Why do I dislike the phrase “cultural nuance” so much? It sounds so nice, doesn’t it? Sophisticated? Well, let me tell you.
Cultural nuance has become the thing that only humans can do in translation. First it was called “human in the loop”. Then it was called “human in the pilot seat”. Now, it’s called “cultural nuance” (conveniently, a term that doesn’t even include a human any more …).
Automated systems have problems with context under the best of circumstances, especially when it comes to texts that contain more than one kind of input, like audiovisual material. When humans, in human interaction, deliberate, for example, whether to address someone formally – “Hi there, Matty” – or informally – “Good afternoon, Mister Damson” – they take into account all kinds of information that might or might not be provided explicitly. For example, location (sauna or airport), age, and the relationship of the age of the addressed to the age of the speaker, dress, gender, or state of agitation. I am much more inclined to go for the “du” when I’m yelling at someone who has just stepped in front of me in the bike lane, for example. This is something that AI still has great problems with.
When I write a dubbing script, for, let’s say, a US-American movie into German, and want to decide whether to let two characters address each other formally or informally, I use the same kind of information. Plus, things like, how well do these characters know each other (the longer, the more likely they are to use the informal “du”), where did they meet (in a pub, more likely “du”, at a royal wedding, maybe not), what is their relative social status, what is the historical time, and what does their body language look like (the closer, the more likely is the “du”). Also, what is the storyline in the script? If they end up as a couple eventually, I try to let them say “du” rather sooner than later, to avoid an awkward moment, because in German, moving from the formal to the informal is something that doesn’t usually just happen. It has to be negotiated. There are rules, or today, more likely a very definite gut feeling, about who initiates that switch, where, and how, and if the original doesn’t provide that moment, you have to improvise.
You might already see why “cultural nuance” doesn’t even begin to describe what the precious human is able to contribute to a good translation. And these are decisions that are made at the beginning of the translation process. They have to do with analysis of the original, with interpretation, with a knowledge of the nature of storytelling, and how it differs in movies and in series.
“Cultural nuance”, the way the phrase is used to describe “AI translation plus human,” is something that comes afterward. And if you think that, I’m sorry to inform you that you are terribly wrong. You don’t have a good translation and then someone with culture stirs some nuance into the alphabet soup. Translation begins with cultural nuance. No, let me rephrase: There is no such thing as cultural nuance, especially when it comes to audiovisual material.
If someone shakes their head when saying Yes, that’s not a nuance. That’s something that can confuse the hell out of an audience. Starting to count to five with your pinky finger, that marks you as an American. Wishing someone a happy birthday before the actual day, that’s the difference between being nice (in the US), and risking terrible bad luck (Germany).
There is a Star Trek episode where that’s exactly what happens. Someone says it’s their birthday next week, and the other person in the conversation says something like, “well, happy birthday then”. The future birthday boy says thank you and smiles. You could of course translate this into German and leave as is. But anyone with knowledge of German culture will understand that a) we don’t wish anyone an early happy birthday unless we want to tempt fate, and b) that boy’s reaction, to an early happy birthday, would not be, “oh thanks”. It would be a shocked expression and something akin to “oh no, don’t say that.” The dubbing scriptwriter, in this case, solved the issue by letting the first character say, “well, I’m sure you’re looking forward to your party.” To which birthday boy says, happily, “I am, thank you.” Problem solved. But problem solved means problem understood.
Translation begins with cultural difference. It begins with someone who has a thorough understanding of the original and who is steeped in the target culture. Someone who uses their power of empathy, combined with their knowledge of both cultures, as well as their experience with whatever the genre or other special features of the happen to be. They are the ones who decide what cultural elements will travel across to an audience. They are the ones who know when to cut their losses, and when to dig in. Cultural “nuance” isn’t the cherry on top. Cultural “knowledge” is the core of translation. AI isn’t ready for that knowledge by a long shot.
