“” premiered at the end of last year. According to statistics provided by Netflix, it has conquered our closest region – Ukraine, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – without any major problems. The rest of Europe, outside our immediate cultural circle, had to make a greater intellectual effort to . As it turns out, in the case of the English and French dubbing, the translation did not help, as it completely changed the meaning of one of the basic jokes.
“1670”. The English and French translations killed the linguistic joke
Immersed in Polish stereotypes and culture, the series “1670” required additional language skills from the translators. Ordinary gags became popular in the English dubbing, but as it turns out, . If you watched the series, you probably know that the fallen knight Bogdan had an unfortunate fixation and saw conspiracies of one nation everywhere. If you haven’t seen the series, then in the last month you’ve probably come across the “puzzle for Bogdan”, which originally read as follows:
Bogdan, a riddle. What starts with Ż and silently rules Poland?
Jews (Bogdan replies without a second thought).
Rye, Bogdan. Rye brings us prosperity.
As you can see, the joke well reflects the stereotypical Polish approach, because Bogdan is Poland in a nutshell. Foreign translations had to somehow cope with this language game and combine the name for Jews in their language with the name for cereals (preferably rye). It’s not an easy task, but most translators managed it.
The Germans set a phonetic puzzle that was not entirely successful. Jews are naturally “Juden” in German, so when Jan Andrzej asks Bogdan what starts with J and rules Poland, he receives “Juden” as an answer. Unfortunately, the correct answer in German begins with G (“getreide” – cereal/grains), but it is read almost as if with the letter J. Let’s assume that they have passed the task of translating the riddle. The Spanish had it easy. Jews are “los hebreos” and rye is “la harina”, i.e. our homely flour. It’s close to rye.
However, the French and English flew into space. Let’s start with Victor Hugo’s homeland. What starts with “BL” and rules Poland? BLONDS – Bogdan replies unconcerned. The correct answer is “le ble”, i.e. cereals of all kinds. The English also lost all their lives here. What starts with “WH” and rules Poland? WHORES – Bogdan immediately says, which let’s translate gently to escort women. This word naturally makes the second part of the joke easier, because the correct answer “wheat” is included in cereals.
‘1670’ – what does Bogdan think rules Poland? Photo Netflix / staff
The problem is that our hero Bogdan and his fixation are two inseparable elements. Where Bogdan is, there is the search for Jewish conspiracies, and in subsequent episodes this problem is the point of many gags. Neither blondes nor sex workers appear again after that.
Importantly, these problems were only found in dubbings. If the viewer leaves the Polish language as the original and turns on his/her native subtitles, he/she will receive a perfectly translated joke both in French (la synagogue – le seigle -> synagogue and rye) and in English (rabbies – rye -> rabbis and rye). Why was it decided to take a creative approach to the topic for dubbing? It’s probably a conspiracy.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
