A Descriptive Study of the Spanish Dubbing of the Series Breaking Bad Focused on the Translation of Culturemes

FACULTAD DE FILOLOGÍA GRADO EN ESTUDIOS INGLESES TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO CURSO 2019/2020 TÍTULO: A Descriptive Study of the Spanish Dubbing of the Series Breaking Bad Focused on the Translation of Culturemes AUTORA: Rocío Fernández Rubio TUTOR: Dr. José Enrique García González 1 INDEX 1. Introduction 3 2. Breaking Bad 4 2.1 Plot 4 2.2 Technical data 4 3. Theoretical background 6 3.1 Audiovisual translation: dubbing 6 3.2 Culturemes 7 3.3 Translation techniques 8 3.3.1 Literal translation 9 3.3.2 Oblique translation 10 4. Practical analysis 12 4.1 Methodology and corpus 12 4.2 Phases of the project 13 4.3 Analysis and classification of the selected examples 13 4.3.1 Literal translation 14 4.3.2 Oblique translation 16 4.3.3 Omission of the cultureme 19 4.4 Overall results 21 5. Conclusions 23 6. Bibliography 24 7. Appendix: A representative sample of ST-TT culturemes 27 2 INDEX OF TABLES Table 1. Technical data of the dubbing of the series Breaking Bad 5 Table 2. Table template for the analysis 12 Table 3. General translation techniques applied 13 Table 4. Literal translation of culturemes 14 Table 5. Oblique translation of culturemes 17 Table 6. Omission of culturemes 21 Table 7. Classification of culturemes with their translation techniques 22 Table 8. Translation techniques in the Natural Environment field 22 Table 9. Translation techniques in the Cultural Heritage field 23 Table 10. Translation techniques in the Social Culture field 23 Table 11. Translation techniques in the Linguistic Culture field 23 3 1. Introduction This paper aims to analyse and classify selected examples of cultural elements or culturemes from the dubbing of the first season of the series Breaking Bad (Gilligan, 2008). In order to carry out this study, a total of seven episodes of about forty-five minutes each has been analysed in original English version and compared with the Spanish dubbing with a view to determine what translation techniques have been applied to the culturemes and whether they keep their semantic content in the translation. For this purpose, Breaking Bad series is firstly introduced, presenting both its plot and technical data. This series was chosen for its global popularity. The las two seasons saw a significant rise in audience when it was available on Netflix. Due to its great reception, it was released the sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Gilligan, 2019) on Netflix on October 2019. Secondly, the basic features of audio-visual translation are dealt with, since it sets out different problems as compared to the translation or written texts and therefore they require different translation solutions. In addition, the idea of referring to the TT 1 as the work of the translator themselves has been abandoned, since as Chaume Varela and García de Toro (2001: 120) state, it is a product that has been manipulated by passing from hand to hand and the final product has not been reached by participants having worked as a team, but individually. However, subtitling will neither be analysed nor shown in this study. The reason of not taking the subtitling is explained in the theoretical background. The theoretical background also covers the concept of cultureme (it includes different terms, definitions and classifications of cultural elements proposed by different authors) and different types of translation techniques used in order to carry out this study. Finally in this project, a comparative study of a representative sample of cultural elements will be carried out in order to check whether these elements are translated from English to Spanish literally or omitted or whether they are translated obliquely. Moreover all the representative samples will be presented in tables with their classification of cultureme and their translation technique. 1 Henceforward, the Target Text will be referred to as TT, while the Source Text as ST. TL is used to refer to the Target Language and SL to the Source Language. 4 2. Breaking Bad (2008) The series, created by Vince Gilligan, series consists of five seasons for a total of sixty-two episodes, aired on AMC (American Movie Classics) from 2008 to 2013. It was considered one of the best TV series of the decade, swelling to 6.4 million viewers in the last season (La Vanguardia, 2013). As their seasons aired, positive reviewers among viewers increased. The series Breaking Bad was one of the most-watched cable TV shows in the United States. The audience of the second half of the fifth season (2013) doubled that of the first. 2.1 Plot Breaking Bad relates the life of Walter White, played by Brian Cranston, a fifty-year- old, high school chemistry teacher living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who earns extra money as a cashier at a car wash to support his pregnant wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), and his disabled teenage son, Walter Junior (R. J. Mitte). The non-smoking White is diagnosed with lung cancer and he has only a couple of years to live. When White goes on a drug bust led by his brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris), a DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent, he not only learns about the illegal methamphetamine market, but detects an ex-student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) escaping the crime scene. White decides to cook and sell methamphetamine with the help of his ex-student Jess in order to secure his family's financial security after his medical prognosis (Filmaffinity, 2009). 2.2 Technical data The dubbing of the series was recorded in 2009 by the recording studio SOUNDUB and distributed on television under the genre of TV series. It was translated into Spanish by Ángeles Aragón, who also translated the renowned TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1999) and the film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019). The director and adjuster was Alejandro Martínez, who started in 2000 with the film Promised a Miracle (1988), and has stayed in business up-to-date (Bonet, 2020). A table which collects the data of the Spanish voice actors/actresses with their corresponding character in the series is shown below: 5 Dubbing actor/actress Character Ayones, Miguel Walter H. White Marí, Ana María Skyler White Martínez, Alejandro Jesse Pinkman Ysbert, Carlos Hank Schrader Cabrera, Fernando Walter White Jr. Castro, Pepa Marie Schrader Padilla, José Elliott Schwartz Bosch, Eduardo Domingo Encinas, Roberto Tuco Romero, Rafael Badger Martín, Gemma Mrs. Pinkman Hernández, Fernando Mr. Pinkman Table 1. Technical data of the dubbing of the series Breaking Bad 2 2 The data has been gathered from the online database eldoblaje.com. See bibliography. 6 3. Theoretical background 3.1 Audiovisual translation: dubbing Audiovisual media has experience a great growth and importance in the twenty-first century, and also the audiovisual translation (AVT) in most countries. There are several terms to refer to AVT, such as: media translation; multimedia translation; multimodal translation; and screen translation. All these terms refer to “the interlingual transfer of verbal language when it is transmitted and accessed both visually and acoustically, usually, but not necessarily, through some kind of electronic device” (Chiaro, 2009: 141). According to Chaume Varela and García de Toro (2001: 119), audiovisual text is transmitted through the visual channel, which provides verbal (credits for films, billboards, etc.) and non-verbal information (colours, images, etc.). And the acoustic channel, which also provides verbal (dialogue) and non-verbal (sound track) information. The two most widely used modalities for translating audiovisual texts are dubbing and subtitling. According to Leboreiro Enríquez and Poza Yagüe (2001: 316), “subtitles are around two lines of text located at the bottom of the image, whose purpose is to try to collect the synthesis of the original message and its difficulty lies in the fact it is almost impossible to read at the same speed as you hear”. Subtitles can be used both for the translation of the SL or the SL of the audiovisual text. Dubbing is a process which “entails the replacement of the original speech of an audio-visual content by a voice track” (Luyken 1991: 31). The aim of dubbing is to create a TT that looks as if it is being uttered by the original actors. The dubbing process begins when a country decides to buy an audiovisual product (TV show, film, series, etc.) from another country and the original version of the product is different from the buyer country. This audiovisual product goes to a dubbing studio where it is translated. The translation then passes to the adjuster, who adapts the text to the mouth (phonetic synchrony) and body movements (cinematic synchronicity) of the characters, and also the duration of the text (isochrony). These processes imply the manipulation of the TT. The director and the dubbing actors can also introduce these changes that they consider necessary (Chaume Varela and García de Toro 2001: 120, 121). Since the audiovisual product gets to a studio and the final product is released, this product has been manipulated by different participants without the supervision of a translator. Within the European Union seems to be a division between the countries that widely use the dubbing modality and those that use the subtitling. Typical “dubbing countries” are 7 Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Typical “subtitling countries” are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. The UK and Ireland are not included into one of these two camps because of the small amount of non- English-spoken audiovisual media in these two countries (Koolstra, Peeters, and Spinhof 2002: 326). According to Sokoli (2009: 36), certain differences in this two audiovisual translation methods may easily be observed between the translation of an audiovisual text in a dubbing and subtitling countries. This means that in dubbing countries translators may create a more elaborate translation for the dubbing of the audiovisual text than for the subtitling and vice versa. For this reason, this study is focused on the Spanish dubbing rather than subtitling. 3.2 Culturemes In Translation Studies, there are many authors who sustain the translation of cultural elements as one of the most difficult challenges that translators must face, Nida (1945: 194) being the pioneer in treating them as a problem in translation. Nida defines language as a part of culture and words as “symbols for features of the culture” and he states that translators must be aware of the cultural differences between the two languages. Nida (1945: 196) proposes the following classification of these cultural elements: ecology, material culture, social culture, religious culture, and linguistic culture. Newmark (1988: 94) defines culture as “the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression”. Newmark distinguishes “cultural” from “universal and personal” languages. He states that the “cultural” language implies translation problems, while the “universal and personal” languages usually do not imply translation problems. Newmark (1988: 97) proposes a classification of these “foreign cultural words” by adapting Nida´s typology: ecology; material culture; social culture; organisations, customs, activities, procedures, concepts; and gestures and habits. There is a great variety of terms to refer to these elements: cultural element, cultural reference, cultural word, cultureme, etc. The origin of the term “cultureme” is uncertain. Some authors attribute it to Nord (1997), others to Oksaar (1988) and others to Vermeer (1983: 8), who defines it as “a social phenomenon of a culture X that is regarded as relevant by the members of this culture and, when compared with a corresponding social phenomenon in a culture Y, is found to be specific to culture X”. Molina Martínez and Hurtado Albir (2001: 89) define the concept of cultureme as “a 8 verbal or paraverbal element that has a specific cultural load in one culture, and when transferred to another culture it can cause a transfer that is null or different from the original”. This will be the notion used to carry out the study in this project, since this author does not conceive all the culturemes as a translation problem. Molina Martínez and Hurtado Albir (2001: 91-94) also propose four categories of cultural elements based on Nida´s typology (1945: 196). Molina´s classification takes into account the dynamism of cultural elements by reducing the number of categories and including broad cultural concepts. The following classification of cultural fields dispenses with elements which are not strictly cultural and includes Nida´s terminology: a) Natural environment: this section covers Nida´s “ecology” field, which compiles ecological differences between geographical areas, such as fauna, flora, atmospheric phenomena, natural and also man-made landscape. b) Cultural heritage: Nida´s “material culture” and “religious culture” are introduced in this section, which comprises the physical or ideological references of a culture, such as objects, products, devices, fictional or real characters, historical events, festivities, popular beliefs, folklore, work, artistic movements, cinema, music, emblematic monuments, well-known places, musical instruments, fishing and farming techniques, means of transportation, etc. c) Social culture: this section coincides with Nida´s “social culture”, which includes conventions and habits of a culture, forms of treatment and courtesy, ways of eating, dressing, moral values, gestures, greetings, political, educational and legal systems, organizations, professions, currency, calendars, etc. d) Linguistic culture: sayings, idioms, proper names with additional meaning, metaphors, symbolic associations, interjections, insults, blasphemies, etc. 3.3 Translation techniques As Molina and Hurtado (2002: 499) state, there is not a complete consensus on the names and definitions of translation techniques amongst translation scholars, with terms overlapping. On this account, the current study makes use of the classification and definition of translation techniques presented by Dr Isidro Pliego Sánchez from the University of Seville, in his course named “Fundamentos y Práctica de la Traducción Inglés-Español” (2016-2017). The translation techniques are classified under two main broad categories: literal translation and oblique translation. 15 a) Maintenance of the cultureme in literal translation Segment 41 Chapter: 7 “A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal” TCR: 00: 05: 40 Walt and Jesse Context: Walt, who is bold, visits Jesse after having been beaten up. Original version WALT: How are you feeling? JESSE: About as good as you look. Jeez, you look like Lex Luthor. Spanish dubbing WALT: ¿Cómo te encuentras? JESSE: Estoy mejor que usted. Joder, si parece Lex Luthor. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Comments3: Lex Luthor is a fictional supervillain arch-enemy of Superman, appearing in publications by DC Comics, an American comic book publisher. He is widely known for having a dual identity and a bold head. 3 The information provided in the “Comments” fields comes from several general reference works such as Wikipedia, dictionaries, etc. See Bibliography. 16 b) Partial maintenance of the cultureme in literal translation Segment 22 Chapter: 5 “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 08: 29 Farley (Walt´s friend) Context: Walt is in a party where most of the people are chemists. Farley tells that Elliot Schwartz and Walt created an association called “Gray Matter”. Original version This is the White in Gray Matter. Spanish dubbing Este es el blanco en Materia Gris. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation (with slight displacement) Maintenance of the cultureme Partial Comments: in this example there is a cultureme that belongs to the linguistic culture category as it is a pun (a word game). Farley says that Walt is “the White in Gray Matter” because this association was created by Walt White and Elliot Schwartz, whose surnames refer to colours (`Schwartz´ means `black´ in German). Besides, `gray´ as a colour is black mixed with white. When translating the surname `White´ as `blanco´ the double meaning is lost. As it is an audiovisual text, no explanation can be added. 17 c) Loss of the cultureme in literal translation Segment 4 Chapter: 1 “ Pilot” TCR: 00: 22: 40 Hank Schrader Context: Hank and his colleague are in the police car watching a house which has plants all over the place and wonder what it is. Original version Sage? What, do you work at the fucking Pottery Barn? Spanish dubbing ¿Salvia? ¿Ahora trabajas en el Pottery Barn? Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: Pottery Barn is “an American upscale home furnishing store chain and ecommerce company, with retail stores in the USA, Canada and Australia (Wikipedia, n d). This company is part of north American culture as it is the quintessential place to buy both home furnishings and garden products which has been referenced a number of times in several sitcom series, such as Friends (Crane & Kauffan, 1994) and The Big Bang Theory (Lorre & Prady, 2007). When Hank ironically asks his partner if he works in this company, he wants to mean that he knows everything about furniture and gardening. The semantic sense of the cultureme is lost in the TT, since this company is not known in Spain. 4.3.2 Oblique translation Oblique translation Maintenance of the cultureme Partial maintenance Loss of the cultureme 9 30% 7 23.3% 14 46.7% Table 5. Oblique translation of culturemes There have been thirty cultural segments to which the oblique translation has been applied: fourteen of them (46.7%) have lost the cultureme in the TT; nine have kept them (30%); and only six have partially reached the TT. There is an example of each case with its respective comment below: 18 a) Maintenance of the cultureme in oblique translation Segment 43 Chapter: 7 “A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal” TCR: 00: 11: 58 Taco Context: Taco, who is a gangster, meets with Walt and Jesse. Walt has a bold head. Original version Mr. Clean and his boy. Spanish dubbing Don Limpio y su chico. Type of cultureme Culture heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: equivalence Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Comments: Mr. Clean is the brand name and the logo of a line of household cleaning products, devised by Linwood Burton, a north American businessman. In Spain it came under the name of “Don Limpio” (originally released and sold for many years as Mr. Proper). The product is widely known for its logo: a muscular, bald man. Taco refers to Walt as Mr. Clean since the latter has hi shaved head and behaves as a strong and determined man. As this product is also famous in Spain and has the same logo, the cultureme has been preserved in the TT. 19 b) Partial maintenance of the cultureme in oblique translation Segment 21 Chapter: 5 “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 04: 35 Skyler Context: Walt and Skyler are in a party where everybody is wearing white clothes while she is wearing an extravagant blue dress. Original version I look like I am wearing a prom dress from 1985. Spanish dubbing Parece que llevo un vestido de la promoción del ochenta y cinco. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme Partial Comments: the term “prom” in North America refers to “a formal dance at a school or college which is usually held at the end of the academic year” (Collins Dictionary, 2020). In the Urban Dictionary there is an entry which defines prom as a “promoted high school `institution´ that makes the dress shops, hairdressers, flower shops, limo companies, suit rental places, etc. wealthier” (2004). In American popular culture these graduation parties are widely known for spending a lot of money in extravagant dresses and all kinds of luxury for just one night. Traditionally, girls wear dresses or evening gowns and adorn themselves with jewellery. In the ST, a “prom dress” carries a semantic sense that is not in the TT, and that is why the cultureme is just partially maintained. 20 c) Loss of the cultureme in oblique translation Segment 16 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man ” TCR: 00: 02: 05 Hank Schrader Context: Hank Schrader is at the police station talking about an organization that is cooking drugs in the city. Original version I´m thinking Albuquerque just might have a new Kingpin. Spanish dubbing Creo que en Albuquerque hay un narco nuevo. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: “Kingpin” or “king pin”, in American English, is “a vertical pin attached to some axles to serve as the axis for a wheel spindle, so that the wheel may be turned for steering” (Collins Dictionary, 2020). It also means a target in early ball games like ground billiards, and in informal speech it may mean a 'key component' and metaphorically the 'boss'. But here it also makes reference to a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics in 1967. This character is known for typically holding the position of New York City's crime overlord. The "Kingpin" name is a reference to the crime lord title in Mafia slang nomenclature. The character became more of a naturalistic mobster than a comic book criminal mastermind, and depended less on science fiction-like weaponry. In the Spanish counterpart this reference to the Marvel criminal has been lost. 4.3.3 Omission of the cultureme There has been one cultureme that has been omitted in the TT and therefore the cultural component is lost. There are two examples (segments 20 and 45) where the cultureme has been translated obliquely and also omitted. These two examples are not compiled in the “omission” field in the “Table 4. General translation techniques applied” because there is a partial omission in both cases. The following table shows the only segment in which the cultureme is omitted: 21 Segment 15 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man” TCR: 00: 01: 30 Hank Schrader Context: Hank Schrader is at the police station talking about an organization that is cooking drugs in the city. Original version We´re thinking this was cooked here in the Land of Enchantment. Spanish dubbing Creemos que la cocinaron justo aquí. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Omission Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: “Land of Enchantment” is a phrase used to refer to New Mexico. This phrase was “first used by American journalist and author Lilian Whiting in 1906” (Woodman, 2018). This nickname was not quickly accepted by the population; it took about thirty years to be welcomed. New Mexico´s Tourist Bureau described the state as the “Land of Enchantment” in an effort to make it attractive to tourists. It was not until 1999 that it became the official nickname of the state (New Mexico, 2017). This nickname is understood as a synonym for the state of New Mexico. By omitting this reference it is not clear in the TT what the adverb “aquí” refers to. The adverb could be understood as the city, while in the ST it is clear that it refers to the entire state because of the cultureme. Table 6. Omission of culturemes 22 4.4 Overall results During the analysis, the chosen forty-five culturemes that appear in the first season have been classified. The following table lists the types of culturemes and the broad categories of translation techniques: Cultureme´s category Translation technique Number Total Natural Environment Literal translation 0 1 Oblique translation 1 Omission 0 Cultural Heritage Literal translation 9 25 Oblique translation 15 Omission 1 Social Culture Literal translation 3 8 Oblique translation 5 Omission 0 Linguistic Culture Literal translation 2 11 Oblique translation 9 Omission 0 Table 7. Classification of culturemes with their translation techniques As can be seen in the previous table, the largest number of culturemes is found within the category of “cultural heritage”, with a total of twenty-five elements. Then, it is followed by those elements included in the category of “linguistic culture”, with a total of eleven culturemes. There are eight culturemes in the “social culture” category, and finally, in the “natural environment” category there are just one cultureme. Within this classification, a sub-categorization of the translation techniques is carried out in order to determine what type of procedure is used in the translation of each type of cultureme: a) Natural Environment Translation technique Procedure Total Literal translation Pure borrowing 0 Calque 0 Oblique translation Adaptation 0 Modulation 1 Adaptation + modulation 0 Equivalence 0 Omission 0 Table 8. Translation techniques in the Natural Environment field 23 b) Cultural Heritage Translation technique Procedure Total Literal translation Pure borrowing 8 Calque 1 Oblique translation Adaptation 7 Modulation 5 Adaptation + modulation 2 Equivalence 1 Omission 1 Table 9. Translation techniques in the Cultural Heritage field c) Social Culture Translation technique Procedure Total Literal translation Pure borrowing 3 Calque 0 Oblique translation Adaptation 3 Modulation 1 Adaptation + modulation 0 Equivalence 1 Omission 0 Table 10. Translation techniques in the Social Culture field d) Linguistic Culture Translation technique Procedure Total Literal translation Pure borrowing 2 Calque 0 Oblique translation Adaptation 0 Modulation 4 Adaptation + modulation 1 Equivalence 4 Omission 0 Table 11. Translation techniques in the Linguistic Culture field At a glance, in the selected segments gathered for the corpus it can be seen that in the examples where the oblique translation technique is applied, modulation and adaptation appear are the most widely used, but for the “Linguistic Culture” field where the most widely used procedures are modulation and equivalence. In the examples where the literal translation procedure is applied, pure borrowing is the most common technique, being the “Cultural Heritage” field where this procedure is more widely used. 24 5. Conclusions Within the scope of this study, an attempt has been made to determine what types of technical techniques have been applied to the translation of culturemes in the dubbing of the series Breaking Bad. The data collected in this study cannot be generalized for the entire series, since only the first season has been analysed, and therefore the first season is the only one that must be mentioned. On the one hand, oblique translation has been the most widely used translation technique for the translation of culturemes. Within this translation technique, modulation and adaptation have been the most widely used. By using these procedures, an attempt has been made to transfer an idea or concept that only exists in the SL, but most of the culturemes have not been maintained in the TT. The problem lies in audiovisual texts themselves, in which an explanatory note or phrase cannot be added to the TT since it cannot be longer than the ST phonetic synchrony). This is one of the main problems that audiovisual translators face. Most of the culturemes belonging to the Cultural Heritage and Social Culture fields have been translated obliquely and they have not been maintained in the TT. The loss of the culturemes in the TT may be due to the cultural distancing between the Spanish and North American cultures. In the Natural Environment field there is just one selected sample that makes reference to a geographical area and it has been translated obliquely and lost. However a great number of culturemes belonging to the Linguistic Culture field have been maintained in the TT, being equivalence and modulation the most widely used procedures. On the other hand, less than half of the culturemes have been translated literally and most of them have been lost in the TT. Within this classification of culturemes, the Cultural Heritage field has a considerable number of culturemes that have been translated literally. Most of them are pure borrowings, also known as anglicism. These borrowings are related to ideas or concepts which do not exist in the TL, so they are “borrowed” from the SL. It may result in lack of understanding from the target viewers, since the cultural segments have been introduced without any explanation. As mentioned before, these findings cannot be generalized for the entire series. For this reason, it should be mentioned some further analysis throughout the entire series would be necessary. 31 Segment 7 Chapter: 3 “…and the Bag´s in the River ” TCR: 00: 05: 54 Skyler Context: Skyler is talking with her sister Marie about Walter Jr. Original version Right hand to God, Walter Jr. is not on pot. Spanish dubbing Te juro por dios que Walter Junior no fuma maría. Type of cultureme Social culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: equivalence Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Segment 8 Chapter: 3 “…and the Bag´s in the River ” TCR: 00: 16: 22 Walt Junior Context: Walt Jr. is in the car with his uncle Hank. Original version I thought we were going to Cold Stone Creamery. Spanish dubbing Creía que íbamos a ir a una heladería. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage: well-known place Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme Partial Segment 9 Chapter: 3 “…and the Bag´s in the River ” TCR: 00: 12: 17 Jesse Context: Walt and Jesse have drawn lots to determinate who does each task and they are arguing because Walt does not agree with the result. Original version We flipped a coin, okay? …Coin flip is sacred. Spanish dubbing Lo echamos a suertes… Lanzar una moneda es sagrado. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: modulation + equivalence Maintenance of the cultureme Yes 32 Segment 10 Chapter: 3 “…and the Bag´s in the River ” TCR: 00: 18: 54 Hank Schrader Context: Hank is with Walt Jr., and a girl asks Walt Jr. if he is handicapped. Original version Got an arm like a howitzer. Spanish dubbing Tiene un buen brazo. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: modulation Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a short barrel and the use of small propellant charges to propel projectiles over high trajectories with a steep angle of descent. This term has been increasingly used to describe artillery pieces since WWI, particularly in the armed forces of the United States. Segment 11 Chapter: 3 “…and the Bag´s in the River ” TCR: 00: 29: 50 Domingo Context: Domingo is talking about his life with Walt. Original version Born and bred. Spanish dubbing De toda la vida. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: equivalence Maintenance of the cultureme Yes 33 Segment 12 Chapter: 3 “…and the Bag´s in the River ” TCR: 00: 43: 54 Hank Schrader Context: Hank is inspecting an abandoned car whose owner was a Spanish-speaking Mexican. Original version Smells like a Drakkar Noir factory in here. Spanish dubbing Aquí huele como en la fábrica de Drakkar Noir. Type of cultureme Social culture Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: a very famous cheap perfume in the USA in the 80´s. Segment 13 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man ” TCR: 00: 00: 44 Hank Schrader Context: Hank Schrader is at the police station talking about an infiltrated criminal who is smarter than an average criminal. Original version But this dude´s like The Jeffersons, moving up. Spanish dubbing Pero el tío era como los Jeffersons, siempre subiendo. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: The Jeffersons is an American sitcom TV series broadcast on CBS from 1975 to 1985. The show is about a prosperous African-American couple who have been able to move from Queens to Manhattan. This means moving up economically. The opening theme of the series was “Movin´ On Up” performed by Janet Dubois. This reference cannot be understood by the target public. 34 Segment 14 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man” TCR: 00: 00: 55 Hank Schrader Context: Hank is talking to his partner about a car found on the outside that is related to a crime. Original version Found his car out in the boonies. Spanish dubbing Encontramos su coche en el quinto pino. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: equivalence Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Segment 15 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man” TCR: 00: 01: 30 Hank Schrader Context: Hank Schrader is at the police station talking about an organization that is cooking drugs in the city. Original version We´re thinking this was cooked here in the Land of Enchantment. Spanish dubbing Creemos que la cocinaron justo aquí. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Omission Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: “Land of Enchantment” is the phrase used to refer to New Mexico. This phrase was first used by American journalist and author Lilian Whiting in 1906. It took nearly 30 years for state authorities to take up the phrase. In 1935, New Mexico´s Tourist Bureau described the state as the “Land of Enchantment” in one of its brochures in an effort to attract visitors to the area. 35 Segment 16 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man ” TCR: 00: 02: 05 Hank Schrader Context: Hank Schrader is at the police station talking about an organization that is cooking drugs in the city. Original version I´m thinking Albuquerque just might have a new Kingpin. Spanish dubbing Creo que en Albuquerque hay un narco nuevo. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: “Kingpin” or “king pin”, in American English, is “a vertical pin attached to some axles to serve as the axis for a wheel spindle, so that the wheel may be turned for steering” (Collins Dictionary, 2020). It also means a target in early ball games like ground billiards, and in informal speech it may mean a 'key component' and metaphorically the 'boss'. But here it also makes reference to a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics in 1967. This character is known for typically holding the position of New York City's crime overlord. The "Kingpin" name is a reference to the crime lord title in Mafia slang nomenclature. The character became more of a naturalistic mobster than a comic book criminal mastermind, and depended less on science fiction-like weaponry. In the Spanish counterpart this reference to the Marvel criminal has been lost. Segment 17 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man” TCR: 00: 04: 49 Walt White Context: Walt is with his family in the garden and tells how he met Skyler. Walter Jr. says that Skyler was a waitress and Walt answers back. Original version Your mother wasn´t a waitress, it was a summer job, and she was the hostess and she also worked the cash register. Spanish dubbing Tu madre no era camarera, era algo temporal, ella sentaba a la gente y también llevaba la caja. Type of cultureme Social culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: modulation Maintenance of the cultureme No 36 Segment 18 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man” TCR: 00: 12: 52 Jesse´s friend Context: Jesse is telling his friend that he cannot give him any drugs because he is not feeling well. Original version We don’t need no soap opera. Spanish dubbing No te tires el pisto. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: modulation Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: A soap opera is a radio or television serial dealing especially with domestic situations and frequently characterized by melodrama and sentimentality. The term “soap opera” was originated from radio dramas. Romance, secret relationships, extramarital affairs, and genuine hate have been the basis for many soap opera storylines. In US daytime serials, the most popular soap opera characters, and the most popular storylines, often involved a romance of the sort presented in paperback romance novels. This semantic sense of being dramatic like in a soap opera is lost in the translation since it is translated by the metaphoric expression no te tires el pisto, which means being pretentious. Segment 19 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man” TCR: 00: 18: 30 Skyler Context: Skyler and Walt are talking about the price of the medical treatment Walter needs. Original version Walt, he´s not in our HMO, okay? Spanish dubbing No es de nuestro seguro. Type of cultureme Social culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme Partial 37 Segment 20 Chapter: 4 “Cancer Man ” TCR: 00: 27: 20 Diane Pinkman (Jesse´s mother) Context: Jesse´s parents are talking about whether to let Jesse stay at their home. Original version The Presbyterian Church has those meetings, so maybe on condition, you know? If he agrees to attend. Spanish dubbing En la parroquia organizan reuniones. Quizás con esa condición ¿no? Si dice que irá. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Omission + oblique translation: modulation Maintenance of the cultureme No Segment 21 Chapter: 5 “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 04: 35 Skyler Context: Walt and Skyler are in a party where everybody is wearing white clothes while she is wearing an extravagant blue dress. Original version I look like I am wearing a prom dress from 1985. Spanish dubbing Parece que llevo un vestido de la promoción del 85. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme Partial Segment 22 Chapter: 5 “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 08: 29 Farley (Walt´s friend) Context: Walt is in a party where most of the people are chemists. Original version This is the White in Gray Matter. Spanish dubbing Este es el blanco en Materia Gris. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing (with slight displacement) Maintenance of the cultureme Partial 38 Segment 23 Chapter: 5 “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 08: 45 Walt White Context: Walt is in a party where most of the people are chemists. Original version Well, back when Elliot and I were in grad school, we came up with the name Schwartz, black. Walter White. So together they become Gray Matter Technologies. Spanish dubbing Bueno, fue cuando Elliott y yo estábamos en post grado y se nos ocurrió Schwartz negro, Walter blanco y juntos formaban Tecnologías Materia Gris. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme No Segment 24 Chapter: 5 “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 09: 45 Elliott (Walt´s friend) Context: They are in a party and Elliott is opening the gifts. Original version Yum Good Ramen [CHUCKLING] This is what Walt and I lived on for, uh, 10 months straight while we were working on our thesis. Spanish dubbing Yum Good Ramen. Con esto Walt y yo comimos unos…diez meses seguidos cuando trabajábamos para nuestras tesis. Type of cultureme Social culture Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme No 39 Segment 25 Chapter: “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 11: 00 Elliott Context: Walt and Elliott are in a party talking about their childhood. Original version Anyway, I swear to Christ, he used to iron those patches onto the elbows of his members-only jacket because he thought it made him look more distinguished. Spanish dubbing Te juro por Dios que se ponía parches en las coderas de las chaquetas de solo miembros porque pensó que así era más distinguido. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: equivalence Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Segment 26 Chapter: 5 “ Gray Matter” TCR: 00: 21: 30 Walter Junior Context: Walter is with some friends in front of a liquor store. Original version Um, excuse me, hey, um, we forgot our IDs, and we were wondering if you could do us a favour and buy us a six-pack? Spanish dubbing Disculpe, hola. Nos hemos dejado el carné en casa y queríamos saber si nos podrías comprar unas cervezas. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: modulation Maintenance of the cultureme Partial 40 Segment 27 Chapter: 5 “ Gray Matter” TCR: 00: 21: 56 Police man Context: Walter Junior has tried to convince a man to buy some beers for him and his friends, but the man happens to be a policeman and his friends run away. Original version Guess you win the jackpot. Spanish dubbing Te ha tocado pringar. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture + cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: modulation Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Segment 28 Chapter: 5 “Gray Matter ” TCR: 00: 24: 50 Badger (Jesse´s Friend) Context: Jesse has been cooking meth and he has the final product. Original version This crankenstein is unreal. Spanish dubbing Lo que has cocinado es genial. Type of cultureme Linguistic culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: modulation Maintenance of the cultureme No 47 Segment 41 Chapter: 7 “A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal” TCR: 00: 05: 40 Walt and Jesse Context: Walt, who is bold, visits Jesse after having been beaten up. Original version WALT: How are you feeling? JESSE: About as good as you look. Jeez, you look like Lex Luthor. Spanish dubbing WALT: ¿Cómo te encuentras? JESSE: Estoy mejor que usted. Joder, si parece Lex Luthor. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Comments: Lex Luthor is a fictional supervillain arch-enemy of Superman, appearing in publications by DC Comics, an American comic book publisher. He is widely known for having a dual identity and a bold head. Segment 42 Chapter: 7 “A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal” TCR: 00: 08: 19 Walt Context: Walt and Skyler are in hospital and the doctor asks them about Skyler´s pregnancy. Original version WALT: The baby shower is next week. Spanish dubbing WALT: La fiesta por la niña será pronto. Type of cultureme Social culture Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme No 48 Segment 43 Chapter: 7 “A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal” TCR: 00: 11: 58 Taco Context: Taco, who is a gangster, meets with Walt and Jesse. Walt has a bold head. Original version Mr. Clean and his boy. Spanish dubbing Don Limpio y su chico. Type of cultureme Culture heritage Dubbing Translation technique Oblique translation: equivalence Maintenance of the cultureme Yes Segment 44 Chapter: 7 “A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal” TCR: 00: 21: 54 Hank Context: Hank and Walt are talking about what is illegal or not in the USA and Hank tells him what people in jail say. Original version Well, you ought to visit lockup. You hear a lot of guys talking like that “hey, man, what you busting me with these 14 bales of ganja? It´s all gonna be legal next year when Willie Nelson´s president”. Spanish dubbing Bueno, tendrías que visitar el calabozo. Allí hablan así “eh tío porqué me detienes con 14 gramos de maría si el año que viene será legal si Willie Nelson es presidente”. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Literal translation: pure borrowing Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: Willie Hugh Nelson is an American musician, actor, and activist. He is one of the most recognized artists in country music and also known for being involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana. 49 Segment 45 Chapter: 7 “A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal” TCR: 00: 23: 16 Skyler Context: Skyler and Walt are talking about selling Marie´s gift, and Walt says that her daughter will find out about it. Original version Well, maybe I can explain to her that we need a Diaper Genie more than a white-gold baby tiara. Spanish dubbing Bueno, quizás le podría explicar que necesitábamos más bien pañales que una tiara de bebé de oro blanco. Type of cultureme Cultural heritage Dubbing Translation technique Partial omission and oblique translation: adaptation Maintenance of the cultureme No Comments: the Diaper Genie is a baby diaper disposal system, created by the entrepreneur John Hall. It is a British product which became popular in the US in the mid-1990s.