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Translating Film Cultures
Is it possible to translate a film from its ‘native’ national
popular culture into a ‘foreign’ one?
Cinema is, by nature, international. It circulates across national, language, and community
borders, bringing cultures together, though not without considerable cross-cultural issues. It is
because of this that cultural exchange is intrinsic to the audiovisual translation that must
occur when a film crosses between these social and economic borders; disregarding this
transition and the cultural imbalances between different countries can lead to
incomprehensible films for the translated audiences. There is also the large issue of the
impact that a translation can have upon the audiences impression of the origin culture. It is
because of this that there are numerous dependant factors which influence the choice of
translation strategies throughout the film industry. We are currently in an era where more and
more money is being invested into both the international production and distribution of films,
so it is now more evident than ever that the translation of these international films needs to be
sincere to the original works. For this to be the case, there are two things that must happen.
The first of these is, undoubtedly, the translation of the language itself for use in dubbing and
subtitling. There is also a need for the translating parties to be aware of the cultural
adaptation that is currently happening worldwide.
Linguistic difference is a major challenge in relations to translation of culture. Subtitling and
dubbing have begun to take a major economic and social importance within the industry.
Language and culture are deeply linked within most modern societies universally. Lawrence
Venuti, an american translation theorist, essentially claims that translation of language
therefore has a direct impact on how cultures perceive each other and that due to cinemas
social impact, the translation between various languages and cultures may then have an
impact on how global cultures view one another, and how they perceive their counterparts to
be. Due to the range of strategies that are applied to translating techniques, there is therefore
a high chance of an negative impact upon stereotypes and cultural specificities in the
translated texts, or in this case the translated films. (Ramière, 2006)
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Often for subtitling or dubbing, the language is translated in passages, not by singular words
or combination of words, which means that cultural references can be easily lost or
mistranslated, or even completely changed dependant on the audience receiving the finished
product. Often, the translation of culture specifics can be so difficult that the cultural
references are then regarded as untranslatable and are hardly touched upon, therefore losing
any reference to the origin culture into translated text. Venuti developed a concept by which
he explains the two main structural translation techniques within the industry; a concept he
calls the ‘Foreignisation/Domestication Model’. Put simply, this is a way of identifying how a
piece of text has been translated, and therefore to which audience is it targeted. In his model,
‘foreignisation’ is the variety of translation which preserves the origin culture and linguistics
by presenting it to the audience as a unfamiliar text. Contradictory to this, ‘domestication’ is
the technique by where the translator has erased all sense of foreignness within the text in
order to make it conform to the unique cultural needs of the target audience. Of course, if you
were to apply this to the translation of language for subtitling and dubbing within films, you
would follow the same principle; translating a script is after all the same as translating a piece
of text. It is inevitable that most translating leans towards the domesticated standard of
translation, as it is often made to tally to the needs of the prospective audience, rather than the
origin audience, as they are unlikely to watch the adapted version. Subtitlers claim to base
each translation on a case-by-case basis, however it is safe to imagine that they are in fact
influenced by their own culture and will mould each text to suit the understanding of their
respective audiences. (Ramière, 2006)
The natural progression after investigating the linguistic techniques within translating films is
to acknowledge the culture change that we are seeing in this modern era within filmmaking.
Iouri Lotman, a soviet semiotician, once theorised that for a culture to become a sending
culture it must first be a receiving culture. This basically means that before a culture can
produce a film for the wider international audience, they must first have received films form
other cultures and adapted them to suit their needs, therefore understand the changes and
allowances that must be made when translating from one culture and language into another.
When sending films out into the international market, they will have already have received
and adapted incoming films and so are aware of the future adaptations of their own films, and
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can therefore suit the films that are produced to fit the needs of this global audience. Lotman
also theorised a five stage model to explain this process. As media professor Tom O’Regan
explains, the first stage is where ‘imported texts keep their strangeness and are valued more
than those of the home culture”(1999: 285). This means that any imported films remain in
their origin language; a true original version of the film with no adaptations. The second stage
is where ‘the imported text and the home culture restructure each other’ (1999: 285). This
means that the imported and home cultures reshape each other, adapting to new information;
the home culture takes the imported films and adapts them to fit within the boundaries of
their own culture. The third stage is where ‘a higher content is found in the imported which
can be separated from the national culture of the imported texts and attached to the local
product’ (1999:285). This essentially means that the adapted, imported films become better
than the originals and a higher content of the adapted culture can be found in them than in the
original culture of the imported films. The fourth stage is where ‘imported texts are entirely
dissolved in the receiving culture’ (1999:285). This means that the culture of the imported
films now closely resembles the home culture, as it is fully adapted to suit the home culture,
therefore losing all reference to the origin culture. The fish and final stage is where the
receiving culture finally ‘changes into a transmitting culture directing its product to other,
peripheral areas of the semiosphere’ (1999: 285-286). This means that the receiving culture,
now becoming the transmitting culture, is able to send its own films out into the international
market, having adapted their own culture within the films to suit the needs of the global
market. What this all essentially boils down to is a process of cultural adaptation to suit a
more global market in reference to films and other entertainment media, both within the
origin country and within the products they create to be sent international. (Miller and Stam,
1999: 262-290)
Eventually audiences become resistant to the origin culture films as they become mesmerised
by the imported films, with their adapted cultures which retain the hint of the original
imported culture. There are also often cases of filmmakers berating those who aim to
emphasise the uniqueness of local speech and cultures within original films and therefore
ignoring the common cultures between the international audiences; one could argue that to
make a film immersed in an unadapted culture is to make a documentary. Knowledge of
foreign culture and language is seen as accomplished within those that have influences on the
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things that are seen in films, and in fact within the global market in general; the theme of
multiculturalism and inclusivity is ripe within the film market as we see it now. Therefore,
existing only in ones own culture and language is untimely valued as uncultured and inferior.
(Miller and Stam, 1999: 262-290)
To see both of these at work, both the linguistic techniques used in film translation and also
the cultural adaptation that appears to be happening globally, we can turn to the films of
Studio Ghibli, a multi-award winning Japanese animation film studio, whose films are
released internationally and have been adapted and translated over and over again. If we look
at the film ‘Spirited Away’, which was released 2001, we can see the linguistic translations
and adaptations at work throughout the length of the film, with four stand-out examples. It is
worth noting here that the film, although featuring contemporary characters, is set in a very
traditional Japanese bathhouse.
Firstly, there is the name of the central character, a young called called Chihiro. In the
Japanese original, the girls name is changed by the antagonist as it is judged to be too rich for
the likes of the girl. Subsequently the girls name is changed to Sen. The reason for this is
apparent in the original versions, and very much not so apparent in the translated versions.
The logic behind the name change is as follows; when written in kanji, the girls name,
Chihiro, contains two symbols, ‘chi’ and ‘hiro'. In kanji, the symbol ‘hiro’ means ‘many’, as
in to possess many of something. As the antagonist decides the name is too rich for her, due
to the meaning of the symbol ‘hiro’, she decides to cut the name in half to decrease the value
of it, leaving the kanji symbol ‘chi’, which is often pronounced as ‘sen’, hence the change in
name from Chihiro to Sen. However, in the subtitled and translated versions of the film, the
reason behind the change of the name is unclear, leaving the audience to believe that the new
name is chosen from random when in fact there is a well thought out explanation behind it.
There is no trace if an explanation in the translation, hence the scene loses the meaning that
was intended in the original version; and of course there is the complete overlook of the
traditional written version of the Japanese language. The process involved should have been
made clearer to the international audiences; a simple change of phrasing in the translation
could have accommodated this.
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Later on in the film, Sen/Chihiro is handed a ‘hakama’ to put on, which is a pair of traditional
Japanese trousers. In the translations, this word has been changed to the more americanised
‘pants’. In this instance, this is an odd choice of translation, due to the fact that ‘hakama’ is in
fact an internationally recognised word and has been assimilated into into modern global
culture, much like the words ‘kimono’, ‘geisha’, ‘judo’ and ‘sushi’, to name a few. There was
no inherent need for a change in the wording, however it was still done, as if the translation
was ignoring the cultural reference entirely.
The next example is near the beginning of the film, where Sen/Chihiro is asked by another
character to go to the ‘bandai’; the meaning of this word is a sort of guard house. Sen/Chihiro
then asks what this is, a nod to the cultural changes noticed in the film, as a young girl from
the origin country does not seem to understand this reference to a traditional word. One could
also assume, however, that this was also added to explain this culture specific term to the
international audience. Yet in the subtitled versions, the reference to the ‘bandai’ has been
changed to the character asking Sen/Chihiro to go to the head of department, something
which is entirely different to a guard house. During the translation, they have clearly
attempted to replace the traditional Japanese word with a culture neutral variant to somehow
make it more understandable for the global audience.
There is a similar occurrence when Sen/Chihiro asks her parents what the little houses at the
side of the road are, as they drive out of the city towards the countryside. In the original
version it is explained that the houses are the homes of the gods. However, in the translation,
they have added a sense of hesitation and disbelief to this by stating ‘some believe they house
gods’. This may be because of the monotheistic beliefs that many other countries hold, and
by changing the reference to ‘gods’ as something that the characters do not believe in, they
are thereby ensuring that there is no offence caused to anyone in the audience. This is a
classic example of manipulating the culture and translation of the original film to suit the
culture of the international audience. (Hanada, 2009)
After seeing the cultural differences which occur during the linguistic translation of ‘Spirited
Away’, we can then look at another Studio Ghibli film which then highlights the cultural
adaptation that is taking place within international films on the global release market. The
film is titled ‘When Marnie Was There’and was released in 2015. The film is based on a book
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by Joan G. Robinson, of the same name, although the book was originally set in the
countryside of Norfolk in England. The reason why this film is a useful representation of the
cultural adaptation that Lotman theorised, is because despite being a Japanese film, ‘When
Marnie Was There’ seems to remain as westernised as the book. The main character has a
distinctly westernised name, Anna, and is evidently supposed to hint to western cultures
based on how she looks. It is noted in the film that she feels like she looks different to her
classmates and is subsequently named differently, with the western name. The central theme
running throughout the film is the awareness of cultural alienation felt by Anna. There is
constant reference to her confusion over her ethnic background. This may be a subtle allusion
to the adapting culture within the country, changing from the traditional approach to their
culture and, through the use of the main character, highlighting the difference between the
past and present culture within Japan. Anna is not the only character to have this emphasised
western look; the other protagonist, Marnie, also shares this. Marnie is given an american
father within the narrative, and incredibly western looks with bright blue eyes, blonde hair
and very western period dress. The house she lives in also looks like its been taken straight
out of the english countryside, with its grandeur and stark wooden panels, as opposed to the
traditional Japanese architecture of that time, with paper panelled doors and light hallways.
These western influences indicate the changing approach within the international film
industry in regards to releasing their films worldwide. The more they make their films
conform to one similar culture, the less culture loss and translating is needed between the
translated versions. (Blogger, 2015)
By the end of this adaptation process, global cultures may have all changed to resemble one
another so much that there are no culture specific terms in international films, meaning that
the linguistic techniques for translation become redundant and there is no culture loss of
cross-cultural imbalances within dubbing and subtitling. This means translation will be
merely that; translating from one language to another with no necessity to regard culture
transfer in the text. Referring back to the bigger question, is it possible to translate a film
from its native culture into a foreign one, the answer, based on research, is a resounding no.
Due to the current differences between global cultures, despite the adaptation that is going on,
there will always be things within original films that audiences from foreign cultures and
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languages simply do not understand. This means that references have to be changed subtly
between translations, which in turn changes themes and meanings within the films
themselves. So no, I don’t think its possible at all.
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Blogger (2015) When Marnie Was There-Film Analysis [Blog] Cynical Cinephile: A Film
Blog. Available from: http://cyniccine.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/when-marnie-was-there-film-
analysis.html [Accessed 19th May 2016]
Hanada, M (2009) The Cultural Transfer in Anime Translation [Online] Available from:
http://translationjournal.net/journal/48anime.htm [Accessed on 19th May 2016]
Miller, T. and Stam, R. eds. (1999) A Companion to Film Theory. Massachusetts/Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers.
O’Regan, T (1999) ‘Cultural Exchange’. In: Miller, T. and Stam, R. eds. A Companion to
Film Theory. Massachusetts/Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Ramière, N. (2006) Reaching a Foreign Audience: Cultural Transfers in Audiovisual
Translation [Online] Available from: http://www.jostrans.org/issue06/art_ramiere.php
[Accessed on 19th May 2016]
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