Translation and Cultural Analysis of the Greek TV Show Sto Para Pente

The bulk of this thesis is the translation itself—of Episodes 8-10—with timed subtitles. However, I also wanted to provide commentary on a few issues of interest that I came across during the translation. Conveying meaning from one language to the other does not simply involve translating the denotations of each word, but also the social context, humor, tone, and other aspects surrounding the situation. Whether words are used individually to interject, or come together to form unique idioms or phrases, the challenge presented to the translator is the choices: what words do I select to best convey not only the dictionary sense, but also the contextual meaning? This is especially difficult in wordplay-type situations. If there’s no perfect option, can I find a cultural analog that differs from the original denotation, but preserves the intention of the words? Otherwise, do I find the original important enough that it is worth educating the reader in order to preserve it—or, do I see no other translation option but to educate as a last resort? These are all choices that I had to make, and in this thesis I will be discussing the most interesting situations that came up, and my choices in dealing with them.