zootopia”, “Wreck-It-Ralph” and “Toy Story 3” are full of references, they provide a sufficient amount of research material. Polish and German translations were chosen because both countries represent contrasting traditions and preferences in audiovisual translation. Since Poland is a country with a strong reliance on the voice-over format, the country still only uses dubbing for animated films or family movies (Sikora, 2013, p. 13), whereas Germany has a long dubbing tradition and other translation methods are rarely seen in cinemas or television (Jüngst, 2020, p. 23). These aspects can have a significant impact on translators’ choices and techniques applied in both translations.

3. Analysis

3.1. Direct and indirect intertextual references

The majority of references examined in the analysed animated films are direct references while the remainder can be treated as indirect allusions. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of indirect references (31%) compared with direct references (69%) employed in “Shrek”, “Zootopia”, “Toy Story 3” and “Wreck-It-Ralph”.

Figure 1. Attitudes regarding direct and indirect references in the animated films analysed

On the other hand, when references to proper names and phrases are considered separately, it can be seen that in the case of proper names the proportion of direct references in relation to indirect references is the same, whereas with regard to quotations the vast majority of references was transferred directly.

Figure 2. Frequency of direct and indirect references to proper names and quotations separately

3.2. Sources of references

The intertextual inspirations found in the four films come from a wide variety of sources. Figure 3 illustrates all these sources, i.e., films, books, songs, animations, brand names, TV series, computer games and quotations by famous people, and the frequency of their application in both animated feature films.

Figure 3. Sources of references in the analysed animated productions

On the whole, books and films account for the largest number of references. Others originate from cartoons, songs and quotes from well-known people. For the most part, the proper names used in both productions were inspired by books, films and brand names, but there are also a few examples of allusions to other animated films, songs, people, TV series and computer games. The quotations, are likewise taken mostly from books or films, but we can also find numerous examples of references to songs and animations.

Analysing the sources of references, we can conclude that there is no consistency in the choice of such sources for animated films. However, there is some regularity in the use of proper names in “Shrek” and “Wreck-It-Ralph”. The majority of these references in “Shrek” come from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, whereas in “Wreck-It-Ralph” there are a few examples of proper names taken directly from computer/video games, which is due to the fact that the former’s plot is a parody of traditional fairy tales while the latter is an anthropomorphised vision of a virtual world.

Furthermore, it is important to note that these intertextual references can be traced to materials from different time periods – ranging from older sources such as “Gone with the Wind” (1936), “The Godfather” (1972), “Scarface” (1983), “Predator” (1987) or “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975) right up to the most recent, for example “Frozen” (2013), “Breaking Bad” (2008–2013) and “21 Jump Street” (2012). However, we can conclude that the vast majority of references employed in the two productions originate from the sources that are very popular not only in America, but also in other countries. Nevertheless, to pick up on all of these references, the viewer needs some degree of cultural and historical knowledge, and this applies not only to indirect references, but also to literal ones. Some of the allusions are not obvious even to adult viewers and it is difficult to detect them without reading film reviews or Trivia sections on Filmweb, Wikipedia Fandom, and Imdb.[5]

3.3. Translation techniques

A comparison of translation techniques employed in the Polish and German translations of intertextual references reveals a number of tendencies and differences in both cases. Table 2 shows the frequency with which a given technique is applied when translating proper names and phrases from English into Polish, taking into consideration the four films translated by two different Polish translators.

Translation technique

Proper names

Quotations/phrases

direct transfer

5

0

equivalence

6

5

standard (literal) translation

0

10

adaptation

11

15

recreation

2

1

reduction

2

3

omission

0

0

substitution

0

0

Table 2. Polish translation of intertextual references – applied techniques

Bearing in mind the translation techniques applied by the Polish translators in the source texts in terms of frequency of use, it can be concluded that the translators were mostly inclined to adapt the proper names and phrases – 42% of the proper names and 44% of the phrases were translated using the adaptation technique. As an example, Jerry Vole from “Zootopia” becomes Frank Szczuratra in the Polish version. The proper name is a parody of the famous Italian-American singer Jerry Vale. Vole’s character is a rat who wears an elegant suit and appears in the film only once – on a CD cover found by Nick and Judy in a mafioso’s limousine when looking for some evidence of a crime. In the Polish version the translator decides to modify the reference, because the name Jerry Vale will probably be missed by the average Polish viewer. In this way the Polish adaptation refers, on the one hand, to Frank Sinatra, the famous Italian-American singer, who was also well-known and admired in Poland, and on the other, to the animal itself, since szczur means ‘a rat’ in Polish. A similar situation can be observed in the translation of a direct intertextual reference to the Muffin Man in “Shrek”. During an exchange between Gingy and Farquaad, when the latter interrogates the former regarding certain fairy tale creatures in hiding, Gingy mentions the name Muffin Man, which is a reference to the nursery rhyme “The Muffin Man”. The Muffin Man is replaced with Żwirek and Muchomorek, i.e. characters from a 1970s Czech animation series popular in Poland as “Bajki z mchu i paproci” [“Fairytales of Moss and Fern”]. The names feature in the sentence Żwirek kręci z Muchomorkiem (“Żwirek gets it on with Muchomorek”), which is a reference not to the original interrogation but rather to a romantic dalliance between the two characters. Furthermore, in some scenes in “Wreck-It-Ralph” the translator also plays with allusions to proper names, though the name Children of the Candycorn was adapted in a slightly different way. The proper name is an indirect allusion to the 1984 film “Children of the Corn”. The main protagonist of the film, Ralph, uses this expression when addressing characters from the game “Sugar Rush”, a racing game which takes place in landscapes filled with sweets and cakes. The Polish translator’s idea was to replace this expression with the proper name Dzieci z placu toffi (Toffi Square Children), which on the one hand is also an allusion to sweets, and on the other, a reference to the Hungarian book for children, “Chłopcy z Placu Broni” [“The Paul Street Boys”], which is mandatory reading in primary schools in Poland. It can also be seen here that the translator changes the discourse of the source expression from a film reference to a book allusion.

Original version

Polish translation

Translation technique

Type of reference

Source of reference

Children of the Candycorn (“Wreck-It-Ralph”)

Dzieci z placu toffi

adaptation

indirect

film:

“Children of the Corn” (1984)

Jerry Vole (“Zootopia”)

Frank Szczuratra

adaptation

indirect

person:

Jerry Vale

The Muffin Man (“Shrek”)

Żwirek i Muchomorek

adaptation

direct

song:

“The Muffin Man”

Table 3. Examples of adaptation techniques in Polish translations of proper names

Some noteworthy examples of adaptations could also be identified in the translation of phrases, the vast majority of which come from “Shrek”. However, there are also individual examples in “Toy Story 3” and “Zootopia”. For instance, an indirect quotation from the TV series “Scooby Doo Where Are You?”: And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for your meddling toys! was significantly modified in the Polish version of “Toy Story 3” to become I huzia byś mi zrobił, gdyby nie ten twój Pik Pok w gaciach![6] The Polish translator used two references, i.e. huzia and Pik Pok, from which the first is an allusion to a phrase used for urging somebody to attack, whereas the second is a direct reference to a protagonist from Adam Bahdaj’s book “Pingwin Pik-Pok” [“Pik-Pok the Penguin”]. In “Zootopia”, for instance, we find a reference to a scene from “Frozen”. In that case, the surname of one of the characters is often mispronounced as Weaseltown instead of Weselton (which is why the character often repeats the phrase: It’s Weselton! Duke of Weselton!). This scene is somewhat mirrored in “Zootopia”, where Judy mispronounces the surname of Weasel as Weselton, and the latter responds: It’s Weaselton! Duke Weaselton! Hence the roles are reversed here in order to keep the play on words linked to the same species of animal. The Polish translator comes up with another solution and uses a totally different name for this place, thus applying the adaptation technique. Judy mispronounces the surname of the weasel as Łysica and Weselton responds in Polish by saying: Łasica! Dan Łasica! Łasica means a weasel in Polish, and it is a direct reference to the species of animal.

When it comes to quotations it should be noted that standard (literal) translations were used in the Polish versions almost as frequently as the adaptation technique. When the four animated films are analyzed separately, it can be observed that this technique was primarily applied in “Wreck-It-Ralph” and “Toy Story 3”, which were translated by the same translator, i.e., Jan Wecsile. In the case of the Polish dialogues from “Shrek” and “Zootopia”, Bartosz Wierzbięta employed a literal translation of the phrases analysed only in individual cases.

Original version

Polish translation

Translation technique

Type of reference

Source of reference

And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for your meddling toys (“Toy Story 3”)

I huzia byś mi zrobił, gdyby nie ten twój Pik Pok w gaciach

adaptation

indirect

TV series: “Scooby Doo Where Are You” (1969); And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for your meddling boys[7]

– Weselton! – It’s Weaselton! Duke Weaselton! (“Zootopia”)

– Łysica! – Łasica! Dan Łasica!

adaptation

indirect

animation: “Frozen”; – Weaseltown! – It’s Weselton! Duke of Weselton!

Table 4. Examples of adaptation techniques in Polish translations of phrases

As regards equivalence in the translation of proper names, this technique was mainly used in the Polish version of “Shrek”. As it has already been mentioned, the use of references in “Shrek” is shaped by the film’s specific plot, which features a mélange of characters from other fairy tales and cartoons. Owing to “Shrek’s” unique storyline, we can find many names taken directly from other film productions or stories by the Brothers Grimm such as “Cinderella”, “Pinocchio”, “Snow White”, or “The Seven Dwarfs and Three Little Pigs”. In this case, the translator simply used the Polish equivalents of names already widely known in Poland due to, e.g., the popularity of “Grimms’ Fairy Tales”. Another example of equivalence is the translation of the proper name Devil Dogs from “Wreck-It-Ralph”. Devil Dogs are anthropomorphised cookies serving as guards in King Candy’s Palace. As these chocolate cookies filled with whipped cream are not so common in Poland, the translator replaced it with Eklery gończe (“scent eclairs”), which look similar to Devil Dogs and are definitely more popular in Poland.

In the case of equivalents for longer statements, analogically, they are used mainly when translating famous quotations originating from film classics. Not only is “Shrek” full of references to various well known fairy tales, but “Zootopia’s” plot also contains numerous allusions to a very popular film, “The Godfather”. Quotations such as: He huffed and puffed and he…, In the highest room of the tallest tower, They offered me what I couldn’t refuse, or You come here unannounced on the day my daughter is to be married were transferred using already existing translations of the above-mentioned fairy tales and film. A slightly different example was identified in “Toy Story 3”, in which an indirect reference to Michael Palin’s line from the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975): Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from threat of force! was made by an infantile Barbie doll. Here, the quotation, which resembles an excerpt from a legal text, was replaced with the Article 30. of The Constitution of The Republic Poland saying Przyrodzona i niezbywalna godność stanowi źródło wolności i praw człowieka i obywatela [8]. Even if the source sentence describes a completely different issue, preserving the same discourse allows the translator to convey a similar message and achieve the same comic effect.

The reduction and recreation techniques that feature in the Polish translations were only employed occasionally in all of the films. Moreover, substitution and omission techniques were completely absent from all the translations.

Original version

Polish translation

Translation technique

Type of reference

Source of reference

One of these things is not like the others (“Wreck-It-Ralph”)

Jeden musi nie pasować do reszty[9]

reduction

direct

song: “One of these things is not like the others” from “Sesame Street”[10]

Bad guy coming! Get out of his way! (“Wreck-It-Ralph”)

Uwaga! Negatywny!

reduction

direct

film:

“Scarface” (1983)[11]

Jerry Jumbeaux Junior (“Zootopia”)

Jerry Jumbo

reduction

indirect

animation:

“Dumbo”

Tomorrow is another day (“Zootopia”)

Jutro będzie lepiej[12]

reduction

direct

book: “Gone with the wind” by Margaret Mitchell

Potsie

(“Toy Story 3”)

Pożyczysz notatki?

recreation

direct

TV series:

“Happy Days” (1974)[13]

death by monkeys (Toy Story 3)

małpo-bomba[14]

recreation

direct

animation:

“Toy Story 2” (1999)

Table 5. Examples of the use of reduction and recreation techniques in the Polish translations

The translators reduced certain phrases in such a way that the overall message of the statement remained the same. For instance, the reference: Bad guy coming! Get out of his way! was replaced by the shorter expression Uwaga! Negatywny! [15], which results in a loss of any intertextual play. In all the other cases, the quotations were either simplified or shortened without changing the function of the statement in the dialogues. When it comes to recreation, the translators created an entirely new text that significantly differs from its source. However, the changes perfectly match the scenes. For instance, one of the protagonists in “Toy Story 3” called Woody a potsie when he is trying to rescue his friends from a kindergarten, whereas in the Polish version the translator decided to make a reference to school attendance, and in the same place put the question Pożyczysz notatki?[16]

A comparison of the solutions adopted by the Polish translators with those used in the German versions reveals completely opposite approaches. The references in the German target texts were mostly translated literally or transferred directly from the original version.

Translation technique

Proper names

Quotations/phrases

direct transfer

12

1

equivalence

5

5

standard (literal translation)

1

19

adaptation

4

2

recreation

2

6

reduction

1

3

omission

0

0

substitution

0

0

Table 6. German translation of intertextual references – applied techniques

Direct transfer was primarily used when translating proper names, whereas standard (literal) translation was the dominant form for the vast majority of intertextual references to phrases. Accordingly, 48% of the analysed proper names were transferred directly from the original version and in the case of 53% of the quotations, the translators applied the literal translation technique. A few examples of equivalence, adaptation, recreation and reduction show, however, that the German translators did not always stick to the original version and sometimes also tried to modify the references in different ways. Equivalence was mainly applied in the same units as in the Polish version, i.e., in case of proper names and quotations taken from commonly known sources. As for the adaptation technique, the German translators employed it to translate four proper names and two quotations, which are presented in table 7:

Original version

German translation

Translation technique

Type of reference

Source of reference

Nillie Wafer (“Wreck-It-Ralph”)

Keksfigur

adaptation

indirect

brand name:

cookies

Gladys

(“Wreck-It-Ralph”)

Stinker

adaptation

indirect

brand name: “Glados”

Mongo

(“Toy Story 3”)

Riesenbaby

adaptation

direct

film:

“Blazing Saddles” (1974)[17]

Flopsy the Copsy (“Zootopia”)

Hoppsi der Coppsi

adaptation

indirect

book:

“The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies” by Beatrix Potter

Life is not some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and your insipid dreams magically come true, so let it go! (“Zootopia”)

Das Leben ist kein Zeichentrick-Musical, in dem man ein Liedchen trällert und Simsalabim werden alle wirren Träume wahr. Also vergessen Sie es!

adaptation

direct

song:

“Let it go” from “Frozen”

She likes pina colada and getting caught in the rain

(“Shrek”)

Sie ist eine geladene Waffe, die Pina Colada mag

adaptation

direct

song:

“The Pina Colada Song” by Rupert Holmes

Table 7. Examples of the use of the adaptation technique in the German translations

When it comes to the proper names from “Wreck-It-Ralph” listed in table 7, it is noteworthy that in the case of Nillie Wafer the translator tended to replace it with an expression from the same discourse. As a result, the protagonist is called Keksfigur (“cookie figure”), which also denotes something sweet. The opposite procedure is seen in the translation of Ralph’s nickname Gladys, which is a direct reference to the brand name of an electronic device called Glados. The translator replaced this allusion with the expression Stinker (“stinker”) which has a rather ironic meaning and represents something completely different from an electronic device. A parallel technique was employed in the translation of the above-mentioned quotations. In the first example a direct reference to a song from “Frozen” was replaced by the expression Simsalabim, which is known to be a kind of spell that is cast in some fairy tales, whereas the text of “The Pina Colada song”, which was intended as a means by which the magic mirror would describe Fiona, was modified in such a way that the German translator added the expression geladene Waffe [a loaded weapon] pointing out a character trait of the protagonist.

On the whole, the technique of recreation was applied in the German translations eight times. In the case of each example. the modifications are as radical as in the Polish versions. Table 8 presents a number of noteworthy examples of proper names and quotations that were the subject of recreation in the translations:

Original version

German translation

Translation technique

Type of reference

Source of reference

Potsie

(“Toy Story 3”)

Oder auf einer Demo

recreation

direct

TV series:

“Happy Days” (1974)

Sanctuary!

(“Wreck-It-Ralph”)

Auszeit!

recreation

direct

animation:

“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”

But you gotta have faith (“Shrek”)

Aber du brauchst Freunde

recreation

indirect

song:

“Friends” by Bette Midler

Table 8. Examples of the use of the recreation technique in the German translations

As in the Polish version, the nickname Potsie was replaced by a longer phrase in the German translation. In that case, instead of the original nickname one of the toys used the expression Oder auf einer Demo.[18] Although the original proper name and the German sentence have completely different meanings and convey diverging messages, the expression matches the situation. Woody is trying to rescue his friends and the phrase highlights his rebellious nature – the other toy hopes to see him again during some kind of a demonstration in which they would again be fighting for the right cause. Similar cases were observed in “Wreck-It-Ralph” and “Shrek”. In the first animation, the exclamation Sanctuary!, which is a reference to Quasimodo’s words in “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, was replaced with Auszeit!, which means “a break”. It is noteworthy that the scene where Ralph used this expression is similar to the scene where Quasimodo tries to save the burning cathedral. As a result, the word Auszeit! automatically eliminates the allusion and changes Ralph’s intentions. In the original version it can be concluded that the protagonist is trying to save something, whereas in the German version he simply needs a break during the game. In “Shrek”, however, the recreation technique was applied in a slightly different manner. To some extent, the German translator preserved the reference to the song “Friends”, but he took the literal translation of the song’s line: But you gotta have friends[19] instead of the indirect allusion But you gotta have faith used in the source text. Consequently, the translator recreated the allusion by getting back to the source reference and translating it into German literally.

It is significant to note that although the Polish and German translators sometimes applied the same techniques and solved a given translation problem similarly the approaches of the Polish and German translators are predominantly contrasting. Some noteworthy examples are classified in table 9:

Original version

German translation

Polish translation

Translation technique

Leodore Lionheart

Leodore Lionheart

Lewin Grzywalski

direct transfer (DE) / adaptation (PL)

Emitt Otterton

Emitt Otterton

Emil Wydralski

direct transfer (DE) / adaptation (PL)

Mirror, mirror on the wall is this not the most perfect kingdom in the world?

Spiegel, Spiegel an der Wand, ist dieses Königreich nicht gemacht vom Meisterhand?

Lustereczko powiedz przecie, czyż to nie jest najzacniejsze królestwo na świecie?

reduction (DE) /

literal translation (PL)

death by monkeys

Tod durch Affen

małpo-bomba

literal translation (DE) / recreation (PL)

Table 9. A comparison of the techniques applied when translating the same proper name or quotation in the Polish and German versions

In the case of the name of the mayor of “Zootopia”, Lewin Grzywalski, the Polish translator made a reference to the animal in both its name and surname. Lewin comes from lew which means lion in Polish, whereas Grzywalski contains the word grzywa (“mane”), that is a body part of a lion. At the same time, Wierzbięta gave the surname an ending typical for Polish surnames. As for the solution used in the German translation, Leodore Lionheart remains the same in the target text. A parallel technique is applied in the translation of the proper name Emmitt Otterton. The Polish translator adapted both the name and the surname of the protagonist. The name Emmitt is translated into Emil – a typical Polish name, whereas the surname Otterton, derived from the word “otter”, is translated into Wydralski (wydra means ‘otter’ in Polish). This time, the German version also retains the foreignizing form.

Moreover, the words: Mirror, mirror on the wall is this not the most perfect kingdom in the world?, addressed by Lord Farquaad to the magic mirror in one of the first scenes in “Shrek”, is an obvious reference to the famous query from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? The source quote is well-known both in Germany and Poland, mainly because of the popularity of “Snow White”, and it is quite frequently referenced in other animated productions and feature films. In this case the Polish version features a literal translation of the original: Lustereczko powiedz przecie, czyż to nie jest najzacniejsze królestwo na świecie?, whereas the German version is an example of reduction, albeit still conveying the same message. To the quotation Spiegel, Spiegel an der Wand, ist dieses Königreich nicht gemacht vom Meisterhand the translator adds the expression gemacht vom Meisterhand, which means “made by masterful hand”.

Another contrasting solution is employed in the translations of the proper name death by monkeys, which is used to denote a bomb constructed by Hamm and used in the first scene of “Toy Story 3”. This time, the German translation is literal, whereas the Polish translator recreated the proper name, referring the bomb more directly małpo-bomba, which literally means “monkey-bomb” in English.

3.4. Translation strategies

The various techniques applied in translations of intertextual references in “Shrek”, “Zootopia”, “Wreck-It-Ralph” and “Toy Story 3” can be divided into two groups depending on whether a text conforms to the target text or the source text. According to Ramière (2006, pp. 155–156), translation techniques cannot be classified as strictly foreignizing or domesticating. Instead, she situated such techniques on a spectrum “according to the extent to which it accommodates the target reader/viewer’s own cultural background” (Ramière, 2006, p. 156). An analysis of this spectrum (see Ramière, 2006, p. 156) and a review of the separate solutions applied in the animated films analysed, leads to the conclusion that techniques such as adaptation, equivalence, recreation or omission usually have the effect of domesticating dialogue, that is making it consistent with the target culture, whereas literal translation, direct transfer, reduction and substitution produces a text closer to the source culture, a foreignized one. Trends in translation practices appear to be constant: in the case of Polish translations the texts tend to be domesticated, whereas in the German versions they are mostly foreignized (see figure 4).

Figure 4. Comparison of translation strategies in the Polish and German translations

Furthermore, it may be worthwhile analyzing the work of the translators individually, in order to verify whether their choices are motivated more by national trends and the audience’s expectations or, on the contrary, reflect more of an individual translator’s inclinations. With this perspective in mind, the following tables present a quantitative analysis of the techniques applied by the translators in the four animated films separately:

Translator

Translation technique

Quantity

Strategy

Discourse change

Jan Wecsile

direct transfer

3

domestication:

46%

foreignization:

54%

19%

equivalence

2

standard (literal translation)

9

adaptation

8

recreation

2

reduction

2

omission

0

substitution

0

Bartosz Wierzbięta

direct transfer

1

domestication:

79%

foreignization:

21%

21%

equivalence

9

standard (literal translation)

3

adaptation

20

recreation

1

reduction

4

omission

0

substitution

0

Table 10. Quantitative analysis of the Polish translators’ individual choices

Jan Wecsile most frequently made use of two techniques in his work, i.e., literal translation and adaptation. He only employed the other techniques in individual cases. Bartosz Wierzbięta, on the other hand, for the most part adapted the references in both animated films. However, we can also identify 9 examples for which equivalents were found. In light of the translation techniques employed, aimed at making the text as a whole close to the target or the source culture and bearing in mind the number of references identified in the English version, a slight difference can be observed between the two Polish translators. Since Jan Wecsile maintains a balance between domestication and foreignization, Bartosz Wierzbięta clearly tends to domesticate the text as much as possible. When it comes to discourse change, this mechanism was observed only in individual cases. The Polish translators created dialogues in the four animated films mostly in the same subject area, primarily changing the discourse in cases involving recreation or the adaptation of certain allusions.

An analysis of the solutions applied by the German translators reveals another trend:

Translator

Translation technique

Quantity

Strategy

Discourse change

Tobias Neumann

direct transfer

6

domestication:

27%

foreignization:

73%

6%

equivalence

0

standard (literal translation)

5

adaptation

2

recreation

2

reduction

0

omission

0

substitution

0

Pierre Peters-Arnolds

direct transfer

0

domestication:

40%

foreignization:

60%

10%

equivalence

1

standard (literal translation)

5

adaptation

1

recreation

2

reduction

1

omission

0

substitution

0

Marius Clarén

direct transfer

4

domestication:

44%

foreignization:

56%

0%

equivalence

3

standard (literal translation)

4

adaptation

2

recreation

1

reduction

1

omission

0

substitution

0

Michael Nowka

direct transfer

2

domestication:

50%

foreignization:

50%

4,5%

equivalence

7

standard (literal translation)

7

adaptation

1

recreation

3

reduction

2

omission

0

substitution

0

Table 11. Quantitative analysis of the German translators’ individual choices

As table 11 shows, the German translators in a large part foreignized the target texts, making them closer to the source dialogues. An examination of the German translations proves that the translators tended to avoid enriching the source text. Instead, they kept to the source text as much as possible without making too many alterations and maintaining the original intertextuality. Just as in the case of Michael Nowka, the translator of “Shrek”, the attitude between foreignization and domestication is clearly the same. An analysis of the discourse of the references and its translations shows that in this matter the German translators stuck to the source text too. Three translators changed the discourse of a reference only once, whereas the fourth one did not do this at all.

Considering both perspectives and the overall trends observed in the two countries, as well as in the approaches of the individual translators, it can be concluded that the techniques and strategies applied in the Polish and German translations differ considerably, although they are inconsistent with regard to the translators’ choices respectively. What appears obvious is that the main factors shaping the choice of a particular translation technique and strategy are the translators’ own preferences. However, the audience’s preferences and trends in a given country also play a significant role. Given the Polish dialogues that feature in the four animated films, the domestication strategy can be viewed as a recent and important trend in audiovisual translation. It is widely known that all the dialogues that have been translated since “Shrek” tend to be full of references to Polish culture or history (Borodo, 2017, p. 91), as is indeed visible in other animated films released in the years that followed. As was stated by Leszczyńska and Szarkowska (2018, p. 226):

while in the Anglo-Saxon world, as found by Venuti (1995, p. 1), the translator is supposed to remain invisible, the Polish approach to contemporary dubbing elevates the translator (the dubbing writer) to a more prominent and visible position. Given that domestication seems to have a significant impact on the commercial success of dubbed films in Poland, it is judged acceptable, or even desirable, by audiences, critics and producers.

Their recent research shows that the Polish recipients of audiovisual material do not always recognize the allusions, even when films reference very popular sources. However, in spite of this fact, the respondents in a survey they have conducted declared that they enjoy these allusions and see them as an important part of making the content more “accessible” (Leszczyńska and Szarkowska, 2018, p. 225). On the other hand, the different approach evident in the German versions, where the translator often foreignizes the dialogues, is presumably a consequence of the long tradition of dubbing in that country. A German linguist, Jüngst (2020, p. 23), cites Garncarz (2009)[20] who claims that this tradition is mostly the result of the country’s fascist history. The Germans have always valued their language and culture above foreign ones, which greatly inclines audiences to lean more towards synchronised material. However, according to Alshehri (2020, p. 197) opinions regarding the quality of German dubbing is often negative, especially in terms of its ability to convey humour. Since Germany synchronizes the vast majority of audiovisual material and dubbing is a very time-consuming and expensive translation method, translators are limited by both economic and physical factors. As a consequence, it “leads to a lack of creativity and thus to an overly strong orientation towards the source language or to more or less bumpy translations that are unable to successfully convey the humor of the original into the target language” (Alshehri, 2020, p. 195). This opinion, although presenting a logical point of view, seems to be a rather simplified view of the problem. One can accede more to the fact that German and English belong to the same language family, which can be a prevalent factor inclining one to favour the foreignization of a text. Moreover, another key determinant in the translation of intertextuality is the specificity of a film’s plot. An analysis of the translators’ choices viewed separately shows, that “Zootopia” and “Shrek” are more domesticated in both the Polish and German translations than other animated films. Although both animated films were translated into Polish by the same person and the tendency to domesticate the text could be seen simply as a product of Bartosz Wierzbięta’s translation style, translations of the German versions are different. This fact proves that the plot of a film has a significant influence on the translation strategy adopted.

4. Conclusions

It is important to note the fact that the translators of the four source texts did not avoid making intertextual references, which is evident in the absence of omission and substitution techniques in all the translations. Furthermore, the techniques that domesticate the text did not result in any changes to the discourse. This was only observed in individual cases. In the majority of situations, the Polish translators remain in the same thematic area and try to preserve the source character of the dialogues by adapting, finding equivalents or translating references literally. In the German translations hardly any changes occur in the discourse. As a consequence, it can be concluded that the discourse shift is not strictly related to a specific translation technique. The dominance of the domestication strategy does not imply a discourse shift. It is a consequence either of the translator’s competence in finding domesticating translation solutions in the same thematic area, which can be the reason why the translation is so highly appreciated, or of the fact that more nations nowadays share a broad cultural background and domestication techniques remain primarily in the same discourse. This phenomenon opens up a very interesting area for further investigation.

In trying to answer the final research question, it should be emphasized that the trend towards domestication in Poland and the foreignization tendency in Germany are a result of at least three factors. Although it is the translator, his/her attitude, abilities and preferences that impact the final effect of the translation project in the first place[21], the film’s plot and its protagonists as well as the diegetic world all shape the translation’s outcome, too. Some references can be transferred using the adaptation technique, whereas in other cases employing this very same technique could be impossible or downright unnecessary. Moreover, in Poland dubbing is a rare translation method, requested only for animated films or family productions. It is the voice-over that plays the most significant role on the audiovisual translation market. As a result, Polish dubbing translators can be fully committed to their job and spend much time on translations, which automatically results in higher quality target texts. By way of contrast, in Germany, a country with a tradition of synchronization, dubbing is produced en masse. That is why translators pay less attention to an individual project, focusing instead solely on the realization of another task and as a consequence attaching less importance to the aesthetic, cultural and humorous aspects of the text.

The conclusion to be drawn is that all the differences observed between the translations analysed generally highlight the vital role played by translators and their enormous impact on the target text. However, in audiovisual texts, intertextuality cannot be viewed simply as a problem appearing in a text. There are also visual elements, symbols, special effects, editing techniques or even ways of speaking in multimodal texts which can also serve as sources of numerous references (Chaume, 2014, p. 148). Because of this fact, the process is more complex, and the translator’s decisions are additionally shaped by the visual content or sound. Such complexity indicates the need for further study of the phenomenon of intertextuality, taking into consideration different aspects not only of the translator’s competences, but also of the possibilities and scope of audiovisual translation in the world today.

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SUMMARY

Keywords: animation, dubbing, intertextuality, reference, translation

Intertextuality focuses on the relationship between different texts, either spoken or written. These connections have been the subject of research for many scholars around the world and initially were discussed mainly from the point of view of literary theory (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, p. 175). The aim of this paper is to examine intertextual references in the context of translation theory, taking into account the various techniques and strategies employed when translating direct or indirect references in a dubbing format. The author analyses dialogues from the DreamWorks production “Shrek” (2001), the Disney films “Zootopia” (2016) and “Wreck-It-Ralph” (2012), as well as the Pixar Animation Studios film “Toy Story 3” (2010) with the aim of identifying intertextual references in the source text and comparing them with their Polish and German translations. The author also considers the sources of intertextuality in animation films and the translator’s role in decontextualizing this genre in the target language, drawing attention to the issue of discourse and the agency of audiovisual translators.

STRESZCZENIE

Przekład nawiązań intertekstualnych w filmach animowanych – analiza animacji wytwórni DreamWorks, Disney i Pixar

Słowa kluczowe: animacja, dubbing, intertekstualność, nawiązanie, tłumaczenie

Intertekstualność skupia się na relacjach między tekstami, zarówno mówionymi, jak i pisanymi. Powiązania te są obecnie przedmiotem badań wielu naukowców na całym świecie, choć początkowo analizowane były wyłącznie z punktu widzenia literaturoznawczego (Tomaszkiewicz, 2006, s. 175). Celem artykułu jest analiza odniesień intertekstualnych w kontekście teorii przekładu, a zwłaszcza technik i strategii użytych podczas tłumaczenia dosłownych i pośrednich nawiązań w dubbingu. Analizie poddane zostały dialogi animacji „Shrek” (2001) wytwórni DreamWorks, „Zwierzogród” (2016) i „Ralph Demolka” (2012) Disneya oraz „Toy Story 3” (2010) Pixara w celu zidentyfikowania nawiązań intertekstualnych w tekście źródłowym i ich porównania z polskim i niemieckim tłumaczeniem. Autorka zwraca również uwagę na źródła intertekstualności w filmach animowanych i rolę tłumacza w rekontekstualizacji nawiązań w tekście docelowym, odnosząc się do pojęcia dyskursu i sprawczości tłumacza audiowizualnego.

Przypisy

[1] Quotes from the Polish and German present in this paper were translated by the author.

[2] Leppihalme (1997) equates allusions with references, stating that these two concepts are closely related to each other, which is why these terms will be used in the paper interchangeably.

[3] Research has been conducted on the presence of intertextuality in “The Simpsons” (Gray 2006), “Shrek” (Summers 2020), “Moana” (Pérez-Simón 2019) and a group of DreamWorks productions (López González 2018). Moreover, some scholars dealing with animated feature films have discussed translation strategies applied in the translation of intertextuality in the case of dubbing into Spanish (López González 2015, 2017) and subtitling into Turkish (Kalıpcı 2018). Moreover, some linguists dealt with the translation of humor and cultural aspects in animated films, which are often closely related with intertextuality too (Chmiel 2010, Jankowska 2009 or De Rosa/ De Laurentiis/ Bianchi/ Perego 2014).

[4] The references were identified and listed when watching the original versions of the four films several times. Moreover, some Internet resources such as fan forums or movie portals, where viewers post their own remarks about references, present in the films, were also a significant source of information. Then, the references were verified with the original scripts of the animated films available online. The Polish and German translations of a given reference were matched when watching the materials in the target languages as the scripts of the Polish and the German versions of the analyzed films were not accessible.

[5] These sources were also of great importance when collecting the main body of the research material. It was difficult to recognize some references to films or TV series from the 60s, 70s or 80s.

[6] And you wouldn’t have done me any harm, if it weren’t for the Pik Pok in your pants!

[7] Reference found at: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/movieconnections/?ref_=tt_trv_cnn (accessed: 03.11.2021).

[8] “[…] an inherent and inalienable dignity constitutes the source of freedom and right for every human being and citizen”: https://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/polski/2.htm (accessed: 27.04.2022).

[9] One should stand out from the others.

[10] Reference found at: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/movieconnections/?ref_=tt_trv_cnn (accessed: 03.11.2021).

[11] Reference found at: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1772341/movieconnections/?ref_=tt_trv_cnn (accessed: 02.11.2021).

[12] Tomorrow it will be better.

[13] Reference found at: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/movieconnections/?ref_=tt_trv_cnn (accessed: 03.11.2021).

[14] Monkey-bomb.

[15] Caution! A Negative!

[16] Would you lend me your notes?

[17] Reference found at: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/movieconnections/?ref_=tt_trv_cnn (accessed: 01.11.2021).

[18] […] or during some demonstration […].

[19] Aber du brauchst Freunde.

[20] Cited in Metz and Seeβlen’s (2009) online article.

[21] It should be emphasized that the translator does not get the last word in the translation of dialogue, as the whole process is verified by other people involved in the project, whose changes and modifications can alter the final effect significantly (Jüngst, 2020, pp. 87–89).

Spis treści

Anna Wojciechowska-Pieszko

Translating intertextuality in animated films – an analysis of DreamWorks, Disney and Pixar animations

1. Intertextuality and translation studies

2. Objectives and methodology

3. Analysis

3.1. Direct and indirect intertextual references

3.2. Sources of references

3.3. Translation techniques

3.4. Translation strategies

4. Conclusions

References

Sources

SUMMARY

STRESZCZENIE

Przypisy

Table of Contents

Anna Wojciechowska-Pieszko

Translating intertextuality in animated films  – an analysis of DreamWorks, Disney and Pixar animations

1. Intertextuality and translation studies

2. Objectives and methodology

3. Analysis

3.1. Direct and indirect intertextual references

3.2. Sources of references

3.3. Translation techniques

3.4. Translation strategies

4. Conclusions

References

Sources

SUMMARY

STRESZCZENIE

Przypisy