Let’s hear the voice of voice actors! Exploring the role of voice actors in the process of dubbing translation

Abstract

Dubbing has been the dominant modality for conveying foreign media productions in Turkey for several decades. In the chain of dubbing translation, by the time the process is completed, there is a varied group of people from translators to voice actors, editors, and dubbing specialists that play a role in the many-sided process of dubbing. With the aim of reaching an impeccable outcome, the steps of dubbing (script and timing, casting, recording, editing) must be completed in a harmonious way. Some studies have been conducted on dubbing in Turkey in terms of translation quality (Sayman), censorship (Okyayuz), and translation strategies (Tekin); however, non-translation issues such as the performance of voice actors have not been explored. This paper offers further insight into the process of dubbing by distributing a survey to ten voice actors to evaluate the impact of translation on their end during the voicing process, their attitudes toward translators, and the translation along with their expectations from translators. Upon compiling the responses from the professional voice actors, the data is analyzed and discussed togain a better understanding of the process. The results indicated that the voicing process is mainly affected by the quality of translation and that there are challenges that arise from it. Therefore, to some extent, voice actors also intervene in the translated dialogues while recording. Overall, the end product, which is the translated dialogues, represents not only the work of the translator but also the voice actors.

Keywords

• dubbing; voice actors; dubbing translators; the dubbing translation process; voicing; challenges of voicing