Lost in Translation

När man tittar på engelskspråkiga filmer märker man ibland att översättningen i textremsan inte blir så lyckad. Skämt kan försvinna, saker som anspelar på företeelser i ursprungslandets samhälle, är svåra att översätta så att betydelsen blir tydlig för oss tittare från andra länder. I det här arbetet ska ni få arbeta med animerad/tecknad film från engelskspråkiga länder.

Area of work

In this area of work you will be working with language to find things that got lost in translation. The purpose and the aim is to get an understanding of how language is something that is strongly connected to the society and context we live in. Words are used differently, expressions differ depending on what language you speak. This is a part of language usage that is hard to learn but you constantly see or hear different ways of expressing things when you read texts or watch movies.

You'll be working with this for four lessons (two weeks) and you need to watch the movie as homework. I recommend that you watch the full movie at least once and after the first time you can watch different parts of it.

The first time you watch you really need to watch carefully, taking notes - write down things you observed and think is something that you can use. Make sure that you also write down _when_ in the movie the scene is so you easily can find it again.

If you're working on assignment B, you need to listen really carefully to find the quote and you probably need to watch that part a couple of times.

What to do?

Assignment A

Choose an animated movie, preferably one that's a bit newer (there's a list further down with some suitable movies). Watch the movie, you may have to watch it a couple of times. There are different ways of working:

1. Use Swedish subtitles and watch and listen carefully to find differences between the spoken language and the subtitles. What is different? How is it translated? Is the translation good or what went wrong in your opnion? How would you've translated it?

2. If you prefer watching the movie without subtitles, you can focus on jokes because those are often difficult to translate. How do we need to translate what's said to Swedish, so it doesn't loose its meaning (and the fun)?

3. Look for things that they use that's connected to the society/way of living where the movie is created (mostly US and UK), that is different from our society/way of living. Explain and describe and also try to find the Swedish equivalent.

You can focus your work on one of these or combine them. Write a text where you present your findings. The last task is to show what you've found.

Assignment B

Task A is the main assignment but still, some of you may think it's too difficult. If that's the case, you will do this assignment instead. In this assignment, you'll work with quotes from animated movies.

You'll get a list of more or less famous quotes from some animated movies. Your task is to pick one or two of them and then put the quotes into their context and explain what they mean. You'll need to watch the movie and then answer the following questions:

Who is saying it and why and to whom?

When and where is it said? Is the location important?

What does it mean and is it a take-home message for the viewer?

Why do you think it's become a famous quote?

Is it possible to translate it to Swedish without loosing its meaning? How would you translate it to get the best Swedish version?

List of suitable movies

Cars

Monsters Inc

The Lorax

Horton Hears A Who

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Shreck

Madagascar

The Penguins of Madagascar

Despicable Me

Flushed Away

Puss in Boots

Coco

Rio

The Secret Life of Pets

Ice Age

Big Hero 6

Finding Nemo

Zootopia

List of quotes

Document with list of quotes to choose from