The master's thesis deals with an analysis of translation strategies used with repetitions of speech traits and rhetorical figures in a political documentary; a film genre that aims at showing reality. The theoretical part outlines the characteristics and history of the documentary film and discusses its translation difficulties in subtitling as the genre contains elements of spoken language. It then presents features of political rhetoric and related rhetorical figures, as well as explores the rhetorical styles of two candidates in the 2020 US presidential elections, Joseph R. Biden and Donald J. Trump. A significant portion of the theoretical part is devoted to the most distinctive characteristic of subtitling – its technical constraints of time and space. As the subtitling process (by definition) entails a shift in mode from speech to writing, the thesis outlines translation practices regarding speech traits and repetitions, as well as the traditional attitude of Slovene linguists towards using repetitions in translated texts. Based on Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling by Diaz Cintas and Remael (2007), a special focus is given to subtitling recommendations for the omission and condensation of speech traits. In addition, Guidelines for Subtitling in Slovenia and the Subtitling Guidelines implemented at Radio-Television Slovenia are described.
The empirical part is a comprehensive analysis of the translation strategies used for repetitions in Slovene subtitles. Three hypotheses are formulated. The first hypothesis assumes that, on account of the condensed narrative style and the diverse content of the film, the narrator does not use repetitions from the selected categories. The second hypothesis assumes that, due to the time-space constraints of subtitling, the prevailing translation strategy for repetitions found in the categories of spontaneous speech (hesitations and false starts, stuttering and repetitions of proper names) is omission. The third hypothesis assumes that, due to the time-space constraints of subtitling, the prevailing translation strategy for repetitions found in the categories of direct speech and political discourse (prepared political speeches, rhetorical figures, lexical repetitions, and chants) is condensation. Hypotheses one and three are refuted. Hypothesis two is partially confirmed.
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