Across Languages and Cultures
Volume/Issue:
Volume 17: Issue 2
A reception study on non-professional subtitling: Do audiences notice any difference?
Author:
David Orrego-Carmona University of the Free State 205 Nelson Mandela Drive, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300( South Africa) Phone: +27(0) 514019621, fax: +27(0) 514019959 E-mail: OrregocarmonaJD@ufs.ac.za

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Pages:
163–181
Online Publication Date:
Dec 2016
Publication Date:
01 Dec 2016
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/084.2016.17.2.2
Keywords:
reception; subtitling; non-professional subtitling; audience; eye tracking
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The audience’s reluctance to wait for the international release of audiovisual products, coupled with the easy access to audiovisual material and subtitling tools on the Internet, has triggered an increase in the production and use of non-professional subtitling. However, up to now, we know little of how people receive the subtitles and how much they understand when watching products with non-professional subtitles. This paper presents the results of a study that explores the audience reception of subtitled TV series using professional and non-professional subtitling. Fifty-two participants were shown three excerpts from The Big Bang Theory with three subtitled versions: the professional version extracted from the Spanish DVD and two non-professional versions produced by two different nonprofessional subtitling communities. Data were collected through questionnaires, eye tracking and interviews. The results show that non-professional subtitles do not necessarily affect audience reception negatively. Further, both eye tracking and self-reported data yielded interesting insights into audience reception. Based on the findings, it is possible to say that there are non-professional translations that are as good as their professional counterparts.

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Across Languages and Cultures
Print ISSN:
1585-1923
Online ISSN:
1588-2519

Editor-in-Chief: Krisztina KÁROLY (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)

Consulting Editor: Dániel MÁNY  (Semmelweis University, Hungary)

Managing Editor: Réka ESZENYI (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)

Founding Editor-in-Chief: Kinga KLAUDY (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)

EDITORIAL BOARD

  • Andrew CHESTERMAN (University of Helsinki, Finland)
  • Kirsten MALMKJÆR (University of Leicester, UK)
  • Christiane NORD (University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa)
  • Anthony PYM (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain, University of Melbourne, Australia)
  • Mary SNELL-HORNBY (University of Vienna, Austria)
  • Sonja TIRKKONEN-CONDIT (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)

ADVISORY BOARD

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  • Alessandra RICCARDI (University of Trieste, Italy)
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  • Sanjun SUN (Beijing Foreign Studies University, China)
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Prof. Dr. Krisztina KÁROLY 
School of English and American Studies, Eötvös Loránd University
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