Translating gastronomy in animation: comprehension of culture-specific culinary items by young viewers /

In Lithuania, where animated films are predominantly dubbed, there is a significant gap in understanding how children perceive culture-specific culinary items depicted in these movies. This entails exploring factors that facilitate children’s understanding of these elements and those that pose challenges. Children’s perspectives differ substantially from adults’, given their ongoing learning process and limited knowledge accumulation. Therefore, ensuring a clear and accessible translation of these elements is crucial, as they serve as educational tools, familiarising children with foreign cultures. Moreover, comprehending these elements is vital for following and understanding the film’s plot. Therefore, this thesis aims to investigate how different translation strategies impact the attention and comprehension of gastronomic culture-specific items in Lithuanian-dubbed animated films. The research employs methodological triangulation – a methodological approach that entails gathering data from multiple sources to enhance the robustness and validity of the analysis. Specifically, the reception method was used to examine how young viewers react to and comprehend culture-specific culinary items in dubbed animation by employing a Pro Spectrum eye-tracking device; a questionnaire was utilised to validate the eye-tracking data; and multimodal analysis was conducted to examine how various semiotic codes influence the choice of translation. The research revealed that children notice and comprehend culture-specific items differently: 6 participants quickly grasped visual details and identified cultural items, while the remaining 5 struggled. This variation may be due to differences in accumulated knowledge and concentration levels. To ensure translations are as comprehensible as possible, translators must consider various semiotic codes and dubbing synchronies. In the analysed excerpts, the linguistic code was the most important, as all CSIs appeared in dialogues. Therefore, adhering to isochrony and lip synchrony was crucial for maintaining coherence and engagement. Kinetic synchrony was also relevant, as it was noted that the movement of characters, especially when they are moving quickly, prompts children to focus on a certain AOI. While no single translation strategy proved universally effective, visual cues significantly helped children understand CSIs more easily.

Grantor dc:publisher

Institutional Repository of Vilnius University

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Vilimienė, Austė,

• Reception, eye-tracking, culture-specific culinary items, dubbing, audiovisual translation, children, animated films

Statement dc:rights

• info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Language dc:language

eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://repository.vu.lt/VU:ELABAETD210546724&prefLang=en_US

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vu.lt:elaba:210546724