Characterization of Elsa through song in the English and Finnish versions of Frozen 2
Prinkkilä, Mari (2021)
2021
Englannin kielen, kirjallisuuden ja kääntämisen kandidaattiohjelma - Bachelor's Programme in English Language, Literature and Translation
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2021-03-21
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202103112535
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202103112535
Tiivistelmä
This thesis examines the characterization of the main character Elsa through song in the English and Finnish versions of the Disney movie Frozen 2. Its aim was to determine whether the aspects of Elsa’s characterization that are conveyed through song lyrics change in translation, and if so, how they change.
The theoretical background of this study consists of topics related to song translation and characterization. In the theory section of this thesis, I first describe the theory related to translating songs, which includes Peter Low’s idea of song translation as a pentathlon, after which I discuss the theory related to characterization in the context of both literature and audiovisual media.
My data includes five songs from the movie Frozen 2. The movie is a sequel to the successful Disney animated musical Frozen. Frozen 2 follows Queen Elsa’s journey to the North to discover the truth about herself and her kingdom’s history. The songs I included are All is Found, Some Things Never Change, Into the Unknown, Show Yourself and The Next Right Thing. They were chosen because they are all sung at least partly by, to or about Elsa.
My analysis shows that Elsa’s characterization does not change significantly in translation, although some minor differences can be detected. In both versions of the movie, Elsa is a somewhat reserved character who is afraid of change, but who then learns to embrace it as she discovers her destiny as an incarnation of an elemental spirit. The most significant difference between the versions relates to the clarity of the point at which Elsa fully embraces her new role.
The thesis mainly focuses on the lyrics of the songs from the perspective of their characterizing function. Due to the limited scope, the thesis does not thoroughly consider the multimodality of the text, although other elements of the audiovisual whole are also mentioned. A more comprehensive study could perhaps consider the multimodality in more detail. Future studies could also tie the characterizing function of musical songs more closely to the theory of song translation.
The theoretical background of this study consists of topics related to song translation and characterization. In the theory section of this thesis, I first describe the theory related to translating songs, which includes Peter Low’s idea of song translation as a pentathlon, after which I discuss the theory related to characterization in the context of both literature and audiovisual media.
My data includes five songs from the movie Frozen 2. The movie is a sequel to the successful Disney animated musical Frozen. Frozen 2 follows Queen Elsa’s journey to the North to discover the truth about herself and her kingdom’s history. The songs I included are All is Found, Some Things Never Change, Into the Unknown, Show Yourself and The Next Right Thing. They were chosen because they are all sung at least partly by, to or about Elsa.
My analysis shows that Elsa’s characterization does not change significantly in translation, although some minor differences can be detected. In both versions of the movie, Elsa is a somewhat reserved character who is afraid of change, but who then learns to embrace it as she discovers her destiny as an incarnation of an elemental spirit. The most significant difference between the versions relates to the clarity of the point at which Elsa fully embraces her new role.
The thesis mainly focuses on the lyrics of the songs from the perspective of their characterizing function. Due to the limited scope, the thesis does not thoroughly consider the multimodality of the text, although other elements of the audiovisual whole are also mentioned. A more comprehensive study could perhaps consider the multimodality in more detail. Future studies could also tie the characterizing function of musical songs more closely to the theory of song translation.
Kokoelmat
- Kandidaatintutkielmat [6534]