Walking on eggshells : translation of culture-bound elements in the Finnish subtitles of Modern Family

Abstract

The topic of this thesis is the Finnish audiovisual translation, more specifically subtitling, of the American television series Modern Family (2009-2020). The study analyzes the translation of culture-bound elements in the series and considers whether domestication or foreignization is the preferable translation strategy when translating language elements that are bound in the American source culture to provide an accurate but also relatable translation to the Finnish target audience. The material for the thesis comprised the first season (consisting of 24 episodes) of the sitcom Modern Family, from which fragments of dialogue that included some types of culture-bound elements were examined. To study the material, the model proposed by Pedersen (2011) was applied: the model includes six methods for translating culture-bound elements which in turn are then categorized into either domesticating or foreignizing methods.