Translation Research (V for Vendetta movie - figurative/idiom data?)

[ardha]

Hi, can anybody help me with this problem. I am a 2nd year student of linguistics of translation, and right now I am supposed to do a research in order to obtain my *M.Hum (Magister Humaniora, - *equals Master) degree. I am focusing on (trying so hard to be able to understand) translating figurative expressions and idiomatic expressions

I am interested in a movie called "V for Vendetta", thus I am to collect as many data as possible related to the approach I apply.

The question is, which approach is better if I use "V for Vendetta" for the source of data. Better means both easier to write/compose and in finding out the data. Is it better to apply figurative expressions, or idiomatic expressions for the movie "V for Vendetta"?

THANKS

[virion]

I don't think I understand what types of data or interpretations you want to develop from V for Vendetta. I do, however, happen to be a total geek and suggest that if you're researching this film you read the graphic novel of the same name. The film was adapted from this work (written by Alan Moore), so use that either alternatively or as a necessary supplement.

Edited June 23, 2012 by virion

[kaguyahime]

Your research sounds interesting, but you may not be providing enough information for us to answer your question.

It isn't clear what kind of analysis you are planning on doing.

From what you say, your research involves the translation of figurative and idiomatic expressions, and you are trying to decide which of these two to focus on in the case of "V for Vendetta."

Since you say that you want to collect as much data as possible, you will want to determine which of these two appears more frequently in the film.

Your question is if this will be easier for one or the other, but it should be the same; you will probably have to either watch the film many times and write down the figurative/idiomatic expressions, or obtain a copy of the script and see how many of these expressions appear.

You also ask which will be easier to write about, but since it is not clear what you will be writing that's impossible to answer.

Maybe you could provide more information?

[ardha]

@Virion; pardon me for not giving enough information in the previous post. Yea, I am about to analyse the translation of the movie's subtitle, it's all about movie subtitle. Since I am not a native English, i found it hard to decide the ideal approach to find out the data, which of these two appears more frequently in the film's subtitle; figurative expressions or idiomatic expressions. But, I am not very good at English idiom. Maybe your good at it? could you give me some good sites providing English idiom?

@Kaguyahime;

From what you say, your research involves the translation of figurative and idiomatic expressions, and you are trying to decide which of these two to focus on in the case of "V for Vendetta."

Since you say that you want to collect as much data as possible, you will want to determine which of these two appears more frequently in the film.

Your question is if this will be easier for one or the other, but it should be the same; you will probably have to either watch the film many times and write down the figurative/idiomatic expressions, or obtain a copy of the script and see how many of these expressions appear.

You also ask which will be easier to write about, but since it is not clear what you will be writing that's impossible to answer.

Maybe you could provide more information?

you bet! I have the script, and I am reading it many times, but still....hard for me to find out which one is truly idiom, or may be it's just a metaphor.... according to you, personally, which one is easier (for non native English) to apply? figurative or idiom?

*many thanks for both of you,

[kaguyahime]

Hello again,

So, your research involves the analysis of subtitles for the film.

The film is in English, so are you analyzing English subtitles, or some other language?

Do you have a script for the subtitles, or for the actual dialogue?

Of course, a lot of the actual dialogue in the film gets left out of the subtitles.

In my opinion, metaphorical/figurative expressions would be easier for a non-native English speaker to understand then idiomatic expressions.

It is possible to understand the meaning of many metaphorical/figurative expressions from the words alone, but there are many idiomatic expressions that you will never be able to understand without a good idiom dictionary. And as you say, sometimes it's hard to even tell if something is an idiom. However, this is just my opinion!

[ardha]

The film is in English, so are you analyzing English subtitles, or some other language?

Do you have a script for the subtitles, or for the actual dialogue?

yea, I'm treating English sub as SL (source lang.) and Indonesian sub as TL (target lang.). The analysis is supposed to find out the thesis questions, e.g; 1.techniques applied by the translator, 2.the quality of the translation (accuracy, acceptability, readability), and 3.the impact of the techniques applied to the quality of the translation.

Of course, a lot of the actual dialogue in the film gets left out of the subtitles.

so, you mean the script is different to the film's actual dialogue?? since I haven't made any comparison (by watching the film while reading the film script) to know the difference...

In my opinion, metaphorical/figurative expressions would be easier for a non-native English speaker to understand then idiomatic expressions.

It is possible to understand the meaning of many metaphorical/figurative expressions from the words alone, but there are many idiomatic expressions that you will never be able to understand without a good idiom dictionary. And as you say, sometimes it's hard to even tell if something is an idiom. However, this is just my opinion!

What an opinion, that's all I need, believe me ... yea, maybe it's better for me choose the figurative expressions. For me, based on my own experience, figurative expressions are both easier to detect and to analyze rather than idiom.

And, kaguyahime, do you have another thought to share? talking to a person like you helps me a lot!!

**I've just figured it out that the script I have is for the actual dialogue...

Edited June 25, 2012 by ardha

[kaguyahime]

Hello again,

If you have the film script, it will include all of the dialogue spoken in the film.

However, when subtitles are made, some of the dialogue is left out.

This is because if all of the dialogue was included in the subtitles, the subtitles would often be too long.

Also, if people are speaking quickly or having a fast conversation, the subtitles would have to come and go too fast for people in the audience to read them.

If your research plan is to compare the English subs as the SL and the Indonesian subs as the TL, I think you might need to look at the actual subtitles on the film instead of expecting them to be the same as the script you have.

The people who translated the Indonesian subs probably based them on the English subs, and not on the film script.

So if you are analyzing the quality of the Indonesian sub translation, it might not be accurate to base your analysis on the script instead of the English subs.

Good luck!