Rendering non-fluency in La Grande Vadrouille

The summary

The aim of this project is to present the possibilities of rendering the speeches of the characters in the film La Grande Vadrouille by means of audiovisual translation, especially subtitling. La Grande Vadrouille constitutes an interesting case for the potential translator, because of the fact that it features characters of at least several nationalities (British, French, and German) who by the nature of the plot are required to communicate with one another, despite not speaking the respective languages, or knowing only the absolute basics. Consequently, the translator can adopt different strategies as to rendering the non-fluent efforts of the characters; the dialogues can be smoothed out as to avoid any potential confusion for the audience, or they can also be adapted in such ways as to reflect the comedic effect of the original script. Below, you will find a sample task containing fragments of the original dialogues, and you will be subsequently asked to create your own renditions. Moreover, anyone is welcome to participate in expanding this project.

The film itself has enjoyed enormous popularity in its native France; for over forty years following its release in 1966, it held the title of the most successful French film at the French box office. La Grande Vadrouille also stars Louis de Funès, one of France's legendary comedy actors.

The plot of the film

Summer 1941. Over German-occupied France, a Royal Air Force bomber becomes lost after a mission and is shot down over Paris by German flak. Three of the crew, Sir Reginald, Peter Cunningham and Alan MacIntosh, parachute out over the city, where they run into and are hidden by a house painter, Augustin Bouvet, a puppet show operator Juliette and the grumbling conductor of the Opéra National de Paris, Stanislas Lefort. Involuntarily, Lefort, Juliette and Bouvet get themselves tangled up in the manhunt against the aviators led by Wehrmacht Major Achbach as they help the airmen to escape to the free zone with the help of Resistance fighters and sympathisers.

The concepts

The comedy of the film relies significantly on language barriers and miscommunication between the characters. Below, you will find the brief descriptions of the key terms, concepts and approaches which might be helpful in the process of translating the dialogues for the screen.

Domestication vs. foreignisation

The two concepts were introduced on a large scale and popularised by Lawrence Venuti in 1995 with his book The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation. In film translation, it is domestication that is typically perceived as the go-to approach for dubbing, whereas foreignisation seems to be considered more appropriate for subtitling. However, the two strategies can be applied just as well within subtitling.

Domestication in essence involves making the text "fluent", by adapting the original in such a way that the finished target text reads natural and familiar to the culture it is translated to.

On the other hand, foreignisation refers to "highlighting the foreign identity of the source text", which in practice entails "non-fluency", and is achieved mostly by using structures unnatural to the target language, as well as retaining the foreign cultural elements.

Code-switching

Code-switching occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation.

Forced subtitles

Forced subtitles appear when the characters speak a foreign or alien language, or a sign, flag, or other text in a scene, which is not translated in the localization and dubbing process. Forced subtitles are displayed regardless of current player setting. In some cases, foreign dialogue may be left untranslated if the film is meant to be seen from the point of view of a particular character who does not speak the language in question.

Sample tasks

Below you will find samples of the original French script along with the descriptions of the scenes. You will be asked to provide a translated version (or versions), depending on the adopted strategy.

• Scene 1:

Guide: Lefort, the French opera conductor discovers one of the RAF pilots in his dressing room. After being initially spooked by the man, he decides to shelter him from the Nazis currently roaming the building. The opera conductor seems to understand spoken English enough to grasp the gist of the conversation, although he makes basic mistakes when trying to speak it himself. The RAF pilot does not make any attempt to speak French; his strategy is to speak English slowly at the Frenchman, in the hope of getting his message across.

The original

Your version(s)

RAF pilot: Don't move! Lefort: J'ai vous dit? [ RAF pilot: Ne bougez pas. Lefort: Yes? (...) RAF pilot: Let me talk! You must go to the Turkish baths. Lefort: Une bain turque? RAF pilot: My name is Macintosh. Me - Macintosh. Lefort: Vous - Macintosh. RAF pilot: And the signal is "Tea for two". Lefort: Non, pas soufflé! It's an American song, but it's verboten ici. If I go to the Turkish baths, I risk, I risk énormément. But, if you go out, si vous sortez, the Germans, les allemands sont là. (...) Alors, écoutez, do you promise me, if I bring ici le big moustache, tu partes avec lui, immédiatement. Mais, définitivement. Alors, I accept to go to the Turkish baths, I accept the moustache, I accept tout. Et puis, you, attends. You go là dedans, là dedans, don't move! I come back, wait and see.

• Scene 2:

Guide: The French character, the house painter Bouvet meets by accident one of the British RAF bombers and decides to help him for the time being. He is aided by his friend Juliette, who offers her apartment as temporary shelter. Both Bouvet and Juliette know only a few words of English, and the RAF bomber seems to understand not much more than just the basics of French either. Additionally, all characters speak one another's languages with discernible foreign accents.

The original

Your version(s)

Bouvet: Ça va? RAF pilot: Yes. Bouvet: Alright? RAF pilot: Yes, yes. Bouvet: Follow me, follow me, suivez-moi. (...) RAF pilot: I am English, and I am wounded. (...) What has happened? Bouvet: The Germans are in my home. RAF pilot: Oh, I am sorry, I am responsible for all this terrible mess. I have to go, I am sorry, I have to go to the Turkish baths. Bouvet: Quoi? You are alright, very clean. RAF pilot: No, you don't understand. Our squadron leader gave us rendez-vous at the Paris mosque. Bouvet: C'est une bonne idée anglaise. Blessé, I am not speaking French! Bien, I go to your Turkish baths. RAF pilot: You'll go? Oh, you're wonderful. Bouvet: How I recognize your escadron leader? RAF pilot: Oh yes, he's got an enonrmous moustache, and the signal is "Tea for two". Bouvet: Tea for two? RAF pilot: It's a song, you know. Bouvet: Ah, oui.

See also

• La Grande Vadrouille at the Internet Movie Database

• On omission as a strategy in subtitling

• Łukasz Bogucki on the constraints of audiovisual translation

• Eduard Bartoll on subtitling multilingual films

• Forced subtitle tips

• Newsweek article in Polish