Subtitling Abba Naor’s Interactive Digital Testimony in English: Linguistic Considerations Underlying the Translation Process
摘要
The LediZ project at University of Munich has been digitizing Holocaust survivors’ testimonies for public access via interactive digital testimonies (IDTs). Users of these IDTs engage with survivors’ pre-recorded answers by asking questions in natural German speech and writing through an interface. These questions are matched by a dialogue system with the video providing the best answer to each question, so that users watching the video have the impression of a real meaningful interaction. However, the IDTs were first only available in German and thus limited in scope. The LeDiT project at TU Chemnitz therefore aimed to create an English-language version of Holocaust survivor Abba Naor’s testimony with subtitles, to ensure broader international accessibility and impact. The present contribution outlines the most important steps in the development of Abba Naor’s English IDT and explains the general principles underlying the translation from English to German. The largest part of the contribution is devoted to the discussion of individual decisions that had to be made in order to arrive at the best possible translation. The paper closes with an outlook on how Abba Naor’s English-language IDT can be employed in educational contexts, and the appendix lists all English questions.