Voice-Over Translation of Musical Poetry in Films (an Analysis of Song Lyrics from the Musical Film “Grease”)

Abstract

The features of voice-over translation in musical films, with a particular focus on song lyrics, were explored. Key methods best suited to the demands of such translation were analyzed and categorized. The insights were drawn from a detailed case study on the voice-over translation of song lyrics in the iconic musical film “Grease”. Compressed free translation and semantic translation, each with its strengths and limitations, were identified as the primary approaches used to preserve the intended meaning and musicality of the translated song lyrics. The obtained results, however, show that much can be lost through excessive compression, thus leading to semantic errors and an overall failure to meet the requirements for fidelity and quality in translation, which is due to a loss of expressiveness, as well as an inability to capture extralinguistic and linguistic nuances. Additionally, common challenges encountered while performing voice-over translation of song lyrics in musical films were summarized. By highlighting these potential pitfalls, the importance of preserving the original’s integrity and essence to effectively adapt it to new linguistic and cultural contexts was underscored.

Keywords

• audiovisual translation
• voice-over translation
• musical poetry
• audiovisual text
• song lyrics translation