Gardner, N. (2022) Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma: reflections on history and the fuzzy edges of translation. Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 99(10), pp. 935-950. (doi: 10.3828/bhs.2022.56)
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Abstract
This article reads Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma though the lens of translation. Reading the past as Cuarón’s source text, I consider three areas where the translated text (the film) displays fuzziness. These fuzzy aspects of the film are elements in which the translation of the past displays differences that reveal authorial comment and suggest readings that align with the personal rather than the universal. The three components that are scrutinized are the use of non-dominant languages in the Mexican context, the presence and absence of photographs (as well as the character’s engagement with them), and the readings that Roma’s monochrome presentation invites. The focus on fuzziness in the film invites the reader to consider how distance between the source text and the translated text is relevant in traditional and non-traditional translations and signals the challenges of representing the past through film, offering rich veins for analytical probing and discussion.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Gardner, Professor Nathanial |
Authors: | Gardner, N. |
College/School: | College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > Hispanic Studies |
Journal Name: | Bulletin of Hispanic Studies |
Publisher: | Liverpool University Press |
ISSN: | 1475-3839 |
ISSN (Online): | 1478-3398 |
Published Online: | 12 November 2022 |
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