The Effects of the English Language and Culture in Translating a non-English Text into Film - Essay Example

The Effects of the English Language and Culture in Translating a non-English Text into Film The Effects of the English Language and Culturein Translating a non-English Text into Film Introduction Language has meaning beyond just the written word. Language is created in the way people move, the way their fact denotes emotion, and in the way in which they pause, breath, and tone their words. The film medium uses visual representations as language well beyond just the verbalized direction, with even the setting color and placement becoming a part of the communication that is intended. When a film is to be made in English that was previously in another language and in text format, there are a great number of considerations on how the language and the visual elements can be translated. Meaning in one language must be carefully translated so that not only the verbal language, but the visual language makes sense. Film is unique in that the cultural meanings that are implied through one language must be translated as well as the literature of the original language. Due in large part to colonialism and then to the Westernization of consumerism, the English language has become a part of most languages, English-isms emerging throughout the cultures as they become part of the globalized world. Homogenization creeps into cultures that had previously been very ‘other’ through interactions with the dominance of the English language in business, media, and in presence in the world as English speaking travelers have a dominant position in world travel. Creating English versions of pieces of work that are written in another language often means that the work itself becomes transformed by the differences between cultures. In dominance, sometimes, comes the arrogance of transformation rather than merely translation. Transforming a literary work takes the meaning from it that was specific to a culture and re-creating it to have meaning for another culture that may no longer hold the same key symbols or meanings that it did in its original form. In translating a piece of fiction into a second language visual experience there are a great many aspects of the work that must be taken into consideration. Coding the translated work so that it reflects both the audience and the language of origin is a difficult achievement. The nature of coding in a language supports cultural meanings of symbols, but in translations that are both visual and verbal that are trying to capture meaning from one cultural language into another the task can be daunting. In the example of the result of colonialism is the key to how to undertake a project that involves translation. Where in colonialism entire cultures were translated into new cultural patterns through the coercive influence of the colonizer, so to can a text be butchered by misunderstanding the meanings that are cultural relevant and stand apart from the Western mind and the English construction of a text to prepare it for film. In translating a text into a script and direction for a film, the numbers of factors that are relevant to the translation are deep and meaningful in relationship to culture and symbols. Translation includes more than just replacing words, but replacing the emotional and cultural context through which the work was expressing meaning. Language Coding In trying to determine the best approach to translating a text from its original language into a film, the cultural coding that exists within the language must be evaluated. The first thing that must be determined in translating a text in one language to that of another is if the film will be intended for a mixed language population. In other words, if the film is made for a location in which two languages are prevalent and the work is being translated from one language to the other, the coding will be different than if a text is from a geographically different culture than to the culture that the film will be intended as an audience. If a Chinese book is translated for an English audience it is very different than if a mandarin text is translate for a Cantonese speaking audience. Some of what happens in the creation of homogenizing languages is that the grammar of one language is imposed on another language, which creates the new language within a culture. The use of old grammatical structures on a new language provides a new context with meanings that are no longer standard in relationship to the origins of the emerging language. The example of this is called pidgin, in which two groups find a common ground through which to express themselves. It was the name that was most notably given to the interpretations of English by Asian immigrants as they worked towards establishing themselves in Western cultures. Chinese Pidgin was born from two cultures that did not want to embrace each other, English speaking people finding the Chinese languages too difficult and the Chinese having no desire to homogenize their culture with Western cultures. They held each other “at arm’s length” through language barriers. Coding language means allowing for the emergence of representations of the cultural meaning of visual and auditory symbols to express the intentions of the author of a text. In order to translate one text to film from one culture into English, the meanings that are exhibited through the writing must be translated both visually and verbally for the English audience. In some instances, this might mean that the development of a character would have to take a completely different turn in order to create a discourse on what was intended by their placement in the story. The codes that would identify them in a culture as a certain type may not translate into the English version of that type of meaning. Meaning is at the core of codifying a text in order to translate it into English for an English speaking, Westernized audience. Translation A policy of ‘orientalism’ as described by Hewings and Tagg (2012, p. 186) is thought to have been a period of great acceptance of the ‘otherness’ of Indian culture. This policy was intended to assimilate British colonists so that they had a greater understanding of the culture they existed with during the time of occupation. This time period, the late eighteenth century, was defined by ‘tolerance’. However, the concept of tolerance tends to be condescending to native cultures who have been intrinsically changed by the presence of a dominant Western culture who seeks to translates their existence into a servile, perverted form of the culture that no longer represents the autonomy and presence that existed before colonialism. Consider the purpose of educating the indigenous populations in colonized regions of the world. The motivation to create an English speaking educational system was to prepare the members of the population for servitude. The way in which translation was then accomplished was to transform the culture through translating their literature in ways that framed it to suit the colonizers’ needs. In this context translation is a power through which observance of a culture can be shaped to serve the needs of the translator. Further in their exploration of the period of English occupation in India Hewings and Tagg (2012, p.193) reveal that the purpose of education in India into the English language was to have a work force that could be used in servitude to run India as an economic base of investment. In other words, the nation was to be turned from its own culture in order to be run as an industry that had resource advantages to those who invested their time and money. The beauty of life as it was lived, the culture that was expressed by the traditions and rituals of Indian life, was no longer the purpose of Indian life but the ‘production’ of economic advantages for the British was to be the focus of life. Translation, in this instance, means taking into the consideration the influence of colonialism that fundamentally changed the nature of the culture. Supporting a text as it is translated from that type of culture into a film for a modern, English audience would have to take into consideration the influence of colonialism on the Indian culture. An example of the difficulty of translation between the two worlds would be that of a widow in Indian culture. Widows in Western cultures have various standings, but most of them are somewhat honoured. A woman who has lost her husband at the very least is given pity, and at its height grave respect. Widows of some Western politicians are offered the seat their husband held until the end of his term. In India, however, widows wear clothing that symbolizes their state, are cloistered separate from society, and their heads are shaven. The status of a widow is very low in the caste system and she does not seem to be held in the same kind of esteem as in Western culture. A widow is a pariah, that name considered a curse word as it is levied against someone. If a Western audience only observed a woman with a shaven head dressed simply, it is likely they would translate that as holy rather than with disdain. This cross culture observance would be very difficult, if not impossible, for Western cultures to adapt to in relationship to the intent of the text in revealing this character. Hewings and Tagg (2012, p. 194) discuss that “One line of argument contends that writing in a language other than the mother tongue – and especially writing in English, the language of the coloniser – fundamentally diminishes the authenticity of the literary work”. The other side of this argument, however, suggests that the cultural identity is more fluid, thus the emotional basis upon which the text is founded can be translated without it losing meaning. While the basic emotional content is likely universal it is the nuance that is difficult to capture. In creating a film that is a translated work from a foreign language for an English audience, the nuance is the most difficult part of the work. Colonialism and the Connection to Translation The tie between language and the nation from which a text comes is a tie that enhances the meaning and sub-text of a piece of work to the core of a culture’s issues and structures. Hewings and Tagg (2012, p. 184) discuss that when a culture or nation is experiencing political unrest, this connection becomes even deeper. The textual meaning of writing is often centred in the identity of a culture. This is even more relevant to the globalisation that is highly influenced by the events of colonialism. Homogenisation and domination of Western European influences in cultures that were vastly different from Western frameworks of cultural meaning were changed though the occupation of their home lands by Europeans bent on economic advantages in under-developed nations. In its essence the state of colonialism, is the effect of translation. Literally, one culture as it colonizes a new region translates their culture into the environment of the new location. In colonization, the indigenous population is translated into a subordinate of the colonizing population, transforming into a new culture that has homogenized from the origin into a separate culture from the intruding culture, yet still different from its origins. Translation has often diminished black cultures as their need to emulate the ‘superiority’ that was assumed and imposed upon them of white culture became a tension between their indigenous culture and the desire for equality, respect, and control that was taken from them and translated into the new culture in which they were considered ‘inferior’. Stripping them of the autonomy enslaved them to cultures that were not their own, but that created desire to emulate or become them in order to have their autonomy and relief from oppression. Conclusion In order to translate a text into a film project a number of questions about the intention of the translation must be asked. The culture of the text may or may not be important to the story, so the translation must provide for the placement of ‘other’ so that it is conducive to understanding the meaning that is intended. In addition, the translation must find those meanings that are represented in the story and either reposition them for Western audiences or explain them and allow them to stand as ‘other’. Through the example of colonialism is seen a common mistake when translating in that imposition of the dominant culture then intrinsically changes the meanings, values, and beliefs that are associated with the original, translating a culture to fit the dominant sense of the ideal. Translation of a text from a non-English source into an English film requires not only understanding the original language but the original meaning that is intended by the author as it is filtered through the original culture. Bibliography Hewings, Ann., and Tagg, Caroline. 2012. The politics of English: Conflict, competition, co-existence. London: Routledge. Read More