1. The Semiotics of Subtitling
Prof.ssa Laura Liucci

2. THE FILM AS A TEXT
Films are texts of great semiotic complexity in which different sign systems co-operate to create a coherent story.
Light and sound create two fundamental systems of space, time and casual interaction: one on the screen before our eyes and another within a story world that we conceptualize in our heads
(Branigan 1992: 34, in Díaz-Cintas 2007: 45)
Subtitles have to become part of this semiotic system. They are an addition […] and they must interact with and rely on all the film’s different channels.
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 45)

3. THE FILM AS A TEXT UNIVERSALITY OF IMAGES?
“Some film theorists believe that cinema initially represented a universal photographic language that could be understood by all and would have continued to conquer the world had it not been for the advent of sound, which made translation into different languages necessary”
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 45)
But images are NOT universal
They are culture-bound references, subject to ideological framing.

4. THE FILM AS A TEXT Images are NOT universal
They are culture-bound references, subject to ideological framing.
Visually rendered information must be taken into account because it is part of the message, but also because all cultures have different visual as well as oral and linguistic traditions, especially cultures that are geographically further apart
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 46)
The most difficult situation arises when a linguistic sign refers metaphorically to an image that the source and target culture do not share

5. THE FILM AS A TEXT Delabastita (1989: 199)
He analysed the components that constitute the filmic sign and distinguished the following four categories or communication channels:
1. Visual presentation – verbal sign
(credit titles, street names, documents that appear on screen)
2. Visual presentation – non-verbal sign
(film’s photography)
3. Acoustic presentation – verbal sign
(songs and dialogues)
4. Acoustic presentation – non-verbal sign
(instrumental music and background noises)
All these sign systems work together in the creation of a coherent film story. The degree to which subtitles need to relate to each of these systems will vary
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 46-47)

6. SUBTITLING AND IMAGES SEMIOTIC COHESION
CHAUME (2004: ) extends the linguistic concept of textual cohesion to include interaction between the linguistic and the visual channel of a film.
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 50)
TEXTUAL COHESION  “network of surface relations which link words and expressions to other words and expressions in a text” (BAKER 1992: 218)
Reference (e.g. use or pronouns)
Lexical choice (e.g. repetition VS variation)
Use of connectives
Etc.
SEMIOTIC COHESION
An ellipsis or gap in the (subtitled) dialogue may be filled with information the viewer obtains from the images on the screen rather than another passage from the (verbal) text
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 51)

7. SUBTITLING AND IMAGES SEMIOTIC COHESION
An ellipsis or gap in the (subtitled) dialogue may be filled with information the viewer obtains from the images on the screen rather than another passage from the (verbal) text
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 51)

8. SUBTITLING AND IMAGES SEMIOTIC COHESION
An ellipsis or gap in the (subtitled) dialogue may be filled with information the viewer obtains from the images on the screen rather than another passage from the (verbal) text
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 51)
For the semiotic cohesion to keep working in the subtitles there must be a form of synchronization between the written target text and the image. Subtitles should therefore never anticipate or be ahead of visual narration on screen

9. THE MULTIMODALITY OF LANGUAGE
SUBTITLING AND IMAGES
THE MULTIMODALITY OF LANGUAGE
Another form of semiotic cohesion is at play in the interaction between speech and gesture. This is a feature of the so-called multimodality of language, of which film makes great use.
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 52)
Luckmann (1990)  the full meaning of a statement in a dialogue is first produced by an adequate use of the options of language, but these “options are chosen or routinely employed by the speaker along with body-posture, gestures and facial expressions”
Body-postures and gestures communicate information non-vocally and are often culture-bound  kinesic heritage of different communities.

10. CAMERA MOVEMENT AND EDITING
SUBTITLING AND IMAGES
CAMERA MOVEMENT AND EDITING
Camera movement can also require careful handling when its rhythm somehow conflicts with the linear succession of the subtitles
(Cornu 1996 in Díaz-Cintas 2007: 53)
A conversation between two people  often filmed with alternating shots
Subtitlers have two options
Following the camera movement Ignoring the camera positions
But lately the pace of editing has increased considerably
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 53)

11. CAMERA MOVEMENT AND EDITING
SUBTITLING AND IMAGES
CAMERA MOVEMENT AND EDITING
Lately the pace of editing has increased considerably…
…therefore it is impossible and undesirable for the subtitles to follow the visual pace of the film
While, generally speaking, subtitles follow the rhythm of speech, but are allowed to linger slightly on the screen to offer viewers a more comfortable reading speed…
…in scenes filmed with alternating shots the subtitles must respect the visual narration structure of the film, and disappear with the cut to a new location
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 53)

12. SUBTITLING’S VULNERABILITY
It is interesting to note that a relatively high number of people hold a negative opinion of the quality of subtitles.
WHY?
COHABITATION OF SOURCE TEXT AND TARGET TEXT
the translated text is presented at the same time as the original, so the viewer can immediately compare both messages
The cohabitation of ST and TT is unusual in translation!
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 53)

13. SUBTITLING’S VULNERABILITY
COHABITATION OF SOURCE TEXT AND TARGET TEXT
Are there generally accepted strategies to face the repercussions of this phenomenon?
Transfer all those terms from the original that have a strong phonetic or morphological similarities in both languages
Try and maintain a close sematic and syntactic correlation between the dialogues and the subtitles.
Maximum synchrony should be achieve whenever possible
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 56)

14. SUBTITLING’S VULNERABILITY
Gottlieb (1994: 102)  Subtitling is an overt type of translation, retaining the original version thus laying itself bare to criticism from everybody with the slightest knowledge of the original language
Especially if the original language is English or if the two languages have very similar linguistic roots
But there are technical limitations that made it difficult to remain completely faithful to the source text, and TL cannot be infinitely stretched!
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 57)

15. Subtitling is unique also because it renders speech in writing
CHANGE OF MEDIUM
Subtitling is unique also because it renders speech in writing
The transition from oral to written mode means that some of the typical features of spoken language will have to disappear
Film dialogue does not render all the hesitations and false starts or requests for confirmation that are typical of conversation or speech in general
Subtitling will usually take film dialogue’s simplification one step further!
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 63)

16. Grammar and lexical items tend to be simplified and cleaned up
CHANGE OF MEDIUM
Subtitling will usually take film dialogue’s simplification one step further!
Grammar and lexical items tend to be simplified and cleaned up
Intonation and interactional features are only maintained to some extent
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 63)

17. Grammar and lexical items tend to be simplified and cleaned up
CHANGE OF MEDIUM
Subtitling will usually take film dialogue’s simplification one step further!
Grammar and lexical items tend to be simplified and cleaned up
Intonation and interactional features are only maintained to some extent
(Díaz-Cintas 2007: 63)

18. GOTTLIEB’S PARAMETERS
Henrik Gottlieb (1992), a Danish scholar and subtitler, identified five main parameters for subtitling and defined it as:
“written, additive, immediate, synchronous and poly-medial”
WRITTEN: subs are written on screen
ADDITIVE: subs add something to the oral message w/o substituting it
IMMEDIATE: audience reads the subs immediately and continuatively
SYNCHRONOUS: subs appear in synchrony with the spoken lines
POLY-MEDIAL: subtitling is not the only medium in audiovisual products

19. References
DÍAZ-CINTAS, JORGE and ALINE REMAEL Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
GOTTLIEB, HENRIK “Subtitling – A New University Discipline”, in DOLLERUP and LODDEGAARD (ed.). Teaching Translation and Interpreting: Training, Talent and Experience. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.