Representations of Women in Subtitled Films: L’Auberge espagnole and La Vie rêvée des anges

Abstract

Subtitled films are often maligned for providing a false or incomplete representation of the original dialogue. As language use often reinforces an objectified or derogatory vision of women, an analysis and comparison of the original dialogue with the subtitled version can reveal important nuances in this domain that have either been retained, altered or omitted in the target language version. In two popular French films, La Vie rêvée des anges (Erick Zonca, 1998) and L’Auberge espagnole (Cedrick Klapisch, 2001), the dialogue underscores the attitudes of the characters towards the women in the film as well as towards women generally. Lexical, grammatical and cultural differences between French and English often inform subtitlers’ choices, as do time and space constraints inherent to the subtitling process. The subtitled dialogue in both films will be compared with their original, illustrating the degree to which linguistic reflections of attitudes have been preserved or altered in each subtitled version.