Master thesis on Medical fiction and Translation: a Comparative Analysis between the Italian Dubbing and Subtitling of the ER episode “Here and there” Abstract and table of contents

1. Imperial College
London
Medical Fiction and Translation: a Comparative
Analysis between the Italian Dubbing and Subtitling
of the ER Episode “Here and There”.
Stefania Puddu
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of Msc in Scientific, Technical and Medical Translation with
Translation Technology of Imperial College London
September 2011

2. ABSTRACT
Stefania Puddu, 2011
MEDICAL FICTION AND TRANSLATION: A COMPARATIVE
ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE ITALIAN DUBBING AND
SUBTITLING OF THE ER EPISODE “HERE AND THERE”.
The study focuses on the translation of medical language in the
context of medical fiction. It aims at drawing a comparative
analysis between the Italian dubbing and the subtitling of episode
sixteen “Here and There”, of the medical television drama ER,
series eleven. More specifically, the analysis aims at verifying if
the translation of medical terminology, expressions, acronyms and
abbreviations, follows the translation strategies usually associated
with the two audiovisual translation modes: Venuti’s (1995)
“foreignisation” in subtitling, and “domestication” in dubbing. The
aim is also to investigate to which extent the conversation
partners, identified by Löning (1981) in relation to medical
language as a language for special purposes (LSP), and the
audience the programme is aimed at, influence the translation
choices in one mode and in the other. It also aims at verifying the
use of synonyms, foreign words, acronyms and abbreviations in
the context of medical fiction, in a language rather than English, in
this case Italian. Despite being a case study, the translation
analysis based on quite a large number of examples, extracted
from the episode of the series, has shown that in certain cases the
translation strategies normally associated with the two translation
modes at stake, were inverted. From the analysis, it emerged that
the dubbing tended to employ a more “erudite” and complex
terminology, and therefore a higher register than the subtitling
mode. The study confirmed a widespread use of synonymy, in the
medical language, with a preference for “popular” terms in the
subtitling, independently of the communication partners involved in
the “horizontal level of communication” (Vanoye, 1985). The study
also confirmed the expected limited use of acronyms and
abbreviations in the translation, and therefore in the Italian
language, in contrast with their large use in the English language.

3. Table of Contents
AUTHOR DECLARATIONS…………………………………………..4
Aknowledgements……………………………………………………..5
Chapter 0: Introduction……………………………………………..6
0.1 Dubbing and Its Historical Roots………………………………...7
0.1.1 Italy: a Dubbing Country…………………………………10
0.1.2 Nowadays………………………………………………....11
0.2 Subtitling…………………………………………………………..13
0.2.1 Subtitling for DVDs……………………………………….15
Chapter 1: ER………………………………………………………..18
1.1 The series: ER……………………………………………………18
1.2 ER: The reason behind my choice……………………………..18
1.3 Episode 16: “Here and There”, Series 11……………………..19
1.4 Episode Main Characters……………………………………….19
Chapter 2: Medical Language and Translation………………..21
2.1 Medical language: a language for special purposes…………23
2.2 Medical Terminology, Acronyms and Abbreviations…………24
2.3 Degree of specialisation among the communication partners:
Löning’s classification………………………………………………..28
2.4 Understanding the differences between medical fiction and
educational programmes…………………………………………….29
Chapter 3: Translation Analysis………………………………….32
3.1 ER: a fictional programme………………………………………32
3.2 The Translation of Medical Terminology………………………34
3.2.1 General terminology related to the medical field………34
3.2.2 Medical equipment and instruments……………………38
3.2.3 Medical drugs and medication…………………………..46
3.2.4 Latinisms…………………………………………………..51
3.2.5 Medical expressions……………………………………...55
3.3 The Translation of Acronyms and Abbreviations……………..59
3.3.1 General terminology related to the medical field………59
3.3.2 Medical equipment and instruments……………………66
3.3.3 Medical drugs and medication…………………………..69
3.3.4 Latinisms…………………………………………………..73
3.3.5 Medical expressions……………………………………...75
Chapter 4: Conclusion……………………………………………..79
Bibliography………………………………………………………….84
Appendices…………………………………………………………..87
Appendix 1…………………………………………………………….88
Appendix 2…………………………………………………………..104
Appendix 3…………………………………………………………..120