Abstract
The job of a subtitler is undergoing significant changes. This study investigates subtitling professionals’ perceptions of the effects these changes are having on their working conditions. ...With this aim in mind, an email interview study was conducted with nineteen freelance subtitling professionals producing German-language subtitles. Overall themes in the subtitlers’ accounts were disillusion with recent trends in the subtitling profession (the precarization of the subtitling profession, acceleration of production processes, virtualization of collaboration), concerns about quality (unavailable or low-quality working materials, market entry of unskilled subtitlers, replacement of established local subtitling guidelines by international ones, machine translation), but also opportunities (predictability, solidarity among subtitling professionals). Suggestions for future directions concern longitudinal studies to evaluate the effects changes in professional subtitling practice have on working conditions over time with follow-up surveys to collect subtitlers’ opinions on how the problems identified could best be tackled.
There has been considerable interest in subtitling strategies in the translation of cultural references. However, there is a lack of studies on subtitling in the Chinese context. The purpose of this ...study is to compare the subtitling strategies used by fansubbers and official subtitlers when dealing with cultural references in translated Mandarin subtitles. The results showed that 228 cultural references had been found in the two films: The King’s Speech and No Country for Old Men. In addition, fansubbers and official subtitlers did not use three strategies in the selected framework: loan, calque, and compensation. Furthermore, three other strategies were identified in this study that did not fall within the selected framework, namely paraphrase, condensation, and gloss. In addition, the gloss strategy was only found in fansubbing, whereas official subtitlers used omission and lexical-recreation strategies. Some inappropriate or inaccurate subtitling of cultural references can be identified in the fansubbing. Although there was a divergence between the two subtitling groups, the statistical results showed that the differences between these groups in the adoption of subtitling strategies were not statistically significant.
This article presents the results of the first official assessment on the quality of live TV subtitles in the UK as a form of access to audiovisual communication for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. ...Carried out in collaboration with the British governmental regulator Ofcom, this is the largest analysis ever conducted on the quality of live subtitles, covering 300 programmes and 78,000 subtitles. The results provide data on the key issues of accuracy, speed, reduction rate and latency of the subtitles. The article concludes with a number of suggestions to update the existing guidelines on live subtitles at an international level so that they can provide full access to audiovisual communication for viewers with hearing loss.
•Subtitling is a key form of access to audiovisual communication for deaf viewers.•This article presents the largest study conducted so far on live subtitling quality.•Live subtitles in the UK meet the accuracy target but their delay is too high.•National and international guidelines should be revised to be in line with results.
Although metaphors are one of the most challenging problems in translation, their treatment is still understudied under the specific constraints of audiovisual translation. The research is especially ...scarce regarding empirical reception studies as most research is product or process but not user-oriented. The main questions that the present study aims to answer are what are the general preferences and expectations of viewers regarding the translation strategies used for rendering metaphors in subtitling and what could be the underlying reasons for these. To this end, we conducted an experiment with 322 participants and compared the results with a semi-structured interview with 53 participants. The results suggest that viewers prefer a domesticated approach both for lexicalized and non-lexicalized metaphors except for visualized metaphors regardless of their level of transculturality. The potential underlying reasons for this are also discussed.
The professional translation processes involved in subtitling Chinese auteur films are under-reported in audiovisual translation literature. The present study investigates the translation processes ...employed for Chinese films destined for an international audience with a focus on fifth- and sixth-generation directors’ films. These film auteurs depict China’s diverse cultural elements and contemporary social reality, for which English subtitles provide an essential bridge to connect to an international audience. Interview data collected from ten established Chinese-to-English translators/subtitlers, whose names are credited in the selected films, identify two remarkable features of subtitling these contemporary Chinese auteur films: Multiple phases of the translation processes employed across the filmmaking lifespan and multiple stakeholders involved in the wider translation processes beyond translators/subtitlers. Actor-Network Theory is used to elicit interwoven relationships among the various human and non-human actors connected to translating/subtitling activities across different stages of filmmaking. These findings confirm that translating/subtitling is not an isolated post-production task but rather permeates all filmmaking phases. This can be a key factor in contributing to overall quality, which is critical in disseminating subtitled films by some of China’s most celebrated auteurs.
Lay summary
The international film market has increasingly featured Chinese films, especially the works by established Chinese directors, such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Jia Zhangke and Jia Zhangke. Their films reflect China’s cultural conventions and contemporary social reality. English subtitling is the most popular mode of translation to distribute Chinese films among the English-speaking audience. However, little is known about the agents involved in translating the Chinese high-profile films and the translation processes. To fill this knowledge gap, we interviewed ten translators or subtitlers contributing to the translation of the four aforementioned directors. The collected interview data inform us that many other stakeholders (e.g. directors, producers, screenwriters, distributors and subtitle editors) play a role in the shaping of the final English subtitles shown on the screen, and translation of Chinese films takes place throughout the whole filmmaking process (i.e. film development, pre-production, post-production, distribution and exhibition). A sociological framework is adopted to demonstrate the interwoven relationships among the various human (i.e. translators/subtitlers and other stakeholders) and non-human actors (i.e. accompanying materials and translation products) connected to translating/subtitling activities across different stages of filmmaking. It is argued that such a multiphase and multistakeholder process helps to improve the overall quality of Chinese film subtitling.
Unproclaimed Motivation Aljammaz, Abdulrahman Ibrahim
Journal of audiovisual translation,
12/2023, Volume:
6, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
With technological advances in AVT production, distribution, and consumption, translation activity has expanded to allow many opportunities for user participation such as non-professional subtitling. ...AVT scholars have thereby asserted that a new framework using a sociological lens is needed to study translators’ roles in non-professional settings. This paper focuses on the role of Arabic non-professional (ANP) subtitlers in their capacity as agents of normative change through activist practices. Namely, this paper tests the hypothesis that one of ANP subtitlers’ unproclaimed motivations behind subtitling is to challenge social and subtitling norms. Translating explicit language is presented as an example of this unproclaimed motivation to challenge censorship and ultimately social and subtitling norms. To this end, this paper relies on results obtained from a mixed-method survey that elicited sociodemographic data of 40 non-professional subtitlers of Arabic; as well as their motivations behind subtitling. This study has found that ANP subtitlers demonstrate activist practices by challenging censorship of explicit language. Activism is also identified as an unproclaimed motivation behind ANP subtitling. Survey responses and subtitling examples are analyzed and discussed followed by concluding remarks and recommendations for future research.
Lay summary
The development and spread of social media, the internet, and media production/distribution has bred new forms of translation that allow more participation from the viewers of films, YouTube videos, and any form of audiovisual content. This has blurred the line between so-called professional and amateur media production/distribution (Pérez-González, 2013a; Díaz-Cintas, 2018). Scholars who study the translation of audiovisual texts such as film using modes such as subtitling and dubbing have thereby stated that a new approach, using a sociological lens, is needed to study translators’ roles in non-professional settings.
This paper focuses on Arabic non-professional (ANP) subtitlers in their capacity as agents of change through intervening in the translation. Intervention in the translation is manly revolved around controlling what is translated and how. Specifically, this paper tests the theory that one of ANP subtitlers’ unproclaimed motivations behind subtitling is to challenge societal and subtitling norms. Norms are a set of, mostly unwritten, rules that govern what is acceptable and what is not for a society or a subtitling community. Translating explicit language is presented as an example of this unproclaimed motivation to challenge norms as well as censorship that prevalent in many regulated media outlets such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, etc.
This paper presents results obtained from a survey of 40 non-professional subtitlers of Arabic; as well as their motivations behind subtitling. We found that 45% of the surveyed ANP subtitlers claim to adopt subtitling practices that may be called interventionist, and that this can also be seen in some of the examples of their texts. We also found that ANP subtitlers’ motivational factors have an impact on translational choices (for example, the choice of not translating certain words). These translational choices can be interpreted as forms of interventionism in some cases.
The rapidly growing demand for subtitling on the global translation market has resulted in a new development which has revolutionised the way subtitles are created and distributed: the template. A ...template is a subtitle file containing a time-coded transcription of the dialogue to be later translated into multiple target languages. Loved by global subtitling companies and frowned upon by subtitlers, templates have become an inseparable part of modern subtitling workflows. The goal of our study is to examine this new development in terms of quality, its impact on the profession and the resulting changes in subtitler competences. With this goal in mind, we conducted an online survey which was completed by 344 professionals from 47 countries involved in the subtitling process with templates. We gathered data on the content of the templates, subtitling workflows, types of software, pivot translation, annotations, and language combinations. We found important differences in spotting skills between subtitlers depending on their experience and type of company they work for. Our results also show that the quality of templates currently available on the market is rather inadequate. We present suggestions for improvement based on the subtitlers' views. The results may be used to inform current market practices.
This article analyses questionnaire responses provided by a small group of well-established subtitlers working to translate a genre of French independent/auteur film into English. The subtitlers were ...asked open questions about their working practices and conditions. Their responses are analysed in relation to the commission, collaborative practices, and technical aspects of the subtitling process. The study compares the workflow and working conditions of these subtitlers with other published accounts of the subtitling process. One of the most striking findings of the analysis is the high degree of collaboration taking place among the agents involved in the subtitling of these films. On occasion, longer time frames allow for consultation with colleagues and experts, and in many cases the director and/or producers are also involved in the translation process, offering insight into the source text, and attending a simulation of the subtitled film in order to discuss and finalise the subtitles in collaboration with the translator. When working on these films, the translator often approaches the director with queries. In these relationships, a different power dynamic is suggested, and the collaboration that takes place is more subtitler-led than other published accounts of director-subtitler collaboration in cinema.
The bourgeoning and rapid evolution of cloud-based applications has triggered profound transformations in the audiovisual translation (AVT) mediascape. By drawing attention to the major changes that ...web-based ecosystems have introduced in localisation workflows, we set out to outline ways in which these new technological advances can be embedded in the AVT classroom. Along these lines, the present study sets out to explore the potential benefits of cloud platforms in AVT training curricula by exploring ways in which this technology can be exploited in subtitling training. An analysis of current subtitling practices and tools, localisation workflows, and in-demand skills in the AVT industry will be followed by an experience-based account on the use of cloud-based platforms in subtitler training environments to simulate and carry out a wide range of tasks. Our study pivots around the idea that cloud subtitling might prove useful to bridge the technological gap between academic institutions and the profession as well as to enhance the distance-learning provision of practice-oriented training in subtitling.
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