Dubbing

Dubbing is oral translation of dialogues or narration in one language into another language. Mona Baker and Brano Hochel term it as “one of a number of translation methods which make use of the acoustic channels in screen translation” (“Dubbing”, 74). It attempts to replace the original soundtrack while retaining the original phrasing and timing as closely as possible. There are two possible methods of oral translation, which are dubbing and revoicing. Revoicing is sometimes used to refer to all sorts of oral transfer in film, but it specifically means narration or commentary that does not have to keep time with the original. There is no attempt at lip synchronization (the matching of lip movements) either, unlike dubbing. In this sense, revoicing is more flexible than dubbing.

Dubbing can take place at various levels. Dialogue can be dubbed in the same language. Sometimes the same dialogue will have to be recorded / dubbed in the studio again, if the film location was too noisy. It can also happen that the actor is not good with the language and cannot deliver the lines properly. Then an actor can make use of a dubbing artiste to render the lines. The dubbing artiste also has to be a good actor, at least in her voice, if she has to reproduce the drama of the original. She interprets/translates the emotional content of the film in her own terms. Although voice is a significant component of the totality of an actor’s talent, dubbing artistes rarely get the attention they deserve. However, this cannot be thought of as translation in the same sense as dubbing into another language is.