TRANSLATION OF CULTURAL REFERENCES IN TÚNDÉ KẸ̀LÁNÍ’S ṢAWOROIDẸ AND ARUGBÁ

Abstract

Translation, a means through which messages are conveyed to non-native speakers of a language, is deployed in subtitling of films, including Túndé Kèlání's. Existing linguistic studies on Yorùbá films focused mainly on traditional elements, oral tradition and grammatical errors in subtitles, with little attention paid to how translation is utilised to explain cultural references in Yorùbá films. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the cultural references in Túndé Kèlání's Ṣaworoide ̣̣̣̣ and Arugbá, with a view to determining the typology of cultural references, subtitling strategies deployed and miscorrelations in the films. Gideon Toury’s Theory of Norm, complemented by M. A. K. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar and Diaz Cintas and Aline Remael’s Typology of Translation Strategies, served as the framework. The descriptive design was adopted. Túndé Kèlání's Ṣaworoide ̣̣̣̣ and Arugbá were purposively selected because of the preponderance of Yorùbá cultural phenomena, which were consciously translated in their subtitling. The data were subjected to stylistic analysis. Ten cultural reference types were identified: greetings, names of people and places, food, idioms, proverbs, incantations, panegyrics, religious songs, address forms and Ifá chants. These cultural reference types are central to the subtitling of the films. They also determine the subtitling strategies employed. Seven strategies are employed in the translation of the cultural references. They are lending, calque, substitution, transposition, paraphrasing, omission and addition. Names of people and places are subtitled using lending and calque. Names of food are captured through the use of lending and transposition. Idiomatic expressions are captured using calque, addition and omission, Religious expressions rely on calque, transposition and omission (Ṣaworoide)̣̣̣̣ Panegyrics and proverbs rely on paraphrasing, omission and substitution for a clear understanding (Arugbá). Greetings are translated using transposition and addition because of lack of accurate substitution in the target culture. Owing to the difficulties in the translation of songs, they are translated through calque, transposition and omission. Address forms and common expressions are conveyed through transposition and omission. Idioms are represented through calque and paraphrase. Proverbs, incantation and Ifá chants are represented through calque and omission (Arugbá). Omission wipes off the reference from the translation completely; it is deployed sometimes because of screen space constraint and the relevance of the sentence to the understanding of the target audience. There are miscorrelations in the subtitling of greetings and address forms. Because of lack of accurate equivalents in the target text, the subtitles are sometimes not relatable. They are way out of place, which is a minus to the understanding of the target audience. Miscorrelations are also identified in the proverbs and the idiomatic expressions because of the differences in the domain of the two languages in focus. Translation of cultural references in Túndé Kèlání's Ṣaworoide ̣̣̣̣ and Arugbá involves conscious attempt to capture the nuances of meaning in the source language, although there are instances of miscorrelations.