Introduction
　　Although there is much research conducted on subtitling, most of the investigations have been based on Western languages, or in the translation from Western languages to Japanese (or other non-Western languages).   Furthermore, most of this research concerns the translation of literature, and not the subtitling of films.
　　Since culture is like the glass through which we look into the world, translation is not only a matter of words: The cultural approach defines attitudes and actions. 　Thus, depending on the translator, the subtitles can greatly vary. 　I believe, therefore, translation of cultural elements to be a very delicate subject of great importance because it enables the target audience to understand, appreciate and enjoy a foreign film.　 On the other hand, there are many websites on the Internet that offer several variations of subtitles of a single film produced by numerous translators, often free of charge.

Subject matter
　　What follows is a descriptive and comparative analysis of the subtitles of the Japanese film Mononoke Hime.  I will analyze the cultural references that appear in the film and how they are translated into English and Spanish, by professional and “amateur” translators.  I use the concept “amateur” translators to refer to those fans that altruistically translate and upload subtitles into the Internet (therefore they may actually be professional translators), who receive no economic reward; hence, their work is not officially checked.
　　This analysis will contribute to the understanding of how Japanese cultural characteristics are introduced in foreign countries through the subtitled text of films.  It also aims to point out the deficiencies of the translation theories that seem to be focused on the translation of literature of Western languages.  There is also a need to bring light into the Internet’s revolutionary roll in translation nowadays.  Though there is much research conducted on Internet applications, I have not found any information regarding the relation between Internet, the “amateur”　subtitling and culture.  I believe this analysis could be the starting point to pursue deeper research on this topic.
　　Mononoke Hime became very popular throughout the world, and thus it can be considered an important medium for the introduction of Japanese culture.  I will analyze only the first ten minutes of the film in order to compare the original script with the following five versions of subtitles:
　　1)  The official English subtitles from the DVD;
　　2)  English subtitles downloaded from the Internet;
　　3)  The official Spanish subtitles obtained from the DVD;
　　4)  Spanish amateur subtitles downloaded from the Internet; and
　　5)  A second Spanish amateur subtitle version (from another website).

Aims and hypothesis
　　Once the techniques used in the translation of the different categories of cultural references are identified, I will compare the strategies chosen by each translation of Mononoke Hime.
　　Objective 1:  To find out the most widely used translation technique.  My first objective is to show which elements of the Japanese culture are presented in the film and in which way.
　　- Hypothesis 1.1:  There is a relation between the category of the cultural reference and the technique used.
　　- Hypothesis 1.2:  Omission and adaptation (replacing the original concept by a corresponding concept in the target culture) are the most utilized techniques.
　　Objective 2:  To point out the differences among the various versions of subtitles.
　　- Hypothesis 2.1:  The techniques used in the official subtitles differ from those used by the “amateur” translators.
　　- Hypothesis 2.2:  The official subtitles tend to “domesticate” the original product in order to make it more accessible to the audience, by eliminating those concepts that are unfamiliar to the target culture.
　　- Hypothesis 2.3:  The amateur subtitles tend to “foreignize” the subtitles, by maintaining the original concepts, though they may sound unfamiliar to the target audience.
　　- Hypothesis 2.4:  Spanish subtitles have been influenced by the English ones.
　　My second objective is to explain how modern-day translations are conducted within different languages and formats.  Hypothesis 2.1 and 2.2 compare official and “amateur” subtitles, since there are no former descriptive analyses about this subject.  I believe the Internet develops a segmented audience in order to supply a satisfactory product to each different target group.  Since English and Spanish are both Western languages I assume they will utilize similar translation techniques; however, hypothesis 2.4 will confirm whether the Spanish subtitles were created through the English ones, or directly from the original source.  As I mentioned above, translation theories can be considered ethnocentric in their research subject; however, I aim to clarify if the translation practice is also ethnocentric and focused in the English language, as an intermediary to other non-Western languages.

1 Framework: translation and subtitles

1-1 Translation theories

1-1-1 Translation as intercultural communication
　　Language cannot be separated from culture since social cultural competence cannot be dissociated from communicative competence (Caballero, 2005: 17).  Thus, translation is not only a linguistic process, but an intercultural communication process.  According to Delisle, the translation of a language is a comparative action, while the translation of a text requires an interpretative approach (Delisle, 1984: 92).  One can translate separate words with the help of a dictionary, or translation software, searching in the target language for a comparable word.  However, anyone that has used this kind of software has probably experienced that the result is often far from satisfactory.  A text is not only a sequence of words; it has a purpose, transmits attitudes and emotions, and can evocate scenery or images.  Its meaning is not necessarily the sum of the meaning of the words that constitute it, but is hidden in the words or in between them. 
　　The reader should be able to understand the translated text while getting a taste of the original culture.  Thus, the translator must interpret a text in order to transmit its meaning, while maintaining a balance between the original meaning and the fluency of a natural expression in the translated language.  This is certainly why Steiner claimed in 1981 that translation was like traveling through a foreign country[1](Moya, 2004: 32).  Thus, the translator must not only master both languages but also deeply understand both cultures in order to act as an intermediary between them, because translation is an act of intercultural communication.

1-1-2 Development of translation theories
Structuralism and the concept of equivalence:
　　The practice and theorization of translation started thousands of years ago, as Cicero wrote long about it. There is a Latin aphorism that reads traductore traditore (“the translator is a traitor”).  However, the first attempt of systematization started at the end of the fifties with the structuralists Vinay, Darbelnet (1958) and Catford (1965).  Structuralism separates signifier (word) from signified (meaning), and approaches translation as a branch of applied linguistics.  The structuralists believe there is only one correct signal for each signifier that the translator must determine in the target language.  Translation becomes a comparative exercise that gives priority to the elements and structure of language, and regards the context as secondary (Catford, 1970: 39).  The strict equivalence is governed by rules similar to those of mathematics, which when applied to a literal text make translation impossible in many cases.  Though linguistic is indeed an important part of translation it is a much more complex intercultural communication process.

Nida and the “domestication” of the original text:
　　In the mid 1960s, Nida appeared with a new approach to translation.  Nida also uses the concept of equivalence, although he extends it so that there are a number of possible variations of translations (Nida & Taber, 1986: 16).  He prioritizes meaning over form; thus words are only a tool to transmit a message, which provokes a reaction in the public.  The translator should freely change the words in order to transmit accurately the meaning of the original text and provoke the same reaction in the target audience.  Nida focused his studies on the translation of the Bible and was concerned about the difficulties experimented by foreign cultures in understanding this text.  One needs to “domesticate” the cultural references and bring the original text closer to the target audience.  The debate deals with the question of whether the translator should:
　　- Bring the public closer to the text: “foreignization” of the target text (“loyal” to the original source).
　　- Bring the text closer to the public: “domestication” of the original text (“loyal” to the target readers).
　　According to Nida, the translator must understand the objective of the original text and have the same opinion and beliefs as the author, since the translation cannot succeed without this empathy.  However, this requires knowing what the original author had in mind when the text was written, which is nearly impossible, as it is to fully discern the original interpretation, because a) it usually remains unknown; b) it changes with time; and c) the reaction of the audience will be different in each of the individuals, regardless the culture.  Nida’s “domestication” has also been criticized for keeping the target audience away from tasting the aesthetics of the original work, so they will not be enriched by the foreign culture and knowledge will not broaden.  However, Nida’s theories are very useful in non-literature translations and offered a sociolinguistic approach to translation theories, which deeply influenced later theories.

The ESIT and its interpretative approach:
　　In the 1970s, the French ESIT (École Supériere d’Interprétes et de Traducteurs) created the Interpretative Theory.  Its main representative supporters include Danica Seleskovitch, Jean Delisle, and Amparo Hurtado.  According to this theory, translation can be divided in three processes (Mayoral, 2004: 76-80): comprehension, deverbalization, and reformulation.  The importance given to the context and to the translator as an intermediary is revolutionary.  However, the translator works on the sense of the original text, not in its words.  Thus, the form, the way the text is written, is undervalued and the nuances are lost in the reformulation, because it favors the use of colloquial expressions and idioms of the target language (Newmark, 1988: 72-74).

The Skopos theory and the target text:
　　Nida’s ideas based on Chomsky’s structural model strongly influenced the German translation schools and their Skopos theory.  Skopos means objective, or “aim” in Ancient Greek.  Vermeer and Reiss created this theory that focuses on the translated text and on its purpose in the target culture, which may not be exactly the same as that of the original text in the original culture (Moya, 2004: 88).  For example, if the translation of the prospectus of an American medicine into Spanish considers the Hispanic people living in USA as its target audience, the legal information should also be carefully translated.  However, if the product is to be exported to Spain , then this information does not apply.  Thus, in order to clarify the objective of the target text, the translator must meticulously analyze its context and purpose in the target culture.  The Skopos theory emphasizes the role of translation as intercultural communication.

Translation studies and the Polysystem theory:
　　Also in the 1970s and 1980s a new methodological trend appeared in Israel (I. Even-Zohar and G. Toury) and Holland (J.S. Holmes and A. Lefevere) based on descriptive translation studies that could also be applied to literary texts.  Though each author has a different approach, they all share the following aspects (Hermans, 1985: 9-11):
　　- Any translation implies a manipulation with specific reasons.
　　- Translation studies must follow a descriptive method that offers a functional approach in order to avoid ignoring the translated text.  
　　- Literature is a complex and dynamic system, and so is the concept of meaning.  Both change through time, and are influenced by several factors.
　　Even-Zohar explains culture as a “polysystem”, consisting of many systems, which are interconnected.  Literature is one of them; and translation is a subsystem within literature, and is interconnected to other subsystems.  The fluctuations in any subsystem will affect other subsystems, and consequently the systems and the polysystem itself.  In each polysytem, what texts are translated, by whom and in which way are decisions related to other changing systems, such as the socioeconomic, technological, or political system.  This is what Even-Zohar calls Dynamic Functionalism (Mayoral, 2004: 135-141).  Thus, translation connects two texts from two different polysystems, with different dynamics.  In 1979, in his article “Polysystem Studies” (1990) Even-Zohar explains that the translated literature will occupy a main position in a target culture when the target culture’s own literature is weak, not fully developed, or immersed in a crisis or changing point.  This could partially explain why Japanese manga and anime are widely translated into Western languages, given that their production in Japan is notoriously bigger and more diversified.
　　On the other hand, Toury defines the Norms of Translation that govern inside the polysystem.  He established that, as an initial norm, the translator must decide between the concept of adequacy to the original culture, and the concept of acceptability in the target culture.  The translator tends to choose acceptability when the translated literature occupies a secondary position in the target polysystem (Toury, 1980: 140-142).  For example, Japanese anime does still not occupy a central position in the animation subsystems of Western countries.  However, as its position gains importance, the literal translation of cultural references tends to increase.  Since the subtitles on the Internet are intended for a more specific target of highly motivated public, the translator will probably choose the concept of adequacy, using more literal translations than in the official subtitles, which are intended for a general public, with a very assorted range of knowledge.  Toury also distinguishes two other groups of norms:
　　- Preliminary norms, that denote what texts are translated, and if the translation will take place directly from the original or not.
　　- Operational norms, which rule the translation process itself, that is to say, the linguistic and literally matters.
　　Another main author of this group, Lefevere, also considers literature as a subsystem of the system culture and analyzes what factors affect it:
　　- Ethnocentrism of the former theories, all focused in Western literature.
　　- Importance of the political and economic factors that affect the literature system.  As Lefevere said at a round table of FIT-Unesco: “Nobody ever speaks or writes in complete freedom, at least if they want to be listened to, read and understood”　(1983).
　　Since the development of the structuralist approach, the translation theories have evolved towards wider approaches that recognize the interpretative roll of the translator, and the importance of the target text in the study of translation.  These authors have brought out into the light the dynamism of translation, and the external and internal factors that influence it.  Therefore, their theories will serve as a framework for this investigation.  In particular Toury’s norms of translation and Lefevere’s factors will be applied because their approaches are both contextual and descriptive.

1-1-3 Translation environment in Spain
　　 According to the Ministry of Culture of Spain [2] among the commercial films exhibited in Spanish cinemas in 2007, 386 were national productions, while 667 were American.  A total of 819 were originally in the English language.  There were 52 Asian films, among which 24 were Japanese.  Based on the number of viewers, however, the Japanese films were surpassed by the Chinese and Korean productions.  There were a total of 13 different source languages; therefore, one could state that English is the most translated language in the Spanish audiovisual industry.

Nationality	Viewers	%	Films	%
United States	78.988.116	67,55	667	37,56
Spain	15.795.434	13,51	386	21,73
Japan	201.603	0,17	24	1,35
China	341.677	0,29	16	0,90
Republic of Korea	447.181	0,38	9	0,51

　　Regarding the commercial films exhibited in 2002[3], compared to those of 2007, there were less American and English language films.  There were also less Spanish films that year, though the number of viewers was higher.  The number of Asian films has increased in these five years, especially Chinese and Korean films.  In 2002 there were only 19 Japanese films; however, the number of viewers was more than twice that of 2007.  Unfortunately there are very few statistics and research conducted on this subject, thus data cannot be compared over a longer period of time.
　　According to the Ministry of Culture, approximately half of all the films are shown both in the dubbed version and the subtitled version, while more than a quarter is only shown in the dubbed version.  As for the films of so called exotic languages (i.e. Asian, African, and East European languages), they are more often subtitled than dubbed.  On the other hand, American and European big productions are more often shown only in the dubbed version[4].

Year	Nationality	Dubbed	Subtitled	Both versions	Total
2007	United States	83	22	114	219
	Japan	2	4	1	7
2002	United States	214	20	-	234
	Japan	4	5	-	9

　　Thus, one can state that subtitling deals with films of a greater variety of languages, especially exotic ones.  This is probably because subtitling is more economical and faster than dubbing.  Unfortunately, the latter statistic does not include all the commercial films that were exhibited; and there is no available data about the number of films shown in both versions in 2002.  In any case, the number of American films shown in Spain is overwhelming, while the number of Japanese films is quite low and they are being overtaken by the Chinese and Korean cinema’s boom.
　　As for the non cinematographic commercialization (DVD and video) of films in Spain , in 2007 there were 730 Japanese films.  This data even surpasses British films and it stands on the third position of foreign films’ commercialization.  Comparing these data to those of 2002, the non cinematographic commercialization of Japanese films has notably increased.[5]  Moreover, Spain imports a great amount of Japanese video games, which are usually dubbed. 
　　Finally, there is also a great importation of manga and anime, though they are still destined to a limited viewing audience.  In Spain there are few publishers and specialized shops that offer a limited variety of products (compared to all the Japanese production), with an expensive price combined with a slow pace of publishing.  This situation forces the consumers of Japanese anime and manga to search the Internet in order to find cheap or even free books, audiovisual products and subtitles that are usually uploaded before the official release.  Looking at the professional field, while the translation of Japanese literature into Spanish is done directly from the original (Mangiron, 2006: 651-680), subtitling of films does not always follow this pattern.  In many cases, subtitles are created from the prior existing translated English version.  In the worst cases, the translator creates the subtitles without ever watching the film (Díaz, 2001: 82), which seems also to be quite common in Japan (Ōta, 2007: 86).  Elements such as the intonation used, the appearance of the characters, the scenario, etc. will surely be lost.
　　Spanish film translators’ work is mostly always anonymous (Díaz, 2001: 85) and they do not earn any copyright protection, even those published officially.  In contrast to this, in other countries, such as England or Japan , the name of the translator appears in the credits of the film.  What is common to many countries, including Spain and Japan , is that subtitling is an underpaid job (Díaz, 2001: 87-88).  Another significant problem lies in the lack of universities and vocational institutions that offer degrees in translation, especially in non-Western languages.  Even more lacking are professional training courses in subtitling, which have often been criticized as being more theoretical than practical. 
　　In conclusion, there is a notable importation of Japanese audiovisual products; however, since these products are not so widely commercialized, they become expensive and the professional conditions worsen.  Even in officially published products the fees of the translator are far lower than those of a book translator.  The professional and theoretical fields of translation are focused on Western languages, especially English.  In response to this, the Internet has become a very convenient medium to encourage the development of minority products because it is inexpensive, fast and can deal with a great variety of versions (original, dubbed and subtitled).

1-2 Subtitles
　　According to Santamaria the two basic characteristics of the audiovisual text are as follows (Santamaria, 2001: 75-85):
　　- Film is a team work product.  It is the sum of the expression and the interpretation of the images and its structure, the sounds and the silence, the dialogues, etc.  Each person that works in the creation of an audiovisual product adds meaning to it, and so do the translator and even the viewer by actively interpreting the film and giving it significance.
　　- Audiovisual text uses artificial language.  It aims to be perceived as spontaneous, hence imitates the colloquial language.  It also demands concordance between the verbal information and the visual information.
　　Taking into consideration these two characteristics, the translator must also adjust the text to the formal parameters of subtitles, which are related to human social viewing behavior, as well as to human physiological eye movement and brain function.  Fotios Karamitroglou has defined the following spatial parameters, in order to make subtitles “provide maximum appreciation and comprehension of the target film as a whole, by maximizing the legibility and readability of the inserted subtitled text” (Karamitroglou, 1998):
　　1. Subtitles should be positioned at the lower part of the screen. 
　　2. A maximum of two lines of subtitled text should be presented at one time. 
　　3. The text should be centered on the lower part of the screen.
　　4. The standard is approximately 35 characters per line, in order to minimize the need for original text reduction and omissions.
　　5. Typefaces with no serifs are preferable to fonts with serifs.
　　6. Type characters should be colored pale white, presented against a grey, see-through “ghost box.”
　　7. “Add-ons.”  They consist on inserting the first part of a sentence on the top line of the subtitle and then the second part consecutively on the bottom line, while the first line of subtitle still remains on screen.  “Add-ons” are very useful to reveal “surprise” information at the time of the actual utterance.  
　Many amateur translators do not follow these parameters, especially in the subtitled text of anime and drama.  The creative use of spatial and temporal parameters can make the translation livelier, adapting to the scene just like the music or the images do.  In a complicated film, however, it could be disturbing for the eye, reducing legibility and readability. In addition, it must be noted that Karanitroglou’s parameters are intended for alphabetical subtitled text.  In the case of Japanese, Sato recommends one second for every four characters and a maximum of fourteen characters per line (Sato, 2003: 162); while, another Japanese translator, Ōta, recommends a maximum of ten characters per line (Ōta, 2007: 51).
　　Karanitroglou’s parameters are intended for television subtitled texts; hence, they may change according to the size of the screen, or the medium where they are inserted.  Sato believes that the subtitled text should be shorter in a small screen, whereas Ōta states that the subtitled text on DVDs may be longer, since it is intended for a more segmented audience (Sato, 2003: 72).  Díaz also points out that television subtitles should last longer on the screen, since the audience is more assorted and is also usually less concentrated in the film than the cinema’s audience is (Díaz, 2001: 81).
　　As for the creation process of subtitles, the translator can work with the audiovisual script, or with the transcriptions of the dialogue of the edited film.  The audiovisual script is not enough for the translator, since, as ?ta states, without viewing the film, the translator may not perceive the connotations, and probably will be confused with the age, gender, status, etc. of the characters (Ōta, 2007: 193-194).  For this reason, it is more common to work with the transcriptions of the dialogue of the edited film, and a copy of the edited film.  For non-English products, when the translation is not done directly from the original by a professional translator, there are three procedures:
　　a) To work with an English version of the transcriptions, regardless of the original language of the film.  
　　b) To work with the English version of the transcriptions and then have a source language expert check the created subtitles, comparing them to the original version. 
　　c) To have the transcriptions translated by a source language expert and, afterwards, adapted by the translator to the formal requirements of subtitling.  Finally, the native speaker checks again the subtitled text (Ōta, 2007: 86-87).  This procedure is the most accurate but also the most expensive and time consuming, and therefore the less frequent.  
　　In Japan the second procedure is the most common.  In Spain , “exotic-languages’’ films are usually translated from the English version of the transcripts, and sometimes checked by a native speaker (Díaz, 2001: 80).  However, at least two of the major Spanish subtitling studios, Cinesa and Matiz, have confirmed to me that they always work directly from the Japanese original.
　　In regard to the translation of Japanese literature into Spanish, it is unthinkable to work from the English translated version.  The translated books are always created from the original Japanese text (Mangiron, 2006: 667-671).  Once again, it seems that subtitling is still considered a second class form of translation, dominated by the pressing factors of time and money.

2 Cultural references

2-1 Definition of “Cultural Reference” or “Cultureme”
　　The notion that the audiovisual text of a film is based on artificial language, rather than authentic spontaneous oral expression has already been discussed.  For this reason, the translator must have a deep understanding of the nuances of the source language, not to mention a profound knowledge of the meta-culture (Santamaria, 2001: 90).  In other words, translation is not only a linguistic procedure, but an act of intercultural communication.
　　In order to define a cultural reference, first it is necessary to state what is meant by the concept of culture.  Katan defines “culture” as a “system of orienting experience.”  He explains that “the organization of experience is not ‘reality,’ but a simplification and distortion which changes from culture to culture” (Katan, 1999: 1).  Therefore, culture acts as a frame within which external signs of “reality” are interpreted; and hence, translation deals with multiple interpretations of reality that may differ in some aspects.
　　In translation theories these socio-cultural aspects are ordinarily called “cultural reference.”  This term is used by many researchers with slightly different approaches.  Mayoral defines it as those references to particularities of the original culture that will not be understood, or will only be partly understood, or will be misunderstood in a variety of ways by the audiences of the target culture (Mayoral, 1994: 76).  Thus, Mayoral is concerned about the receiver and his or her interpretation rather than the translator.  Santamaria underlines the expressive function of the cultural references, but also its referential function: cultural references enable the reader to associate the characters to a historical and social context (Santamaria, 2001: 123).  For example, if Tokyo Tower appears in a state of being under construction in a Japanese film, probably only the Japanese audience will recognize the historical context of the film.
　　German functionalists prefer the term “cultureme.”  According to Nord, “a cultureme is a social phenomenon of a culture X that is regarded as relevant by members of this culture and, when compared with a corresponding social phenomenon in a culture Y, it is found to be specific to culture X” (Nord, 1997;34).  For example, Christmas Eve is a special night to spend with the family in Christian cultures.  However, in Japan it is a romantic event to spend with one’s lover.  Even though Christmas Eve is not originally a Japanese celebration, it can be considered a cultureme of Japanese culture.  According to the functionalists, culteremes are not only words but concepts; hence, even though in both cultures the word “Christmas Eve” is used, its conceptual understanding differs, thus it is a cultureme.  Culturemes include verbal phenomena (words or sentences), paraverbal phenomena (sounds, intonation, etc.) and nonverbal phenomena (gestures, facial expressions, etc.), and combinations of the three of them.  Basing her analysis on Nord’s cultureme, Molina (2001: 90-91) focuses on the dynamic characteristics of the culturemes as follows:
　　1. It is not necessarily a specific element of one unique culture, but rather the consequence of a cultural transfer; hence, it depends on the two involucrate cultures.  For this reason, the phenomenon itself may not be considered a cultureme in translations that deal with other target language or culture.
　　2. A cultureme is conditioned by the context of the translation, and therefore, it is not valid in every situation. 
　　From here on I will employ the term “cultureme” since it emphasizes the dynamism of the cultural transfers and it refers not only to verbal expressions, but also to cultural concepts.

2-2 Classification of culturemes
　　There are several classifications of cultural transfers, and although they are all very similar, they are based on different approaches to translation, and differ in a number of categories.
　　As it was explained in the first chapter, Nida gives priority to the meaning of the text, over the formal aspects, “domesticating” the foreign concepts.  In his article Linguistics and Ethnology in translation problems (1945), Nida divides the cultural elements into the following five categories (Menghsuan, 2006: 33-35):
　　1. Ecology.  The concept of summer, for example, refers to a variety of periods in a year, as well as climatic characteristics, depending on the region.
　2. Material Culture.  In cultures where there is no wheat, for example, the translator may substitute this term by familiar concepts such as “corn”.
　　3. Social Culture.  In the Mayan culture, for example, there is no equivalent term for the concept of siblings.  This category also includes terms that refer to social status, legal issues, etc.
　　4. Religious Culture.  Nida believes this to be the most complicated category, as taboos, belief systems and religion’s structures of the target religion interfere with the understanding of a different religion of the source culture.
　　5. Linguistic Culture.  This category involves the following elements:
　　a. Phonology.  The transfer of proper nouns may cause problems as, for example, homophones may have connotations in the target language.
　　b. Morphology.  For example, the honorific treatment or the lack of gender and plural forms in Japanese.
　　c. Syntax.  This includes aspects of grammatical constructions, such as the frequent use of subordinated sentences in Spanish.
　　d. Lexicon.  The Japanese word ashi can mean “foot” or “leg” in English, etc.
　　Santamaria believes cultural elements define the socio-cultural position and personality of a character in a film.  Basing her ideas on this approach, Santamaria (2001: 287-288) presents the following detailed classification:
　　1. Ecology.  Geography, topography, meteorology, biology, etc. are considered in this category.  In Spanish, for example, there is no equivalent term for harusame, or katakori.
　　2. History.  Historical references including specific time, locations, events, happenings, and historical figures.  When translating Edojidai, for example, the translator may amplify the cultural reference and add the years that this historical period covers.
　　3. Social structure.  Santamaria considers employment, social organization, and politics as some of the elements in this classification.  In Japan , for example, there are snack, kyabakura, hostokurabu, etc.  These places do not exist in Spain or the United States; thus, the translator will need to explain these terms and its differences.
　　4. Cultural Institutions.  These are, for example, art, religion, education, and media.  If the Asahishinbun is mentioned, for example, the translator may remove this term and instead say “a main Japanese newspaper”.
　　5. Social Universe.  Reference is made to such aspects as social conditions, cultural geography, and transportation.  For example, riding a bicycle in Spain is considered a hobby, or a sport; it is not seen as a means of transportation.  
　　6. Material Culture.  Various food, clothing, cosmetics, leisure, material objects and technology are included in this category.  The term sushi is now commonly used in Western countries as a loan word; however, sashimi is usually translated into “raw fish.”
　　Finally, Molina (2001: 91-98) presents another classification of the cultural elements that are considered in translation. Since this is the classification I will follow in the later analysis, examples extracted from real subtitles have been added.
　　1. Natural Environment.  Geography and topography, biology (both flora and fauna), meteorological phenomena, landscapes, and such are some examples.  The sentence “Unless we’re parked in San Diego Bay , you’re at war every time you step on this boat” (Behind the enemy lines , USA , 2001), for example, is translated 「ひとたび洋上にあれば常に戦争だと思え」, which amounts to “Whenever you’re on this boat you’re at war.”  The reference “ San Diego Bay ” was omitted since it would only result in confusion as it holds meaning only for the American audience in this context (Hayashi, 2003: 72).
　　2. Cultural Patrimony.  This category unifies Nida’s religious and material culture categories.  It is a broad category that includes historical facts and figures, religious beliefs, festivities, folk, arts, music, dance, games, myths, monuments, tourist spots, tools, transportation, military forces, etc.  For example, in the film Matrix ( USA , 1999) a line reads “My own personal Jesus Christ.”  Because the religious connotations were considered to be inaccessible for the Japanese audience, the Japanese version read 「あんたは救世主だ」, what means “You are the world’s savior” (Hayashi, 2003: 48).
　　3. Social Culture.  Conventions, patterns of behavior, social habits, and social organizations, occupation, measure units, etc. are included in this category.  The Japanese linguistic system of honorifics, for example, generally disappears in English translations.
　　4. Linguistic Culture.  Molina considers phonological and lexical subcategories, as did Nida, and omits the morphology and syntax because she views them as not being strictly cultural aspects.  Molina includes such elements as idioms, metaphors, symbolic associations, interjections, insults, etc.  In the film Platoon ( USA , 1986), one of the characters says, “You fuck up in the fire fight and I goddamn guarantee you a trip out of the bush…in a body bag.”  Both the English and Spanish languages are inundated with profanity and such terminology is considered to have an expressive function that helps define a character and the mood.  However, in Japanese there are very few swearwords that are used on a daily basis by the general public and therefore in the Japanese version of Platoon, the same line was translated as 「戦闘中にひとつでもヘタすりゃジャングル出るときは死体袋入りだ」, which amounts to “If you make a mistake in combat, you’ll leave the jungle in a body bag.”
　　Nida includes elements that are not strictly cultural, such as lexicon and syntax.  On the other hand, though Santamaria’s classification is very similar to Molina’s, it does not include the linguistic culture category, which should not be ignored in translation.  Moreover, Molina’s classification is simple and clear, since it divides culturemes in four broad categories that enable to classify any cultural element.  Furthermore, according to the definition of cultureme, Molina’s classification is not only based on linguistic expression, but on cultural concepts that include non-verbal expression.

2-3 Translation techniques
　　Translation techniques are very numerous and varied, and they often appear in combined forms and thus, it is complicated to classify them.  However, Molina and Hurtado define the main translation techniques, unifying the approaches of several authors, such as Vinay and Darbelnet, Nida, Delisle, or Newmark (Hurtado, 2001: 266-271).  The classification of translation techniques is as follows:
　　1. Adaptation.  Cultural references of source cultures are substituted with other familiar references in the target culture.  For example, “rice” is replaced by “bread” in translating from Japanese to Spanish.
　　2. Linguistic Extension.  This technique adds linguistic elements to the translated expression, which increases the number of words.  For example, to translate “No way” into Spanish, as De ninguna manera (“By no means”), instead of choosing an expression of the same number of words, such as En absoluto (“Absolutely never”).
　　3. Linguistic Compression.  Linguistic elements are synthesized, and therefore this technique is considered the opposite of linguistic extension.  For example, in translating the English “Yes, so what?” into the Spanish ¿Y? (“So?”).  This technique is constantly used in subtitles, because of the strict time and space restrictions.  Therefore, I will disregard this technique in the analysis of Mononoke Hime.
　　4. Amplification.  Information not included in the original text is added to explain cultural elements.  For example, in translating the word “Ramadan” (the Islamic month for fasting), the explanation “fasting-month” is added as a convenient referral.
　　5. Calque (or loan translation).  Expressions are introduced into a language by translating it literally from another language.  For example, translating　fudōsan (不動産)　for “immovable” in English.
　　6. Compensation.  This technique inserts some information or stylistic effect in the target text that could not be reflected in the same place as in the original text.  For example, in Japanese the reason is usually uttered before the consequence, such as in 「お腹がすいているから食べる」, which amounts to “I am hungry, therefore I eat.”  This technique seems to be intended for the translation of Western languages, which usually share the same grammatical order.  In translating (from/to) Japanese, however, one must constantly use this compensation technique.  Therefore, this technique will not be noted in the analysis of Mononoke Hime.
　　7. Discursive Creation.  This technique is often used in the translation of the titles of films to indicate equivalence that can only be valid in a certain context.  For example, Break Point (1991) was released in Spain as Le llamaban Bodhi (“They called him Bodhi”).
　　8. Description.  Some terms are replaced with descriptions of shapes or functions when an equivalent word does not exist in the target language.  The word mochi, for example, is often translated as “rice cake” which helps one to visualize the item.
　　9. Accepted Equivalence.  This technique is commonly used in the translation of idioms, proverbs, sayings and other adages which are matched with similar expressions, or idioms in the target culture, that are usually accepted in the dictionary as equivalent to the original idiom.  For example, to translate the English expression “They are like two peas” into the Spanish Son como dos gotas de agua (“They are like two drops of water”).
　　10. Literal Translation.  This technique translates expressions or sentences word by word.  Thus, in the case of one only word the accepted equivalence technique applies.  For example, translating “I love you, Mom” into the Japanese Mama, aishiteru wa yo, though it sounds unnatural. 
　　11. Generalization.  This technique uses of a more general or wide concept to refer to a specific object.  For example, the term “pasta” may be used to refer to similar items such as spaghetti, penne, or ravioli.
　　12. Particularization.  This is the opposite technique to generalization where a more specific term than the one that appears in the original text is used.  For example, translating “rice” for shinmai (“new rice”) in Japanese.
　　13. Modulation.  This technique changes the point of view of a situation.  For example, one could safely say “You are going to become a father” or “You are going to have a child” to make the same meaning understood.
　　14. Loan word.  Foreign words that are used as they appear with no alterations.  For example, because the word samurai is a legitimate loan word and appears in an English dictionary, it can be used without translation.  Sometimes, spellings may vary according to the target language; for example, kimono in Spanish is written quimono.  One of the presented hypotheses is that this technique is more widely used in “amateur” subtitles, since they are intended for an audience concerned with Japanese culture that may understand a great amount of loan words.
　　15. Omission.  Partial or entire phrases or information are at times omitted from the original text.  Omission is often used in subtitles due to time and space restrictions.
　　16. Substitution.  Linguistic elements are at times replaced by paralinguistic forms of communication.  However, the translator may judge the paralinguistic expression as ambiguous for the target audience and introduce linguistic elements to clarify it.  For example, the subtitle “thank you” can be used when a scene shows a Japanese bowing even if nothing was uttered.
　　17. Transposition.  Grammatical properties are at times altered, often to add emphasis to the meaning.  For example, “he will soon be back” may be transposed as “it won’t be long for him to come back.”  It is frequently used when translating from Japanese because of the use of verbs such as kureru, morau, etc. that are not common in other languages.
　　18. Variation.  By changing linguistic and/or paralinguistic elements, one may more effectively target a certain audience.  For example, a translation of an original text made for scholars may be altered to accommodate children viewers.

3 Mononoke Hime

3-1 Overview
Since this paper deals with several versions of the analyzed film, I use the title in Japanese, Mononoke Hime, to refer to the original version.  Mononoke Hime was directed by Miyazaki Hayao and released in Japan on July 12^th, 1997.  It became the highest grossing Japanese film until 2001, when it was surpassed by Miyazaki ’s next blockbuster anime “Spirited Away” (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi).  Since 1997, Mononoke Hime has won twenty six awards and earned numerous nominations[6]. Mononoke Hime, focuses on ecological issues, which is a recurrent theme in many of Miyazaki ’s films.  

3-2 The Plot and Message of the Film
　　The essential theme of the film Mononoke Hime centers on environmentalism and humanism, and approaches a contemporary problem while incorporating old cultural assets.  It describes the conflict between an expanding society and its adverse effects to the environment.  This film depicts a battle between humans who destroy forests for their own selfish gains, and the gods of nature led by the wolf god Moro and her human daughter Mononoke.
　　The story is set in the Muromachi period (1392-1573), which marked a turning point in Japan’s history as the Japanese began to exploit nature for the sake of intensive agriculture and high population density (Short, 2008)[7].  While most of the evergreen forests had suffered deforestation, Prince Ashitaka and his villagers maintained a livelihood according to the rules of nature, unaware of the industrial developments of neighboring regions.  One day, a demon in the shape of a wild boar god attacks the village and bites Ashitaka, cursing him.  Ashitaka sets off on an epic journey in search for the deer god Shishigami, who is said to be able to destroy the evil growing inside him.  He finally arrives in “Iron Town,” an isolated community presided over by Lady Eboshi, who orders the destruction of the forest for the procurement of iron ore that is used to create weapons, and has also taken under her care lepers and ex-prostitutes.  The gods and animals of the forest, led by the wolf god Moro, fight the humans to protect the last of the forests and its god Shishigami.  Moro has raised a human child, who considers herself as a wolf and fights against the humans, the Mononoke princess.  According to the Sanseido Dictionary of Japanese (1992), mononoke means a cursed person, or a vengeful ghost.
　　On the other hand, the boars want to take revenge for the poisoned demonized boar god, and are planning to attack Iron Town , while Eboshi intends to gain for herself the head of the Shishigami, which is believed to grant immortality.  Ashitaka strives to find a way for humans and nature to coexist peacefully, but Lady Eboshi kills the god Shishigami and the great forest is swept away. 　Eventually, Ashitaka and Mononoke succeed in retrieving the severed head of the god Shishigami and the land flourishes again.  Lady Eboshi, who was wounded by Moro and saved by Ashitaka, vows to rebuild Iron Town along more harmonious lines.
　　Mononoke Hime deals with themes such as love, nature, and the struggle of the weak, which are all recurring themes in Miyazaki ’s work.  He is heavily influenced by Japanese folklore and history, and in this way the film is full of “culturemes” that complicate translations.   Miyazaki has also stated that he makes his films strictly with a Japanese audience in mind[8].  

3-3  The English Version
　　Mononoke Hime was acquired by Disney-Miramax for U.S. distribution and the contract specified that Disney could not make any changes to the film, except dubbing.  Mononoke Princess was presented on October 7^th, 1999 in the Austin Film Festival, and released in cinemas on November 26^th of the same year.
　　The script was rewritten by Neil Gaiman, who worked together with Miyazaki on the screenplay.  Talking about the English script, Gaiman said “I felt my job was to make the dialogue sound natural, free-flowing, as much like contemporary movie dialogue as possible.  I didn’t want there to be any sense that this was a dubbed film and I didn’t want it to sound like typical Japanese animation dialogue.[9]”  Gaiman ended up making some changes and adding some lines in order to explain cultural actions.  He also changed the expressions used by the characters to emphasize their personality in a more familiar way for the target audience.  For example, in the original version, Jigo criticizes a soup he is drinking by saying that it tastes like water.  However, in the English dubbed version he says it tastes “like donkey piss.[10]”

3-4  The Spanish Version
　　The Spanish version was released on April 7^th, 2000, and was also distributed by Disney-Miramax.  La princesa Mononoke was the first of Miyazaki’s films to be released in cinemas in Spain.  Until then, Tonari no Totoro and other works had only been released on DVD for purchase or for rental.  In the DVD, the name(s) of the translator(s) or translating studio does not appear, neither in the Spanish version, nor the English version.  Even in the official copies, the translation work remains anonymous.  Furthermore, the official sites of the film do not offer this information either.

3-5  Analyzed Versions
　 a) English 1.  The official English subtitles of the DVD released by Buena Vista International on August 19^th, 2000.  Translator: anonymous.
　　b) English 2.  “Amateur” subtitling; downloaded from www.allsubs.org[11] on May 12^th, 2008.  Translator: anonymous.
　　c) Spanish 1.  The official Spanish subtitles of the DVD released by Buena Vista International on October 15^th, 2003.  Translator: anonymous.
　　d) Spanish 2.  “Amateur” subtitling; downloaded from www.allsubs.org on April 28^th, 2008.  Translator: anonymous.
　　e) Spanish 3.  “Amateur” subtitling; downloaded from eMule[12] on November 17^th, 2008.  Translator: anonymous.
　　After searching numerous specialized websites[13], I have not been able to find a second version of English “amateur” subtitles.  Therefore, it may be concluded that a different version of “amateur” subtitles does not currently exist in the Internet.

4 Analysis of culturemes

4-1Methodology
　　The first ten minutes of Mononoke Hime will be analyzed based on the classification of culturemes explained in the second chapter, in order to identify culturemes and classify them.  Each cultureme is shown in a table with the different versions of subtitles and the techniques applied.  The analysis is divided according to Molina’s classification of culturemes into four categories as follows:

Natural Environment	Flora, fauna, climate, atmospheric phenomena, landscape, place name, etc.
Cultural Patrimony	Characters (historical and fictitious), historical facts, religion, festivities, popular beliefs, folklore, monuments, fine arts, games, proper names, tools and objects, musical instruments, agricultural and farming techniques, urbanism, military strategies, transportation, etc.
Social Culture	Conventions and social habits, politeness and honorific language, eating manners, dressing and talking, fashion and clothing, moral values, gestures and greetings, etc.
	Social organization: political, legal and educational systems, occupation, calendar, measure units, etc.
Linguistic Culture	Transliterations, proverbs, idioms, accepted metaphors, interjections, curse words, etc.

　　Based on the terminology used by Molina and Hurtado, which has been explained in the second chapter, the translation techniques used in each case will be identified.  In order to identify each of the five versions of subtitles, the following abbreviations will be employed:
　　Jpn. - Original Japanese script.
　　E1 - Official English subtitles from the DVD.
　　E2 - Amateur English subtitles from www.allsubs.org.
　　S1 - Official Spanish subtitles from the DVD.
　　S2 - Amateur Spanish subtitles from www.allsubs.org.
　　S3 - Amateur Spanish subtitles from eMule (www.emule-project.net)
　　C - Culturemes (underlined)
　　Forty four culturemes were found.  Among them, eight were related to the Natural Environment; nineteen to Cultural Patrimony; seven to Social Culture; and ten to Linguistic Culture.  Several examples of culteremes of each category will be explained in detail in the following sections.

4-2 Analysis by category

4-2-1 Natural environment

C4 & C5; time 07.57

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	さて、困った事になった。かのシシは遥か西の国からやって来た。 Sate, komatta koto ni natta.  Kano shishi wa haruka nishi no kuni kara yatte kita.
E1	I'm afraid this is very bad. The stones tell me the boar god came from far to the west.	Substitution C4. Amplification C5. Generalization
E2	This is very, very bad. The boar-spirit came from far to the west.	C4. Amplification C5. Generalization
S1	Esto es muy grave. Las piedras me dicen que el espíritu jabalí vino del lejano oeste.	Substitution C4. Amplification C5. Generalization
S2	Creo que tengo malas noticias. Las piedras me dicen que el dios jabalí vino de muy lejos en el oeste.	Substitution C4. Amplification C5. Generalization
S3	Bien... es una situación preocupante. El jabalí llegó de las lejanas tierras del oeste.	Accepted equivalence Literal translation

　　In this scene, Hiisama is moving around what seems to be magic stones: E1, S1, and S2 have converted this act into an utterance.  Therefore, the substitution technique was applied.  Translators seem confused by the nature of the boar character in C4 and find it necessary to clarify that it is not just a normal animal, but a kind of god.  Kuni, used in C5, is usually translated as “country;” however, it can also be translated as “land” (tierra).

C6; time 07.57

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	深傷の毒に気ふれ、身体はくさり、走り走る内に呪いを集め、タタリ神になってしまったのだ。 Fukade no doku ni kifure, karada wa kusari, hashiri hashiru uchi ni noroi wo atsume, Tatari-gami ni natte shimatta no da.
E1	He had some kind of a poison inside him driving him mad, a poisonous hatred that consumed his heart and flesh and turned him into a demon monster.	Amplification
E2	A poison within him goaded him on, rotting his flesh, drawing evil as he ran, making a monster of him.	Particularization
S1	El veneno le aguijoneaba y le volvió loco, un odio ponzoñoso lo convirtió en monstruo y demonio.	Omission
S2	Tenía un veneno dentro de él, que lo volvía furioso, un odio venenoso que le consumía el corazón y la carne y que lo convirtió en un mounstruo endemoniado.	Amplification
S3	Enloquecido por el veneno de sus heridas mortales, su carne se deshizo.  Corrió y corrió hasta llegar aquí; acumulando maldiciones, hasta que finalmente se convirtió en Tatari-gami.	Particularization

　　Karada means “body” (cuerpo); however, instead of using this single word, surprisingly most of the translators have chosen a longer expression.  E1 and S2 use the same expression “heart and flesh” (el coraz?n y la carne); while E2 and S3 both read “flesh” (carne).

4-2-2 Cultural Patrimony

C9; time: 00.30

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	もののけ姫 Mononoke Hime
E1	Mononoke　Princess	Loan word
E2	Mononoke　Princess	Loan word
S1	La Princesa Mononoke	Loan word
S2	La Princesa Mononoke	Loan word
S3	La Princesa Mononoke	Loan word

　　The title of the film itself is a problematic cultureme.  There is no equivalent signifier for mononoke in neither English nor Spanish.  Mononoke means a cursed person, or a vengeful ghost.  However these expressions may have been considered unsuitable for the title of an animation film, thus the term was used as it is with no changes.  It may be that since the first released official English translation used this loan word, the film became known as Mononoke Princess, and later translations maintained this term.

C10 & C11; time: 00.30

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	昔、この国は深い森におおわれ、そこには太古からの神々が住んでいた。 Mukashi, kono kuni wa fukai mori ni ooware, soko ni wa taiko kara no kamigami ga sundeita.
E1	In ancient times, a land lay covered in forests where, from ages long past dwelt the spirits of the gods.  Back then, man and beast lived in harmony. But as time went by, most of the great forests were destroyed. Those that remained were guarded　by gigantic beasts who owed their allegiance　to the great forest spirit　for those were the days of gods　and of demons.	C10. Generalization C11. Amplification Amplification
E2	In ancient times the land lay covered in forest where from ages long past dwelt the spirits of the gods.	C10. Generalization C11. Amplification
S1	Hace mucho tiempo, la tierra estaba cubierta de bosques, en los que vivían los espíritus de los dioses.	C10. Generalization C11. Reduction and amplification
S2	Hace muchos años, la tierra estaba cubierta por bosques, donde, en épocas pasadas, se alojaron los esp?ritus de los dioses.  Por mucho tiempo, hombres y bestias vivieron en armonía, pero el tiempo pasó y la mayor parte de los grandes bosques fueron destruidos. Bestias gigantescas cuidaron de los bosques que sobrevivieron, quienes guardaban lealtad al Gran Espíritu del Bosque, aquellos eran dias de demonios y dioses.	C10. Generalization C11. Amplification Amplification
S3	Hace muchos años, esta tierra estaba cubierta por frondosos bosques. En estos bosques vivían los dioses de la antigūedad.	C10. Literal translation C11. Literal translation

　　Kuni in C10 is translated as “land” (tierra) but only S3 includes the specification of kono (esta).  The amplification of information of E1 is very noticeable.  It is a transcription of the text of the dubbed English version and it could be inserted without disturbing the action of the film because there were a few seconds with a long panoramic scene of a landscape with no action or words.   As for C11, the translations in E1, E2 and S2 use the expression “spirits of the gods” (esp?ritus de los dioses), even though the original reads kamigami (“gods”).  This may be related to the different approaches to nature and divinity held by Eastern and Western cultures.

C24; C25; C26 & C27; time 09.30

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	大和との戦さに敗れ、この地に潜んでから五百有余年. 今や大和の王の力は萎え、将軍共の牙も折れたと聞く。 だが、我が一族の血もまた衰えた。この時に、一族の長となるべき若者が西へ旅立つのは定めかもしれぬ。 Yamato to no ikusa ni yabure, kono chi ni hisonde kara gohyaku yūyo nen.  Imaya Yamato no ō no chikara wa nae, shogun domo no kiba mo oreta to kiku.  Daga, waga ichizoku no chi mo mata otoreta.  Kono toki ni, ichozoku no osa to naru beki wakamono ga nishi e tabidatsu no wa sadame kamo shirenu.
E1	We are the last of the Emishi.  It’s 500 years since the emperor destroyed our tribe and drove the remnants of our people to the east. Some managed to survive here for all these years, but the blood of our tribe has grown thinner and weaker with each generation.  Now our last prince must cut his hair and leave us, never to return? Sometimes I think the gods are laughing at us.	C24. Omission C25. Particularization C26. Omission Amplification C27. Particularization and substitution. Amplification
E2	More than 500 years have gone since the Mikado drove us into this land.  Now we hear how his power fades and the fangs of his Shoguns are broken.  But the blood of our tribe likewise grows thin.  And now, bitter fate, the youth who was one day to lead us must journey far to the west.	C24. Omission C25. Loan word C26. Loan word C27. Literal translation
S1	Somos los últimos Amishi, el emperador destruyó nuestra tribu y nos empujó hacia el este. Algunos hemos logrado sobrevivir aquí. Pero la sangre de nuestra tribu también se debilita. Y ahora, nuestro último príncipe debe partir para no volver jamás.  A veces pienso que los dioses se burlan de nosotros.	C24. Omission C25. Particularization C26. Omission Amplification C27. Particularization Amplification
S2	Somos todo lo que queda de la tribu Emishi.  Han pasado 500 años desde que el Emperador la destruyó y condujo a los sobrevivientes de nuestra gente al este.  Algunos pudimos sobrevivir aquí por todos estos años, pero la sangre de nuestra tribu se ha ido volviendo cada vez más débil con cada generación. Ahora nuestro último Príncipe debe cortar su cabello y dejarnos para nunca volver. A veces pienso que los dioses se burlan de nosotros.	C24. Omission C25. Particularization C26. Omission Amplification C27. Particularization and substitution. Amplification
S3	Vencidos en la guerra contra el régimen de Yamato llevamos escondidos en este lugar más de 500 años. Ahora sabemos que el poder del rey Yamato se marchita.  Incluso los colmillos de los Shogun se rompen.  Cierto, la línea de sangre de nuestro clan también se debilita.  Quizá sea imposible cambiar el destino, ahora que el joven destinado a ser nuestro líder, tiene que partir al oeste.	C24. Literal translation C25. Literal translation C26. Loan word C27. Literal translation

　　This is certainly the most freely translated portion of the analyzed script.  For instance, there is no reference to “Emishi” (E1, S1 and S2) in the original text.  Furthermore, though S1 is the official subtitling, there is a typographical error as “Amishi” should be spelled Emishi.  Moreover, these versions (E1, S1 and S2) do delete the mentioning of the king of Yamato and his shoguns growing weak but instead add that some of the Emishi have survived.  The translators go as far as to create additional lines that are not mentioned in the original script.  S2 omits the war against the Yamato and thus, E2 and S3 seem to present the most accurate translations.  Yamato (C24) is omitted in all translations but S3, while Yamato no ? (C25) is translated as “emperor” (emperador) in E1, S1 and S2.  Surprisingly, E2 uses the term Mikado, a loan word that does not appear in the original script. Although it can be found in English dictionaries it may be difficult to understand by the target audience.
　　The reference Shogun (C26) is omitted in E1, S1 and S2, but appears as a loan word in E2 and S3, which may be considered understandable by the target audience.  The cultural reference osa (C27) or “head leader” is amplified by the mentioning of Ashitaka being the last leader of the tribe. The fact of him being considered as a prince is not mentioned.  This interpretation is shared by the E1, S1 and S2 translations.  There is also a substitution in order to clarify Ashitaka’s action of cutting his hair in E1 and S2.  In the Japanese culture this symbolizes his departure from the group and that he will leave and never return.  By verbalizing this act, it becomes more understandable for the target audience.  Both E2 and S3 present a literal translation of C27.

4-2-3 Social Culture

C29; time 01.50

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	ヒイ様が、みな村へ戻れと Hiisama ga, mina mura he modore to
E1	The wisewoman wants everybody back to the village at once.	Discursive creation
E2	Oracle says to get back to the village.	Discursive creation
S1	La Anciana dice que volvamos a la aldea.	Discursive creation
S2	La adivina quiere que todos volvamos|a la aldea.	Discursive creation
S3	Hii-sama dice que todos deben volver a la aldea.	Loan word

　　Hiisama is an old honorific form to refer to a princess or a noble woman.  Therefore, most of the translations are discursive creations, such as “wisewoman,” “oracle,” anciana (“elderly woman”) and adivina (“oracle”).  As before, S3 uses a loan word, which may even be misunderstood as a proper name.

C 30; time 06.52

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	いずこよりいまし、荒ぶる神とは存ぜぬも、かしこみ、かしこみ申す. Izuko yori imashi, araburu kami to wa zonzenu mo, kashikomi, kashikomi mōsu.
E1	O nameless god of rage and hate, I bow before you.	Substitution
E2	O raging god unknown to us, I bow before you.	Substitution
S1	Dios sin nombre de furia y odio, me inclino ante ti.	Substitution
S2	Dios desconocido de la furia y el odio, me inclino ante ti.	Substitution
S3	A pesar de no saber su procedencia, dios encolerizado me inclino y le hablo respetuosamente.	Substitution and accepted equivalence

　　This is also an honorific form usually employed when referring to a god; and it amounts for “I speak to you respectfully”.  Hiisama utters this line to the fallen boar.  Therefore, S3 is the most accurate translation, though it adds, as the others, the verbalization of the bow.

C33 & C34; time 10.16

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	掟に従い見送らぬ。健やかにあれ。 Okite ni shitagai miokuranu.  Sukoyaka ni are.
E1	Our laws forbid us from watching you go, Ashitaka. Whatever comes to pass now, you are dead to us forever.  Farewell.	C33. Transposition Amplification C34. Adaptation
E2	The law forbids that we watch as you go. Farewell.	C33. Transposition C34. Adaptation
S1	La ley nos prohíbe verte partir. Adiós.	C33. Transposition C34. Reduction
S2	Nuestras leyes nos prohiben mirar tu camino, Ashitaka.  Cualquier cosa que ocurra ahora, estarás muerto para nosotros.  Adiós.	C33. Transposition Amplification C34. Reduction
S3	De acuerdo con nuestras reglas, no debemos verte partir.  Que tengas suerte.	C33. Literal translation C34. Adaptation

　　In C33　the original amounts for “according to the law, we may not see you off;” and therefore, there is a transposition that changes the grammatical category.  On the other hand, S3 keeps the original grammatical category.
　　Once again, E1 and S2 make the same amplification.  In regard to C34, Sukoyaka ni are is a greeting often used for children or departing friends, in order to wish them health and luck.  Therefore, “farewell” and que tengas suerte (“good luck”) can be considered an adaptation.  However, adiós (“goodbye”) does not reflect the meaning of this greeting and therefore there is a reduction.

4-2-4 Linguistic Culture

C38; time 06.15

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	ヒイ様を早く。 Hiisama wo hayaku.
E1	Fetch the wisewoman!	Amplification
E2	Bring Oracle!	Amplification
S1	¡Llamad a la anciana!	Amplification
S2	¡Traigan a la adivina!	Amplification
S3	¡Traigan a Hii-sama, vamos!	Amplification

　　When the boar has fallen and Ashitaka is wounded a man utters this line.  In Japanese it is very common to omit grammatical elements, and in this case even the verb is elliptical.  The translators have interpreted by the context that the elliptical verb was “fetch,” “bring” (traigan ) and llamad (“call”).

C41; time 07.57

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	さて、困った事になった。 Sate, komatta koto ni natta.
E1	I'm afraid this is very bad.	Omission
E2	This is very, very bad.	Omission
S1	Esto es muy grave.	Omission
S2	Creo que tengo malas noticias.	Omission
S3	Bien... es una situación preocupante.	Accepted equivalence

　　Interjections are usually omitted in subtitles, since they do not add relevant meaning to the text.  

C44; time 09.30

Source	Text	Technique
Jap.	今や大和の王の力は萎え、将軍共の牙も折れたと聞く。 Imaya Yamato no ou no chikara wa nae, shogundomo no kiba mo oreta to kiku.
E1	We are the last of the Emishi.	Omission
E2	Now we hear how his power fades and the fangs of his Shoguns are broken.	Literal translation
S1	Somos los últimos Amishi.	Omission
S2	Somos todo lo que queda de la tribu Emishi.	Omission
S3	Ahora sabemos que el poder del rey Yamato se marchita. Incluso los colmillos de los Shogun se rompen.	Literal translation

　　Kiba mo oreta is a metaphor that can be interpreted as “growing weak.”  However, the “amateur” translators that have mentioned this reference have translated it literally here.

5 Results of the analysis
　　After summarizing the main characteristics of each translation according to the category of the cultureme, I will contrast the techniques. Subsequently, in order to prove if there is any relation among the English and the Spanish subtitles, I will compare the various versions.  Finally, I will also make a comparison between professional and “amateur” subtitles.

5-1 Outstanding characteristics:

E1
　　E1 uses medium length subtitles; however, amplification was used fifteen times, some of which were very long.  By observing the amplified text, it can be stated that E1 is based on the dubbed version of the film, since the amplified information of the subtitles appears in the English dubbed version.  Amplification was the most commonly used technique, followed by omissions (seven), which include one reduction.  Only once were literal translation and loan word used.  Therefore, it can be stated that E1 is orientated to a wide target audience, since it uses familiar concepts and easily understandable expressions.  Thus, there is a “domestication” of the original.

E2
　　E2 has the shortest text, though it manages not to omit so much information; four omissions and one reduction.  It is very accurate, and therefore, the most used techniques were accepted equivalence and literal translation.  It also uses loan words three times, however not all of them appear in the original script, such is the case of Mikado.  It is clearly created from the original Japanese, since there are no distinctive similarities with E1 or other subtitles.  It is accurate and easy to read; and, in spite of the loan words, it can probably be understood by the average target audience.

S1
　　S1 presents fairly short subtitled text, using very simple words, with no “foreign” concepts.  As it is the official subtitling of the DVD, it is intended for a wide audience, especially having in mind the children of the target culture.  This may be related to the idea held in Spain that animation is primarily for children.
　　There are nine amplifications, eight omissions, and six generalizations, making these the most used techniques.  There is only one case of literal translation, and another of loan word.  There are several coincidences with E1, but it is not a mere copy; S1 was probably created based on the Japanese original while checking the English official subtitles.

S2
　　S2 presents the most “domesticated” text, since it has fifteen amplifications, seven generalizations, six adaptations and eight omissions that include two reductions.  In contrast to this, it only has one literal translation, one loan word, and three accepted equivalences.  Therefore, amplification and omission were the most used techniques.  However, the most outstanding aspect of this translation is that it is almost an exact copy of E1.  This is especially obvious in the amplifications (C10-11, C24-27, C33-34 and such others), since it cannot be a coincidence that the exact same lines were freely added.  Therefore, one may suppose that S2 was released based on E1 before the official Spanish subtitles were created.

S3
　　S3 is a paradigm of “foreignization”.  It has up to sixteen literal translations, eight loan words and eight accepted equivalences.  It only presents two omissions, one amplification, two adaptations and one substitution.  The differences with S2 are, therefore, obvious.  S3 presents medium length subtitles, which try to reflect up to the most detailed nuances, such as in C31 (Ashitaka Hikoya ? Mi querido Ashitaka-hiko).  The repeated use of loan words may be seen as an accurate translation by an audience that is very familiar with the Japanese culture and its language.  However, the average audience will probably feel confused, since the legibility and readability of the subtitles may be perceived as poor.  

5-2 Techniques according to the category of cultureme:　　
　　According to the category of cultureme, the following were the most used techniques:
　　- Natural Environment.  Generalization, which appeared fifteen times; followed by amplification (eight) and particularization (seven).
　　- Cultural Patrimony.  Amplification and omission (including reduction technique) appeared eighteen times each.  Literal translation also appeared seventeen times.
　　-  Social Culture.  There was a great variety of techniques used in this category; however, the most significant were adaptation (seven) and amplification (five).
　　- Linguistic Culture.  Accepted equivalence was used fourteen times, followed by omission (thirteen) and amplification (eight).  It must be taken into account that examples of interjection, which are rarely reflected in subtitles, have been included in this category.  Therefore the omission technique seems more significant than what it really is.

Technique	Category				Total
	Natural Environment	Cultural Patrimony	Social Culture	Linguistic Culture
Generalization	14	8	3	0	25
Amplification	8	19	5	8	40
Particularization	7	6	0	6	19
Accepted equivalence	5	8	1	14	28
Literal translation	4	9	2	3	18
Omission	1	16	1	13	31
Adaptation	0	9	7	3	19

　　There seems to be a relation between the cultureme’s category and the translation technique.  For example, generalization was used fourteen times in the Natural Environment category, but none in the Linguistic Culture category.  Cultural and linguistic culturemes have been often omitted; however, natural and social culturemes tend to be maintained.  The most widely used technique is amplification, and its use is especially significant in the cultural patrimony category.  This category’s culturemes seem to be the most problematic, since there was a noticeable use of amplification and omission.
　　However, the number of culturemes analyzed in each category differs, thus, these data are not conclusive.  It would be necessary to analyze the entire film, and then classify the techniques proportionally to the number of culturemes that appear in each category.

5-3 Techniques according to the target language:

Technique	English	Spanish
Amplification	18	25
Accepted equivalence	13	14
Omission	12	24
Generalization	12	15
Literal translation	7	19
Loan words	4	10

　　Based on the target language, the following are the most noticeable differences:
　　-　Accepted equivalence was proportionally more often used in English subtitles.  Three versions of Spanish subtitles, while only two English versions, were analyzed.  Therefore, the proportion is higher in the English text.
　　-  Omission was much more common in Spanish subtitles.
　　-  Literal translation and loan words were more frequent in Spanish subtitles.
　　-  Spanish subtitles are not necessarily based on the English text.

5-4 Official versus “Amateur”
　　This investigation does not aim to find out which are the “correct” subtitles, since as it was explained in the first chapter, the approach that advocates for a unique correct equivalence for a signifier is impossible to attain.  On the contrary, this present research is a descriptive analysis that aims to compare and infer the translation approach taken in the diverse subtitled texts.
　　In the official subtitles amplification was the most used technique (24 cases); followed by omission, with nineteen cases.  On the other hand, loan words and literal translations were very few, two and three cases respectively.  In several culturemes, official subtitles shared the same technique, thus they are homogeneous in style and translation approach.
　　Literal translation was, however, the most used technique in the “amateur” subtitles with 21 cases, followed by amplification (nineteen cases).  Omission was also common, with sixteen cases, and so were loan words (twelve cases).  The amateur subtitles show a greater diversity.  E2 is brief and accessible to the target audience, while using “foreignizing” expressions.  S2 is very similar to the official English subtitles, hence, presents a “domesticating” approach.  Finally, S3 is the most “foreignizing” text, thus intended for a specific target audience that can understand and enjoy this “original taste.”

Technique	Official	Amateur
Amplification	24	19
Omission	19	16
Generalization	13	14
Accepted equivalence	10	18
Literal translation	3	21
Loan word	2	12

　　Once again, it must not be forgotten that this comparison deals with only two official subtitles, and three amateur texts.  However, the differences are still outstanding:
　　-  The official subtitles use amplification, omission and generalization extensively; hence, there is a “domestication” focused on the target audience.  These texts maximize the legibility and readability, as Karamitroglou states subtitles should do (see Chapter One).
　　-  The “amateurs” make a wide use of accepted equivalence, literal translation and loan word. These are “foreignization” techniques, focused on the original text.
　　According to Toury’s preliminary norm, it can be stated that official subtitles choose “acceptability” in the target culture; while amateur ones choose “adequacy” to the original culture.

Conclusions
　　As it has been stated in the Introduction, based on the existing translation theories, the culturemes that appear in Mononoke Hime have been analyzed in order to:
　　- Inquire into the image of the Japanese culture presented through subtitles;
　　- Ascertain the ethnocentric approach of theory and practice of translation;
　　- Introduce the translation work released through the Internet, which remains anonymous and unattended by translation studies.
　　These are certainly three wide aims that have not been investigated in depth.  However, this work is the starting point for further investigations that should delve deeper into each of these objectives.
　　In the first chapter, the ongoing debate in translation between message (“domestication”) and form (“foreignization”) has been presented.  The translator must decide whether to make the text acceptable for the target audience, or to make it adequate (or loyal) to the original source.  Through the analysis, it has been shown that the official subtitles tend to prioritize the message, while the “amateur” subtitles prioritize the form.
　　This point brings us to the polysystem theory, according to which what texts and how are they translated are decisions related to other systems, such as the economic and social ones.  Since all the systems are connected, the segmentation of the audience and the product released is not a decision of the translator.  According to Toury, these decisions are the norms that govern the translation process.  However, the translations uploaded to the Internet are in some way free of these rules, and intend to fill the gaps left by the official activity.  For example, in the Internet one can find products that are not yet supplied by the official market, or that may never be released.  Various versions of subtitles that differ from those officially produced can also be found, etc.
　　Lefevere stated that translation is also contaminated by ethnocentrism.  This has also been proven by showing that the official Spanish subtitles were influenced by the English version, and that one of the Spanish “amateur” subtitles (S2) was a direct copy from the English text.  It would be very interesting to contact the translators in order to verify the method used; however, since all the work was anonymous this has not been possible.  Furthermore, the definition of translations techniques (second chapter) also seems to be based on the translation of Western languages, since techniques such as linguistic compression or extension are not suitable for translations that deal with languages of very different grammar, lexicon and structure, such as the Japanese language. 
　　The formal aspects of the analyzed subtitles were very homogenous and agreed with Karamitroglou’s parameters.  Therefore, it may be inferred that “amateur” subtitles of anime and drama are more creative, while, in the case of films, they are formally very similar to official subtitles.
　　In order to approach the cultural elements of Mononoke Hime this analysis is based on the functionalist concept of cultureme and Molina’s category classification. Cultureme is a dynamic concept that includes not only verbal expressions, but also cultural concepts.  This is very important when analyzing a culture distant from the Western ones, such as the Japanese culture, since the target audience may also misunderstand attitudes and gestures. 
　　As for Molina’s classification, it is very useful for its simplicity; however, it may be considered vague for analyzing Japanese culture.  For example, the cultural patrimony category is extremely wide; and therefore, the analysis of used techniques according to the category proved to be ambiguous.  This category includes too many different elements, such as history, mythology, politics, or customs that are translated with different approaches.  For example, mythological and religious culturemes tend to be adapted, while historical ones are commonly amplified. 
　　Furthermore, in Mononoke Hime, the guns and the aggressive development that is destroying nature, the new system that ignores the millennial costumes and such; it all comes from the West.  Is this a mere coincidence?  One may also see it as an allegory to Japanese culture and its relation with Western civilization.  It would be very interesting to research deeply into these kinds of cultural elements.  Thus, the first objective of analyzing the image of the Japanese culture presented abroad was not satisfactorily accomplished, since it would be necessary to classify the culturemes in more specific categories. 
　　Though such elements were not investigated in depth, the general approach taken in subtitling this kind of film has been clarified by this investigation.  The following are the conclusions to those aims and hypothesis that were brought forward in the introduction:
　　Objective 1:  To find out the most widely used translation technique.  Ascertain which elements of the Japanese culture are represented abroad and in which way.
　　- Hypothesis 1.1:  There is a relation between the category of the cultureme and the technique used. Hypothesis 1.1 has been confirmed.  In the category of natural environment, generalization was the most utilized technique; while in cultural patrimony it was amplification; in social culture it was adaptation; and in linguistic culture it was accepted equivalence.  Therefore, it can be concluded that cultural patrimony and social culture are the most problematic categories, since there was a need to add explanation to the cultural concepts or adapt them to the target audience.  Especially cultural patrimony recorded the highest number of cases of omission, which means that the translator found those culturemes difficult to translate or not significant for the target audience in order to easily comprehend the film.
　　- Hypothesis 1.2:  Omission and adaptation are the most utilized techniques.  Omission was indeed the second most used technique; however, adaptation stands in the fifth position.  In general, the analyzed translations have preferred to amplify the information, rather than adapting it.  Adaptation may be more frequent in the translation of literature; however in a film subtitles must be consistent with the images, which are very powerful in transmitting information.  For example, when Hiisama speaks devotedly to the fallen boar, it would be possible to adapt this religious attitude to a more familiar Christian discourse.  However, this would obviously contrast with her gestures, posture, clothing, attitude, etc. that are shown by the images.  
　　Objective 2:  To establish differences among the various versions of subtitles.  For this purpose, the different translation procedures conducted in different languages and formats were analyzed.
　　- Hypothesis 2.1:  The techniques used in the official subtitles differ from those used by the “amateur” translators.
　　- Hypothesis 2.2:  The official subtitles tend to “domesticate” the original product in order to make it more accessible to the audience.
　　- Hypothesis 2.3:  The amateur subtitles tend to “foreignize” the subtitles, by maintaining the original concepts.
　　These three hypotheses have been confirmed.  As explained in chapter 5, the techniques utilized in official and “amateur” translations greatly differ.  Official subtitles tend to “domesticate” the text, while “amateur” translations tend to “foreignize” it.  Internet subtitles can be translated more freely, since they do not need to follow the impositions of the DVD producer, nor is it necessary to adapt them to a wide audience.  Since there is no economic reward, the amateur translators can choose the target audience they have in mind when translating.  Therefore, the Internet empowers a segmentation of the audience that the official subtitles cannot afford.
　　- Hypothesis 2.4:  The Spanish subtitles have been influenced by the English ones.  Hypothesis 2.4 has also been confirmed, but only partially.  The official Spanish subtitles have several similarities with the English version, thus, there has been an influence.  The “amateur” subtitles S2 were clearly a copy of the English official version, while, S3 has proven to be totally independent.  It can be stated that the translation practice in Spain is ethnocentric, because it sometimes makes use of the English language as an intermediary for non-Western languages.  In Spain , film subtitling seems to be considered a second class translation; therefore, the work is underestimated, and the working conditions are poor.  However, the analyzed subtitles prove that there are competent professional translators in Spain .  Furthermore, considering the importation of Japanese cinema and other audiovisual products, and the boom of Chinese and Korean cinema, there is a clear necessity of professional translators that can handle non-Western languages.
　　In conclusion, the representation of Japanese cultural elements in subtitling has been described, though not deeply explained.  It has also been verified that official subtitles are affected by other economic and social factors, and contaminated by ethnocentrism.  Finally, the great variety of subtitles that is provided through the Internet has been introduced, while proving that the quality of “amateur” subtitling is not necessarily lower than that of the official texts.

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