| Abstract [eng] |
The MA thesis aims at revealing the linguistic and cultural challenges involved in the rendition of culture-specific items (CSIs) in the Lithuanian voice-over translation of Rob Marshall’s film Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). The research employs descriptive, interpretive, and comparative methods, integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis. By integrating insights from translation studies and cultural studies, the thesis adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, offering a nuanced and contextually grounded understanding of the subject matter. The thesis comprises an introduction, four chapters, conclusions, summaries in English and Lithuanian, a list of references, data sources, and appendices. The theoretical part of the paper attempts to conceptualise culture-specific items (CSIs) within translation studies drawing on the works of Sarah Maitland (2017), Marie Lebert (2023), Mona Baker (2021), Lawrence Venuti (2008), Jeremy Munday (2020), and Juliane House (2016). Different classification models of CSIs, as well as well as numerous classifications of translation procedures were addressed to develop a new taxonomy suitable for analysing CSIs in the voice-over translation of Memoirs of a Geisha. Voice-over as the third most widely used AVT modality is concerned with a focus on its basic characteristics, functional and contextual aspects, current state in AVT market and future prospects. A variety of critical perspectives highlighting issues of cultural authenticity, exoticism, and cross-cultural representation have been addressed to realise how Japanese cultural identity of the geisha is reimagined and reframed through an American cinematic perspective. The empirical part of the thesis exhibits an attempt to identify and evaluate the translation strategies and procedures employed when rendering CSIs in the Lithuanian voice-over of the film. Instances of translation errors are examined with particular attention to two principal categories of translational failure: mistranslation, involving overt inaccuracies that distort the source meaning, and pseudo-translation, characterized by superficial or inauthentic renderings that compromise cultural and contextual fidelity. |
