Culture Matters: Analysis of Nationalism in Captain America

Abstract

[eng] This dissertation studies the effects that the constrains of subtitling and the wrong choice of translation strategies have on transmitting American patriotism in the trilogy Captain America. Following the strategies mentioned by Tomaszkiewicz in Zoë Pettit’s chapter in New Trends in Audiovisual Translation, it argues how an accurate use of a specific strategy does not guarantee an accurate transmission of the intended meaning in the original language. It attempts to demonstrate how important it is to have a proficient knowledge of both source and target culture by suggesting a possible interpretation that the audience might have done when reading the subtitles. While previous scholars have examined the degree of importance that precise translation of cultural references have on the correct transmission of the message, this study investigates the negative effects that the lack of accuracy when choosing translational strategies have on showing American nationalism.