Translation Approaches of Singable Songs in the Dubbing of Lorax

Song translation as a subcategory of Audiovisual translation has been welcomed by the dubbing industry in Iran. It is a translation in which both linguistic and musical dimensions are closely integrated, therefore such a strong connection adds to its translation difficulties. This study determines the significance of the musical dimension as a major constraint in the translation of songs. Producing singable translation has been the most challenging task for song translators. The purpose of the present study is to take into account the musical dimension of musical animation The Lorax (Reaud and Balda, 2012) dubbed into Persian based on Franzon (2008) song translation model, determining the methods of producing singable translation of songs. As the results suggest, according to the adopted model, there was not an absolute translation method in the translation of songs dubbed into Persian, instead integrated methods of song translation were applied. To illustrate, the original music in four pieces of songs of the animation The Lorax (2012) was preserved. Therefore, the Persian lyrics were rewritten or translated but in one piece of song, the original music was changed to adapt to the rewritten Persian lyrics. This is the combination of the third and fifth as well as third and fourth approaches of song translation.