Abstract :
Subtitles are a transcription or translation of a film, video and television presentations displayed as text on the lower part of the screen. An emotion is basically defined as a mental and physiological state associated with thoughts, feelings and behaviors. The preparation of film subtitles imposes certain requirements that make this type of translation complex. One of the constraints with subtitles is the failure sometimes to indicate the emotional nuances of dialogue, such as intonation, volume, and other vital information which may be required to fully comprehend the message conveyed. Consequently, the wrong use of Audiovisual Translation (AVT) techniques and strategies may lead to communication problems for the receiving audience. The aim of this article was therefore to i) identify the difficulties faced by the translator/subtitler in the translation of emotions in the subtitling process of the film Paris à tout prix from French into English for multilingual context viewers in Cameroon and ii) establish the strategies used in this process and propose solutions where necessary. The methodology involved the viewing of the two versions of the film [French version (Paris a tout prix) and its subtitled English version (Paris at any cost)], identification of emotions cases in the two versions, examination of the subtitling strategies used to translate the identified emotions in the films and highlighting inherent difficulties in rendering them into the target language of the audience. Findings revealed that the translator/subtitler used the strategies of modulation and adaptation to improve understanding of emotions in the film and thereby facilitating communication issues in the target language of the viewers. Proposals aimed at improving the quality of the subtitles of the film in particular and, the quality of Cameroonian audiovisual products in general are made where necessary.
