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Chapter 9. More than words can say

Exploring prosodic variation in dubbing
  • Sofía Sánchez-Mompeán
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Reassessing Dubbing
This chapter is in the book Reassessing Dubbing

Abstract

Prosodic choices enable on-screen characters to express more than words can say. The pragmatic content attached to their utterances needs to be grasped and reflected in dubbing. Given that the denotative meaning of words can be modulated and even altered by prosodic cues, the role of prosody in audiovisual discourse cannot be neglected in dubbing research and practice. This chapter sets out to explore the relevance of four prosodic systems, namely pitch-direction, pitch-range, loudness and tempo, and their pragmatic implications for English-Spanish dubbed dialogue. The examples provided within each category aim to illustrate via a qualitative analysis how variations in prosody can be used by the original characters to show their attitudes and intentions and how practitioners can reproduce this underlying content by drawing upon their own linguistic resources while complying with dubbing conventions.

Abstract

Prosodic choices enable on-screen characters to express more than words can say. The pragmatic content attached to their utterances needs to be grasped and reflected in dubbing. Given that the denotative meaning of words can be modulated and even altered by prosodic cues, the role of prosody in audiovisual discourse cannot be neglected in dubbing research and practice. This chapter sets out to explore the relevance of four prosodic systems, namely pitch-direction, pitch-range, loudness and tempo, and their pragmatic implications for English-Spanish dubbed dialogue. The examples provided within each category aim to illustrate via a qualitative analysis how variations in prosody can be used by the original characters to show their attitudes and intentions and how practitioners can reproduce this underlying content by drawing upon their own linguistic resources while complying with dubbing conventions.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The dubbing revolution 1
  4. Part I. Historical approaches
  5. Chapter 1. Undoing dubbing 17
  6. Chapter 2. When the Thief of Bagdad tried to steal the show 41
  7. Chapter 3. Locked into dubbing 63
  8. Chapter 4. Auteur dubbing 79
  9. Part II. New trends in dubbing research and practice
  10. Chapter 5. Audiovisual translation in the age of digital transformation 103
  11. Chapter 6. Are we all together across languages? 125
  12. Chapter 7. Fandubbing across time and space 145
  13. Chapter 8. To Europe with love 169
  14. Part III. The linguistics of dubbing
  15. Chapter 9. More than words can say 191
  16. Chapter 10. Representing orality through questions in original and translated film dialogue 211
  17. Chapter 11. English films vs Italian films 229
  18. Part IV. Identity construction in dubbing
  19. Chapter 12. Sleeping with the fishes 245
  20. Chapter 13. Constructing youth identities in dubbed movies 263
  21. General Index 281
  22. Name Index 283
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.148.09san

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The dubbing revolution 1
  4. Part I. Historical approaches
  5. Chapter 1. Undoing dubbing 17
  6. Chapter 2. When the Thief of Bagdad tried to steal the show 41
  7. Chapter 3. Locked into dubbing 63
  8. Chapter 4. Auteur dubbing 79
  9. Part II. New trends in dubbing research and practice
  10. Chapter 5. Audiovisual translation in the age of digital transformation 103
  11. Chapter 6. Are we all together across languages? 125
  12. Chapter 7. Fandubbing across time and space 145
  13. Chapter 8. To Europe with love 169
  14. Part III. The linguistics of dubbing
  15. Chapter 9. More than words can say 191
  16. Chapter 10. Representing orality through questions in original and translated film dialogue 211
  17. Chapter 11. English films vs Italian films 229
  18. Part IV. Identity construction in dubbing
  19. Chapter 12. Sleeping with the fishes 245
  20. Chapter 13. Constructing youth identities in dubbed movies 263
  21. General Index 281
  22. Name Index 283
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