Cinematic Equivalence in Subtitling: A Case Study of the Biographical Drama Forever Enthralled

We propose in this paper a conceptual model of how equivalence may be achieved in subtitling to allow the target language viewers the opportunity to enjoy a comparable cinematic experience as that enjoyed by the source language viewers. We follow Brock’s (2015) adaptation of Goffman’s (1981) participation framework in communication and take Nida’s (1964) Dynamic Equivalence as the point of departure to propose Cinematic Equivalence as the conceptual model as well as the aim of film subtitling. This model is illustrated by examining the English subtitles of a Chinese biographical film called Forever Enthralled (《梅兰芳》). Based on our conceptual model, we make suggestions for subtitling training and practice.


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Published by SCHOLINK INC. framework in CL2, v iewers are drawn into the TV show as they image themselves transcending over the reality-fiction borderline to take up the slot of the overhearer in the same room as the fict itious characters in CL2. Brock points out that "we learn at a very early age that fairy tales, films, stories and plays are not real, but we can live in a fantasy world for a little while anyway, without giving up our position in the real world" (2015, p. 33).

Figure 1. A Partici pation Framework for Monolingual Film Viewing (Brock, 2015)
These scenarios in the literature discussed thus far are concerned with the monolingual film v iewing where the collective sender, the fict itious characters in the show and the viewers all share the same language. How, though, would the participation framework vary in a b ilingual context where the film is in a language inaccessible to the viewers? This is where the subtitler co mes into the picture.

Inter-linguistic Cinematic Experience
Following Brock (2015) (Note 1), we would like to suggest the follo wing adaptation of the participation framework to subtitle-mediated film viewing. The subtitler facilitates commun ication to give viewers access to the message conveyed by the film's fictit ious characters. In a bilingual context where the senders and viewers do not share the same language, the viewers' unimpeded access to the film's audio-visual signals, comb ined with their subtitle-mediated access to the fictitious characters' message, allow viewers to have a comparable viewing experience to that of viewers in a monolingual context.    In a monolingual filming viewing situation, as exemplified in Figure 1, if the time setting of t he film on CL2 coincides with the time in which the viewers in CL1 live, the impact that time has on the understanding of the viewers would be minimal. In a b ilingual or inter-linguistic v iewing context, as shown in Figure 2, the t ime setting of CL1 and CL2 are the same, however the language of the viewers differs to that of the characters in CL2, the inter-linguistic commun ication by its very nature creates a layer of co mp lexity such that the greater the dissimilarity and distance there is between the SL language and culture of the film and that of the TL v iewers, the more difficult it is for the subtitler to ach ieve an equivalent cinematic experience for the TL viewers. In a bilingual and cross -generational film v iewing scenario, in addition to the d issimilarity of the languages involved, when there is disparity between the time setting of the film and the time in wh ich the viewers live, such disparity creates further layer of complexity. In summary, the level o f ease or difficu lty with which the TL viewers on CL1 may assume the role of the overhearer on CL2 is affected by the degree of similarity of the time settings and languages involved.

Cinematic Equivalence
We propose to integrate the adapted participation framework for subtitle -mediated film v iewing experience as illustrated in the above-mentioned Figure 2, and Nida's dynamic equivalence, and take it as the basis for arguing that subtitlers should aim to achieve Cinematic Equivalence in film subtitles.
We adapt Nida's model of translation to subtitling as the following: Cinematic Equivalence is where by means of the subtitles, an R2 of the film enjoys a similar cinemat ic experience as an R1. In this paper, cinematic experience is conceptualised as shown in Figure 3.  role of a peer overhearer.
When a film is set in a different generation to the contemporary audience, the non -contemporary language would likely require the contemporary viewers to put in additional efforts in comp rehending the language in order to fully enjoy the intended cinematic experience. Likewise, in an inter-linguistic situation where subtitling is required, the subtitler should take it upon him/herself to also generate subtitles that require a certain amount of addit ional p rocessing efforts on the part of the TL v iewers; this will offer the TL viewers a similar cinematic experience to that of the SL viewers (see Gutt, 2010).
In other words, if the act of overhearing by SL viewers on CL2 in Figure 1 is effortful, th e subtitler of the film (in Figure 2 & 3) should similarly mediate the participation such that the act of overhearing by the TL viewers on CL2 also prove to be effortful to a similar extent.
In the following section, we would like to demonstrate how this conceptual model of Cinemat ic Equivalence can be used to analyse film subtitling. We will present a case study where t wo versions of subtitles of a film are co mpared and discussed to illustrate the extent to which the subtitles achieve Cinematic Equivalence.

Subtitling Biopics: A Case Study
Our model of Cinematic Equivalence is illustrated by a case study of the award-winning Chinese film Forever Enthralled (directed by Chen Kaige), which depicts the life of the legendary Peking Opera singer Mei Lanfang . The theoretical mot ivation for choosing this film is the fact that this particular film presents the greatest challenges for subtitlers in achieving cinematic equivalence due to its cross-generational and cross-linguistic typological nature.
In this genre of films, the portrayal of characters is crucial. This is evident fro m Bingham's introduction of biographical d ramas or biopics as a film genre: The biopic narrates, exhib its, and celebrates the life of a subject in order to demonstrate, investigate, or question his or her importance in the world; to illu minate the fine points of a personality; and for both artist and spectator to discover what it would be like to be this person, or to be a certain type of person, or,…to be that person's audience. (Bingham, 2010, p. 10) Character identity is often represented through utterances and linguistic stylisation, and the extent to which subtitles reflects or distorts identities in the original film is a special challenge to wh ich subtitlers must rise up (Petrucci, 2012, p. 231 through subtitling, as shown in Figure 4.

Dramas
In Meinhof and Galasiński's (2005, pp. 20-41) framework, the context of Time refers to the specific geo-political and h istoric t ime frame within which one places oneself; a person constructs his or her identity in relation and also in opposition to the ideologies of the time period. The context of Place is the physical place or surrounding of a location with which, and also against which, one identifies. The context of Social Relations refers to identity constructed through setting up relations between the "in" groups and the "out" groups. In a similar vein, the context of Social Encounters has to do with the manner with which one interacts with members of other groups.
In Forever Enthralled, the biopic of the legendary Peking Opera singer Mei Lanfang, the protagonist is portrayed as an highly esteemed opera singer, a stoic master, an advocate for his profession, and a

Context of Identity: Time
Forever Enthralled is set in the early part of last century. Language changes and evolves with the passage of time. As illustrated by the set of triangles on the right in Figure 1  Ra ising the formality level in the subtitled dialogues gives the English viewers the impression of the dialogues being distinctly dissimilar to that of the present-day conversation styles with which the viewers are accustomed. A rise in formality may be acco mplished lexically or syntactically. An example is given below: In this scene, Mei Lanfang was confronted by a pistol-wielding fan who was obsessed with Mei Lanfang and was enraged with jealousy over Mei Lanfang's intimate relationship with Meng Xiaodong .
Upon hearing the gunman's complaint and in an effort to claim h im down, Mei Lanfang apologized to him. "Sorry" in English is ambiguous between (a) feeling apologetic and (b) having sympathy for a person's plight. The word 对不起(duìbùqǐ) in the orig inal co rresponds only to the first meaning of "sorry", i.e., feeling apologetic, and is non-ambiguous. Rendering duìbùqǐ as "to apologise" ensures that the subtitle does not leave room for the alternative, non-intended interpretation.
In terms of the reg ister, leaving aside the nuanced difference between "I want to apologise" and "I want to say I'm sorry", the register of the former is higher than that of the latter. Using a higher spoken register will help to add credibility and sincerity to Mei Lanfang's apology to the gunman in this instance, but more impo rtantly it helps to portray Mei Lanfang's character as one of prudence, poise and stoic.
Shifts in register may be achieved through syntactic means, an examp le o f which is the inversion in question format ion. Uttering declaratives with a rising intonation ("SVO?") is a common colloquial strategy for question formation in both English and Mandarin. Questions in this syntax occurred numerous times in the film. Since "SVO?" as a question formation strategy is uniquely colloquial, as it relies on vocal changes, it is consider low on the register scale. To reduce the casualness of the d ialogue, the subtitler may seize the opportunity to raise the formality by manipulat ing the syntax, namely to subtitle "SVO?" in the unmarked question formation syntax in Eng lish, e.g., "Do you like it?" as opposed to "You like it?".
Although neither version here adopted the strategy of converting "SVO?" questions in the un marked English question formation syntax, we propose that this strategy can further reinforce the non-contemporariness of the dialogue.

Context of Identity: Place
The film portrays the two co mplementary sides of Mei Lanfang, i.e., him being on-stage and off-stage.
When on stage, Mei Lanfang is a much idolised legendary singer. When off stage, Mei Lanfang is a man of great humility and innovation. He is not bound by traditions, he dares to break free fro m stereotypes, and he stands up against oppressions to defend the dignity of his fellow art ists and countrymen.
The example in Table 4 below is taken fro m a p ress conference Mei Lanfang held. In it, he related a conversation he once had with a senior singer.  In the old days, opera singers used to be despised. When on stage, Mei Lanfang was liked and revered, but when off-stage, the profession as a whole, of which Mei Lanfang was a part, still lacked social status. Towards the end of the film, the Japanese invading forces made various attempts to cajole and coerce Mei Lanfang into performing for the army. However, as a patriotic man, Mei Lanfang firmly rejected those attempts. He went as far as wearing a moustache and injecting himself with a vaccine to induce fever, so as to further support his resolve to abstain fro m performing. In Table 4, fo llo wing his refusal to perform for the Japanese forces, Mei Lanfang held a press conference to publicly exp lain his decision to abstain fro m performing. The reason for his decision was two -fold: as a Peking Opera singer, he aspired to lifting the image of the profession; and indeed by having no share in entertaining the invaders, Mei Lanfang was able to dignify his profession by maintain ing integrity under pressure.
Secondly, as a patriotic man, despite the fact that he p layed a female role on -stage, he demonstrated that in real life or off-stage, he was a man of courage, of uprightness and uncompro mising spirit in the face of aggression.
Both versions brought out the essence of the speech. However, the official version adopted some structures that were more poetic, e.g., Raise the status of us actors in the eyes of the world and Let us be seen as worthy of respect, whereas the fansub version was more straight forward. The mo re poetic and formal tone in the official version is more befitting of the content of the speech and the surrounding atmosphere. In view of the place in wh ich the utterance occurred, i.e., in the context of a press conference, we see prudence in the subtitlers of the official version in their rendering of the utterances in a fo rmal tone.
The shortcoming of both versions is the distortion of the orig inal speech act. In the Chinese orig inal, Mei Lanfang narrated a dialogue between the senior singer and himself. Mei Lanfang's narrat ive was given in a conversational tone, the senior singer's exhortations were phrased in the form of earnest requests ending with the tag question 好不好 hǎobùhǎo (will you?). The speech act of request in the SL was transformed into command in the TL in both versions: in the form of imperatives in the official version, and with the modal au xiliary "must" in the Fansub version. The ima ge of Mei Lanfang in the original was one where he p roactively fu lfilled his pro mise. Ho wever, this image was distorted in the subtitles as one where Mei Lanfang was obligated to follow orders givens by a senior performer.

Context of Identity: Social Encounters and Relations
The social relations and encounters of Mei with others in the film include his peer performers, his agent, his admirers, rivals, lovers and enemies. Such relations and encounters contribute to the shaping of the true character of Mei Lanfang. Whilst the image of Mei Lanfang in real life is typically one of a much revered legend, but as the film's script wright Yan Geling once said, the film intends to characterise Mei Lanfang as someone "who undergoes a transformat ion fro m an idolised divine being to a hu man being of flesh and blood (电影里梅兰芳的过程是从精灵到人) (Note 5)." In a letter sent by Qiu Rubai, who later became Mei Lan fang's agent, the divine status that Qiu Rubai accorded Mei Lanfang can be clearly seen fro m the writ ing below. I studied drama overseas.
If I can help you in any way, let me know.
The letter, shown in Tab  Chinese people treasure kinship, and the use of kinship terms to address nonkins "shows warmth, friendliness and kindness." (Gao, 2013, p. 192) Kinship terms may also be used to acknowledge seniority, thereby rendering respect to the addressee. In the film, the characterisation of Mei Lan fang as a humble and respectful man is done through his use of kinship terms in addressing others.

Summary
Character identity is an integral part of biopics. The content categories of Time, Place, Social Relations and Social Encounters serve as useful devices to help subtitlers to analyse and appreciate the character identities in a film. Such appreciat ion and understanding provide the basis for them to produce subtitles that are conducive to portraying a comparable character identity to the TL viewers. Fro m the viewers' point of view, any distortions in re-portraying the character identity, in reproducing the message and the cross-general and cross-cultural sense of the film could potentially lead to Cinemat ic Inequivalence. In our case study, through comparing the orig inal dialogues with the two versions of subtitles, we saw that sometimes one version might better captured the character identity of the protagonist, and at other times both versions fared similarly. The aim o f the case study is not to rate one version as somehow superior than the other, but rather it is to see if the original portrayal of Mei Lanfang was reproduced in the subtitles.

Conclusion
We propose an integrated conceptual model of Cinematic Equ ivalence as the aim o f subtitling. The model was illustrated by means of a case study of subtitling a biopic. Subtitling must be viewed as communicat ion, which should be understood not just on the level of the message, but also on the level of audience participation. On the message level, attention should be paid to linguistic expressions. On the audience participation level, film v iewing is a mult i-party co mmunicative activity where the subtitler plays a crucial role in facilitating the TL viewers to immerse in the co mmunicat ive context and imagine themselves as taking up the overhearer role in the film.
Based on the model, we propose that successful subtitle-mediated commun ication hinges on the following factors. Firstly, the subtitler needs to develop competence at the linguistic level, beco ming a competent user of the source language and the target language. Secondly, the subtitler needs to develop competence in the source culture of the film and the target culture of the viewers. Th ird ly, the s ubtitler should conduct background research into and develop an awareness of the collective sender's communicat ive intent in producing the film. Finally, for films which are set in a different time period, especially one with a generational d ivide to the viewers, such inter-generational differences should be addressed in subtitling. Essentially, successful subtitle-mediation should lead to Cinematic Equivalence, which means TL viewers enjoying a comparable viewing experience as that enjoyed by SL viewers of the same film.