Gender Representations in Translated and Original Cartoons: A Turkish-English Dual Corpus Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Adopting the perspective of a corpus-based study in translation studies, this thesis endeavors to explore gender representations in some contemporary cartoons on two widely viewed and preferred digital TV channels broadcasting in Türkiye. The corpus data was chosen from thirty cartoons that aired on Disney Channel Türkiye and TRT Çocuk between the years 2015 and 2021 with a target child receiver age range 6 to 11. A Turkish-English dual corpus—the original Turkish cartoons on TRT Çocuk channel and the dubbed translations of Disney Channel Türkiye—were analyzed in an attempt to identify the gender representations that Turkish children, aged six to eleven, were exposed to between 2015 and 2021. Both the non-translated and translated corpus were analysed with reference to the approaches and perspectives provided through the intersection of several sub-fields of translation studies such as translation of gender and audiovisual translation for children. For the content analysis, the method proposed by Abigail Walsh & Campbell Leaper (2020) and the activity categorization of Andrée Michel (1986) were employed, and the relative rates were analyzed in terms of the number of characters, talkativeness, speech behavior (support or suggestion), aggressive behavior, activities, and appearance. The results reveal that both the non-translated and translated audiovisual products perpetuate numerous gender stereotypes