The Film Review as a Hybrid Text: Translating Journalistic Language

Abstract

This study investigates the linguistic, lexical, and pragmatic misinterpretations that can lead to translation inaccuracies. It aims to equip trainee translators with effective strategies for interpreting and rendering complex source texts. The research centres on the translation challenges inherent in the journalistic film review, using a sample text from The Guardian (guardian.co.uk), characterised by dense figurative language, cultural references, and stylistic intricacy.

The investigation is guided by two primary research questions: 1) To which text type does the film review belong? 2) What translation strategies most effectively render such texts into the target language? Participants included non-native English-speaking students enrolled in the English Language and Translation course of the Master’s Degree in Languages for Communication and Cultural Services at Kore University of Enna (Italy). Their translation outputs and reflective feedback were analysed to evaluate both the difficulties encountered and the metalinguistic awareness they developed during the task.

The findings indicate that the film review exemplifies a hybrid genre, simultaneously informative and strongly evaluative, which demands from the translator not only high linguistic proficiency but also sensitivity to cultural, idiomatic, and genre-specific norms. Student responses underscored a need for targeted pedagogical interventions to enhance cultural competence, figurative language decoding, and register awareness to meet the interpretive and stylistic challenges posed by journalistic discourse.