Diegetic level

Since the present study employs a multimodal perspective, the analysis of the STs and TTs moves beyond a consideration of the textual level to analyse the diegetic level. It is important to consider the diegetic level because it helps to show that individual modes (including the subtitles) cannot fulfil communicative meanings and diegetic functions independently in a fictional AV context such as

films. All the modes interact in various ways with each other to produce a meaningful text (Bateman, 2014; Kress et al., 2001; Perego et al., 2010; Remael, 2001; Taylor, 2003; Wildfeuer, 2014). This section aims to propose a typology for the analysis of how the non-verbal mode contributes in the construction of linguistic varieties’ communicative meanings to serve different diegetic functions in the AV text. This allows us to identify a) the intermodal relations established between the modes, and b) the communicative meanings and diegetic functions they are assumed to fulfil in the STs. Moreover, it allows the identification of the new intermodal relations established between the subtitles and other modes in the TTs, as well as determining the impact of subtitling strategies on preserving, modifying or cancelling the intermodal relations established in the STs.

Building on the work developed by Bordwell and Thompson (1979/2008), Pastra (2008), Pérez-González (2014b) and Ramos Pinto (2017), for the study of the subtitling of linguistic varieties in AV products, this study proposes a new analytical framework that includes three modes: the spoken mode, the mise-en- scène mode and the subtitles mode. Although films as AV products contain other modes and elements such as lighting, camera angles or types of shot, which also contribute to the construction of meaning, these selected modes are directly related to the construction of the linguistic varieties’ communicative meaning: the central focus of this study. The spoken mode includes three elements: accent, vocabulary and morphosyntax. The typology proposed in the previous section enables the identification of the elements used to recreate the linguistic varieties in the spoken mode. The mise-en-scène mode recognises three other elements: setting, figure behaviour, and costume and makeup. These three elements help to identify the communicative meaning associated with the setting in which the action take place, and the way characters behave and dress.

The new analytical framework proposed in this study will enable the collection of statistical data on the intermodal relations established between the communicative meaning associated with each of the elements in the spoken mode identified in the first level of classification and each of the elements included in the second level of classification. A classification of this kind and the

results are analysed quantitatively. The quantitative analysis helps to make the study scalable and enables the identification of patterns regarding the existing intermodal relations that play a role in constructing meaning in the STs and TTs. However, the discussion of the data highlights the need for qualitative analysis. Qualitative analysis offers an effective way to identify the diegetic functions of the linguistic varieties in their multimodal context. This study takes advantage of the work of Ramos Pinto (2017) and Pastra (2008). Pastra’s framework “looks at cross-media relations from a multimedia discourse perspective, i.e., from the perspective of the dialectics between different pieces of information for forming a coherent message” and offers an extremely detailed taxonomy of intermodal relations (2008, p.306). However, given the focus of this study on developing a simple and applicable framework for the study of the subtitling of linguistic varieties, a less detailed framework was developed out of the frameworks of Pastra and others.

Figure 4 shows the typology of intermodal relations established between the standard varieties and the mise-en-scène mode in the STs.

Figure 4. Typology of intermodal relations established between standard varieties and the mise-en-scène mode in the STs

Figure 5 illustrates the typology of intermodal relations established between the non-standard varieties and the elements in the mise-en-scène mode in the STs.

Figure 5. Typology of intermodal relations established between the non-standard varieties and the mise-en-scène mode in the STs

Figure 4 and Figure 5 show that the typologies identify two main relations: ‘relations of confirmation’ and ‘relations of contradiction’ between elements in the spoken mode (includes accent, vocabulary and morphosyntax), and elements in the mise-en-scène mode (includes costume and makeup, figure behaviour and setting). ‘Relations of confirmation’ can be further classified as ‘relations of equivalence’ (equivalent to the category ‘token-token equivalence’ in Pastra’s model) and ‘relations of complementarity’ (equivalent to the category ‘apposition complementarity’ in Pastra’s model) (Ramos Pinto and Mubaraki, forthcoming). The ‘relation of confirmation-equivalence’ applies when the communicative meanings (correlated with elements in the spoken mode) refer to the same meaning expressed by one or more elements in the mise-en-scène mode. In ‘relations of confirmation-complementarity’, the meanings expressed by one or more elements in the spoken mode and in the mise-en-scène mode collaborate to provide more information regarding the character’s profile beyond the scope of either one alone. In ‘relations of contradiction’, the meanings attributed to one or more linguistic features differ from the meanings attributed to one or more element in the mise-en-scène mode. After identifying intermodal relations quantitatively, the analysis will move on to find the different diegetic functions that the intermodal relations support through the qualitative analysis.

The same typology is built on to analyse the diegetic level in the TTs. In this typology, the subtitles mode is added to identify the new intermodal relations established between the elements in the spoken, the mise-en-scène and the subtitles modes. Figure 6 illustrates the typology of the new intermodal relations established between the standard varieties in the subtitles and other modes in the TTs.

Figure 6. Typology of intermodal relations established between the standard varieties in the subtitles mode and other modes in the TTs

Figure 7 shows the typology of the new intermodal relations established between the non-standard varieties identified in the subtitles mode, elements in the spoken mode and the mise-en-scène mode.

Figure 7. Typology of intermodal relations established between non-standard varieties in the subtitle mode and other modes in the

Figure 6 and Figure 7 present the typology that enables the identification of new intermodal relations in the TTs. The identification of the intermodal relations helps to investigate the impact of the subtitling strategies on preserving, cancelling or modifying the intermodal relations established and the diegetic functions they support in the STs.

3.8 Conclusion

This chapter investigated the attitude of individuals towards different varieties of language based on the context of use and users in the Arab world. The discussion showed how Egyptian writers rely heavily upon stereotypical features that can be easily recognised and interpreted by Egyptian as well as other Arab audiences in literary text. It has demonstrated that these stereotypical features have been used as a filmic resource to build the characters’ profile and to establish interpersonal relationships between the characters in films. In addition, this chapter has discussed the translation strategies employed to translate linguistic varieties in literary text. It has argued that similar strategies have been identified in the subtitling of linguistic varieties in AV products.

These investigations were undertaken to provide a background context for the design of an analytical framework to analyse the textual and diegetic levels in both the STs and TTs. The analysis of the textual level allows us to identify the linguistic varieties used in the spoken mode and subtitles mode. Moreover, identification of the linguistic varieties in the subtitles mode helps in the identification of the strategies employed in the TTs. The analysis of the diegetic level points out the type of intermodal relations established between the elements in the spoken mode and the mise-en-scène mode in the STs. In addition, the analysis of the diegetic level is used to explore the new intermodal relations established between the subtitles mode (which are added to an already finished product) and the other modes in the TTs. This analysis helps in assessing the impact of strategies used in preserving, cancelling or modifying the intermodal relationships established in the ST and/or the diegetic function they fulfil. The next chapter moves on to provide a description of the criteria used to select the films under analysis and the method used to build the corpus. It will also provide a summary of the selected films.

Chapter 4 : Methodology and corpus design