Title: "Das hätten sie mal richtig übersetzen sollen!" Folk Myths and Fanscaping in German Dubbing
Abstract: “Somebody translated it wrong at some point, and then everybody started talking that way.” is one of the many constantly perpetuated folk myths arising around dubbing, i.e., lip-synchronized audiovisual translation. Department of German Studies PhD Candidate Patrick Ploschnitzki’s dissertation investigates this and other assumptions in a German-German context, especially the notion of “wrong translations” that is particularly present in fan-made review platforms of television dubbed into German. Contrasted with interviews with agents of the current German dubbing industry, the dissertation further explores online amateur commentary on canonical episodes of the US-American animated sitcom The Simpsons and the fan-translator relationship in a globalized, networked, enlightened context. Central to his research is the concept of fanscaping: unsolicited lay revisions of professional translations, usually generated on (proprietary) online platforms by enthusiast communities insisting, often inconsistently, on intercultural accuracy and semantic precision over translators’ deliberate, pragmatic compromises.
Committee: David Gramling, Sonia Colina, Chantelle Warner, Frieder von Ammon
