Researcher: Sara Ramos Pinto (RG 6)
Project Designation: Subtitling 3.0
Funding Entity: University of Leeds
Principal Researcher: Sara Ramos Pinto
Research Unit: Centre for Translation and Interpreting Studies
Partners: Iyuno, ZOO
Duration: 2022 (6 months)
Overall description: The appeal of audiovisual products comes greatly from the combination of visual and auditory resources; but professional subtitling focuses on translating dialogue and specific written information on screen.
If in a Portuguese film or documentary, someone pinches their earlobe without saying anything, how are British viewers, for example, expected to understand that it means ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ when that hand gesture is not familiar to them? More worryingly, how can we avoid Italian viewers, for example, from misunderstanding the situation when in their culture the same gesture has a sexual and offensive connotation?
This project challenges the assumption that audiovisual content is made accessible when only verbal resources are translated. It will make an innovative contribution to the subtitling industry by contributing to the review of current subtitling practices, test the possible limitations and the opportunities of alternative subtitling practices focused on translating meaning expressed through any element (visual or auditory, verbal or non-verbal).
This project has three main strands:
- STRAND 1. Conduct interviews with professionals involved in production and distribution
- STRAND 2. Collect data on subtitling professionals’ attitudes and perception
- STRAND 3. Collect empirical data on viewers’ reception and perception
More information on: https://sararamospinto.research.st/projects