The secret agent [Elektronische Ressource] : film dubbing and the influence of the English language on German communicative preferences ; towards a model for the analysis of language use in visual media / vorgelegt von Nicole Baumgarten

The Secret Agent: Film dubbing and the influence of the English
language on German communicative preferences.
Towards a model for the analysis of language use in visual media





Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades der Doktorin der Philosophie beim
Fachbereich Sprach,- Literatur- und Medienwissenschaft der Universität Hamburg


vorgelegt von

Nicole Baumgarten
aus Elmshorn


Hamburg, 2005
Als Dissertation angenommen vom Fachbereich Sprach-, Literatur- und
Medienwissenschaft der Universität Hamburg aufgrund der Gutachten
von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Juliane House
und PD Dr. Kristin Bührig
Hamburg, den 4. Mai 2005

Preface

Ich möchte mich an dieser Stelle nur kurz bei all denen bedanken, die mich durch
den Prozess des Anfertigens dieser Arbeit begleitet haben. In ganz unterschiedlicher
Hinsicht haben sie alle dazu beigetragen, dass die Arbeit jetzt in dieser Form
vorliegt. Ich bin Euch/Ihnen sehr verbunden!
iii iv
Contents

1 Introduction…………………………………………………………..... 1
2 Language variation and language change through translation
processes as instances of language contact…..…….…………..…….. 9
2.1 'Well-formulatedness' and diachronic changes in style………..... 9
2.2 English – lingua franca as source language…………...……..…. 12
2.3 English and German: Dimensions of communicative differences
as parameters of change in language use……………………….. 14
2.4 The role of the film medium in language change: General
suggestions……………………………………………..……….. 17
3 Film texts and film translations……………………………..………… 19
3.1 The translation of films………………………………………..... 19
3.2 A short history of American film exports to Germany………..... 22
3.3 Changing preferences in film styles in Germany…………..…… 25
3.4 Multimodality………………………………………………….... 27
4 The state-of-the-art in translation studies, visual analysis, film
studies and contrastive linguistics…...……………………………..…. 29
4.1 Translation studies………………………………………….…... 29
4.1.1 Film translation……………………………………..… 29
4.1.2 Film translation within translation
studies………………………………………….…..….. 35
4.2 Language use in visual media as a research object in approaches
to visual analysis and film studies…………………………..…... 38
4.3 English-German cross-linguistic variation…………………..….. 44
5 The theoretical foundation of the model of analysis of language use
in visual media……………………………………………………..…… 51
5.1 Systemic Functional Linguistics, visual grammar and cinematic
narrative: Theoretical concepts and structural
principles……………………………………………………..…. 51
5.1.1 Systemic Functional Linguistics…………………..….. 53
5.1.2 Visual grammar: Structures of visual representation.... 56
5.1.2.1 Instantiation………...……………………...... 57
v 5.1.2.2 Stratification……………………..………….. 57
5.1.2.3 Metafunctional diversification………..…….. 58
5.1.2.4 The cultural specificity of visual
communication…………………………….... 64
5.1.3 Theoretical concepts and structural principles of film... 65
5.1.3.1 Film as medium, sign system and text…..….. 66
5.1.3.2 Theoretical approaches to film and structural
principles of the film system and filmic
narrative…………………………………….. 67
5.1.3.2.1 Approaches to film theory…..… 67
5.1.3.2.2 The film system……………..… 68
5.1.3.2.3 The viewer's activity…….……. 68
5.1.3.2.4 Principles of film form……..…. 72
5.1.3.2.5 narrative
construction………………..….. 72
5.1.3.2.6 Categories of information
transmission……………….….. 73
5.2 Language, visual communication and film in an extended
systemic-functional framework……………………………..…... 74
5.3 English and German approaches to register, text and discourse
analysis………..…………………………..……..……………… 77
6 A model for the qualitative analysis of language use in film…..……. 82
6.1 House's model for text and translation analysis………………… 82
6.2 Characteristics of language use in film……………………..…... 85
6.2.1 Linguistic characteristics……..……………………….. 85
6.2.2 Characteristics of the communicative situation:
Diegetic and extradiegetic levels of communication..... 87
6.2.1.1 Diegetic communication…………………..... 89
6.2.1.2 Extradiegetic communication…………….… 90
6.3 A model for the qualitative analysis of language use in film….... 93
7 The corpus of film texts and translations and the method of its
analysis …………...………………………………………………..…... 117
7.1 The corpus………………………………………………..……... 117
7.2 Transcription and annotation conventions……………..……….. 120
7.3 Research method……………………………………………..…. 121

vi 8 Qualitative analysis of English and German language use in film:
English film discourses and their German-dubbed versions……..… 123
8.1 An exemplary analysis………………..………………………… 123
8.1.1 Sample text for analysis………..……………………... 124
8.1.2 Analysis of the English source text……..…..……….... 126
8.1.2.1 FIELD…………………………………….… 126
8.1.2.2 TENOR…………………………….……….. 132
8.1.2.2.1 Provenance………………..…….. 132
8.1.2.2.2 Stance………………………..….. 132
8.1.2.2.3 Social Role Relationship……..…. 137
8.1.2.2.4 Social Attitude………………..…. 139
8.1.2.2.5 Participation…………...……...… 140
8.1.2.2.5.1 Diegetic Participation…. 140
8.1.2.2.5.2 Extradiegetic
Participation…………... 142
8.1.2.3 MODE……………………………..………... 146
8.1.3 Analysis of the German translation..……………..…… 150
8.1.3.1 FIELD…………………………………….… 150
8.1.3.2 TENOR………………………………….….. 157
8.1.3.2.1 Provenance……………..……….. 157
8.1.3.2.2 Stance……………………..…….. 157
8.1.3.2.3 Social Role Relationship…..……. 160
8.1.3.2.4 Social Attitude……………..……. 161
8.1.3.2.5 Participation………………..…… 162
8.1.3.2.5.1 Diegetic
Participation………. 162
8.1.3.2.5.2 Extradiegetic
Participation…..…... 163
8.1.3.3 MODE……………………..………………... 166
8.1.4 IDEATIONAL and INTERPERSONAL functional
components………………………………………….... 169
8.1.5 KNOWLEDGE, SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS and
COMMUNICATIVENESS…………………………... 171
8.1.6 INDIVIDUAL TEXTUAL FUNCTION……………... 172
8.2 Results of the qualitative analyses…………………………….... 173
vii 8.2.1 Alternative and additional information……………..… 174
8.2.2 Modality, cohesion and explicitness………………..… 176
8.2.2.1 Modality…………………………………..… 176
8.2.2.2 Cohesion…………………………………..… 189
8.2.2.3 Explicitness………………………………..... 198
9 Visual-verbal cohesion: The mapping of visual and verbal
information…………………………………………………………..… 204
9.1 The combination of visual and verbal information in film…..…. 204
9.1.1 Integration…………………………………………….. 204
9.1.2 Cohesion and deictic spaces…………………………... 206
9.1.3 A model of visual-verbal cohesion…….………….….. 210
9.2 Results of the diachronic qualitative analyses………………...... 212
10 Film translation and language variation?............................................. 232
10.1 Differences in textual functions……………………..………..… 232
10.2 Language-specificity vs. translation universals……………….... 233
10.3 Converging communicative conventions?.................................... 235
11 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….... 239
11.1 Summary………………………………………………………... 239
11.2 Assessment of the methodology………………………………... 242
11.3 Suggestions for further research………………………………... 244
References………………………………………………………………..…... 247
Appendix…………………………………………………...……………..….. 263

viii List of figures

Figure 1 Contextual embeddedness of instances of verbal and visual
information in film texts ………………………………….… 5
Figure 2 Dimensions of communicative preferences between German
and English …………………..…………….………………... 15
Figure 3 Changes in film translation …………………………….…… 31
Figure 4 Dimensions of communicative preferences between English
and German ………………..………….…………………….. 48
Figure 5 Stratification of language ………………………..………….. 55
Figure 6 Stratification of visual communication ………………..……. 57
Figure 7 Participants in visual communication ……………….……… 59
Figure 8 Ideational metafunction: Relations between objects
(participants)……….………………………………………… 60
Figure 9 The relation between story and plot ……………………….... 73
Figure 10 Schematic representation of House's model for text and
translation analysis ………………………………………….. 83
Figure 11 Revised version of House's model of text and translation
analysis …………………….………………………………... 83
Figure 12 Participants in visual communication ………………………. 88
Figure 13 The diegetic and extradiegetic levels of communication in
film ………………………………………………………….. 89
Figure 14 Layers of meaning in film …………………………………... 92
Figure 15 A model for the analysis of language use in film …………... 94
Figure 16 Classification of process types ……………………………… 96
Figure 17 Excerpt from a film text transcript ………………………….. 119
Figure 18 The integration of visual and verbal information in a film
text …………………………………………………………... 205
Figure 19 A model of visual-verbal cohesion in film texts ……………. 210
Figure 20 Dimensions of communicative preferences between English
and German …………………………………………………. 236

ix x