Translating code-switching on the screen: spanglish and L3-as theme

Abstract

This paper outlines the complexity, for the purpose of translation, of accounting for how languages alternate in multilingual films and the realisation that the number and importance of instances of L3 (forms of expression other than a text’s main language) constitute a variable that can ultimately affect a translator’s solutions. In particular, it focuses on an issue that has not received much scholarly attention so far, the fictional representation of code-switching (CS) in feature films, with examples drawn largely from Spanglish (2004), given that one of the main themes of the film is language diversity and its problems for interpersonal communication. The paper distinguishes different types of language shifts (alternations) as part of a film’s plot or script, involving translation between characters (intratextual diegetic translation) or otherwise, in order to better characterise CS as a concept borrowed from sociolinguistics. We then include CS in a broader concept of language shifts and distinguish L3 as a translation problem from CS. A tripartite classification of films is proposed, according to the amount and importance of L3: anecdotal, recurrent, and L3-as-theme.