Rónán Déiseach

MA Translation Studies

University College Cork

                            

 A tale of ham and equivalence

An exploration of the translation of vulgarities and the language of sex in Bigas Luna’s Jamón Jamón: A Tale of Ham and Passion

 Introduction

Few directors of post-Franco Spain have been as influential as Pedro Almodóvar and Bigas Luna. Both have attempted to deal with the country’s troublesome past and torturous issues of identity by forcing Spanish audiences to examine their newfound obsessions with materialism, drugs and sex, obsessions typical of a first world economy which had spent its formative years as a reclusive and repressive military dictatorship.

Themes such as prostitution, homosexuality and drug addiction were uncomfortable issues for a Spanish society which, up until 1975, brutally repressed political and personal freedom, and where cinema had been reduced to a vehicle for the Falange to promote its Catholic reactionary dogma (see De la Guardia, R. 2008). Their films’ themes of morality and sexuality in post dictatorship Spain continued to shock and ignite fierce discussion and debate and their trademark treatment of the most marginalised members of society became a staple of the cultural landscape which has dominated Spain since the late 1970s (see D’Lugo, M. 2006). Indeed they have also garnered critical acclaim outside of Spain culminating in an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1999 with Todo Sobre Mi Madre for Almodóvar, and the Golden Lion for Luna in 1992 with Jamón Jamón: A Tale of Ham and Passion.

Bigas Luna, an aspiring artist and graphic designer from Barcelona, made his first forays into film in the late 1970s with titles such as Bilbao (1978), Reborn (1981) and Anguish (1987). Like Almodóvar, Bigas Luna attempted to portray a Spanish society that was struggling to come to terms with its new found freedom. Indeed many of his characters, e.g. Javier Bardem’s sexually ambitious young men in Jamón Jamón and Huevos de Oro would feel at home in an Almodovaresque setting. This comparison, however, may be described as superficial. Despite Lunas’ penchant and skill for portraying characters on the fringes of society (strippers, prostitutes, single mothers) and his fascination with the trivialities of the lives of rural Spaniards, the two directors shared little in common. While it may be said that Almodóvar’s attitude to post dictatorship Spain was of urgency to deal with repressed issues of the past and a form of total immersion in cultural subgenres that were previously regarded as taboo, Luna was apprehensive about these issues. Without even for a single frame of one of his films advocating any form ‘Franco-nostalgia’, he subtly suggested that Spain’s newfound freedom was in fact more detrimental to its transmission to democracy than beneficial:

‘Luna’s films are more extreme than Almodóvar’s, mainly because they are populated not by emancipated lovers but by emotionally stunted characters whose sexuality turns pathological [...] Luna also seems to question whether Spain’s shift to democracy and consumerism was really as liberating as presumed.’ (The Guardian. 2013)

Moreover even though Luna and Almodóvar’s characters embrace their sexuality, its effects are profoundly different in the films of both directors. Sexuality is shown to be a vehicle for emancipation in many of Almodóvar’s heroines (see Smith, P. 1994), whereas for Luna’s male leads, their insatiable sexual appetites ultimately lead to their downfall.

What is of particular interest to this author is the manner in which references to sexuality in Almodóvar’s and Luna’s films have been translated for an English speaking audience. Substantial data exists on the translation of Pedro Almodóvar’s films. Certain critics blame instances of calque and literal translation for some his films’ poor performance abroad and for accusations of misogyny and glorification of drug abuse that have been levelled against him (see D’Lugo, M. 2006). Very little data exists, however, on the translation of Bigas Luna’s extensive body of work. Although the subject matter and themes of his Iberian trilogy, Jamón Jamón: A Tale of Ham and Passsion (1992), Huevos de Oro (1993) and La Teta y la Luna (1994), are the focus of many academic papers and books (see Pisano, I. 2001, Berthier, N et al. 2001), Luna has not yet been of great concern to the field of translation. Indeed the names of those who translated his films could not be traced by the author.

The particular focus of this paper will be the complications which have arisen from the translation from Spanish to English of Jamón Jamón, with special attention given to vulgarities and terms related to sexuality. This will then be re-examined in a broader context, using a contrastive analysis with the translation of the films of Pedro Almodóvar. Of the data compiled and presented in this work, all translations from Jamón Jamón have been recorded by the author, and the specific examples which will be studied here have been chosen because of their significance as examples of adherence to or absence of dynamic equivalence in translation, as outlined by Eugene Nida. The data pertaining to the translation of the films of Pedro Almodóvar is taken entirely from the doctoral thesis of Maria Rox Barasoain (2008) of the University of León, Spain. Barasoain’s thesis references each of Almodóvar’s films, however for the purpose and scope of this paper, the author has focused on six:

1.      Todo sobre mi madre (1999)

2.      Carne Trémula (1997)

3.      ¡Átame! (1990)

4.      Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)

5.      ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (1984)

6.      Laberinto de Pasiones (1982)

As mentioned, the frequency of references to sex and vulgarity is very high in the films of Almodóvar and Luna. The translation of individual vulgarities such as follar, mierda, poya, coño, culo, various other curse-words, descriptions of sexual positions and references to the female anatomy could each warrant a research paper, however again due to a limitation of resources, and the limited scope of this paper, the author has decided to focus on the frequency of these vulgarities in specific clusters. For example where they are used idiomatically, or where their translation/transposition is of interest to the focus of this paper. These clusters have been organised by the author based on the themes which they reference most profoundly in Jamón Jamón and the six films of Almodóvar which have been included. They are:

1.      Abuse

2.      Prostitution

3.      Masculinity

4.      Sex

Throughout this exploration, the author will attempt to analyse the translation of Jamón Jamón within the framework of Eugene Nida’s model of grammatical analysis, and his theory of the process of semantic analysis of referential meaning, as outlined in Nida’s Science of Translation (1969).

Abuse

Perhaps the most frequently used insult throughout Jamón Jamón is Hijo de Puta, translated as either Bitch or Bastard, generally depending on the gender of the person at whom the insult is directed. The author has noted the following three incidents of note where the insult is used:

6:46 ¡Borracho hijo de puta! (La Madre Puta)	You drunken son of a bitch!
7:21 ¡Hija de puta! (Silvia’s father)	You bitch!
41:26 ¡Hijos de puta! (Overseer)	Two sons of bitches!

The first instances are taken from the argument between Silvia’s mother and father. Silvia’s mother (credited merely as ‘Madre Puta[1]’) scorns her husband for his attempts to rejoin the family and he retorts. The translation of Hijo de puta in this case is accurate. One could argue that Bastard may have worked in order to appeal to a broader English speaking audience, however although not used frequently in the vernacular of Irish and English audiences, son of a bitch is certainly recognisable. Indeed the translation of hija de puta is made even more accurate by the fact that a literal translation, daughter of a bitch/whore, is not said and thus would not be well received by an English speaking audience, regardless of the variety. This is perhaps the only example from Jamón Jamón where a literal translation effectively communicates the source message, it maintains the formal features of the source text while also remaining true to the intended utterance (See Nida. E, 1969, Page 486).

Interestingly, the first and last examples from above maintain the same syntactic structures in the target text as the source text. In line with Nida’s model of grammatical analysis, the noun, hijo has been translated as son. Nida stated that in complex expressions, although verbs do not always need to be rendered literally, they become:

‘...the basis for transfer into the receptor language, on a level at which the relationship between the constituent parts is expressed in the clearest and least ambiguous manner’ (Nida. E, 1969: Page 485)

In this case, hijo becomes the constituent part of the idiom and has been literally, although effectively, translated. The translator has still, however, recognised the morphological complexity of puta.

Conversely there are examples in Jamón Jamón where bastard is perhaps used incorrectly or, as is the case in the second example below, not used at all when it would be an appropriate translation:

14:25 ¡Pero qué dijiste hijo de puta! (José Luis)	What did you say bastard!
41:37 ¡Cabrones! (Overseer)	Not translated

In the first example, while urinating outside of Silvia’s mother’s bar, José Luis jokingly responds to his friends when one of them goads him about his inability to stand up to his father. In the source text it is evident from José Luis’ tone that he is being playful, whereas in the target text this is not clear, and an element of malice is introduced which does not exist in the original. The morphological and contextual complexity of hijo de puta has been entirely ignored (see Nida, E. 1969 .Page 486). The translator has misinterpreted Luna’s intent and ignores the fact that terms such as hijo de puta, cabron, coño and even maricon can be expressed playfully and as terms of endearment when used among friends. Barosain made a similar observation in the translation of dialogue between Agrado and Manuela in Todo sobre mi madre (1999) where Agrado casually refers to Manuela as hija de puta in an entirely non-insulting way:

‘But some people do use it (hijo de puta) in jest or to praise somebody for being lucky, for instance. The same could be said of the target culture: ostensibly insulting expressions can be used when addressing a close friend in a well-meaning and affectionate way. Indeed, in Todo sobre mi madre, it is mostly the character of Agrado who utters well meaning expressions. The TT displays again the word “bitch” which achieves the equivalent effect of the ST.’ (Barasoain, M. 2008: Page 191)

While it is perhaps the case in this scene of Jamón Jamón that the translator wishes to maintain the source text ambiguity, a pillar of formal equivalence (see Hatim. B et al. 2004: Page 41), the ambiguity itself is perhaps overstated, and as such there is a significant loss in the target text. According to Nida’s process of semantic analysis (1969), this kind of loss takes place when the potentially large domain of small lexical units is ignored. The end result is that the effect of the target text becomes much stronger than the source text.

Prostitution

Prostitutes are among the most prolific female leads in all of the works of both Almodóvar and Luna. However the Spanish translation of prostitute is rarely used when compared to the frequency of use of the word puta, of which an accurate translation would be whore, or, when not being used to refer to a sex worker, slut. The word’s connotation is particularly difficult to ascertain in the works of Almodóvar. Many of the female protagonists, who themselves are prostitutes, refer to themselves casually as putas, however rarely give themselves the politically correct and certainly less derogatory title of prostituta. For example Cristal in Que he hecho yo para merecer esto (1984) and Agrado in Todo sobre mi madre (1999):

-Luego dejé el camión y me hice puta. (Agrado)

Then I gave up the truck and bécame a whore.

(Barasoain. M. 2008. Page 194)

However in Jamón Jamón, prostitutes are not held in high regard. José Luis’ mother regularly insults Silvia’s mother and refuses to entertain the thought of her and her son in a relationship[2]. It is unlikely that Luna held these views himself of prostitution as he clearly attempted to portray La Madre Puta as a victim of her socio-economic situation more so than a morally reprehensible character(see Pisano, I. 2001), indeed the similarities between La Madre Puta and Conchita are striking[3]. As such the use of the puta in Jamón Jamón should always be translated as whore, hooker or slut.

Below are what the author believes to be the most noteworthy translations of puta in Jamón Jamón:

17:06 ¿Y porque está tu padre hablando con esa puta? (Conchita)	Why is your dad with that whore?
19:56 Y encima su madre es una puta. (Conchita)	Her mother’s a whore.
20:09 ¿Cómo es un bar? Un club de camareras. ¡Un puticlub! (Conchita)	You mean a whorehouse!
20:13 Todas las mujeres tenéis una puta adentro. (El Padre)	All women have a whorish side to them.
24:30 Su madre es una puta. (Conchita)	Her mother’s a whore.

On a note pertaining to the translation of derogatory terms in Spanish that can be both insulting and endearing, Barosain notes several instances where the translation of Almodóvar’s films struggle with this regarding terms related to prostitution. In Todo Sobre mi Madre, Agrado’s casual reference to herself as a whore is very reticent of the type of black humour which is a feature of Almodóvar’s works. The ambivalence of this term is particularly problematic for a translator as there are indeed many instances where the term whore is meant as an insult. Barasoain gives the example of ¡Átame! where Ricky turns on Marina, a former porn star, for not reciprocating his love:

!Me has estado dando largas, puta! (Ricky)

You tricked me, you whore!

(Barasoain, M. 2008. Page 194)

‘In this example, Ricky is really mad at Marina because he is falling in love with her and she is not. Therefore the translator has intensified the aggressive behaviour of Ricky –who does not hesitate to hurt her – with the insertion of the personal pronoun ‘you’’. (Barasoain, M. 2008. Page 194)

By inserting the personal pronoun ‘you’, the translator has avoided a direct translation. By doing so they have introduced a more emotive and abusive tone and thus separates the use of puta from contexts where it could be interpreted as endearing. Not only does this respond to what Hatim and Munday (2004) have called ‘the communicative requirements of the text receiver’, i.e., whore maintains the vulgar and crass nature of the source text, but it also caters for a variety of contextual values and effects, thus ensuring that Ricky’s accusation cannot be interpreted as humorous or friendly (see Hatim, B et al. 2004, Page 42).

In the above translations from Jamón Jamón, all but the second last are direct quotes from Conchita and they all refer to Silvia and her mother. She shows absolute disdain for both of them and in no way can the use of puta be anything but an insult to both women. Conchita relates Silvia’s mother’s profession to her social standing and as such she maintains she is unfit to be in a relationship with José Luis. The author was unable to find a single instance where puta, unlike coño or hijo de puta, is used in a positive way in Jamón Jamón. For this reason, it must be concluded that the translator did not need to modify the translation of puta by adding a personal pronoun or with the use of any other device, as is the case in ¡Átame!

The second last quote is said by José Luis’ father in response to Conchita’s accusations against La Madre Puta. His tone in this scene, and indeed his stance on La Madre Puta throughout the film suggests that he neither condones, nor approves of her profession, indeed he himself is a morally reprehensible character[4]. Certainly in this case he is not referring to prostitution as a profession. By saying that all women have a whorish side, he suggests that women such as Conchita are likely to take part in what would be considered ‘whorish’ acts, e.g. extramarital affairs and having multiple sexual partners, as opposed to actually working as prostitutes. To translate this as immoral or to transpose the original translation as All women have a prostitute inside them would not maintain the original and would not preserve the source text ambiguity, a maxim of dynamic equivalence (see Hatim. B. Et al. 2004, Page 40).

 Masculinity

The phallic symbolism in Jamón Jamón is impossible to ignore. The very first scene is the image of the billboard bull’s testicles set against the backdrop of the Monegros desert of Zaragoza. The film is rife with references to the male anatomy[5]. The symbolic treatment of the penis in the films of Almodóvar differ greatly to its treatment in Jamón Jamón and perhaps this merits further study, however due to the limited scope of this work, the author has decided to focus solely on the translation of terms related to testicles in the films of Almodóvar and in Jamón Jamón. The most common translation of terms such as cojones and huevos[6] in Jamón Jamón is balls.

38:25 !No tienes cojones! (Raúl)	You don’t have balls!
1:02:41 Lo que pasa es que tu nunca has tenido cojones. (Silvia)	You don’t have balls that’s what.

The casual references by the female characters in Almodóvar’s films to cojones and huevos reinforce the humour in his work but they also serve to shock the audience by contradicting the old Falangist model of the softly spoken and well mannered Spanish woman[7]. There is, however, a marked difference between the use of these terms in Almodóvar’s films to Luna’s and this poses a particular problem for the translator. First of all, Almodóvar is far more concerned by the symbolism of the penis and although references to testicles are made, very often they are used in idiomatic Spanish expressions which have nothing to do with the male anatomy. Barosain observed examples where this is the case:

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)	Me tiene hasta los huevos (Ana)	I’m fed up.
Todo sobre mi madre (1999)	¡Estoy hasta los cojones de veros a las dos cuchicheando delante de mis narices! (Kowalski)	I’m tired of you two whispering under my nose all the time!

(Barasoain. M. 2008. Page 229)

In the above examples, hasta los huevos and hasta los cojones are used to express exasperation and both terms are very specific to the source culture. In his process of semantic analysis, Nida states that:

‘In translating a text which represents an area of cultural specialisation in the source language but not in the receptor language, the translator must frequently construct all sorts of descriptive equivalents so as to make intelligible something which is quite foreign to the receptor.’ (Nida. E. 1969. Page 491)

A direct translation such as up to my balls would simply not work here as it is foreign to the target language. Therefore the translator has decided to omit the reference to testicles. However, as Barosain states, there is a certain translation loss:

‘Due to these euphemisms, the target spectator remains unaware of the rudeness expressed by these characters. By not preserving the original register, there is a loss in the translation.’ (Barasoain. M. 2008. Page 229)

This may also reduce the humorous quality of these expressions. They can definitely be defined as verbal humour which Cronin (2009) stated will nearly always disappear if an equivalent idiom does not exist in the target language:

‘Verbal humour [...] will disappear in translation if it depends on puns, which in turn depend on polysemic relations that do not correspond ...’ (Cronin, M. 2009. Page 184)

Similarly, the above translations from Jamón Jamón could have been translated using an English language idiom which would omit any reference to testicles but which would still communicate the same message in the target text. E.g:

38:25 !No tienes cojones!

You don’t have guts!

However as was the case in the translation of Mujeres al borde de un Ataque de Nervios and Todo sobre mi Madre, the vulgarity of the insult in the source text would not be maintained well, therefore the original translation, You don’t have balls, is effective.

One of the most interesting translations and perhaps the only example of translator intervention the author has seen takes place towards the end of Jamón Jamón. Underneath the bull billboard, in the same place where Silvia announced that she was expecting his baby, she reveals to Jose Luis that she is in love with Raúl. In a fit of rage, he destroys the bull’s wooden testicles screaming:

1:02:14 ¡Mierda cojones!

Goddamn his fucking balls!

To begin with, one might say that this is an inaccurate translation. Mierda cojones is certainly rude. It is most likely to be used in situations of extreme exasperation and does not have to be directed at anyone in particular, and an accurate translation may be fuck or shit. However, not only has the translator decided to specifically translate this as an insult  or a threat directed at Raúl, but he has also maintained the reference to testicles. The author would argue that the reference to testicles is the most important for the target audience to understand. This is an extremely powerful scene. Jose Luis’ feelings of inadequacy manifest themselves physically as he becomes enraged and hammers at the wooden testicles until they fall down. Like a spoilt child, he screams this profanity and if it were translated as Fuck or Shit the target audience may not associate Raúl with his anger.

The use of the personal pronoun is problematic. The reason for the translator’s decision is unclear. The insertion of the personal pronoun his certainly renders the statement as more powerful and emotive in the target text, however this is not as evident in the source text. In the original, although it is extremely clear that José Luis is angry, it is mostly because of his situation, he lashes out like a frustrated child[8]. In the English translation, he almost specifically declares his intent to harm Raúl. Although this ultimately does happen, in the source text José Luis doesn’t make the decision to attack Raúl until the final scene. In the target text, because of the above translation, audiences may feel that it was a pre-conceived plan of attack.

Nida maintains that intervention is inevitable if the translator is to avoid ‘unintended and unmotivated opaqueness’ (see Hatim. B et al. 2004. Page 42), however the opaqueness in the source was more than likely deliberate. In this case the source text is robbed of its ambiguity at the expense of a more emotive profanity, and thus leaves the author to conclude that this intervention negatively affects the target text.

Sex

As is the case in the films of Almodóvar, most references to sex in Jamón Jamón involve the use of the Spanish slang term follar. This is consistently translated as fuck or screw:

06:57 ¿Y ahora me preguntas con quién he follado? (La Madre Puta)	You ask me who I fucked with?
44:00 Follar (Raúl)	Screwing
50:28 ¡Quiero follarte! ¡Quiero follarte! (José Luis)	I wanna fuck you! I wanna screw you!
1:16:35 ¡Te he dicho que quiero follar contigo! (José Luis)	I wanna fuck you!

Barasoain (2008) also noted that in the films of Almodóvar, follar is translated indiscriminately as fuck or screw. In all of the above translations the vulgarity of the source text is maintained. Fuck and screw are certainly equivalent vulgarities in the receptor language. They communicate the crass and impersonal nature of the verb follar, which a translation such as have sex with or go to bed with would not.

Barasoain is quick to point to instances where an inadequate translation of follar results in the loss of this vulgarity. In some cases, follar appears in the source text but the target text softens the translation, e.g. Laberinto de Pasiones (1982) and Carne Trémula (1997):

Laberinto de Pasiones (1982)	-¿Y qué tal folla? (Queti)	Is he good in bed?
Carne Trémula (1997)	-¿Qué quieres, que esperemos a ver cómo matan o se follan a esa tía? (Sancho)	You want to wait until that girl is raped and killed?
Carne Trémula (1997)	Quiero llegar a ser el mejor follador del mundo, el mejor. (Víctor)	I want to become the best lover in the world.

(Barasoain. M. 2008. Pages 225-226)

In the first two examples from Laberinto de Pasiones and Carne Trémula, the meaning is distorted. The translation in bed is far too subtle and some may say ambiguous, whereas the translation of Sancho’s statement which specifically references rape is too visceral and ultimately the effect of the target text becomes stronger than the source text. This is the second instance where Barasoain observed this effect in the translation of Almodóvar.

Barasoain maintains that the greatest translation loss pertaining to sexual references is the quote from Víctor:

‘“Lover” does not convey the same vulgar meaning as “follador” does. Víctor belongs to a lower social class; from the beginning of the film the source audience is aware of this because of his tone. The vulgar and dirty expressions that he uses should be kept in the target version, in order to preserve the personality and condition of the character. Víctor does not want to be “el mejor amante del mundo”, but rather “el mejor follador del mundo”. His register is, therefore, lost in the subtitles which contain euphemisms or neutralizations.’ (Barasoain. M. 2008. Page 226)

For the most part, references to sex are translated appropriately in Jamón Jamón. Follar, when used by Jose Luis and Raúl, are appropriately translated as fuck or screw so as to communicate their lecherous intent and their lack of any romantic feeling towards Silvia, La Madre Puta and Conchita[9]. Similarly, vulgarities are not transferred to the source text when there is a romantic intent on the part of the male leads:

1:01:45 ¿No quieres hacer el amor conmigo? (José Luis)

Don’t you want to make love?

This is said by José Luis when it becomes apparent that Silvia no longer loves him. Although he scorns her, he specifically uses the term hacer el amor[10]. To translate this using fuck or screw would distort his intent.

Certainly there are instances in Jamón Jamón where euphemisms or expressions are used in the target text which distort the source text. However, unlike in Carne Trémula, in the example which will be given from Jamón Jamón, the translator has decided to strengthen the message in the source text:

34:33 ¿Vamos al reservado? (Jose Luis) -Ya te dije que no, que tu y yo no estaríamos juntos nunca más. (La Madre Puta)

Let’s go to the room. -I already told you we’d never do it again.

In this scene, Jose Luis tries to solicit the services of La Madre Puta in her bar[11]. While she ultimately agrees, they never actually engage in sexual intercourse, instead she performs a type of striptease while he lies in front of her on a sofa. In the source text it is never explicitly stated that the two have had sex and although it is perhaps suggested that it may have happened after the scene ends, this remains a source of ambiguity for the audience for the rest of the film. In the source text, La Madre Puta does not use the terms follar, echar un polvo or joder. All of which would justify a translation such as the one given. Instead she uses a phrase which can indeed refer to the act of having sex, but which is far more subtle and ambiguous. The receptor audience are again denied this ambiguity by understanding the phrase do it to specifically mean that they had sex. As is the case in Carne Trémula and Laberinto de Pasiones, the effect of the target text has become much stronger than the source text.

Conclusion

Based on this exploration, it can be said that the translation of Jamón Jamón is rife with inconsistency. In the above examples, the translator’s refusal to recognise the morphological complexities of certain Spanish vulgarities results in a target text which is weighted, over-bearing and obvious. Contradicting Nida’s model of dynamic equivalence, the translator has refused to recognise the source text ambiguity, moreover the instances of translator intervention are numerous and very destructive.

Consequentially, the translator has on occasion decided to adequately maintain the vulgarity of the source text, while respecting its syntactic structure, thus catering for the communicative requirements of the target audience. This was particularly true in the section devoted to abuse.

Interestingly, although many difficulties arose in the translation of certain terms in Jamón Jamón, the corresponding terms also caused great difficulty in the translation of Almodóvar’s films, as seen in the research carried out by Maria Barasoain of the University of León. This contrastive analysis has been crucial in defining the author’s hypothesis arising from this paper: that by ignoring the contextual values of many Spanish language vulgarities, the translator will jeopardise the ambiguity of a text, and as such jeopardise the entire film. This has been the case in Jamón Jamón and in the six films of Pedro Almodóvar which have been discussed.

Bibliography

Armstrong, N. 2005. Translation, linguistics, culture. Clevedon [England]: Multilingual Matters.

Bergan, R. 2013. Bigas Luna Obituary. The Guardian, 7 April.

Berthier, N., Larraz, E., Merlo, P. and Seguin, J. 2001. Le cinema de Bigas Luna. Toulouse: Cinespana.

Cronin, M. 2009. Translation goes to the movies. London: Routledge.

D'Lugo, M. 2006. Contemporary Film Directors: Pedro Almodóvar. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Green, J. 1993. Slang down the ages. London: Kyle Cathie.

Hatim, B. and Munday, J. 2004. Translation: An advanced resource book. Oxon: Routledge.

Jamón Jamón. 1992. [DVD] Spain: Bigas Luna.

Martin De La Guardia, R. M. 2008. Cuestion de tijeras. Madrid: Sintesis.

Nida, E. A. 1969. Science of translation. Linguistic Society of America.

Pisano, I. and Bigas Luna, J. J. 2001. Bigas Luna. Madrid: Sociedad General de Autores y Editores.

Rodriguez, F. 2013. "English-Spanish Contrastive Terminology, with examples from the language of drugs and sex", paper presented at UCC Seminar Series, Cork City, 6 November. Universidad de Alicante: Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies.

Rox Barasoain, M. 2008. The Films of Pedro Almodóvar: Translation and Reception in the United States. Ph.D. Universidad de León.

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[1] Note that Bigas Luna decided not to credit this character as ‘La Puta Madre’. Orthographically this would be incorrect in any case, but the title is key in establishing a more respectful audience attitude towards this character which ‘La Puta Madre’ would not achieve.

[2] Moreover it is suggested that the source of her disdain towards La Madre Puta is a possible relationship which existed between her and José Luis’ father in the past : 58:08 ‘Look at me, none of the men I’ve known have loved me.’ (La Madre Puta) – 58:10 ‘You mean José Luis’ dad.’ (Silvia)

[3] Throughout the film we see that Conchita has multiple sexual partners: her husband and Raúl, however we do not see La Madre Puta engaged in full intercourse with any of the characters, even José Luis. This is interesting when viewed in the context of the social hierarchy of the setting. Conchita is an executive in a successful business and looks down on the position of La Madre Puta, who works as a prostitute.

[4] In many ways, José Luis’s father embodies the archetypal Francoist male. See Berthier, N et al. 2001. Page 55.

[5] In several scenes, Jose Luis’ feelings of inadequacy are juxtaposed with the image of Raúl’s crotch plastered on billboards for Samson underwear. Indeed Raúl’s sexual prowess is augmented by the frequent close up shots of his crotch, especially in the early scenes with Conchita, only to be deflated by his supposed inability to perform sexually.

[6] It is worth noting the total absence of the use of the word ‘testicúlos’ in Jamón Jamón. The author maintains that this was deliberately done to maintain the vulgarity of the characters, but also so as to avoid a sterile and inhuman reference to the male anatomy (see Green, J. 1993).

[7] ‘The genre against which they rebel is the clichéd image of folkloric Spain, recently cultivated as the director [Almodóvar]’s calling card to international audiences.’ (D’Lugo. M. 2006. p. 68)

[8] Throughout Jamón Jamón, José Luis slowly regresses to a child-like state. His mother’s attempts to dominate his life destroy him and it is unclear if it is her betrayal or Silvia’s which lead him to confront Raúl.

[9] The significance of the name Conchita is interesting. It may be a diminutive form of Concha which, in certain varieties of Spanish, is a slang term for the female genitals. Although lost in the target text, in the source text this serves to increase the sexual potency with which the audience associate her from the beginning.

[10] Although widely used in Spanish, hacer el amor has been described by Dr. Felix Rodriguez of the Universidad de Alicante as a gallicism, borrowed from the French faire l’amour, originally used to describe an act of love but not specifically sexual intercourse. (UCC. 2013).

[11] While subtle and apprehensive in his wording in this scene, as José Luis descends into a type of psychosis, his language becomes more abusive and vulgar: 1:16:35 ¡Te he dicho que quiero follar contigo!