A Linguistic Analysis of Cultural Content in French-English Translation of a Yoghurt Commercial
Advertising translation is a multifaceted practice which poses specific challenges for translators that extend beyond sheer linguistic competence of the professionals involved in the process. Cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity are called for when dealing with translating commercial matter internationally and interculturally. This paper presents a comparative analysis of a TV commercial of natural yoghurt and its representation in two languages. The advert was originally created in French, subsequently translated and dubbed in English by a French-accent English speaker. The English version deviates slightly linguistically and culturally from its French counterpart. The notions of explicitation, equivalence, adaptation and localisation applied in this paper provide grounds for analysis of a range of translation decisions and strategies which allow to achieve similar advertising pragmatic effects as well as add extra dimensions that are absent in the source text.