Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Dil Sınırlarının Ötesinde: Sense8 Dizisinin Türkçe Çevirisinde Çoklu Kimliklerin Aktarımı
Özlem Gülen2000’li yıllardan itibaren film ve dizi endüstrisinde kaydedilen gelişmeler ve akabinde dijital yayın platformlarının ortaya çıkışı, görsel-işitsel çeviriye ihtiyacın artmasına ve yapılan çevirilerin öneminin hem sektörel bazda hem de izleyici nezdinde daha görünür hale gelmesine zemin hazırlamıştır. Film ve dizilerde benimsenen kimlik, toplumsal cinsiyet, çokdillilik ve çokkültürlülük gibi bu güncel temalar ise görsel-işitsel çeviri alanında farklı araştırma sahaları yaratırken yeni çalışmalara duyulan ihtiyacı da her geçen gün artırmıştır. Bu doğrultuda, alandaki literatüre katkı sunmayı amaçlayan bu çalışmada görsel-işitsel çeviride çoklu kimliklerin aktarımı açısından bir değerlendirme yapılacaktır. Çalışmanın örneklemini, Amerikan bilim kurgu dizisi olan Sense8 (2015-2018) oluşturmaktadır. Ülkeleri, anadilleri, cinsiyetleri ve cinsel yönelimleri farklı olan sekiz karakterin hikayesinin anlatıldığı dizide, karakterlerin duyusal bağları sayesinde birbirleriyle iletişim kurabilmesi ve belli koşullarda birbirlerinin yerine geçebilmesi, bir yandan karakterler arasındaki bağı cinsiyet ve dil sınırlarından arındırırken diğer taraftan da karakterlere çoklu bir kimlik kazandırmaktadır. Dolayısıyla, karakterlerin cinsiyetleri ve/veya cinsel yönelimleri ile konuştukları dil üzerinden oluşturulan söz konusu çoklu kimliğin erek izleyiciye aktarılabilmesi dizinin çevirisine önemli sorumluluk yüklemektedir. Bu çerçevede, dizinin altyazı ve dublaj çevirisinin karşılaştırmalı olarak inceleneceği çalışmada, aktarım açısından gösterdikleri farklılıklara odaklanılacaktır. Tespit edilen farklılıklar sonucunda, cinsel çeşitlilik ve çokdilliliğin temsili, altyazı ve dublaj çevirisi özelinde tartışmaya açılacaktır.
Beyond the Borders of Gender and Language: Transferring Multiple Identities in the Turkish Translation of Sense8
Özlem GülenThe developments in the film and TV industries since the 2000s and the emergence of digital broadcasting platforms increased the significance and visibility of audiovisual translation (AVT) both on a sectoral basis and in the eyes of the audience. Accordingly, contemporary themes including identity, gender, multilingualism, and multiculturalism in films and TV series gave rise to brand-new fields of study and the need for further research in AVT. To contribute to the literature in the field, this study aims to evaluate the transfer of multiple identities in AVT and takes the American science-fiction series Sense8 (2015-2018) as its main case, which centers upon the story of eight characters from different countries, mother tongues, genders, and sexual orientations. The characters’ ability to communicate and replace one another through their sensory links purifies the bond among the characters from the borders of gender and language and bestows them with multiple identities. Transferring these multiple identities created by the characters’ sexualities and languages to the target audience imposes a considerable responsibility on translation. Within this scope, this study will compare the subtitle and dubbing of the series, and based on the identified differences, the representation of sexual diversity and multilingualism will be discussed.
The prevalence of audio-visual products worldwide and the recent advances in audio-visual media have elevated the media sector into a more influential ideological sphere. Notedly with certain approaches including transnationalism and multiculturalism, the sector has expanded its ability to bring forward the most disputatious subjects enterprisingly without restrictions. This liberated ground has influenced the production of films and series so profoundly that they are observed to adopt controversial themes and feature characters designed studiously to symbolize particular ideas and identities. By addressing recent notions such as ethnicity, class, and gender, there has been a basis for an activist space for films and series, which renders it possible for the ideas to pervade vast geographic areas. Since the globalization of media products depends on audio-visual translation (AVT) practices, these continual developments inevitably lead to the reconsideration of translation strategies in the field.
It has been an extended period of time since translation studies embodied activism, most especially owing to feminist and queer translation approaches. This gender-sensitive text handling mainly started with literary translation and subsequently spread into other special fields in translation, including AVT. As a rising area of research, gender in AVT increases awareness of language use and the representation of gender through language in media. Given its strong interconnections with other subjects of research, gender studies calls up further discussions on a vast number of concepts such as identity, which is the main concern of this study. Holding a direct relationship with gender, the question of identity involves many other components like nationality, language, and religion. From this point on, this study addresses a type of identity made up of numerous components, which is referred to as multiple identity.
To exemplify the notion of multiple identities, the study will focus on the American series Sense8 streamed on Netflix. The series tells the story of eight main characters with different nationalities, mother tongues, occupations, genders, and sexual orientations. The multiple identities created both for each main character and for their cluster, endow the series with a transnational viewpoint. Besides, its emphasis on the gender and sexual orientations of the characters - as well as the feminist and queer ideas highlighted through the series- makes the series one of the most striking representatives of activist productions in the media. In this way, it poses questions regarding the transfer of these multiple identities through translation and the potential translation strategies.
In search of these strategies that are currently used and/or can be used, this study embraces a critical standpoint to analyze the two most common types of audio-visual translation: subtitling and dubbing. Drawing on this comparative analysis, the study intends to clarify the literature on the multidimensional interpretation of identity in Sense8 and its transfer through translation. For this purpose, the multiple identities in the series are categorized under three categories that are examined separately: linguistic, social, and sexual. Depending on these categorizations, the translation of the identities into Turkish is evaluated according to the provided theoretical framework on the intersectionality of translation, gender, and identity.
Furthermore, in view of the activist nature of the series, the study seeks to explain the socio-political background of the series to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the dubbing and subtitling. On the ground that the activist thoughts and messages emplaced in the dialogues of the main characters indicate character developments and their constant conflicts with society and themselves, the identification and transfer of the activism in the series becomes significant. Accordingly, the dubbing and subtitling will also be assessed from an activist perspective in order to interpret the representation of the ideology of the series and estimate the perception of ideological messages by the target audience.
