Religious vocabulary in the film dialogue. An analysis based on the Russian translation of The Decalogue series

Abstract

The article is devoted to issues related to the translation of religious vocabulary in film dialogues. The research material discussed comes from the Russian subtitled version of the films from The Decalogue series directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. The film collection analysed is accompanied by a booklet providing information on the cultural background depicted in the films and commentaries on selected dialogue fragments. The contents of the booklet and selected dialogue fragments have been described in respect of their potential influence on various ways of interpreting specific scenes. 

Related to traditions and religious holidays, the analysed vocabulary plays a significant role with regard to the viewer’s knowledge of customs and traditions as well as everyday issues and thus provides background information on the events presented on the screen. The function of the film dialogue is not limited solely to facilitating communication between characters, but, first and foremost, it is meant to provide viewers with information on the film plot and the characters. A part of this information is often presented implicitly by means of expressions related to religious rites. They can, among others, specify the plot time (e.g. pasterka – Christmas midnight mass), inform the audience about a hidden intention (willingness to share the Christmas wafer is an excuse to meet) or explain the meaning of some film props (an old creased photo from the character’s first communion is of great sentimental value to him as he has no other photographs from his childhood). The purpose of the research was to indicate the crucial role of the connotations evoked by means of specific expressions in the viewers of the film in the original language version. Taking this into consideration, translators of film dialogues should focus on not only the semantic level of notions, but also additional meanings essential for understanding the film plot.