Redubs in Basque Public Television: Western Films as a Case in Point

Abstract

Redubs represent an unparalleled opportunity to analyse the divergences in different translations of one and the same source text. This study investigates the different strategies adopted by audiovisual translators of the same original film within the framework of the Spanish dubbing industry. In order to do this, various issues will be looked at. Firstly, cultural references, which typically pose a challenge to translators. Likewise, the choice between formal versus informal forms of address in Spanish is also fraught with difficulties, as opting for one or the other will have an impact on the way power relations are depicted to the target audience. Additionally, the presence of taboo words and offensive language and how these are transferred into the target language is also examined. The study shows that there is a strong tendency towards levelling out or omitting any instances of substandard language. Finally, the oral features in the original version seem to invariably undergo a standardization process that, again, contributes to reducing the linguistic variation present in the source text. Therefore, the connotative meaning of the text seems to be neglected, to a greater or lesser extent, during the translation process.