Always in Translation

Abstract

This article examines the role of audiovisual translation in the cinematic circulation of trans knowledge. Through a case study of the Cantonese-dubbed version of the Thai-language film The Iron Ladies in Hong Kong, the article analyzes a regional production of trans meanings that negotiates between local subjectivities and globalized categories. The article also demonstrates the importance of a multilingual approach to the study of trans cinema.

Revisión sistemática de bibliografía sobre traducción audiovisual y estudios LGBTQ+ (2000-2020): dimensiones epistemológica y metodológica

“…Por otro lado, son 3 estudios los Hikma 20 (2) (2021), 95 -126 que trabajan con la combinación chino-inglés (Bowman, 2010;Jiang, 2020;Guo & Evans, 2020), 1 estudio sobre el par indonesio-inglés (Boellstorff, 2003) y 1 estudio sobre el par griego-inglés (Asimakoulas, 2012). Un estudio incluye análisis contrastivos entre varias lenguas con el inglés (Lewis, 2010), mientras que otro aborda procesos de traducción mediante una lengua franca (Leung, 2016).…”

Beyond “correctness”

“…Both episodes reminded me of an incident at the 2009 Netherlands Transgender Film Festival recounted in Leung (2016). During the screening of the documentary Transvestites Also Cry (2007), which follows the lives of two Ecuadorian migrant sex workers in Paris, several audience members walked out of the theater in protest.…”

“…Yet, the dominance of Anglo-centric perspectives in public and academic discourses surrounding queer and trans issues has led to the widespread assumptions about the universal applicability of English terminologies and identity categories. As a result, local ways of understanding and articulating diverse gender identities and embodiment-which emerged out of historical, social, cultural, and political contexts that may differ significantly from those of the Anglo-West-may become overshadowed or replaced entirely by the ostensibly more "correct" terminology and the associated notions of trans identity that they convey (Leung, 2016).…”

“…They were also offended by the term “transvestite,” which the filmmaker used as the translation for the Spanish term travesti , a term that the subjects in the film used to refer to themselves and others in their community. As Leung (2016) rightly observed, the filmmaker could have avoided controversy by titling the film more “correctly,” albeit somewhat awkwardly, as Transgender People Also Cry . However, even with a more accurate title, the subjects’ use of pronouns was never consistent, and they also employed terms like “homosexual” and “ tercer sexo ” (third sex) alongside “ travesti ” to describe themselves and their friends.…”

“…Not only does it hinder TLA's goal of achieving sociolinguistic justice, but it can also perpetuate other forms of marginalization, such as the devaluation of Black language, as highlighted by Zimman. Furthermore, it can (re)produce a “hierarchy of experiences and subjectivities” (Leung, 2016), which privileges Euro‐American understandings of gender non‐normativity as modern and progressive while dismissing other (local) ways of imagining and expressing gender non‐normativity as traditional and outdated (Leung, 2016; Grewal & Kaplan, 2001).…”