The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/1229313
LACK OF REVISION A Geordie accent caused problems for the Spanish subtitlers working on Game of Thrones 12 The Linguist Vol/59 No/2 2020 ciol.org.uk FEATURES working through agencies or, less often, directly for the end client. As subtitlers are not necessarily based in the country of their target language, working conditions vary a great deal depending on where the commissioning studios are based. The subtitlers I interviewed live in the UK, France, Italy and elsewhere. Ideally, the same translator would work on all episodes of a show, but this appears to be rare, with agencies often dividing the workload among several translators, making consistency difficult and mistakes harder to spot. Giovanni, whose name has been changed, started his career working with agencies but now works with direct clients. "I had never worked on a whole show before starting my collaboration with the studios directly. I guess it is how agencies work: they accept big projects and divide them among several translators to guarantee a faster turnaround," he explains. Industrial action In the past few months, several industrial actions have been carried out by two of the major unions – CGIL (the Italian General Confederation of Labour) and CISL (the Italian Confederation of Trade Unions) – to urge a wider acceptance of the agreements. The actions name and shame dubbing studios that have not accepted the most up-to-date agreements, or that have failed to implement them, encouraging professional translators to refuse to work with them until they comply. This action is mainly confined to Rome, where the majority of studios that work on films are based. I was told that the studios in Italy are unofficially divided into three main areas: in Milan, most of the studios work on advertising; Rome is the main area for the film industry; and Bologna covers gaming and the remaining market segments. I found 90 studios in Italy through an online search and reached out to 40 of them; only two agreed to talk to me, neither of them based in Rome or involved in the industrial action. Although Morris's studio is not involved in the action, he is aware of the situation. "It is hard, especially for translators at the beginning of their career, but I encourage them to work on topics they are passionate about," he advises. "This will make it easier for them to establish their reputation as experts, delivering high-quality translations, and to make a name for themselves in the industry." Revealing rumours? The overall picture of the AVT industry in Italy appears fragmented. I have heard rumours that AV translators are afraid that if they protest they will be unable to secure work in future. These concerns are compounded by a belief that the studios in Rome are connected, making it easy for translators to be singled out and blacklisted. It has not been possible to determine the veracity of these claims, but it is clear that many AV translators are worried. It is worth noting that most of the people I approached did not want to be interviewed, and that, of the three people who did agree to interview, two asked for anonymity to avoid jeopardising their collaborations with the studios that do apply best practice. Although examples of good practice do exist, an atmosphere of fear seems to point to real problems in the Italian AVT industry. How much this impacts the subtitles we see on screen, however, remains unknown. Agencies often divide the workload among several translators, making consistency difficult