The translation of cultural references in New Girl’s True American from English to Spanish in the subtitles and dubbed audio

Abstract

As the use of Spanish subtitles accompanying English-language audiovisual media becomes increasingly popular in Spain, a divide grows between the experience of viewers who encounter the Spanish translation in the subtitles and those who are exposed to it in the dubbed audio. This study examines one of the realmsin which said divide manifests—the translation of cultural references. Using Jan Pedersen’s theoretical framework (2011), the cultural references pertaining to the United States made during the gameplay of True American in the sitcom New Girl are matched with the translation strategies used in the Spanish subtitles and dubbed audio. In total, 65 cultural references are identified and classified into seven translation strategies in both translation modes. The results show a majority of source-oriented strategies in both the subtitles and dubbing, though the dubbing is decidedly more target-oriented than the subtitles. Possible reasons for strategy selection are also explored.