Norsk reality og teksterens virkelighet

Anglisismer, intralingvale og interlingvale oversettelser i NRK og TV 2

Abstract

Norwegian reality shows feature extensive spontaneous speech, often incorporating a significant number of Anglicisms. In this study I investigate how these Anglicisms appear in intralingual subtitling for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) on NRK and TV 2. Are the Anglicisms are directly transferred, interlingually translated into Norwegian, or omitted? As a ‘state broadcaster’ [statskanal], NRK bears a unique responsibility for promoting the Norwegian language. TV 2’s licensing conditions outline a similar responsibility. This makes it interesting to investigate whether and/or to what extent NRK and TV 2 employ linguistic protectionist strategies such as interlingual translation or omission. A quantitative analysis of corpora from both NRK and TV 2 reveals a strong preference for the non-protectionist strategy of direct transfer across both channels. The analysis also shows that NRK employs fewer of the protectionist strategies than TV 2. The reason for this may be that NRK’s internal subtitling guidelines, which specify that the standard should be direct reproduction of Anglicisms. TV 2 does not have corresponding guidelines for handling Anglicisms, and thus may allow for more individual approaches, where some subtitlers more often choose to translate them than others. The differences in the way some of TV 2’s subtitlers approach the task may be due to differences in language attitudes, fluctuating language norms caused by intensive language contact, and differing views on the target audience for SDH (whether exclusively the hearing impaired, or a broader group). Regardless, the use of strategies like interlingual translation highlights the potential for SDH to support the Norwegian language, although it should be considered to what extent interlingual translation distracts hearing viewers from on-screen events, and whether participants’ identities are adequately represented when subtitles deviate too much from their actual speech.