Translation convention

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The translation convention is a

major world language that its producers would like to distribute to foreign countries

Overview

In many stories, the setting dictates what language characters would speak. For example, if a story takes place in Columbia, the Columbians would speak to non-Colombian characters in Spanish, the

accent

that reflects the actual language spoken in the fictional or historical story setting.

The translation convention has a few variants, and the translation choices the filmmakers employ has implications for the broader story for

point of view, and whether the audience has first person, omniscient or limited information about the characters' thoughts, feelings and intentions. (See list of narrative techniques.) This concept has been used since the beginning of narrative sound film. It uses, among other things, a degree of suspension of disbelief

A large proportion of films and television shows set outside the English-speaking world use the translation convention, especially those produced in the US and the UK. There are a few notable American-produced exceptions which have high-native-language fidelity or realism— that is they use large portions or 100% non-English— and all were large commercial successes. Among them are:

Inglorious Basterds (which uses French and German

). Despite being produced for a global audience or English-speaking audience, the filmmakers have committed to use the correct language or languages for the story's setting.

References

v t e Narrative
Character	Antagonist Archenemy Character arc Character flaw Characterization Confidant Deuteragonist False protagonist Focal character Foil Gothic double Hamartia Hero Anti Byronic Tragic Narrator Protagonist Stock character Straight man Supporting character Title character Tritagonist Villain
Plot	Ab ovo Action Backstory Origin story Chekhov's gun Cliché Cliffhanger Conflict Deus ex machina Dialogue Dramatic structure Eucatastrophe Foreshadowing Flashback Flashforward Frame story In medias res Kishōtenketsu MacGuffin Pace Plot device Plot twist Poetic justice Red herring Reveal Self-insertion Shaggy dog story Stereotype Story arc Story within a story Subplot Suspense Trope
Setting	Alternate history Backstory Crossover Dreamworld Dystopia Fictional location city country universe parallel Utopia Worldbuilding
Theme	Irony Leitmotif Metaphor Moral Moral development Motif Deal with the Devil Conflict between good and evil Self-fulfilling prophecy Time travel
Style	Allegory Bathos Comic relief Diction Figure of speech Imagery Mode Mood Narration Narrative techniques Hook Show, don't tell Stylistic device Suspension of disbelief Symbolism Tone
Structure	Act Act structure Three-act structure Freytag's Pyramid Exposition/Protasis Rising action/Epitasis Climax/Peripeteia Falling action/Catastasis Denouement/Catastrophe Linear narrative Nonlinear narrative films television series Premise Types of fiction with multiple endings
Form	Drama Fabliau Flash fiction Folklore Fable Fairy tale Legend Myth Tall tale Gamebook Narrative art Narrative poetry Epic poetry Novel Novella Parable Short story Vignette
Genre (List)	Autobiography Biography Fiction Action fiction Adventure Comic Crime Docu Epistolary Ergodic Erotic Historical Mystery Nautical Paranoid Philosophical Picaresque Political Pop culture Psychological Religious Rogue Romance Chivalric Prose Saga Satire Speculative fiction Fantasy Gothic Southern Horror Magic realism Science Hard Superhero Theological Thriller Urban Western Nonfiction Novel Creative
Narration	Diegesis First-person Second-person Third-person Third-person omniscient narrative Subjectivity Unreliable narrator Multiple narrators Stream of consciousness Stream of unconsciousness
Tense	Past Present Future
Related	Dominant narrative Fiction writing Continuity Canon Reboot Retcon Parallel novel Prequel / Sequel Genre List Literary science Literary theory Narrative identity Narrative paradigm Narrative therapy Narratology Metafiction Political narrative Rhetoric Glossary Screenwriting Storytelling Tellability Verisimilitude

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Translation convention

Overview

Exceptions

See also

References