Finnish Subtitling of the N-word in The Hateful Eight 
and Django Unchained on Viaplay 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Emmi Korpisalo 
MA Thesis 
Multilingual Translation Studies, English 
School of Language and Translation Studies 
Faculty of Humanities 
University of Turku 
May 2023 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The originality of this thesis has been checked in accordance with the University of Turku 
quality assurance system using the Turnitin Originality check service. 
Master’s Thesis 
 
Multilingual Translation Studies, English: 
Emmi Korpisalo 
Finnish Subtitling of the N-word in The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained on Viaplay 
Pages: 44 p., 9 app.p. 
 
Taboo language is one of the problems a translator can encounter when translating works of fiction. 
These words give rise to different emotions depending on a person ranging from, for example, 
embarrassment to disgust. One of such words is the n-word often characterized as the most offensive 
racial slur in the English language. The aim of this thesis is to investigate what translation strategies 
have been used when translating the n-word. The research questions are what kind of translations 
strategies are used when translating taboo language, how often each translation strategy is used and can 
the effect of translation norms and Finnish subtitling quality recommendations be seen in the choices of 
strategies. 
The theoretical framework is comprised of four parts: the etymology and history of the n-word in the 
United States and Finland, translation of taboo language, audiovisual translation, and translation norms. 
The English etymology and history of the n-word is based on for example Henderson (2003) and Pryor 
(2016). The Finnish portion is heavily based upon Rastas (2007). The taboo language portion looks at 
studies by Hjort (2009; 2017), Díaz-Pérez (2020) and Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 
(2022). The audiovisual translation portion uses for example Díaz-Cintas and Baños Piñero (2015) and 
Pérez-Gonzáles (2014). For a Finnish perspective Oittinen and Tuominen (2007) and Tuominen (2018) 
are used. The translation norms section is based on Toury ([1995] 2012) and Chesterman ([1993] 2017). 
This section also introduces the Finnish Quality Recommendations for Intralingual Subtitling (2020). 
The translation strategy categories used in this thesis are based on Díaz-Pérez (2020) study on subtitling 
swearwords in Galician was used. The translation strategy categories are pragmatic correspondence, 
omission, de-tabooing, and addition. As material the Finnish subtitling of Quentin Tarantino’s Django 
Unchained and The Hateful Eight on Viaplay is used. Text comparative analysis is used while partially 
including the audiovisual context of the films. Additional factors such as which characters’ dialogue 
was being subtitled are also accounted for. 
It was found that pragmatic correspondence was the most common translation strategy used. However, 
there is a difference in the amount of pragmatic correspondence used between the films. The Hateful 
Eight had more pragmatic correspondence than Django Unchained. The second most used translation 
strategy was omission. De-tabooing and addition saw the least use in the subtitling of the films. 
 
Keywords: translation, audiovisual translation, taboo, taboo language, racism, ethnic slurs 
Table of Contents 
List of Tables 4 
1 Introduction 5 
2 Theoretical Framework 7 
2.1 The Etymology and History of the N-word in the United States and Finland 7 
2.2 Translating Taboo Language 9 
2.2.1 Taboo Language and Translation 9 
2.2.2 Translation Strategies for Translating Taboo Language 11 
2.3 Audiovisual Translation 13 
2.3.1 Audiovisual Translation 13 
2.3.2 Audiovisual Translation Studies 15 
2.4 Norms 16 
2.4.1 Norms and Translation 16 
2.4.2 Quality Recommendations for Interlingual Subtitles in Finland 18 
3 Material and Methodology 22 
3.1 Django Unchained 22 
3.2 The Hateful Eight 23 
3.3 Methodology 24 
4 Results 26 
4.1 Translation Strategies 26 
4.2 Pragmatic Correspondence 27 
4.3 Omission 32 
4.4 De-tabooing 35 
4.5 Addition 39 
5 Discussion 41 
6 Conclusions 46 
List of References 47 
Finnish Summary 50 
 
List of Tables 
Table 1. Translation Strategies ............................................................................................................. 26 
Table 2. Quantities of Translation Strategies ........................................................................................ 26 
Table 3. Percentage of Translation Strategies ..................................................................................... 27 
Table 4. Pragmatic Correspondence in Major Marquis’ Monologue in The Hateful Eight .................... 28 
Table 5. Pragmatic Correspondence in Django's Dialogue in Django Unchained ............................... 29 
Table 6. Pragmatic Correspondence in Stephen's Dialogue in Django Unchained ............................. 29 
Table 7. General Pragmatic Correspondence in Both Films ................................................................ 31 
Table 8. Omission in Django Unchained ............................................................................................... 32 
Table 9. Omission in The Hateful Eight ................................................................................................ 33 
Table 10. Omission in Stephen and Django’s Dialogue in Django Unchained ..................................... 34 
Table 11. De-tabooing in The Hateful Eight .......................................................................................... 35 
Table 12. De-tabooing Django's Speech in Django Unchained ............................................................ 36 
Table 13. De-tabooing in Schutlz’s Speech in Django Unchained. ...................................................... 37 
Table 14. De-tabooing in Other Characters’ Dialogue in Django Unchained ....................................... 38 
Table 15. Quantity of Translation Strategies for Black Characters ....................................................... 45 
Table 16. Percentage of Translation Strategies for Black Characters .................................................. 45 
5 
 
1 Introduction 
Taboo words are one of the multiple problems translators can encounter when they are 
translating. Out of taboo words, the racial slur ‘nigger’ is “perhaps the most offensive and 
inflammatory racial slur in English” (Henderson 2003, 65). The word is considered unspeakable 
and is often referred to euphemistically as ‘the n-word’ (ibid.). Whenever it is not possible to 
refer to it euphemistically, writers tend to separate the word from the rest of the text using 
quotation marks to indicate their squeamishness towards having to use the word (Pryor 2016, 
207). Since everything from cultural, linguistic, and ideological norms to the translator’s 
personal preferences and values influence the translation process of taboo words, the end results 
can vary depending on the source text and the translator (Hjort 2009). Especially racial slurs 
“may be upsetting to a translator, who might be reluctant to even carry out the physical act of 
writing it down” (Hjort 2017, 166). As the Finnish equivalent of the n-word is also considered 
unacceptable, it falls under the translation problem of the word being taboo in both the source 
and target cultures (Almijrab 2020, 24). Personally, I find this topic interesting because as the 
world is globalizing, the use of racial slurs is likely to be considered more inappropriate. This 
in turn can make them a more prevalent issue for translators, as fiction set in the time period of 
slavery in the United States often contains the use of the n-word. In this thesis, I will be 
analyzing the subtitling of the n-word in Finnish. I have used the Finnish subtitling of two of 
Quentin Tarantino’s films set around the times of the Civil War in the United States of America 
as material. These films are Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight. The source of the 
subtitles is the streaming service Viaplay. From these films, Django Unchained is especially 
infamous for its use of the n-word. By inspecting the subtitling of the n-word in these films I 
am hoping to answer the questions of what kind of translation strategies the translators have 
used, how often each strategy is used, and can the effect of the norms and Finnish subtitling 
quality recommendations be seen in the translation choices. Additionally, possible reasons for 
the choices of translation strategies will be speculated.  
This thesis consists of six sections. The first of these is the current introduction section. Section 
two introduces the theoretical background of this thesis. In the first subsection of section two, 
the etymology and history of both the English and Finnish n-words are introduced. The next 
subsection explains taboo language as a concept, the problems with translating taboo language, 
and different translation strategies that can be used when translating taboo language. The third 
subsection introduces audiovisual translation as a concept and as a field of research. The last 
6 
 
subsection introduces translation norms and the Finnish quality recommendations for 
interlingual subtitling. Section three is the material and methods section, which introduces the 
general plot of both films and gives information about the source of the translation. 
Additionally, how the material for this thesis was collected and what the research methods used 
are told. In section four, the results of the analysis are introduced. The results within each 
translation strategy are introduced in their own subsection. In the discussion section, the results 
of the analysis are discussed. Lastly, in the conclusions section, the general findings of this 
thesis are summarized. 
7 
 
2 Theoretical Framework 
2.1 The Etymology and History of the N-word in the United States and Finland 
The n-word has a complicated history and its position in the contemporary world is 
controversial. Uttering the n-word without referring it to euphemistically is seen as offensive 
as referring to a person using the n-word However, there are rules to this taboo as black people 
can use the word, although the general populace will still feel unsettled by the word when it is 
used by a black public figure (McWhorter 2015, 36). Its use in text is also seen as offensive as 
whenever writers use the word without the euphemism it is often used within quotation marks 
to set it apart from the rest of the text (Pryor 2016, 207). The use of quotation indicates the 
offensiveness of the word and how the writer themselves feels squeamish about having to use 
the word (ibid.). In the contemporary world the use of the n-word can be said to contain many 
contradictory emotions. When the n-word is used by “whites” it is seen as offensive, but it can 
be used for example as a term of endearment within the African American community 
(Kennedy 1999, 89–90). Especially, the nuanced form of the word ‘nigga’ has been reclaimed 
by the African American community as an aspect of their cultural identity (ibid.). 
The word derives from the Northern English word ‘neger’ which was born through the slave 
trade with the Spanish and Portuguese who sold ‘negros’ to the Americans (Alves 2009, 25; 
Kennedy 1999, 86). The word ‘negro’ itself can be traced back to the Latin adjective ‘niger’ 
[black] (Alves 2009, 25). Originally the word was used to describe American blacks or the 
social category of slaves, and it was used as a form of self-identification by the slaves (Fogle 
2013, 1; Pryor 2016, 205–206). The use of self-identification by the black laborers was born 
due to their mimicking of the language of their oppressors, which in turn led to them also 
mimicking the racial conventions of the Anglo-Americans (Pryor 2016, 211). Despite the word 
not originally containing offensive tones, it could be said to have racist roots as it was born 
from the thought that humans can be separated into racial categories. Additionally, the word 
blurred the lines between different African identities as it combined all the slaves of African 
descent into one category (Pryor 2016, 212). It is speculated that the n-word became the slur 
that is known today when users of the word found out it was a mispronunciation of the word 
‘negro’ and continued to use it out of contempt despite knowing it was a mispronunciation 
(Kennedy 1999, 86). By the first third of the nineteenth century, it had turned into the “familiar 
and influential insult” of today (ibid.). 
8 
 
After the abolishment of slavery in the United States, the word was used to terrorize the African 
American community. As the n-word and slave were no longer interchangeable, only the n-
word stayed in use (Pryor 2016, 205). It was used to brand the free black people and for example 
white children would be told stories of the scary “nigger boogeymen” and the word was used 
to scold children for behaving “worse than niggers” (Kennedy 1999, 86–87; Pryor 2016, 204). 
As the African American community attempted to gain equality and freedom, the word was 
used as a “weapon of racial containment” (Pryor 2016, 205). It was a “single word capturing 
the magnitude of anti-black feeling” (ibid.). 
The Finnish equivalent of the n-word, ‘neekeri’, has had a different history both etymologically 
and historically. The n-word arrived in Finland through texts describing African slaves that 
were being brought to America and other Western countries (Rastas 2007, 127). Contrasted to 
the experience in the United States of America, in Finland the word was used to describe people 
that were only known through texts and could not be seen in people’s day-to-day lives. Due to 
this, the word has usually been described as having been “neutral” prior to the rise of 
immigration in Finland as it was used to describe foreign people that were not seen in society 
rather than cause insult or harm to them (Rastas 2007, 119). However, the contexts the word 
was used in prior to immigration to Finland growing were often painting Africans in a negative 
light. For example, an encyclopedia translated from German into Finnish in 1860 described the 
“Neekerikansa Ahrikassa” [the nigger folk in Africa] as the world’s most unfortunate people 
that lead simple lives but are also cruel (Rastas 2007, 127). Similar descriptions of Africans can 
be found in Finnish newspaper texts from the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s where 
Africans were frequently portrayed as irrational, inhumane, wild, and stupid (Rastas 2007, 128). 
Suomen Urheilulehti [Finland’s Sports Magazine] from 5th of May in 1923 describes how in 
Africa they’re holding “niggers own Olympics” which they prepare for by dancing, singing and 
by eating their neighbors (Rastas 2007, 127). Based on this information it can be said that the 
Finnish equivalent of n-word was not a neutral descriptive word in the past, but it was used in 
a racist and derogatory way (Rastas, 2007, 128). 
Possibly one of the first mentions of the word being possibly inappropriate to use can be found 
in a 1950s newspaper article in the magazine Aamulehti. The article mentions that using the n-
word is not approved in Congo (Rastas 2007, 129). As immigration to Finland was growing in 
the 1990s, the word was no longer used to refer to “distant Africans” but to actual people that 
were also living in Finland and were seen in society (Rastas 2007, 119).  This increased the use 
of the word and caused it to be used in new kinds of contexts (ibid.). As the people that the 
9 
 
word was used to describe started calling the use of the word into question, a re-evaluation of 
the meaning and the appropriateness of the word was needed (ibid.). The relationship between 
“us” and “them” had changed as the people described with the word lived in Finland and some 
of them had become Finnish citizens (Rastas 2007, 138). The attitudes people held towards the 
word shifted quite quickly. The translated title of Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were 
None was for example changed from Kymmenen pientä neekerinpoikaa [Ten little nigger boys] 
to Eikä yksikään pelastunut [And no one survived] (Rastas 2007, 120). Additionally, the name 
of the candy Neekerinsuukko [A nigger’s kiss] was changed to Suukko [A kiss] in 2003 (ibid.). 
Contrasted to the United States, there has been no reappropriation of the n-word and it is 
considered inappropriate even when used by a person with an immigrant background (Rastas 
2007, 133). Attitudes towards the word have continued to shift towards higher disapproval in 
Finland as can be seen in Al-Kharasani’s (2022, 83) survey where 92% of the student 
responders viewed the use of n-word either negatively or extremely negatively. The next section 
introduces the translation of taboo language. 
2.2 Translating Taboo Language 
2.2.1 Taboo Language and Translation 
Offensive and taboo language has been around since primitive cultures, which associated taboo 
with magical words and superstition (Ávila-Cabrera 2015, 3). They are words that people react 
to most strongly when compared to other words (Hjort 2017, 164). Nowadays, the use of taboo 
words is considered unprofessional and unsuitable in daily life as they are considered 
unacceptable and inappropriate by societies (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 
300). Words that are considered taboo are used to insult people or they describe sex, human 
bodies, and bodily functions (ibid.). In this thesis the focus will be on the racial slur ‘nigger’ 
but there are multiple different varieties of taboo language. Example categories for taboo 
language and words include animal name terms, drugs, filth, blasphemy, and racial slurs 
(Álvira-Cabrera 2015, 4). Taboo words are not only used to express negativity but are also often 
used to express strong emotions and feelings (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 
2022, 300). For example, the English word ‘fuck’ can be used as an intensifier to what is being 
said, for example, something can be ‘fucking awesome’. The concept of taboo may also vary 
in a person-to-person case, as some will consider one taboo word embarrassing or offensive 
while others will use it naturally (Almijrab 2020, 23).  In the contemporary world offensive and 
taboo language are frequently referred to euphemistically to diminish their strength (Álvira-
10 
 
Cabrera 2015, 3). In the case of the word ‘nigger’ this is typically done using the euphemism 
‘n-word’ or in Finnish ‘n-sana’ [n-word]. 
According to Almijrab (2020, 23) there are two different kinds of untranslatability which are 
linguistic and cultural untranslatability. Translating taboo words and language is a cultural 
translation problem as it requires the translator to be familiar with the nuances of the source and 
target cultures (Nasery and Pishkar 2015, 28). However, identifying the intensity and nuances 
of taboo words in a language learned later in life is more challenging than in one’s native 
language (Hjort 2017, 165). Due to this, people consider taboo language in their native language 
to be more intense than in the other languages they know (ibid.). Due to this, translators may 
be hesitant to use the most forceful taboo words when translating (ibid.). Taboo words have 
varied use cases, and their meaning is reliant on the context, which contributes to the difficulty 
of translating (Almijrab 2020, 22). When dealing with the problems of translating taboo words, 
the translator needs to account for the cultural mismatch between the source and target cultures 
in addition to the structural differences between their languages (Almijrab 2020, 29). 
Translators also account for what kind of reactions taboo language would cause in their clients 
or audience when translating taboo language (Hjort 2017, 159). Due to these issues, it is difficult 
to produce a target language text that has the same meaning as the source language but also 
respects the target culture (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 303). The 
translation of taboo language is also affected by cultural, linguistic, and ideological norms 
(Hjort 2009). The translator’s personal preferences and their values also influence the 
translation process of taboo language (ibid.). A translator may avoid using certain taboo words 
if they personally find using them uncomfortable (Hjort 2017, 166). For example, racial slurs 
can be so uncomfortable for the translator that they may not even want to physically write it 
down (ibid.). 
Almijrab (2020, 24) highlights three different problems for translating taboo words. Firstly, if 
the source language taboo term is not taboo in the target culture (ibid.). In this case, the meaning 
of the taboo would be lost in the target text. Secondly, if the source language taboo term is also 
taboo in the target culture (ibid.). For this case, the difficulty is dependent on how taboo the 
word is considered in the target culture. Thirdly, the non-taboo source language term is 
considered taboo in the target culture (ibid.). In this case, the target text would have a taboo 
meaning that the original text did not have. The second and third problems are more problematic 
for the translator than the first problem (ibid.). The focus of this thesis, the n-word, falls into 
the second category of taboo term translation problem for the language pair of English and 
11 
 
Finnish, as the n-word is considered taboo in both cultures. As this thesis focuses on audiovisual 
translation, it should be noted that taboo words are often considered to be stronger in written 
language than in spoken language (Hjort 2009; Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 
2022, 303). The next section introduces strategies for translating taboo language. 
2.2.2 Translation Strategies for Translating Taboo Language 
In this thesis, the translation of taboo words has been categorized into four different translation 
strategies. Three of these classifications are based on the translation strategies used in Díaz-
Pérez’s (2020) study on Galician film subtitles, with one additional category due to a special 
case found in the material of this thesis. Díaz-Pérez (2020, 404) found four translation strategies 
that were used to translate swearwords in Galician subtitles. The strategies are pragmatic 
correspondence, softening, de-swearing and omission (ibid.). Pragmatic correspondence is the 
use of an equivalent target language swearword with similar tone and pragmatic function (ibid.). 
An example of this is translating the English word ‘shit’ using the Finnish word ‘paska’ [shit]. 
Softening is the choice of a target language swearword that is softer in tone than the source 
language swearword (Díaz-Pérez 2020, 405). For example, the translation of the English word 
‘bullshit’ as ‘mamonadas’ meaning ‘bloody stupidities’ is softening (ibid.). De-swearing is 
conveying the meaning of the source language taboo word in the target text, but in a non-
swearing manner (Díaz-Pérez 2020, 406). An example of this in Díaz-Pérez (2020, 406) is the 
translation of the English phrase ‘fuck around’ as ‘comezar a facer moitas parvadas’ which 
means ‘to begin to do many silly things’. Lastly, omission is simply the removal of the 
swearword in the target text (Díaz-Pérez 2020, 407). These translation strategies share 
similarities with those used in Almijrab (2020) and Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 
(2022) so those will also be referenced in this section. Next, I introduce the translation strategy 
categorization used in this thesis. 
The first of the translation strategies is pragmatic correspondence. Pragmatic correspondence, 
similar to Almijrab’s (2020, 26) taboo for taboo strategy, will replace the source language taboo 
word with a target language taboo word of same or similar meaning. In the case of this thesis, 
this means that the translator has translated the word nigger using the word ‘neekeri’ or ‘nekru.’ 
An example of this in the material: 
Now girl, don’t you know darkee’s don’t like bein’ called niggers no more. 
(Tarantino 2015, 02:32:34) 
12 
 
 Etkö tiedä ettei enää saa sanoa neekeri? [Don’t you know you can’t say nigger 
anymore?] 
This translation strategy is easy to use for the translator, but it can cause embarrassment or 
offense for the target culture audience (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 302). 
Despite the translator's knowledge that the taboo word is not accepted in the target society, they 
often prefer this strategy (ibid.). This could be due to faithfulness to the original. In the case of 
this thesis, the word is taboo in both the source and the target culture, using this translation 
strategy will produce the same effect in the target culture. Additionally, a Finnish viewer is able 
to hear and most likely to recognize the n-word in the audiovisual context as the word is 
considered infamous. This could cause confusion as what the audience is hearing is different 
from what is subtitled. 
The second translation strategy is omission, also known as censorship in Almijrab (2020, 25), 
is a strategy where the translator has omitted the source language taboo word from the target 
text. An example of omission in the material of this thesis: 
He ain’t never seen a nigger like you in his life. (Tarantino 2012, 01:19:06) 
 Hän ei ole nähnyt sinunlaistasi. [He has not seen one like you before.] 
Omission is also easy to use for the translator, but opinions on its usage are divided. Omission 
or censorship is considered an inappropriate strategy whenever the taboo word is a keyword in 
the source text, but some consider it to function better in translation than the pragmatic 
correspondence strategy (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 301). Omission 
can also be used in audiovisual translation in cases where the audience is likely to recognize 
and understand the source language taboo word in the audio (Hjort 2009). This saves space in 
the subtitles for other content that the audience is less likely to understand (ibid.). 
The third translation strategy is de-tabooing, called de-swearing in Díaz-Pérez’s (2020, 404) 
study, which shares similarities with Almijrab’s (2020, 25) substitution strategy. For this 
translation strategy, the translator has replaced the source language taboo word with a target 
language word that has some sort of relation to the source language taboo word. In the case of 
this thesis, this can be for example the word ‘musta’ [black] referring to the skin color of African 
Americans or ‘orja’ [slave] referring to the social category of African Americans in the 1800s 
United States of America. The use of this strategy could however misrepresent the meaning of 
the original source language taboo word (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 
302). An example of de-tabooing from the material: 
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Now you gonna talk that hateful nigger talk, you ride up top with the O.B. 
(Tarantino 2015, 02:07:54) 
 Jos aiot parjata mustia, voit mennä kuskin viereen. [If you’re going to ridicule 
blacks, you can sit next to the driver.] 
The fourth translation strategy is addition, where the translator has inserted a target language 
taboo word to the target text when there is no taboo word in the source text. The addition of a 
taboo word that is not in the source text could be compensation. However, the case found in the 
material is likely due to the structural differences between the languages. The example of 
addition in the material: 
It was you who approached me to buy one (Tarantino 2012, 00:56:52) 
 Te tulitte luokseni ostamaan neekeriä. [You came to me to buy a nigger.] 
This is categorized as addition rather than compensation because ‘ostamaan yhtä’ [to buy one] 
would be ungrammatical in Finnish (Kotus n.d.). I have left out Díaz-Pérez’s (2020, 405) 
softening strategy, as there are no taboo words that could be considered softer or milder versions 
of the n-word in the material. In the next section, I will introduce audiovisual translation as a 
concept. 
2.3 Audiovisual Translation 
2.3.1 Audiovisual Translation 
Nowadays, people are exposed to and interact with audiovisual content more than ever before 
(Díaz-Cintas and Baños Piñero 2015, 1). As such, the demand for audiovisual translations is 
rising. Audiovisual translation is a term covering multiple different forms of translation 
(Gambier and Ramos Pinto 2018, 1). The forms of audiovisual translation can be divided into 
three categories of subtitling, revoicing, and assistive forms of audiovisual translation (Pérez-
Gonzáles 2014, 15–25). Subtitles are text over visual footage that convey a written target 
language of the source language dialogue (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 15–16). Subtitles must be 
synchronized with the audio for the audience to know whose speech is being translated (ibid.). 
Subtitles have their own specific restrictions placed upon them by the duration of the source 
dialogue, the space limitations and the audience reading speed (ibid.). The revoicing category 
contains forms of audiovisual translation which are conveyed through audio (Pérez-Gonzáles 
2014, 19). Examples of revoicing are interpreting, voice-over and lip-synchronized dubbing. 
The focus in this thesis will be on subtitling. The assistive forms of audiovisual translation are 
14 
 
subtitling for hard of hearing and d/Deaf, respeaking and audio description (Pérez-Gonzáles 
2014, 25). The material of this thesis is the interlingual subtitles of Tarantino’s Western Django 
Unchained and The Hateful Eight from the language pair English and Finnish on the streaming 
service Viaplay. In English-speaking countries intralingual practices such as audio description 
and subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing are more common but in other countries 
interlingual audiovisual translation is more common (Díaz-Cintas and Baños Piñero 2015, 1). 
In Finland, subtitling has traditionally been the main form of audiovisual translation (Tuominen 
2018, 83). Audiovisual translations make up for a large portion of texts consumed by Finns due 
to the large consumption of foreign audiovisual material (Oittinen and Tuominen 2007, 116; 
Tuominen 2018, 83). With the rising demand the field of audiovisual translation is growing to 
include different contexts, genres, and languages (Díaz-Cintas and Baños Piñero 2015, 1). The 
rise in popularity and demand of audiovisual content has also brought upon new non-
professional forms of audiovisual translation known as ‘fansubbing’ and ‘crowdsourced AVT’ 
(Díaz-Cintas and Baños Piñero 2015, 1–2). 
Audiovisual translation has its own specific issues for translators working in the field. In terms 
of problems with the language being translated there can be for example taboo and swear words, 
dialects, discourse markers, expressions of politeness, humor, and cultural references (Gambier 
and Ramos Pinto 2018, 1). However, subtitling specifically has its own set of technical 
limitations in the form of spatial and temporal limitations (Ávila-Cabrera 2015, 2). Subtitles 
consist of one or two lines of text and remain on the screen between 1.8 to 7 seconds 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 4–6). They also need to be synchronized with the 
audio (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 16). Due to this the translators need to account for multiple 
different technical factors while subtitling such as the reading speed of the audience, the time 
available and the lexical volume of the dialogue (Ávila-Cabrera 2015, 2). Failing to meet these 
requirements would severely affect the readability of the final product. Additionally, as with all 
acts of translation, the translator should be loyal to the original and aim to reproduce its style 
and mood in the target language (Oittinen and Tuominen 2007, 150). However, the dialogue of 
the audiovisual content is often longer than the limited space available for subtitling (Oittinen 
and Tuominen 2007, 203). This means that the translator needs to pick the important parts of 
the dialogue to represent the whole dialogue (ibid.). Due to these restrictions, translators may 
have to sometimes make quite radical translation choices when producing subtitles (Oittinen 
and Tuominen 2007, 150). The next section will give an overview on audiovisual translation as 
a field of research. 
15 
 
2.3.2 Audiovisual Translation Studies 
As a field of research, audiovisual translation has grown exponentially in recent years. It has 
risen to a visibly higher profile spot within the field of Translation Studies, having around 50 
books published on audiovisual translation alone within the last five years (Gambier and Ramos 
Pinto 2023, 1). As a domain of research, however, it is still quite young (ibid.). As such, it lacks 
a specific methodological and theoretical framework (ibid.). According to Gambier and Ramos 
Pinto (2023, 3) the research on audiovisual translation has clustered around five different areas. 
Accessibility is one of the areas researched within the domain of audiovisual translation. 
Research on accessibility is often focused on audiences with specific disabilities, however, 
research on how different factors such as age, level of education or source language knowledge 
affect accessibility for general audiences (ibid.). Research on the translation process focuses on 
“what happens in the mind of the translator and the cognitive processes activated when 
translating” (Gambier and Ramos Pinto 2023, 4). There is also research on the differences in 
performance depending on the translator, workflows, and the IT tools used (ibid.). The history 
of audiovisual translation is also a field of research within audiovisual translation studies with 
focus being set on contexts and how historical and sociocultural factors have influenced the 
translations (ibid.). Language policy research includes both “descriptive and historical work on 
how language policy has evolved” and “work focused on what translation should be, how it 
should be used and the development of tools to improve translation and workflows” (ibid.).  
Lastly, the field of research this thesis falls under is translation problems in audiovisual 
translation. This field focuses on the problems a translator can encounter in audiovisual 
translation such as swear words, humor, register or cultural differences (Gambier and Ramos 
Pinto 2023, 2). Studies on the problems in audiovisual translation have traditionally been case 
studies on one or two films but efforts are being made to build corpora with a larger variety of 
material between different genres, decades, and countries (ibid.). The challenge for these studies 
has been a lack of a multimodal framework and the lack of tools supporting the collection and 
analysis of such data (Gambier and Ramos Pinto 2018, 3). As such, studies have mostly focused 
on the language content and form in isolation from the audio and visual context (ibid.). 
Research on audiovisual translation has focused on language despite audiovisual translation 
being multimodal in nature (Oittinen and Tuominen 2007, 73). Multimodality is not completely 
ignored in research, but it is often not fully integrated into the framework (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 
181). Multimodality is the use of different acoustic and optic modes of communication to 
16 
 
construct meaning (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 186). Audiovisual content is multimodal since it 
combines the use of visuals, sound, and language (Oittinen and Tuominen 2007, 73). 
Multimodality is not a new field of research, but it has been broadened by modern multimodal 
texts such as films and websites (Taylor 2016, 223). Audiovisual multimodality is constructed 
using four core modes (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 192). These core modes are sound, music, image, 
and language which can be divided into sub-modes (ibid.). For example, the image mode can 
be realized through static and dynamic images (ibid.). Including multimodality in audiovisual 
translation research is important since the meaning of audiovisual texts is constructed through 
the combination of these modes. In the next section, I will introduce translation norms. 
2.4 Norms 
2.4.1 Norms and Translation 
According to Toury ([1995] 2012, 63) norms are values or ideas on what is considered to be 
right or wrong within a specific cultural community translated into “performance instructions”. 
These instructions determine for example what is forbidden and tolerated within the community 
(ibid.). As translation is a culturally determined activity, it is also governed by norms (Toury 
[1995] 2012, 61). Norms involve sanctions that can be negative or positive. (Toury [1995] 2012, 
64). The negative sanctions for breaking translation norms could be criticism or failure of the 
translation (Hu 2020, 83). A norm is considered valid if most members of society follow it, 
non-compliance leads to criticisms by other members, and the actions guided by the norm are 
often referred to with phrases such as ‘one ought to do a specific action in this situation’ 
(Chesterman [1993] 2017, 171). Norms may exist both in verbalized and non-verbalized forms 
(Toury [1995] 2012, 64). Translation norms aid in solving the problems that arise from creating 
communication between two languages (Chesterman [1993] 2017, 173). They provide 
translators “standards for appropriateness” which can be seen in the patterns of regularity within 
translations (Xu and Tian 2020, 660). Although translation is an activity governed by norms, 
the translator still has the freedom of choice in whether they abide by the norm or not (Toury 
[1995] 2012, 68). Next, I will introduce Toury’s and Chesterman’s translation norms. 
Toury ([1995] 2012, 79–82) lists three norms governing the act of translation: initial norms, 
preliminary norms, and operational norms. Initial norms are concerned with the translator’s 
initial choice on whether to lean towards the original source text or the target culture (Toury 
[1995] 2012, 79). This will determine the translation’s adequacy and acceptability respectively 
17 
 
(ibid.). An adequate translation approach will create a translated text reflecting the source text 
and the norms of the source culture (ibid.). A translation created with the adequacy approach 
can have incompatibilities with the target culture (ibid.). A translation leaning towards 
acceptability will favor target culture norms (ibid.). It should be noted that a translation will 
never be completely adequate or acceptable (Masoud, Zandrahimi and Golsorkhi 2021, 162). 
As such, a translated text will always contain values from both the source and the target cultures. 
If acceptability is prioritized in audiovisual translation, obscene words may trigger self-
censoring strategies (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 125–126). An adequate audiovisual translation will 
contain “minimal adaptations of culture-specific meaning” while acceptable ones will consist 
of “cultural realignment and adaptation” (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 121). Preliminary norms are 
comprised of “the existence and actual nature of a translation policy” and “the directness of 
translation” (Toury [1995] 2012, 82). Translation policy here determines what text types and 
individual texts will be chosen for translation (ibid.). Directness of translation is concerned with 
translating from a language other than the source language (ibid.). It determines whether 
indirect translations are permissible and what languages are preferred as a mediating language 
(ibid.). Operational norms are in action during the decision-making process during the act of 
translation itself (ibid.). They affect “the way linguistic material is distributed in [the 
translation] – as well as its textual make-up and verbal formulation” (ibid.). Additionally, 
operational norms will determine which parts of the source text will stay intact and which parts 
will change during the translation process (ibid.). As such, they will determine for example 
possible omissions, additions, and changes of location (Toury [1995] 2012, 83). 
Chesterman ([1993] 2017, 167) introduces two categories of norms governing translation: 
professional norms and expectancy norms.  Professional norms govern the act of translation 
and determine what are considered acceptable translation methods and strategies (Chesterman 
[1993] 2017, 173). Professional norms consist of three categories of norms which are the 
accountability norm, the communication norm, and the relation norm (Chesterman [1993] 2017, 
173–174). The accountability norm is concerned with the translators “integrity and 
thoroughness” (Chesterman [1993] 2017, 173). A translator should produce a translation that 
meets “the demands of loyalty with regard to the original writer, the commissioner, and the 
prospective readership” (ibid.). The communication norm concerns the communicability of a 
translated text (Chesterman [1993] 2017, 174). A translated text should create optimized 
communication between the original writer and the readers (ibid.). The relation norm is 
concerned with the equivalence between the source text and the target text (ibid.). According 
18 
 
to it, appropriate equivalence between the two texts should be retained to a degree determined 
by the translator and the nuances of the specific translation task (ibid.). Expectancy norms are 
created through the expectations of the audience (ibid.). They consist of what the readership 
expects a translation and a native text of a given type to be (ibid.). As such, expectancy norms 
govern the covertness and overtness of the translation (Chesterman [1993] 2017, 174–175). 
Covert translations will adhere to the expectation norms of a native text of the same type, while 
the expectation norms for overt translations are different (ibid.). In the next section I introduce 
the quality recommendations for interlingual subtitles in Finland, which are a form of verbalized 
translation norms (Toury [1995] 2012, 64). 
2.4.2 Quality Recommendations for Interlingual Subtitles in Finland 
The quality recommendations for interlingual subtitles in Finland are a verbalized form of 
translation norms (Toury [1995] 2012, 64). Interlingual subtitles are the collection of multiple 
one- or two-line subtitles shown on the screen for a few seconds at the time that the reader can 
understand immediately (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 1). The aim of the 
subtitles is to allow a viewer, who has no knowledge of the source language, to enjoy the 
audiovisual material (ibid.). The subtitles must be functional with the multimodal context of the 
audiovisual material, and they must also function in the target culture context (ibid.). The 
quality recommendations are based on the practices of the audiovisual translation field in 
Finland and were created through the collaboration of translators, translation companies, TV 
channels, streaming services, and representatives of Institute for the Languages of Finland 
(ibid.). The recommendations are aimed at audiovisual material on TV, streaming services, and 
recorded material (ibid.). The practices are based upon the audiovisual nature of the source text 
and the requirements for receiving audiovisual texts (ibid.). Additionally, the target language 
and culture have had their effect, as well as the fact that the translation has to function as a 
subtitled audiovisual work (ibid.). The document notes that the practices are only 
recommendations, and a translator should make their translation decisions on a case-by-case 
basis (ibid.). This follows Toury’s ([1995] 2012, 68) idea that even though translation is an 
activity governed by norms, the translator still has freedom of choice in whether to follow these 
norms or not. The aims of the quality recommendations are to benefit everyone involved in 
creating and consuming audiovisual works, to create uniform practices for interlingual 
subtitling, to act as guidelines for translators, to act as a guideline for quality for commissioners, 
and to regularize the terminology used within the field (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 
2020, 1). The recommendations address linguistic acceptability, the technical restrictions 
19 
 
specific for audiovisual translations, textual unity, and how to deal with different types of 
translation problems such as slang, swearwords, or songs (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 
2020, 2). 
According to the quality recommendations, interlingual subtitles should be linguistically 
acceptable (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 3). The language used in the subtitles 
should be natural for the target language, it should be situationally suitable and grammatically 
correct (ibid.). Grammatically correct and natural language will contribute to an enjoyable 
viewing experience for the audience (ibid.). Additionally, instructions on the technical 
specifications of subtitles are given. Subtitles consist of one or two lines of text. If a subtitle 
does not fit within one line, the segmentation should be as natural and logical as possible 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 4). Ideally, full sentences are contained within one 
subtitle. However, if this is not possible subtitles clauses and phrases, such as noun phrases, 
should be kept within one subtitle (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 5). The subtitles 
should be synchronized with the audio and their on-screen time should be between 1.8 to 7 
seconds (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 6). The recommended characters per 
second (CPS) for a subtitle is 12 to 14 CPS (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 7). 
The document specifies the technical writing conventions for interlingual subtitling in Finland. 
To mark a sentence segmented into two subtitles, a hyphen is added to the end of the first 
subtitle (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 8). Hyphens are also used as a dialogue 
marker when a change of speaker happens within one subtitle (ibid.). Subtitles are traditionally 
located at the bottom of the screen and aligned to the left, but they can be situated elsewhere if 
for example source language credits occupy the bottom of the screen (Käännöstekstitysten 
laatusuositukset 2020, 9). Capital letters are used for translations of on-screen text and for titles 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 10). Punctuation follows the rules of Standard 
Finnish, although the use of exclamation marks and colons should be carefully considered 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 12). 
Subtitles should be easy to understand with concise and immediately understandable language 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 15). Textual unity should be created both within 
subtitles and between the translation and the multimodal context (ibid.). Coherence within the 
narrative is created through the consistent use of terms, expressions, and tense throughout one 
work or a series (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 16). For cohesion within subtitles 
the use of connectives such as conjunctions is important, but pronouns should be used with care 
20 
 
as the reference may be unclear (ibid.). For information structure, already known information 
should be at the start of subtitles while new information is introduced after the predicate verb 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 17). Subtitling each repetition of names, words, 
clauses, and even replies within a short period of time is often unnecessary (Käännöstekstitysten 
laatusuositukset 2020, 18). For example, if someone’s name is being called repeatedly, all the 
instances of the name do not need to be subtitled. 
Domestication in intralingual subtitling depends on the cultural distance between the source 
and target cultures (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 19). Replacing cultural 
expressions with a Finnish alternative is not recommended and a generic concept should be 
used instead (ibid.). For example, a drink brand name could be replaced with the generic word 
for the kind of drink it is. The repetition of the name of the addressee is unnatural in Finnish 
and, as such it is recommended these are left out (ibid.). Additionally, honorifics such as mister 
and miss are unnatural in Finnish and their use should be carefully considered 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 20). Language that contains vernacular, slang, or 
dialects should be translated using Standard Finnish instead (ibid.). The use of vernacular, 
slang, or dialects would not necessarily be globally understood, and the expressions may grow 
old with time (ibid.). To create the illusion of these in subtitles, some stylistic choices can be 
placed throughout the subtitles (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 21). The quality 
recommendations do not give guidelines for translating taboo words, but they do so for 
swearwords. When translating swearwords, it should be noted that swearwords are stronger in 
written language than in spoken language. Additionally, there can be cultural differences 
between the meanings and use cases of swearwords between cultures (ibid.). For example, an 
equivalent swearword might be stronger in the target language than it is in the source language. 
Strong swearwords can be used in subtitles when situationally appropriate, but not all of them 
must be translated (ibid.). Additionally, any swearwords used in the subtitles should be natural 
for the language (ibid.). Language that is not the source language is italicized when subtitled 
(ibid.). Any foreign names in subtitles should be conjugated according to the rules of Standard 
Finnish (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 22). Songs and poems should be translated 
according to the standard practices in the document (ibid.). However, they do not necessarily 
need to be translated if they are not relevant for the plot of the audiovisual work (ibid.). The 
subtitling of letters and messages depends heavily on the context (Käännöstekstitysten 
laatusuositukset 2020, 23). For example, whether they are read out loud or are shown as visual 
text. Additionally, who is reading them and in what context determines the conventions used 
21 
 
when subtitling. Abbreviations should not be used in subtitles unless they are ones that are used 
in spoken language (ibid.). This is because the aim of subtitles is to mimic spoken language 
(ibid.). Expressions of times and numbers should be written according to Standard Finnish rules 
and numbers should preferably be written out with letters (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 
2020, 24). The next section introduces the material and methods of this thesis. 
22 
 
3 Material and Methodology 
3.1 Django Unchained 
Django Unchained is a Western film about slavery written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. 
The film premiered in the United States in December 2012 while in Finland it premiered in 
January 2013. The film achieved blockbuster status, grossing $425 million globally and 
winning two Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Performance by an Actor in a 
Supporting Role (Satchel 2016, 88–90). The film is set in 1858 south of the United States of 
America, a few years before the American Civil War and before the abolishment of slavery. It 
follows main characters, a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz and a slave-
turned-bounty hunter Django, later known as Django Freeman. 
At the start of the film, Schultz purchases Django from slave traders after finding out he can 
recognize the Brittle Brothers that Schultz is trying to hunt down. In exchange for Django’s 
help, Schultz offers to give him a portion of the bounty and his freedom. Django tells Schultz 
about his German-speaking wife Broomhilda, whom he was separated from after the two had 
tried to escape from a plantation. After the two have found and killed the Brittle Brothers, 
Schultz promises to help Django find his wife. The two find out that Broomhilda was sold to a 
man named Calvin Candie who owns a plantation called Candyland. Candie is known to be 
interested in “Mandingo fighting” or slave fighting. So, the two enter the plantation under the 
guise of being interested in buying a slave for Mandingo fighting. Schultz requests to see 
Broomhilda with the excuse of wanting to speak his mother tongue, German, with someone. 
Candie’s house servant Stephen however figures out that Django and Broomhilda know each 
other and that they are not actually interested in Mandingo fighting. Knowing this, Candie 
confronts the two and eventually sells Broomhilda to them. However, as Schultz, Django and 
Broomhilda are leaving, Schultz kills Candie which results in a large shootout. Django ends up 
being caught by Stephen and is sold to a mining company. Django convinces the people 
transporting him to untie him with a lie about a bounty they could claim being at Candyland. 
After killing the people transporting him, Django heads back to Candyland to retrieve 
Broomhilda’s bill of sale and kills everyone that was left alive after the shootout. Afterward, 
Django and Broomhilda ride off free and united. 
Django Unchained shifted from traditional representations of American history and slavery in 
cinema by portraying the enslaved character as defiant, heroic, and as someone who “kills white 
23 
 
people and gets paid to do it” (Satchel 2016, 88–90). Prior to this, enslaved characters have 
been typically presented as subordinate to White savior figures in films about slavery (Satchel 
2016, 89). However, the presence of a White savior figure can be seen in Django Unchained in 
the form of Dr. King Schultz, who frees Django from his slavers at the start of the film. 
According to Tarantino, the aims of the film were to empower African American audiences and 
to reverse the depiction of slavery in The Birth of a Nation (Satchel 2016, 90). In an interview 
by Henry L. Gates Jr. Tarantino stated that he did not want the film to be easy to digest for a 
twenty-first-century viewer (Satchel 2016, 90). Because of this, the n-word is used in the film 
over one hundred times, the use of which Tarantino partly accounts to historical accuracy and 
partly to wanting to “trouble the public” (Satchel 2016, 90). 
Based on the material collected for this thesis, the n-word is used in the film 112 times and the 
Finnish subtitling of these will be the target of analysis. The material was collected from the 
Finnish subtitling of the film on the streaming service Viaplay. The translation was created by 
the freelance translator Marika Nordman. Marika Nordman is a professional translator with a 
master’s degree in translation and interpreting. She has worked as a translator for 11 years. The 
year in which the translation was created is unknown. 
3.2 The Hateful Eight 
The Hateful Eight is another Western mixed with a whodunnit written and directed by Quentin 
Tarantino. The film premiered in December 2015 in the United States and in January 2016 in 
Finland. The Hateful Eight is set in 1877 some years after the American Civil War and the 
abolishment of slavery, but African Americans were still treated differently from White 
Americans. The cast of the film consists of nine characters who all end up stuck at a stagecoach 
lodge called Minnie’s Haberdashery. Four of the characters are already at the lodge at the start 
of the film: a Mexican called Bob, an English hangman Oswaldo Mobray, a cowboy Joe Gage, 
and a former Confederate general Sanford Smithers. Five of the characters arrive at the lodge 
together to escape the snowstorm on their way to the town of Red Rock. These characters are 
the stagecoach driver O.B. Jackson, an African American bounty hunter Major Marquis 
Warren, bounty hunter John Ruth, fugitive Daisy Domergue whom John Ruth has caught and 
Red Rock’s new sheriff Chris Mannix. 
The five people on the stagecoach arrive at Minnie’s Haberdashery to find the Mexican Bob 
greeting them, saying that Minnie is away visiting her mother. After they settle down at the 
lodge, Warren antagonizes the former Confederate general Smithers by telling him a story of 
24 
 
how he had tortured, raped, and murdered the general’s son. As Smithers reaches for the gun 
near him, Warren shoots him. While everyone is distracted by this confrontation, someone 
poisons the coffee which leads to the deaths of Ruth and Jackson as they drank the coffee. This 
leads to Warren and Mannix trying to figure out who at the lodge is out for the others’ lives. 
Warren deduces that Bob must have killed the lodge owner Minnie and her husband and shoots 
him. Shortly after, Warren threatens to execute Daisy, which eventually leads to a big shootout 
as Daisy’s brother Jody, who had been hiding in the cellar, shoots Warren from the cellar. This 
eventually leads to the deaths of every person at the lodge. The film had a rough start due to the 
script being leaked and the police union threatening to boycott the film (Lewis 2016, 88). 
Despite this the film grossed $156 million worldwide and won an Oscar for the Best Original 
Score and was nominated in two other categories. The film also did not receive as many 
complaints for the racial language as Django Unchained did (ibid.). 
Compared to Django Unchained the n-word is used less in The Hateful Eight, reaching a total 
of 57 occurrences in the material collected for this thesis. The material was collected from the 
subtitles on the streaming service Viaplay. The creator of the translation is not credited and as 
such it is assumed here that the translator is different from Marika Nordman who translated 
Django Unchained in this thesis’ material. 
3.3 Methodology 
To investigate what kind of translation strategies have been used when translating the taboo n-
word comparative text analysis has been used. I inspected how frequently each translation 
strategy has been used and calculated the percentage of each translation strategy per film. I have 
also considered how these translation strategies are used. Additionally, I have considered what 
different factors could have affected the translator’s choice for example translation norms, the 
context, the dialogue, which of the characters is doing the speaking, and the technical 
limitations specific to audiovisual translation. As it is not possible to know the true reasoning 
behind the choice of translation strategy without interviewing the translators, all discussion on 
the possible reasoning behind a choice of translation strategy is purely speculative. I have 
chosen these approaches to answer the research questions. The questions are what kind of 
translation strategies were used in the subtitles, how often each strategy is used, and can the 
effect of the Finnish subtitling quality recommendations be seen in the translations. 
Additionally, other possible reasonings for the choices of strategies will be considered. I will 
also note if there is any pattern on when de-tabooing or omission is used specifically. 
25 
 
The research material used in this thesis was collected specifically for this thesis. The source 
for the subtitles was the streaming service Viaplay. The timestamping format used in this thesis 
is based on Viaplay’s timestamping format. This format counts down the time, making 00:00:00 
the end of the movie. When presenting examples of the subtitles in section 4 I have included a 
back translation of the Finnish subtitles below the dialogue and subtitle. The data was collected 
manually and written out in a Microsoft Excel sheet with the timestamp, original dialogue, and 
subtitle, translation strategy used, and any additional notes for example repetition within the 
same sentence or which character is speaking. The original dialogue was mostly transcribed 
based on the original audio with the aid of closed captioning and the film script for parts where 
the dialogue was unclear. Additionally, I have included short notes on the audio and image of 
the examples brought up later in the thesis. I picked Viaplay as the streaming service source, as 
at the time it was the first streaming service that I could find with both movies available for 
streaming. The films Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight I picked for this thesis as they 
are infamous for their use of the n-word and as such should have enough material to answer the 
research questions of this thesis. 
For the analysis of the material, I am using Díaz-Pérez’s translation strategy categorization from 
his 2020 study on translating swearwords from English to Galician in film subtitles. The 
translation strategy categories are pragmatic correspondence, omission, de-tabooing, and 
addition. Pragmatic correspondence is a strategy where the source language taboo word has 
been translated with a target language taboo word of same or similar meaning. Omission is 
when the source language taboo word has no equivalent in the target language text. De-
tabooing, known as de-swearing in Díaz-Pérez (2020), is when the source language taboo word 
has been translated with a non-taboo target language word that is still related to the source 
language taboo word somehow. Addition is the category I have added due to the material. In 
this case, addition is when the target language text has a taboo word that does not exist in the 
source language material. Next, I will introduce the results of the analysis. 
26 
 
4 Results 
4.1 Translation Strategies 
This section will present and discuss the results of this thesis. Firstly, I will go through the 
general quantitative results of the analysis in this section. Afterward, in the following sections, 
I will discuss the results of each translation strategy category separately with some examples of 
the strategies within the material. In the following Table 1 I illustrate the translation strategies 
recognized in the material of this thesis and examples of the strategies. 
Table 1. Translation Strategies 
Translation Strategy Example 
Pragmatic Correspondence Tarantino (2015, 02:32:34) 
Now girl, don’t you know darkee’s don’t like bein’ called niggers no 
more. 
 Etkö tiedä ettei enää saa sanoa neekeri? 
Omission Tarantino (2012, 01:19:06) 
He ain’t never seen a nigger like you in his life. 
 Hän ei ole nähnyt sinunlaistasi. 
De-tabooing Tarantino (2015, 02:07:54) 
Now you gonna talk that hateful nigger talk, you ride up top with the 
O.B. 
 Jos aiot parjata mustia, voit mennä kuskin viereen. 
Addition Tarantino (2012, 00:56:52) 
It was you who approached me to buy one. 
 Te tulitte luokseni ostamaan neekeriä. 
 
As seen in Table 1 in the pragmatic correspondence strategy example, the translation uses the 
Finnish equivalent word ‘neekeri.’ This strategy can also use the word ‘nekru’ which is another 
form of the Finnish n-word. For omission, the translation is missing the n-word from the source 
material. In de-tabooing the example uses the word ‘musta’ [black]. Another possibility found 
in the material is the word ‘orja’ [slave]. Finally, in the addition strategy the Finnish n-word 
can be seen in the translation while there is no equivalent taboo word in the original. In the next 
Table 2 and Table 3 I have illustrated the number of translation strategies found in each film 
and the percentage of each strategy used. 
Table 2. Quantities of Translation Strategies 
Translation Strategy Django Unchained The Hateful Eight 
Pragmatic Correspondence 56 42 
Omission 47 12 
27 
 
Translation Strategy Django Unchained The Hateful Eight 
De-tabooing 10 3 
Addition 1 0 
Total 113 57 
Table 3. Percentage of Translation Strategies 
Translation Strategy Django Unchained The Hateful Eight 
Pragmatic Correspondence 49.5 % 73.7 % 
Omission 41.5 % 21.1 % 
De-tabooing 8.8 % 5.3 % 
Addition 0.9 % 0 % 
 
As can be seen from Tables 2 and 3 the pragmatic correspondence strategy is the most used 
strategy in both films. However, Django Unchained has a higher percentage of the omission 
accounting for 41.5 % of the translation strategies used while The Hateful Eight is at 21.1% for 
the percentage of omissions used. The amount of de-tabooing for both films is relatively low 
compared to the other strategies. De-tabooing accounted for 8.8 % of the translation strategies 
in Django Unchained and 5.3 % in The Hateful Eight. In the next sections, I will look at each 
translation strategy separately. 
4.2 Pragmatic Correspondence 
The pragmatic correspondence strategy was the most common translation strategy used in both 
films. It is an easy-to-use strategy for the translator but as it results in the audience having to 
read a taboo word it can cause embarrassment and offence (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and 
Trojszczak 2022, 302). Additionally, pragmatic correspondence is a translation strategy that 
stays loyal to the source text. In the material, the speech of black characters is often translated 
using translation strategies other than pragmatic correspondence. However, in The Hateful 
Eight in the scene where Major Marquis describes how he tortured, raped, and killed General 
Smithers’ son the n-word has been translated using pragmatic correspondence. In this scene the 
image switches mostly between Major Marquis, General Smithers and a flashback of Marquis 
and Smithers’ son. Smithers is shown to be agitated and later scared as Marquis details what 
happened to Smithers’ son. Marquis’ tone of voice starts as mocking and slightly amused as he 
is trying to agitate Smithers. As the scene goes on, he starts sounding more antagonistic and his 
voice gets louder. The Mexican Bob is playing the song Silent Night on a piano in the 
background throughout this scene. The subtitling of Marquis’ monologue in the scene is 
presented in the following Table 4 with back translations into English. 
28 
 
Table 4. Pragmatic Correspondence in Major Marquis’ Monologue in The Hateful Eight 
 
As seen in Table 4 the Major Marquis’ dialogue has been translated using the Finnish equivalent 
words ‘neekeri’ and ‘nekru.’ However, the previous instances of dialogue where Major Marquis 
uses the n-word, the translator has used the de-tabooing strategy. Considering that in Finland 
using the n-word is considered offensive even when a black person uses it (Rastas 2007, 133) 
the choice of pragmatic correspondence here is going against the target culture norms. The 
translation choice here could be due to the nature of the scene. Major Marquis is telling the 
story from the perspective of Smithers’ son. As such, he is imitating the way he considers the 
white people to think of black people. Later in the scene he is also taunting General Smithers 
by speaking from his point of view, asking if he can ignore Marquis’ existence. According to 
the Finnish subtitle quality recommendations strong swearwords, in this case a taboo word, may 
be used in subtitling when it is fitting for the scene (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 
21). Marquis’ use of the word in this scene shows how he thinks the other people at the cabin 
think of him. As such, I would argue pragmatic correspondence here is fitting for this scene. A 
similar case can be seen in Django Unchained when Django is acting as a slave fighting expert. 
This example is illustrated in the following Table 5. 
 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
He come up here to do a little nigger head 
huntin’. By then the reward was oh five thousand 
and bragging rights. 
Hän tuli tänne jahtaamaan nekruja. Palkkio oli  
5 000 ja kerskunnat. 
Back Translation: He came here to chase niggers. The reward was 5 000 and bragging rights. 
But to battle-hard rebs, five thousand just to cut 
off a nigger’s head, now that’s good money. 
Mutta soltulle 5 000 nekrusta – oli hyvä raha. 
Back Translation: But to a soldier 5 000 for a nigger – was good money. 
All them crackers come up here sang a different 
tune, when they found theyself at the mercy of a 
nigger’s gun. 
Valkoisten ääni muuttui kellossa, kun neekeri 
uhkasi aseella. 
Back Translation: The whites snag a different tune when a nigger threatened them with a gun. 
And when I knew me I had the son of the Bloody 
Nigger Killer of Baton Rouge. I knew me I was 
gonna have some fun. 
Kun tiesin, että hän oli – Baton Rougen 
nekruntappajan poika, – tiesin, että pitäisin 
hauskaa 
Back Translation: When I knew that he was – Nigger Killer of Baton Rouge’s son – I knew I was 
going to have fun. 
So what you gonna do, old man? You gonna 
spend the next two, three days ignorin’ the 
nigger that killed your boy? 
Mitä aiot tehdä vanhus? Vietätkö pari seuraavaa 
päivää – unohtaen nekrun, joka tappoi poikasi? 
Back Translation: What are you going to do old man? Are you going to spend the next few days – 
forgetting the nigger that killed your son? 
29 
 
Table 5. Pragmatic Correspondence in Django's Dialogue in Django Unchained 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
Alright niggers, back at it. Neekerit, pistäkää töpinäksi 
Back Translation: Niggers, get to work. 
He’s your nigger. Hän on sinun neekerisi. 
Back Translation: He is your nigger. 
 
In the scene of the first example, Django is shown getting back on his horse after everyone had 
stopped to wait for him and Schultz to talk. As he gets back on the horse, he first tells the slaves 
to start moving and mockingly tells one of the white people to start moving as well. During the 
second example, a close-up shot of Django’s face is shown. Candie has just asked him if he 
would mind if Candie has a slave killed in front of him. Django responds in a calm and serious 
tone with a neutral expression. Afterward, the image switches between close-ups of Candie and 
Django’s faces as Candie watches Django’s reaction to the slave getting killed by dogs in the 
background. Similarly, to The Hateful Eight, previous dialogue containing the n-word by 
Django has been either translated using the omission or de-tabooing strategy. The choice could 
be because Django is acting out as a black slaver. The use of pragmatic correspondence strategy 
might be used here to show that he is supposedly being unsympathetic towards other African 
Americans. Additionally, in Django Unchained, pragmatic correspondence can be seen in the 
subtitling of Stephen’s dialogue who is the plantation owner Candie’s house slave and plays 
the role of a secondary antagonist in the film. Examples of the subtitling of his dialogue can be 
seen in the following Table 6. 
 
Table 6. Pragmatic Correspondence in Stephen's Dialogue in Django Unchained 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
Who this nigger up on that nag? Kuka on konin selässä oleva neekeri? 
Back Translation: Who is the nigger on the nag’s back? 
Now I axed you: Who this nigger on that nag? Kuka on konilla ratsastava neekeri? 
Back Translation: Who is the nigger riding that nag? 
This nigger here? Tämä neekerikö? 
Back Translation: This nigger? 
Can’t believe you brought a nigger to stay in the 
Big House. 
Uskomatonta, että neekeri yöpyy talossa. 
Back Translation: Unbelievable, that a nigger will sleep in the house. 
You know that nigger, don’t you? Etkö tunnekin sen neekerin? 
Back Translation: You know that nigger, right? 
30 
 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
Can’t no nigger gunfighter kill all the white folks 
in the world! 
Kukaan neekeri ei voi tappaa kaikkia valkoisia! 
Back Translation: No nigger can kill all the white people! 
 
The first four examples in Table 6 are from one scene of the film. At the start of the scene, the 
image switches between everyone riding to the estate and Stephen’s face. As Stephen notices 
Django among the people riding in, he starts looking visibly angry. He sounds increasingly 
demanding when Candie does not respond to his question the first time. Django interjects, 
which causes Stephen to walk towards him while pointing his finger at and insulting Django. 
As Candie explains Django’s situation to Stephen, he seems bewildered. At the end of the scene, 
he is showing his dismay at the fact that Django is going to “stay in the Big House.” In the fifth 
example, Stephen has just followed Broomhilda out of a dining room. They are in a room with 
dim lighting. Stephen’s face is in full view as he is leaning down looking at Broomhilda’s face 
while asking the question. The last example is from the end of the film. Django is shown looking 
at the house while he puts on sunglasses. The image switches to show a line of dynamite slowly 
burning at the frame of the house, while Stephen can be heard yelling in the background. He is 
not visible in the scene, and he can be heard laughing. 
As Stephen is an antagonist in the film and his character is at a high position compared to the 
other slaves at Candyland the choice of pragmatic correspondence can be a form of 
characterization. It could be to show that he considers himself to be above the other black people 
due to his position at the house. In the scene of the first few examples, he also openly criticizes 
Candie’s actions, which shows his special position among the slaves at the house. Also, 
interestingly, the last example of subtitled dialogue in Table 6 omits the words ‘gunfighter’ and 
‘in the world’ but the n-word has remained. Considering this, it seems the translator has 
prioritized the taboo word over the left-out words when faced with the time or space constraints 
of audiovisual translation. 
Besides the instances of pragmatic correspondence in the subtitles of black characters’ dialogue, 
pragmatic correspondence is also widely used in the subtitles of the other characters’ dialogue 
in both films. Examples of pragmatic correspondence in the subtitling of other characters in the 
following Table 7. 
 
 
31 
 
Table 7. General Pragmatic Correspondence in Both Films 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
He’s got a nigger bounty hunter friend in the 
stable. 
Sillä on nekrukaveri. 
Back Translation: He has a nigger friend. 
You sure picked the wrong time to turn into a 
nigger lover. 
Nyt on huono hetki pitää nekrusta. 
Back Translation: Now is a bad time to like the nigger. 
It’s against the law for niggers to ride horses in 
this territory. 
Neekerit eivät saa ratsastaa hevosella täällä. 
Back Translation: Niggers aren’t allowed to ride horses here. 
Why would they go through all that trouble for a 
nigger with a chewed up back, ain’t worth 300 
dollars? 
Miksi nähdä vaivaa neekeristä, joka on ruoskittu 
ja arvoton? 
Back Translation: Why go through all that trouble for a nigger who is whipped and worthless. 
 
The first two examples are from The Hateful Eight. In the scene of the first example, Mobray 
is asking Mannix what Daisy meant by ‘the bounty hunter’s nigger friend in the stable.’ 
Mannix’s response is fast as he repeats the phrase back to Mobray, implying Daisy meant 
exactly what she said. The second example is from the end of the film. Marquis has just shot 
Daisy’s brother Jody. Mannix and Marquis are holding Daisy and Joe Gage at gunpoint. Gage 
is shown sitting down in front of a table with a gun under it. The image switches back to Mannix 
and Marquis as Daisy screams Mannix’s name. The image switches to Daisy, who has her 
brother’s blood all over her face. She speaks the dialogue in a calm and cold tone. 
The last two examples are from Django Unchained. In the scene of the first of these two, Django 
and Schultz have just ridden up to Big Daddy’s estate. The line of dialogue from the example 
is the first thing Big Daddy says to them. The image shows Big Daddy standing on a balcony 
looking down, where Django and Schultz were shown to be a moment ago. The last example is 
from a scene where Stephen has just told Candie that he thinks Django and Schultz’s actual 
goal is buying Broomhilda. The image shows Candie’s face from the side, and he sounds 
confused as to why the two would want to buy Broomhilda. 
Interestingly,other information has been left out in the subtitles of Table 7 while the n-word 
remains. For example, in the first example within Table 7 the words ‘in the stable’ have been 
left out from the subtitles. In the third example within Table 7 the fact that black people riding 
horses is against the law has been left out. As such, the n-word has been prioritized here over 
other information. 
32 
 
4.3 Omission 
The number of omissions varied surprisingly lot between the two films, with Django Unchained 
having 20 % more omissions than The Hateful Eight. Omission is another easy-to-use strategy 
when it comes to translating taboo words, as the translator does not have to cause possible 
offense or embarrassment to the audience. However, omission can be considered an 
inappropriate strategy whenever the taboo word is a keyword in the source text (Lewandowska-
Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 301). In the research material of this study, omission occurs 
in a wide variety of cases and in different characters’ dialogue. Omission can be seen for 
example in Django Unchained in a scene where Django and Candie repeat the word multiple 
times within a short amount of time. The dialogue and subtitling of this scene in the following 
Table 8.  
Table 8. Omission in Django Unchained 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
You see, you wanna buy a beat-ass nigger from 
me, 
Te haluatte ostaa tappelijan - 
Back Translation: You want to buy a fighter - 
those are the beat-ass niggers, I wanna sell 
so… 
- ja nuo tappelijat haluan myydä. 
Back Translator: - and those fighters I want to sell. 
He don’t wanna buy the niggers you don’t 
wanna sell. 
Hän ei halua niitä, joita myyt. 
Back Translation: He doesn’t want the ones you are selling. 
He wants the nigger you don’t wanna sell. Hän haluaa sellaisen, jota et myy. 
Back Translation: He wants one that you won’t sell. 
Well I don’t sell the niggers I don’t wanna sell. En myy niitä, joita en halua myydä. 
Back Translation: I don’t sell ones I don’t want to sell. 
 
The dialogue seen in Table 8 is a conversation between Django and Candie as they are talking 
about a slave Schultz would want to buy for slave fighting. This exchange happens within 10 
to 20 seconds of dialogue. The image switches between the two depending on which one of 
them is speaking. At first, Django is looking at his drink and eventually turns to look at Candie 
while talking. After this, Candie gets closer to Django while saying the last line and then he 
walks away. In the subtitling of this exchange, the n-word has been omitted. A moment prior 
to this exchange, Schultz says he wants to purchase “a fighting nigger” (Tarantino 2012, 
01:31:27) which has been subtitled as ‘tappelunekeerin’ [fighter nigger]. The word fighter still 
appears in the first two subtitles likely for cohesion. After the topic of conversation has been 
33 
 
established, the translator uses for example the pronoun ‘niitä’ [those]. By using omission, the 
translator avoids overloading the audience with fast repetition of a taboo word. The choice of 
omission could also be due to the space restrictions of audiovisual translation, as the whole 
exchange between the characters happens within a short period of time. However, since the 
word ‘neekeri’ [nigger] would have been shorter than ‘tappelija’ [fighter] I would consider the 
omission to be due to other reasons. The translator could have for example considered the target 
audience reaction. Additionally, the Finnish subtitling quality recommendations do say that not 
every swearword needs to be translated. Since the n-word is not important for the plot in this 
scene, the translator could have been following the guidelines for subtitling swearwords. 
Omission can also be seen in instances of repetition or interruption within a sentence in The 
Hateful Eight, as in the examples in the following Table 9. 
Table 9. Omission in The Hateful Eight 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
Them hillibillies went nigger head hunting but 
they just never did get ‘em the right nigger 
head, did they? 
Lähtivät nekrujahtiin. Ei löytynyt sitä oikeaa. 
Back Translation: They went nigger hunting. They couldn’t find the correct one. 
That nigger is - Tuo on… 
Back Translation: That is… 
 
In the scene of the first example, Major Marquis, Chris Mannix, John Ruth, and Daisy 
Domergue are sat inside the carriage discussing the bounty on Marquis. Prior to the dialogue, 
Marquis is shown to be pointing a gun at Mannix. The image shows Chris as he talks about the 
people that were trying to hunt Marquis down. The tone of his voice is lighthearted and 
humorous. This example has repetition of the n-word within one long line of dialogue, so it is 
likely that the second instance of the n-word has been left out from the subtitles due to the space 
restrictions. 
For the second example, Mannix is shown talking to General Smithers. They are sitting face-
to-face with the image showing Mannix. As Mannix is saying the line he gets interrupted by 
Marquis who calls Smithers name off-screen. As it is a short piece of dialogue that also gets 
interrupted, the n-word has likely been left out due to the space restrictions in this instance as 
well. In the previous section I noted that the secondary antagonist of Django Unchained 
Stephen’s dialogue was translated with pragmatic correspondence but on his initial introduction 
some of his dialogue has been subtitled using omission. Additionally, some of Django’s 
dialogue when he is playing the character of a black slaver was translated using omissions 
34 
 
contrary to the instances mentioned in the previous section. Examples of these are in the 
following Table 10. 
Table 10. Omission in Stephen and Django’s Dialogue in Django Unchained 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
Calvin, just who the hell is this nigger you feels 
the need to entertain? 
Calvin, miksi haluat viihdyttää tuota tyyppiä? 
Back Translation: Calvin, why do you want to entertain that guy? 
Him I understand but I don’t know why I got to 
take lip off this nigger. 
Ymmärrän hänet mutten toista. 
Back Translation: I understand him but not the other. 
You flash that bad look at me again, I’ll give you 
a reason not to like me. Now move, nigger! 
Jos mulkaiset minua vielä, saat syyn inhota 
minua. Liiku! 
Back Translation: If you scowl at me again, you’ll get a reason to dislike me. Move! 
You niggers are gonna understand something 
about me. I’m worse than any of these white 
men here. 
Teidän on syytä ymmärtää. Olen pahempi kuin 
kukaan valkoinen. 
Back Translation: You must understand. I am worse than any white person. 
 
The first two examples in Table 10 are from the subtitling of Stephen’s dialogue. They are from 
the scene introduced in Table 6 where Stephen sees Django for the first time. As this is his 
character’s introduction, it has not yet been established for the audience that he is an antagonist. 
Within the same scene where he is introduced, some of this dialogue is also translated using the 
pragmatic correspondence strategy, so omission is not used here exclusively. Since the use of 
the n-word is seen as offensive even when used by people with immigrant backgrounds in 
Finland (Rastas 2007, 133) this could be the translator adjusting to the expected reactions of 
the target audience. However, the choice of omission could be due to the word already being 
repeated within this scene. Stephen is inquiring who “this nigger up on that nag” (Tarantino 
2012, 01:13:58) is, and he shows his dismay that Candie “brought a nigger to stay in the Big 
House” (Tarantino 2012, 01:12:04) both of these have been translated using pragmatic 
correspondence. Since Stephen’s use of the word has already been shown through pragmatic 
correspondence within the scene, it is not necessary to subtitle all instances of the word. This is 
also in line with the quality recommendations for subtitling, as it is stated in them that not all 
swearwords need to be subtitled.  
The last two examples in Table 10 are from Django’s dialogue when he is acting out the role of 
a black slaver. In the scene, a slave glares at Django who is riding a horse. After questioning 
and threatening the slave, Django says the first of these examples. His tone is threatening and 
antagonistic. Django is shown to ride faster along the line of slaves as he delivers the second 
35 
 
line in the examples. As he is a black man talking to the slaves at the plantation in this scene, 
using the n-word could have been considered too harsh. The translator could also have 
determined that the word is not important for the meaning. Indeed, despite omission of the n-
word from these instances, the subtitles retain the antagonistic tone of the original. 
4.4 De-tabooing 
The de-tabooing strategy was relatively rare in the material accounting, for under 10 % of the 
translation strategies used in both films. For the instances of de-tabooing in the material, the 
translators have used the words ‘musta’ [black] and ‘orja’ [slave] as replacements for the n-
word. De-tabooing can possibly misrepresent the original taboo word (Lewandowska-
Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 302) but as both the word black and slave are closely related 
to the meaning of the original taboo word in the time period of the films.  
The three instances of de-tabooing in The Hateful Eight are the following: 
Table 11. De-tabooing in The Hateful Eight 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
You joined the war to keep niggers in chains. Halusitte pitää mustat kahleissa. 
Back Translation: You wanted to keep the blacks in chains. 
Just how many nigger towns did y’all sack in 
your fight for dignity in defeat? 
Montako mustien aluetta tuhositte taistossa 
arvokkuudesta? 
Back Translation: How many blacks’ areas did you destroy in a fight for dignity? 
Now you gonna talk that hateful nigger talk, you 
ride up top with O.B. 
Jos aiot parjata mustia, voit mennä kuskin 
viereen. 
Back Translation: If you’re going to slander blacks, you can go sit next to the driver. 
 
All the instances of de-tabooing in The Hateful Eight presented in Table 11 are from subtitling 
of the black main character Major Marquis’ dialogue. All of these are from when Major 
Marquis, Chris Mannix, John Ruth and Daisy Domergue are riding in the carriage. In the first 
example, Marquis is questioning whether he should feel apologetic about killing white people 
in the war when those people had joined the war to uphold slavery. The image is Marquis and 
Mannix in the carriage looking at each other. In the second example, Mannix has just claimed 
that Southerners deserve dignity in defeat. Daisy is shown to be amused as Marquis can be 
heard asking Mannix how many towns they destroyed in their fight for dignity in defeat. The 
image switches back to Mannix in the middle of this sentence. Mannix responds arrogantly 
saying that when black people are scared, white people are safe. The image slowly shifts to 
show both Marquis and Mannix. This leads to the third example, where Marquis’ gun makes a 
36 
 
clicking sound, and he puts the gun on Mannix’s cheekbone. Mannix looks scared and unsettled 
as Marquis says the dialogue from the last example. 
Contrasting to the instances of pragmatic correspondence in the subtitles of Maquis’ dialogue 
mentioned in section 4.2 where he is recounting something from Smithers’ son’s point of view, 
here Marquis is speaking from his own perspective. As he is defending himself or other black 
people, having the taboo n-word in the subtitles could appear strange for a viewer due to the 
negative associations with the word. As such, the choice of de-tabooing here could be a form 
of characterization as Marquis is talking about how he and others African Americans had been 
treated. The translator could also have been considering the audience reaction to a black 
character using the word when referring to themselves. 
In Django Unchained, de-tabooing is seen more in the white characters’ speech. Only two of 
the ten instances of de-tabooing found in the material are from the subtitling of black characters. 
The two instances of de-tabooing in the subtitling of black characters were from Django’s 
dialogue. These de-tabooed subtitles are presented in the following Table 12. 
Table 12. De-tabooing Django's Speech in Django Unchained 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
They ain’t never seen no nigger on a horse 
before. 
Mustaa miestä satulassa. 
Back Translation: A black man on a saddle. 
One could almost say youse a nigger. Tai mustan miehen tavoin. 
Back Translation: Or in a way of a black man. 
 
The first example is from a scene where Django and Schultz are riding into a town. The image 
switches between showing Django and Schultz and the townsfolk who stop what they are doing 
to stare at Django. Eventually, the image stops on Schultz and Django as Schultz asks why 
people are staring at them. In response, Django answers in a neutral tone saying they have not 
seen a black man on a horse before. In the first example in Table 12 Django is referring to 
himself as Schultz asks him why people were staring at them. The translation choice could be 
the translator considering in the target audience reactions as referring to yourself with a word 
that is considered insulting and inappropriate would possibly appear strange for the target 
audience even though in the time the film is set in the word was commonly used as a form of 
self-identification by slaves (Fogle 2013, 1). 
37 
 
In the scene of the second example, Candie’s lawyer, a black maid, Schultz, and Django are 
shown walking up some stairs. Candie’s lawyer is explaining how he was practically raised to 
be Candie’s lawyer. The image shows all four of them and it quickly swaps to only showing 
Django with a sound effect indicating fast movement when he says the line, showing how 
shocking of a statement it is. Afterward, the image moves to show everyone else looking at 
Django with shocked expressions. In this scene, Django implies that Candie’s lawyer is 
practically a slave as he says he had been “raised to be Candie’s lawyer” (Tarantino 2012, 
01:39:51). De-tabooing softens the meaning of the line, while keeping the implication that the 
lawyer was raised like the black people of the time. In the next Table 13 I list the examples of 
de-tabooing in the other main character’s, Schutlz’s, speech. 
Table 13. De-tabooing in Schutlz’s Speech in Django Unchained. 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
I wish to purchase one of your nigger gals. Haluaisin ostaa yhden mustista tytöistänne. 
Back Translation: I would like to buy one of your black girls. 
About that matter about the nigger girl you were 
talking about? 
Puhuimme eräästä mustasta tytöstä. 
Back Translation: We were talking about one black girl. 
 
Schultz as a character is shown to be sympathetic towards the black people of the United States, 
as he is the person that gives Django his freedom, and he also frees some other slaves in the 
process. As such, it is not surprising that his speech is softened through de-tabooing when he 
uses the word. In the first example, Django and Schultz have just ridden up to Big Daddy’s 
estate. The image shows Schultz smiling as he speaks in an enthusiastic manner. After he stops 
speaking, the image switches to the many black women stood in front of Django and Schultz. 
In this case, the translator might have considered the audience reaction if a sympathetic 
character were to use the word right in front of the black women. In the scene of the second 
example, Schultz calls out to Candie who then walks towards him. Schultz leans in and his tone 
is quiet and calm as he asks about the black girl they were talking about. Again, the translator 
could have been gauging the audience reaction to the n-word, since Schultz is referring to 
Django’s wife in this scene. 
The rest of the instances of de-tabooing in Django Unchained are from the dialogue of other 
white characters in the film. These characters are Big Daddy, Calvin Candie, and Candie’s sister 
Lara Lee. I present these instances in Table 14. 
 
38 
 
Table 14. De-tabooing in Other Characters’ Dialogue in Django Unchained 
English Dialogue Finnish Subtitles 
You can’t treat him like any of the other niggers 
around here, 
Älä kohtele häntä kuin muita mustia, - 
Back Translation: Don’t treat him like the other blacks, - 
- cause he ain’t like any of the other niggers 
around here. 
Koska hän ei ole kuin muut mustat. 
Back Translation: Because he isn’t like any of the other blacks. 
- that I believe there is a level above bright, 
above talented, above loyal that a nigger can 
aspire to. 
- että uskon tasoon, joka ylittää älykkään, 
lahjakkaan ja uskollisen, johon mustat voivat 
pyrkiä. 
Back Translation: - that I believe in a level that surpasses bright, talented, and loyal that blacks can 
aspire to reach 
Nigger gal? Mustasta tytöstä? 
Back Translation: About a black girl? 
What is the point of having a nigger that speaks 
German if you can’t wheel ‘em out when you 
have a German guest? 
Mitä teen saksaa puhuvalla orjalla, jos 
saksalainen vieras ei näe häntä? 
Back Translation: What am I doing with a German speaking slave if the German guest won’t see 
them. 
Well, it’s not every nigger speaks German, don’t 
ya know. 
No, kaikki mustat eivät puhu saksaa. 
Back Translation: Well, not all blacks speak German. 
 
The first two examples in Table 14 are when a plantation owner called Big Daddy is speaking 
about Django. In this scene, Schultz has just explained Django’s status as a free man to him. 
The image shows Schultz and Big Daddy on stairs, with Django and a slave called Bettina in 
the background. When Big Daddy calls out to Bettina, the image switches to show him and 
Schultz alone. Big Daddy’s tone when he says the lines is patronizing. He is gesturing with his 
whole body as he speaks. Bettina is shown to be confused at Big Daddy’s explanation of 
Django’s status. Django is being shown respect here and is being set apart from other black 
people. It is possible de-tabooing is used here to avoid the negative connotations of the n-word. 
It could be considered contradictory to use a word with negative connotations when Big Daddy 
is telling Bettina to show respect to Django. The next three examples in Table 14 are from the 
antagonist Candie’s dialogue. The first example is interesting as it does not refer to anyone in 
the film specifically. In this scene, Candie is explaining about his interest in black people. The 
image shows Candie gesturing with his hands as he speaks. His tone of voice shows his interest 
in the topic. As his speech goes on the image is moving across the other people in the dining 
table, one of whom is a black woman. Candie’s full speech from the scene: 
39 
 
“Where I part company from many of my phrenologist colleagues is that I believe 
there is a level above bright, above talented, above loyal that a nigger can aspire to. 
Say, one nigger that just pops up in ten thousand. The exceptional nigger. But I do 
believe that given time, exceptional niggers like Bright Boy here become if not 
frequent more frequent.” (Tarantino 2012, 01:28:35–01:28:00) 
Besides the one instance of de-tabooing in the subtitles for this scene, the rest of the n-words 
have been omitted in the subtitles possibly due to repetition. This could be due to the repetition 
within one scene. The Finnish word ‘mustat’ [blacks] is used in the subtitles instead to specify 
whom Candie is speaking about. The second example of de-tabooing in Candie’s dialogue is 
his response to Schultz’s question about “the nigger girl you were talking about?” (Tarantino 
2012, 01:11.18). Schultz’s question was also subtitled using de-tabooing. As such, the choice 
of de-tabooing in Candie’s response could be due to cohesion. The last example of de-tabooing 
from Candie’s dialogue is from a scene where he is talking about Broomhilda with Stephen. 
Stephen does not want to bring Broomhilda to Schultz, as she is being punished for trying to 
run away. The image shows Candie and Stephen. Candie’s tone is frustrated as he demands to 
have Broomhilda made available to Schultz. The choice here could be to make it clear that 
Candie is speaking of owning someone as a slave. The phrase ‘neekerillä’ [with a nigger] would 
not imply Candie’s ownership of Broomhilda which the word ‘orjalla’ [with a slave] does. The 
last instance of de-tabooing in Django Unchained is the subtitling of Candie’s sister, Lara Lee. 
She has brought Broomhilda up to Schultz’s room. The line is her response to Schultz saying 
he has heard many good things about Broomhilda. Lara Lee is smiling and sounds pleased when 
saying the line and she laughs a little afterward. This could be following the guidelines, since 
it is advised that not all swearwords need to be translated in subtitling. 
4.5 Addition 
Addition is a special case found in one instance in the subtitles of Django Unchained. This 
could in some cases be considered compensation. However, due to the nature of this case and 
its context, it is considered an addition here. The original dialogue and subtitle: 
“It was you who approached me to buy one” (Tarantino 2012, 00:56:52) 
“Te tulitte luokseni ostamaan neekeriä” 
Back Translation: “You came to me to buy a nigger” 
In this scene, the camera is on Candie, and nothing happens besides him speaking to Django. 
The addition here is most likely due to the structural differences between English and Finnish, 
40 
 
as a more literal translation of ‘ostamaan yhtä’ [to buy one] would be ungrammatical in Finnish 
(Kotus n.d.). Additionally, the subtitle preceding this is “Minä en tullut luoksenne myymään 
neekeriä” [I did not come to you to sell a nigger] so the translator could be using the n-word 
again in the example subtitle for coherence. In the next section, I will discuss these results. 
41 
 
5 Discussion 
Pragmatic correspondence was the most used translation strategy in both films. However, there 
was a difference in the percentage of pragmatic correspondence between the films. In Django 
Unchained the percentage of pragmatic correspondence was only 49.5 % while in The Hateful 
Eight it was 73.7 %. The difference could be due to multiple different reasons. First, Django 
Unchained contained 55 more instances of the word in the original dialogue than The Hateful 
Eight. Django Unchained has a similar runtime to The Hateful Eight, as such the word was 
more often repeated within a short period of time and did not necessarily have a function 
important to the plot in the film. Due to this, it might have been a target of omission because of 
the technical restrictions of subtitles. Indeed, omission made up 41.5 % of the translation 
strategies used in Django Unchained. The translator could also have been gauging the target 
audience reaction, since written taboo words are considered stronger than spoken ones (Hjort 
2009; Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Trojszczak 2022, 303). The translator could also have 
considered the audience’s knowledge of the source language, as omission can be used when the 
audience is likely to recognize and understand the source language taboo word in the audio 
(Hjort 2009). Lastly, the translator could have been following the subtitling quality 
recommendations as these do state that translating every swearword is not always necessary 
(Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 21). The difference between the films could also 
always be due to the individual differences between the translators. Overall, since pragmatic 
correspondence was the most used strategy in both films, the n-word was likely considered 
important for the plots of the films and had been prioritized in most cases. 
The use of pragmatic correspondence contributes to the adequacy of a translation, but it can 
also have other functions within a translation. I would argue that the pragmatic correspondence 
strategy is used for characterization in the subtitling of both films. This can be seen in the 
subtitling of major characters in the films. For example, when subtitling the n-word in Major 
Marquis’ dialogue in The Hateful Eight, the n-word had been translated using both pragmatic 
correspondence and de-tabooing strategies. The pragmatic correspondence strategy is used 
when he is recounting his own experience from a white person’s point of view while earlier in 
the film, he when talks about how he himself and other black people are being or have been 
treated the n-word has been subtitled using the de-tabooing strategy. This creates a contrast 
between these instances of his use of the n-word. The use of pragmatic correspondence for the 
scene creates an image of how he thinks white people that were on the Southern side in the 
42 
 
American Civil War view the formerly enslaved blacks. This contrast can be seen in these two 
pieces of dialogue: 
(1) You gonna spend the next two, three days ignorin' the nigger that killed 
your boy? (Tarantino 2015, 01:10:37) 
Vietätkö pari seuraavaa päivää – unohtaen nekrun, joka tappoi poikasi? 
[Are you going to spend the next few days – forgetting the nigger that killed 
your son?] 
(2) Now you gonna talk that hateful nigger talk, you ride up top with O.B. 
(Tarantino 2015, 02:07:54) 
Jos aiot parjata mustia, voit mennä kuskin viereen. 
[If you’re going to slander blacks, you can go sit next to the driver.] 
In example 1 Major Marquis is directing the question towards Southern General Smithers, and 
he is speaking of what Smithers would be doing if he does not attempt to shoot Major Marquis. 
In example 2, however, he is being defensive of himself and other African Americans. 
Additionally, as Major Marquis is the only character whose dialogue is subtitled using the de-
tabooing strategy, this creates a contrast between him and the white characters of the film. 
Similarly, to Major Marquis in The Hateful Eight in Django Unchained at the start of the film 
when Django is referring to himself with the n-word it has been translated using the de-tabooing 
strategy but later as he is acting a role of a black slaver his use of the n-word has been translated 
using the pragmatic correspondence strategy. 
(3) Alright niggers, back at it. (Tarantino 2012, 01:23:21) 
Neekerit, pistäkää töpinäksi. 
[Niggers, back to work.] 
(4) They ain't never seen no nigger on a horse before. (Tarantino 2012, 
02:25:14) 
Mustaa miestä satulassa. 
[A black man on a saddle.] 
In example 3 Django is acting out a role, so the use of pragmatic correspondence contributes to 
portraying him as unsympathetic and antagonistic towards other black people. However, at the 
start of the film when he answers Schultz question of why people were staring at them with 
“They ain’t never seen no nigger on a horse before.” (Tarantino 2012, 02:25:40) this has been 
translated using the de-tabooing strategy. This creates a contrast between his own character and 
the role he is attempting to act out later in the film. As such, pragmatic correspondence can 
have other functions besides faithfulness to the original since it can be used to create a 
distinction between characters when used in tandem with other translation strategies. 
43 
 
Omission occurs in a few different circumstances in the subtitling of the two films. For example, 
in both films, omission is seen within scenes where the word is repeated multiple times within 
a short period of time. One of these scenes can be seen in Table 8 in Section 4.3. Additionally, 
The Hateful Eight has a similar scene where the n-word appears in long pieces of dialogue that 
occur within a short period of time. Example of one line of dialogue within this scene and the 
subtitling in the following example: 
(5) Don’t you see that nigger and John Ruth put you smack dab in the middle 
of danger? (Tarantino 2015, 00:22:14) 
He panivat sinut vaaraan. 
[They put you in danger.] 
In the case of example number 5 the omission can also be due to space restrictions as the rate 
at which the characters speak in this scene is fast. Since the word is not important for the plot 
within this scene, it is likely the target of omission due to technical restrictions. Omission was 
also seen in cases where the word is repeated within one sentence or for example in a case 
where a character saying the word gets interrupted by another character. Omission was also 
used for the subtitling of the black characters dialogue, as seen in the following examples: 
(6) Calvin, just who the hell is this nigger you feels the need to entertain? 
(Tarantino 2012, 01:13:00) 
Calvin, miksi haluat viihdyttää tuota tyyppiä? 
[Calvin, why do you want to entertain that guy?] 
(7) You niggers are gonna understand something about me. I’m worse than any 
of these white men here. (Tarantino 2012, 01:25:27) 
Teidän on syytä ymmärtää. Olen pahempi kuin kukaan valkoinen. 
[You must understand. I am worse than any white person.] 
This could be the translator considering target audience reactions as the use of the n-word is 
considered inappropriate regardless of their background in the Finnish target culture (Rastas 
2007, 133). Contrasted to the source culture where the African American community has 
reclaimed the word (Kennedy 1999, 90). As such, the target culture most likely expects that the 
targets of the ethnic slur would not want to use the word that is used to degrade and insult them. 
Overall, omission could be due to the technical restrictions of subtitling, the translator 
considering the target audience expectations or the translator following the subtitling quality 
recommendations. 
De-tabooing is the most interesting strategy because it is neither faithful to the source text nor 
can its use be explained with the restrictions of audiovisual translation. As such, the use of the 
44 
 
de-tabooing strategy is most likely due to the translator considering the audience reaction. In 
The Hateful Eight, the use of the de-tabooing strategy is limited to the subtitling of the black 
main character Major Marquis’ dialogue. This is probably a consideration of the target audience 
since in Finland there has not been reclamation of the word (Rastas 2007, 133) nor does it have 
a history of self-identification in Finland. Due to this, the target culture would find the use of 
the word inappropriate even when used by a black character. As such, the translator was likely 
aiming for acceptability within the target culture. In Django Unchained, the use of the de-
tabooing strategy is more varied as it is used in the subtitling of the dialogue of the white 
characters as well. For example, the following subtitling of the plantation owner Big Daddy 
speaking about Django: 
(8) You can't treat him like any of the other niggers around here, cause he ain't 
like any of the other niggers around here. (Tarantino 2012, 02:08:55) 
Älä kohtele häntä kuin muista mustia, koska hän ei ole kuin muut mustat. 
[Don’t treat him like the other blacks because he isn’t like any of the other 
blacks.] 
As Big Daddy is showing respect for Django and setting him apart from slaves, it could come 
off ass strange for the target audience if he was using a word with negative connotations. 
Additionally, de-tabooing is seen in the subtitling of the second main character Schultz’s, 
dialogue as seen in the following examples: 
(9) I wish to purchase one of your nigger gals. (Tarantino 2012, 02:10:33) 
Haluaisin ostaa yhden mustista tytöistänne. 
[I would like to buy one of your black girls.] 
(10) About that matter about the nigger girl you were talking about? (Tarantino 
2012, 01:11:18) 
Puhuimme eräästä mustasta tytöstä. 
[We were talking about that one black girl.] 
Since Schultz is shown to be compassionate and sympathetic towards the black people being 
enslaved as he gives Django his freedom, helps him find where his wife had been sold to, and 
helps him attempt to purchase his wife from the plantation. As such, the choice here is likely a 
form of characterization. Overall, the de-tabooing strategy is likely used as a form of 
characterization or due to considerations of the target audience. As a form of characterization, 
it can be used to create a contrast between different characters, such as the sympathetic main 
character Schutlz and the antagonist Candie in Django Unchained. Lastly, the one instance of 
addition in the material can be accounted to the structural differences between English and 
45 
 
Finnish as a pragmatically corresponding sentence to “It was you who approached me to buy 
one” (Tarantino 2012, 00:56:52) would most likely end up sounding unnatural. 
Since there is a difference in whether it is appropriate for black people to use the n-word 
between the source and target cultures, I will investigate the number and quantities and 
percentages of each strategy within the subtitling of black characters dialogue in the following 
Tables 15 and 16. 
Table 15. Quantity of Translation Strategies for Black Characters 
Translation Strategy Major Marquis Django Stephen 
Pragmatic Correspondence 5 5 14 
Omission 0 9 12 
De-tabooing 3 2 0 
Total 8 16 26 
 
Table 16. Percentage of Translation Strategies for Black Characters 
Translation Strategy Major Marquis Django Stephen 
Pragmatic Correspondence 62.5 % 31.25 % 53.8 % 
Omission 0 % 56.25 % 46.2 % 
De-tabooing 37.5 % 12.5 % 0 % 
 
Out of the characters, Major Marquis has the highest percentage of de-tabooing, but he is also 
at the lowest total of the n-word used out of the three characters. Interestingly, with the other 
two characters who are the main character and secondary antagonist of Django Unchained, a 
significant difference can be seen in the amount of pragmatic correspondence used. 
Additionally, there is no de-tabooing used in Stephen’s dialogue, while Django has 12.5 % de-
tabooing. These differences could be explained with the roles of the characters in the films, as 
Django is the heroic main character while Stephen is an antagonist. By subtitling the antagonist 
Stephen with a higher amount of pragmatic correspondence than the main character Django, it 
creates a contrast between these two characters. Stephen has a high position among the slaves 
in Candyland and is shown to control and punish the other slaves in contrast to Django who 
was not in a similar position prior to his freedom. I will give the conclusions of this thesis in 
the next section. 
46 
 
6 Conclusions 
Between the films, there was found variance between the percentage of translation strategies 
used. The most used translation strategy was pragmatic correspondence, which means that the 
translators of these films value staying loyal to the original and have prioritized the use of the 
n-word in the subtitling. The differences in the percentages of translation strategies used 
between the films could be accounted to either differences between translators or to the fact that 
Django Unchained contains much more use of the n-word. As the n-word is used 55 more times 
in Django Unchained even though the films have similar run times. Since the word appears 
more frequently in Django Unchained, the choice to use less pragmatic correspondence could 
be due to the translator’s consideration of the target audience expectations. Additionally, since 
omission was the second most used translation strategy in Django Unchained, the technical 
restrictions of audiovisual translations are another likely reason for the translation choices. The 
translation strategy choices also sometimes supported characterization, with “good” characters 
dialogue being translated using the de-tabooing strategy more often while antagonistic 
characters’ dialogue contained more pragmatic correspondence. This could be seen in the 
comparison between the main character Django and the antagonistic Stephen in Django 
Unchained, who both are black. The subtitling of Stephen uses more pragmatic correspondence 
than that of Django’s which creates a difference between their characters. Additionally, this 
difference could be seen within Django’s dialogue as well. At the start of the film, his dialogue 
had been subtitled using de-tabooing. Later when he is acting as a black slaver his dialogue is 
subtitled with pragmatic correspondence. This creates a distinction between Django himself 
and the role he is playing in order to find his wife. Since there has been no reclamation of the 
n-word nor a history of the word being used for self-identification by black communities (Rastas 
2007, 119–133) having a black character freely use the word could be considered inappropriate 
by Finnish target audience if they have no knowledge about the history of the n-word in the 
United States. However, since the word is quite infamous, the Finnish target audience is likely 
to recognize it in the audio regardless of if it has been subtitled or not. Overall, neither subtitling 
leaned towards the use of one strategy drastically but used all of them in tandem to create 
distinctions between different characters. 
47 
 
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Tarantino, Quentin, director. 2012. Django Unchained. Columbia Pictures, The Weinstein 
Company and A Band Apart. 2hr., 45min. https://viaplay.fi/leffat/django-unchained-
2012. 
Tarantino, Quentin, director. 2015. The Hateful Eight. The Weinstein Company. 3hr., 7min. 
https://viaplay.fi/leffat/the-hateful-eight-2015. 
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näkökulmasta : rasismi, ulkomaalaistaustaisuus ja eriarvoistuminen. Master’s Thesis. 
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Film Subtitles: A Corpus Based Study.” Babel: International Journal of Translation 
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Fogle, Calvin D. 2013. The Etymology, Evolution and Social Acceptability of ‘Nigger’, 
‘Negro’, and ‘Nigga’. SSRN. 
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———. 2017. “Affect, risk management and the translation of swearing.” RASK 46: 159–
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Kennedy, R. L. 1999. “Who Can Say “Nigger”? And Other Considerations.” The Journal of 
Blacks in Higher Education 26: 86–96. 
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audiovisuaaliseen kääntämiseen. Tampere University Press. 
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 Pérez-González, Luis. 2014. Audiovisual Translation : Theories, Methods and Issues. 
London: Routledge. 
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Finnish Summary 
1 Johdanto 
Tabusanojen kääntäminen voi aiheuttaa joskus ongelmia kääntäjille. Tabusanoista varsinkin 
etnisesti halventava n-sana koetaan nykyään erittäin loukkaavana, mutta sanaa kuitenkin 
esiintyy elokuvissa ja kirjoissa. Kääntäminen on normien mukaista toimintaa (Toury [1995] 
2012, 64). Tämän vuoksi esimerkiksi kulttuurin ja kielen normit ovat osa käännöstoimintaa. 
Kääntäjän omat arvot ja kääntäjän käsitys yleisön odotuksista vaikuttavat myös etenkin 
tabusanojen kääntämiseen (Hjort 2009). Olen kiinnostunut aiheesta, koska n-sanan käyttö 
koetaan sopimattomana, mutta kääntäjät kohtaavat sanaa silti myös nykyaikana tuotetuissa 
teksteissä. 
Tässä pro gradussa tutkitaan n-sanan suomenkielistä tekstitystä Quentin Tarantinon 
lännenelokuvissa Django Unchained (2012) ja The Hateful Eight (2015). Nämä elokuvat 
valittiin tutkimuksen kohteeksi, koska ne sisältävät tunnetusti paljon n-sanan käyttöä. Aineiston 
perusteella tutkimus pyrkii vastaamaan seuraaviin kysymyksiin: Millaisia käännösstrategioita 
n-sanan kääntämiseen on käytetty? Kuinka paljon kutakin strategiaa on käytetty ja näkyykö 
käännösnormien vaikutus käännösstrategioiden valinnassa? Lisäksi pohditaan, mitä 
mahdollisia syitä käännösstrategioiden valinnoille on. 
Luvussa kaksi käydään läpi pro gradun teoreettinen tausta, joka kattaa n-sanan historian, 
tabukielen kääntämisen, audiovisuaalisen kääntämisen ja käännösnormit. Luvussa kolme 
esitellään pro gradun aineisto ja metodit. Luvussa neljä esitellään pro gradun analyysin tulokset 
ja luvussa viisi käsitellään näitä tuloksia. Luku kuusi sisältää pro gradun johtopäätökset. 
2 Teoriatausta 
2.1 N-sanan historia 
Englannin kielen n-sanalla on pitkä historia. Sana syntyi orjakaupan myötä, kun 
englanninkieliset ostajat lainasivat espanjalaisten ja portugalilaisten käyttämän ’negro’ sanan, 
joka itse pohjautuu latinan adjektiiviin ’niger’ [musta] (Alves 2009, 25; Kennedy 1999, 86). N-
sanaa ja sanaa ’orja’ käytettiin aluksi samaan tarkoitukseen, mutta orjuuden lakkauttamisen 
myötä vain n-sana säilyi käytössä (Fogle 2013, 1; Pryor 2016, 205–206). N-sana piti sisällään 
valkoisten amerikkalaisten afroamerikkalaisten vastaiset tunteet (Pryor 2016, 205). Nykyään 
51 
 
sana koetaan erittäin loukkaavana ja siitä puhuttaessa käytetäänkin usein kiertoilmausta “the n-
word” englanniksi tai “n-sana” suomeksi 
Suomessa sanan kehitys oli erilainen, koska sanan tarkoitteet tunnettiin vain muualta 
Euroopasta saaduista teksteistä. Tämän vuoksi sanaa on usein kuvailtu neutraalina mutta se 
kuitenkin pohjautuu kolonialismin värittämiin teksteihin ja ajatukseen, että ihmiset voidaan 
luokitella rotuihin. Maahanmuuton kasvettua 1990-luvulla sanan merkitys jouduttiin 
uudelleenarvioimaan, kun sanan kohteet alkoivat kyseenalaistaa sen käyttöä. Samoin kuin 
Yhdysvalloissa sanan käyttö koetaan sopimattomana myös Suomessa. (Rastas 2007, 119–127.) 
2.2 Tabukielen kääntäminen 
Tabusanat ovat sanoja, joiden käyttö koetaan sopimattomiksi yhteiskunnissa. Esimerkiksi 
erilaiset haukkumasanat ovat tabusanoja. Tabusanojen kääntäminen on vaikeaa, koska 
kääntäjän tulee tuntea lähtö- ja kohdekulttuurin vivahteet (Nasery ja Pishkar 2015, 28). 
Tabusanojen voimakkuuden tunnistaminen myöhemmin opituissa kielissä on kuitenkin 
todetusti vaikeampaa kuin äidinkielisten tabusanojen voimakkuuden tunnistaminen (Hjort 
2017, 165). Tabusanoilla on myös paljon erilaisia käyttöyhteyksiä ja niiden tarkoitus vaihtelee 
kontekstin mukaan. Tabusanojen aiheuttamat käännösongelmat voidaan luokitella kolmeen eri 
luokkaan. Ensimmäisessä luokassa lähdekielinen tabusana ei ole tabu kohdekulttuurissa. Tässä 
tapauksessa käännöksessä lähdekielisen tabusanan merkitys katoaisi. Toinen ongelmaluokka 
on, kun lähdekielinen tabusana on myös tabu kohdekielessä. Tämä on ongelma riippuen siitä, 
kuinka kielletty tabusana on kohdekielessä. Viimeinen ongelmaluokka on, jos lähdekielinen 
sana onkin tabusana kohdekielessä. Jos lähdekielinen sana onkin tabusana kohdekielessä, 
käännöksen merkitys olisi täysin erilainen kohdekielessä. Tässä tutkielmassa käsiteltävä n-sana 
sijoittuu toiseen luokkaan. (Almijrab 2020, 24.) 
2.2.1 Käännösstrategioita tabukielen kääntämiselle 
Tämän tutkielman käännösstrategialuokittelu on peräisin Díaz-Pérezin (2020) tutkimuksesta, 
jossa hän tutki kirosanojen kääntämistä galician-kielisissä tekstityksissä. Luokittelu koostuu 
neljästä luokasta, jotka ovat pragmaattinen vastaavuus, pehmentäminen, kiroilun poisto ja 
poisto. Pragmaattinen vastaavuus tarkoittaa vastaavanlaisen kirosanan käyttöä käännöksessä. 
Pehmentämisessä käytetään kohdekielistä kirosanaa, joka on lievempi kuin lähdekielinen 
kirosana. Kiroilun poistossa kohdekielinen sana on korvattu saman merkityksen omaavalla 
sanalla, joka ei ole kirosana. Poistossa kohdekielinen kirosana on jätetty käännöksestä 
52 
 
kokonaan pois. (Díaz-Pérez 2020, 404–407.) Díaz-Pérezin luokittelemista strategioista tässä 
tutkielmassa on käytetty pragmaattista vastaavuutta, kiroilun poistoa ja poistoa. Kiroilun 
poistoa on tässä pro gradussa kuitenkin kutsuttu tabun poistoksi, sillä n-sana ei ole kirosana 
vaan tabusana. Lisäksi materiaalista löytyi tapaus, jossa n-sana oli lisätty tekstityksiin, vaikka 
sitä ei kohdekielisessä materiaalissa ole. Analyysissa käytetyt strategiat ovat siis: pragmaattinen 
vastaavuus, tabun poisto, poisto ja lisäys. 
2.3 Audiovisuaalinen kääntäminen 
Audiovisuaalinen kääntäminen on nykyaikana erittäin laajalle levinnyt ala. Audiovisuaalinen 
kääntäminen voi tarkoittaa useaa erilaista käännöslajia kuten tekstitykset, dubbaus tai 
kuvailutulkkaus (Pérez-Gonzáles 2014, 15–25). Tässä pro gradussa tutkitkaan tekstityksiä. 
Audiovisuaalisessa kääntämisessä on omat ongelmansa verrattuna muihin käännöstyyppeihin. 
Esimerkiksi tekstitykset voivat olla vain tietyn mittaisia ja ne voivat olla ruudulla vain tietyn 
ajan (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 4–6). Suomessa tekstitykset kattavat suuren 
osan suomalaisten päivittäin lukemista teksteistä (Tuominen 2018, 83). Tutkimuksen alana 
audiovisuaalinen kääntäminen on kasvanut viime vuosina paljon. Tutkimusten kohteet voidaan 
lajitella viiteen luokkaan: saavutettavuus, käännösprosessi, audiovisuaalisen kääntämisen 
historia, kielipolitiikka ja audiovisuaalisen kääntämisen ongelmat (Gambier ja Ramos Pinto 
2023, 3). Näistä tämä pro gradu käsittelee audiovisuaalisen kääntämisen ongelmia. 
2.4 Käännösnormit 
Normit ohjaavat sosiaalista käytöstä ja niiden rikkomisella on jonkinlaisia seuraamuksia 
rikkojalle (Toury [1995] 2012, 63–64). Käännösten tapauksessa tämä voi olla esimerkiksi 
käännöksen kritisointi (Hu 2020, 83). Normit muuttuvat jatkuvasti ja niiden rikkominen voi 
mahdollisesti johtaa uuden normin syntymiseen. Toury ([1995] 2012) esittelee kolme eri 
normia, jotka ohjaavat käännöstoimintaa: alkunormit, ennakkonormit ja toimintanormit. 
Alkunormit ohjaavat päätöstä siitä, noudattaako käännös lähtö- vai kohdekulttuurin 
konventioita. Ennakkonormit ohjaavat esimerkiksi käännettävien tekstien valintaa. 
Toimintanormit ohjaavat itse käännöstoimintaa. (Toury [1995] 2012, 79–83.) Chesterman 
([1993] 2017) esittelee lisäksi ammattinormit ja odotusnormin. Ammattinormit koskevat 
käännöstoimintaa ja sitä, millaista käännöstoimintaa pidetään sopivana. Odotusnormit taas 
koostuvat kohdekielisen yleisön odotuksista siitä, millaisia käännökset ovat ja millaisia 
lajityypilliset tekstit ovat. (Chesterman [1993] 2017, 173–175.) 
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2.4.1 Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 
Käännöstekstitysten laatusuosituksia (tammikuu 2020) suomenkielisille tekstityksille voidaan 
pitää tämänhetkisten suomen av-kääntämisen normien verbalisointina (Toury [1995] 2012, 64). 
Ne on kehitetty yhteistyössä kääntäjien, käännöstoimistojen, tv-kanavien, 
suoratoistopalveluiden ja Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen edustajien kanssa. Laatusuositukset 
pohjautuvat alan konventioihin, lähtötekstin audiovisuaalisuuteen, audiovisuaalisten tekstien 
vastaanottamisen ehtoihin ja kohdekielisen tekstin toimivuuteen. Laatusuositukset sisältävät 
laajat ohjeet kielellisestä hyväksyttävyydestä, tekstitysten teknisistä ehdoista ja erilaisista 
ilmaisun käytänteistä. Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset eivät sisällä ohjeita tabusanojen 
kääntämisestä, mutta ne sisältävät ohjeet kirosanojen kääntämisestä. Laatusuositusten mukaan 
kirosanoja ei ole aina tarpeen kääntää, mutta sopivissa tilanteissa vahvojenkin kirosanojen 
käyttö on sallittu. (Käännöstekstitysten laatusuositukset 2020, 1–2, 21.) 
3 Materiaali ja metodit 
3.1 Django Unchained ja The Hateful Eight 
Django Unchained on Quentin Tarantinon vuonna 2012 julkaistu lännenelokuva. Se sijoittuu 
aikaan ennen Yhdysvaltain sisällissotaa. Elokuva seuraa Tohtori King Schultzia ja Djangoa, 
jotka ovat palkkionmetsästäjiä. Django on entinen orja, jonka Schultz vapautti orjuudesta. 
Elokuvasta kerätyssä materiaalissa n-sana esiintyy 112 kertaa. Aineiston käännös on otettu 
Viaplay-suoratoistopalvelusta ja tekstitysten kääntäjänä on toiminut Marika Nordman. 
The Hateful Eight on Quentin Tarantinon vuonna 2015 julkaistu lännenelokuva. Se seuraa 
useata eri hahmoa, joista pääosassa on afroamerikkalainen Majuri Marquis. Elokuvasta 
kerätyssä materiaalissa n-sana esiintyy 57 kertaa. Käännöstekstitykset kerättiin Viaplay-
suoratoistopalvelusta ja niiden kääntäjä on tuntematon. Koska toinen tekstittäjä on nimetty ja 
toinen anonyymi, tässä tutkielmassa on oletettu, että elokuvien käännöstekstittäjät ovat eri 
henkilöitä. 
3.2 Metodit 
Tämän tutkielman tutkimusmenetelmä on vertaileva tekstianalyysi. Pro gradussa tutkittiin, 
kuinka usein yllä mainittuja käännösstrategioita oli käytetty. Lisäksi pro gradu sisältää 
pohdintaa siitä, millaisia funktioita käännösstrategioilla on tekstityksissä ja mitä mahdollisia 
syitä käännösstrategia valintojen taustalla on. Pro gradun materiaali kerättiin Viaplay-
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suoratoistopalvelun tekstityksistä excel-taulukkoon. Alkuperäinen teksti litteroitiin ääniraidan 
pohjalta. Lisäksi taulukkoon lisättiin tiedot puhujasta, äänestä ja kuvasta. 
4 Tulokset 
Taulukko 1. Käännösstrategioiden määrä 
Käännösstrategia Django Unchained (2012) The Hateful Eight (2015) 
Pragmaattinen vastaavuus 49.5 % 73.7 % 
Poisto 41.5 % 21.1 % 
Tabun poisto 8.8 % 5.3 % 
Lisäys 0.9 % 0 % 
 
Taulukossa 1 nähdään, että pragmaattinen vastaavuus oli eniten käytetty strategia molemmissa 
elokuvissa mutta sen määrä vaihtelee elokuvien välillä. Poiston määrä oli myös paljon suurempi 
Django Unchainedin teksityksissä kuin The Hateful Eightin. Tabun poiston osuus oli 
molemmissa elokuvissa vähäinen. Seuraavissa alaluvuissa esimerkkejä jokaisesta 
käännösstategiasta. 
4.1 Pragmaattinen vastaavuus 
Materiaalissa tabun poistoa tapahtui erityisesti mustien hahmojen repliikkien tekstityksissä, 
mutta esimerkiksi yhdessä kohtauksessa The Hateful Eightissä, jossa majuri Marquis yrittää 
vihastuttaa valkoisen kenraalin, hänen käyttämänsä n-sana on käännetty pragmaattista 
vastaavuutta käyttäen: 
(1) All them crackers come up here sang a different tune, when they found 
theyself at the mercy of a nigger’s gun. 
Valkoisten ääni muuttui kellossa, kun neekeri uhkasi aseella. 
(2) You gonna spend the next two, three days ignorin’ the nigger that killed your 
boy? 
Vietätkö pari seuraavaa päivää unohtaen nekrun, joka tappoi poikasi? 
Lisäksi pragmaattista vastaavuutta nähdään Django Unchainedin antagonistin, Stephenin 
puheen tekstityksissä, joka on myös afroamerikkalainen: 
(3) Can’t believe you brought a nigger to stay in the Big House 
Uskomatonta, että neekeri yöpyy talossa 
(4) Can’t no nigger gunfighter kill all the white folks in the world! 
Kukaan neekeri ei voi tappaa kaikkia valkoisia! 
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4.2 Poisto 
Poistoa tapahtui esimerkiksi, kun n-sanaa toistettiin paljon: 
(5) He don’t wanna buy the niggers you don’t wanna sell. 
Hän ei halua niitä, joita myyt. 
(6) He wants the nigger you don’t wanna sell. 
Hän haluaa sellaisen, jota et myy. 
Lisäksi poistoa oli afroamerikkalaisten hahmojen tekstityksissä: 
(7) Calvin, just who the hell is this nigger you feels the need to entertain? 
Calvin, miksi haluat viihdyttää tuota tyyppiä? 
(8) You niggers are gonna understand something about me. I’m worse than any 
of these white men here. 
Teidän on syytä ymmärtää. Olen pahempi kuin kukaan valkoinen. 
4.3 Tabun poisto 
Tabun poistoa nähtiin niin sanottujen ”hyvien” päähahmojen puhetta tekstittäessä, jolloin se 
toimi osana henkilöhahmon luonnehdintaa. Esimerkkejä tabun poistosta päähahmojen 
tekstityksissä: 
(9) Majuri Marquis: 
You joined the war to keep niggers in chains. 
Halusitte pitää mustat kahleissa. 
(10) Django: 
They ain’t never seen no nigger on a horse before. 
Mustaa miestä satulassa. 
(11) Tohtori Schultz: 
I wish to purchase one of your nigger gals. 
Haluaisin ostaa yhden mustista tytöistänne. 
Tabun poistoa nähtiin myös, kun hahmot osoittivat kunnioitusta afroamerikkalaista henkilöä 
kohtaan esimerkiksi: 
(12) You can’t treat him like any of the other niggers around here, 
Älä kohtele häntä kuin muista mustia, - 
4.4 Lisäys 
Lisäystä oli vain yksi tapaus Django Unchainedissä, joka liittyy todennäköisesti kielten 
rakenteellisiin eroavaisuuksiin: 
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(13) It was you who approached me to buy one 
Te tulitte luokseni ostamaan neekeriä 
5 Analyysi 
Eniten käytetty käännösstrategia molempien elokuvien tekstityksissä oli pragmaattinen 
vastaavuus. Django Unchained sisälsi vähemmän pragmaattista vastaavuutta, joka voi johtua 
n-sanan suuremmasta määrästä, käännöstekstitysten teknisistä rajoituksista tai kääntäjien 
henkilökohtaisista eroista. Pragmaattista vastaavuutta on myös saatettu käyttää 
henkilöhahmojen luonnehdinnassa. Sitä on esimerkiksi saatettu tarkoituksellisesti käyttää 
luomaan eroja hahmojen sisällä. Esimerkiksi Django Unchainedissa elokuvan alussa Djangon 
puhetta kääntäessä on käytetty tabun poistoa mutta myöhemmin elokuvassa, kun Django esittää 
olevansa orjakauppias, hänen puheensa tekstityksissä on käytetty pragmaattista vastaavuutta. 
Poiston käytölle tekstityksissä voi olla monta syytä. Poisto voi johtua esimerkiksi 
audiovisuaalisen kääntämisen rajoituksista, sanan sopimattomuudesta tai hahmojen 
luonnehdinnasta. N-sanaa oli poistettu esimerkiksi, kun se toistui useasti yhden kohtauksen 
sisällä tai lauseen sisällä. Tämä voi johtua niin tilan puutteesta tekstityksissä kuin kääntäjän 
oletuksista siitä, miten kohdeyleisö reagoi tekstitykseen. 
Tabun poisto on mielenkiintoisin käännösstrategia, jota käytettiin materiaalissa, sillä sen 
käyttöä ei voida selittää audiovisuaalisen kääntämisen rajoituksilla. Tabun poistoa nähtiin niin 
kutsuttujen hyvien hahmojen puheessa, jolloin se luo eron heidän ja muiden hahmojen välillä. 
Esimerkiksi afroamerikkalaisen päähahmon Djangon puhetta tekstittäessä oli käytetty tabun 
poistoa, kun taas afroamerikkalaisen antagonistin Stephenin puhetta tekstittäessä käytettiin 
pragmaattista vastaavuutta. 
Materiaalissa löytynyt lisäys selittyy kielten rakenteellisilla eroavaisuuksilla, sillä rakenne 
“ostamaan yhtä” olisi kieliopin vastainen (Kotus n.d.). 
Afroamerikkalaisten hahmojen puheen tekstityksissä nähtiin eroja strategioiden välillä, kuten 
taulukosta 2 näkyy:  
Taulukko 2. Käännösstrategioiden määrä afroamerikkalaisten hahmojen tekstityksissä 
Käännösstrategia Major Marquis Django Stephen 
Pragmaattinen vastaavuus 62.5 % 31.25 % 53.8 % 
Poisto 0 % 56.25 % 46.2 % 
Tabun poisto 37.5 % 12.5 % 0 % 
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Erityisesti Django Unchainedin päähahmon Djangon ja antagonistin Stephen välillä nähdään 
ero pragmaattisen vastaavuuden ja tabun poiston määrissä. Vaikuttaa siis, että 
käännösstrategioiden valinta on ainakin osittain pohjautunut pyrkimykseen korostaa 
henkilöhahmojen piirteitä suomenkielisessä tekstityksessä. 
6 Johtopäätökset 
Elokuvien välillä oli eroa käännösstrategioiden määrissä. Pragmaattinen vastaavuus oli 
käytetyin strategia, mutta Django Unchainedissä esiintyi enemmän poistoa. Pragmaattisen 
vastaavuuden määrä osoittaa, että kääntäjät ovat priorisoineet n-sanaa käännöksissä. Erot 
käännösstrategioiden määrissä elokuvien välillä selittyvät esimerkiksi n-sanan määrien eroilla 
ja mahdollisesti kääntäjien henkilökohtaisilla eroilla. Syitä käännösratkaisulle on esimerkiksi 
audiovisuaalisen kääntämisen rajoitukset ja henkilöhahmojen luonnehdinta. Henkilöhahmojen 
kuvaus käännösstrategian valinnan motiivina oli näkyvillä erityisesti Django Unchainedin 
päähahmon Djangon ja antagonisti Stephenin repliikkien käännösstrategioissa. Kaiken 
kaikkiaan kumpikaan käännös ei käyttänyt yksiviivaisesti yhtä käännösstrategiaa vaan ne 
hyödynsivät niitä kaikkia luoden ymmärrettävän audiovisuaalisen kokonaisuuden.