Investigating the subtitles in Good Bye Lenin: Cultural and linguistic challenges

Abstract

The present paper deals with questions relating to the role of audiovisual translation as a cultural mediator. In Greece a common method used in film productions is subtitling which could be easily considered as a method of foreignization while at the same time the subtitle relies on localization and semiotic adequacy. So, in this case the subtitle functions as a canal of communication between the two different cultures offering the target audience the opportunity to get in touch with cultural and linguistic elements of the source culture. On the other hand, due to technical problems, as for example the maximum number of characters used in subtitles, this communication may be jeopardised. In this sense, we will use as a corpus the movie Good Bye, Lenin! as it provides intra-cultural and intra-linguistic features. The aim is to investigate how this influence can be distinguished through the subtitling process. Does the subtitler achieve to reflect the diversity of Eastern Germans and their language use? Could the
subtitler function as well as a cultural mediator? The survey research and the qualitative method are followed in order to lighten up semiotic, linguistic and cultural features within the subtitling process as a mediator. Concrete questionnaires were distributed to Greek native speakers with no knowledge of the German language as a tool to measure the degree of historical background
knowledge, the awareness of German culture and as well to reflect on the cause effect relation (that means, how crucial historical events contributed to the structure of modern German society). The outcomes confirm the weakness of the subtitles to distinguish between cultural and linguistic differences.