When songs are translated from English into something like Mandarin – is it a word for word translation? How to rhymes work in translation?
Hearing the Mandarin version of “Yellow” while high made me think too hard about this.
In: Culture
Translation MA student here, will do my best to explain.
I believe the translation is meaning-based. Informal language such as slang terms need to be adjusted so that the audience (Mandarin Chinese speakers) can understand it without it being unintentionally offensive.
This is taken into account when translating a song. Translators must keep the meaning of a song as much as they can whilst making the translation as coherent as the original text, which can involve tailoring it to the target audience. REM’s “It’s the End Of The World As We Know It” makes references to American culture, but the Italian version (“A che ora e’ la fine del mondo?”) makes references to Italian culture, since Italians may not quite grasp the references in the same way Americans do.
I really hope that this helps and you understood it. 🙂
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