An Audience-Based Approach In The Subtitling Of Cultural Elements In Selected Iranian Films
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Date
2017-08
Authors
Kenevisi, Mohammad Sadegh
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The current study examines the preferences of the international audience of Iranian films towards the subtitling of Cultural Elements (CEs) in selected films. First, the CEs used in the films are examined and classified. Next, the translation procedures and their frequency are investigated and discussed based on the position of the Iranian films in the global film polysystem. Accordingly, the study examines whether the position of these films in the polysystem has influenced the translation strategies. Subsequently, the audience preferences towards the Foreignizing and Domesticating strategies used in the subtitling of CEs is examined based on the position of the Iranian films in the global film polysystem. Lastly, the extent to which the audience preferences coincides with the procedures adopted by the subtitlers is examined. For this purpose, the classifications and taxonomies proposed by Newmark (1988), Pederson (2011) and Diaz-Cintas and Ramael (2007) are used to identify and classify the CEs. The notion of Polysystem Theory by Even Zohar (1990) and Venuti’s (1995/2008) ideas of Foreignization and Domestication are also adopted as the framework for the data analysis. In this mixed method study, 31 Iranian films are qualitatively analysed for the CEs and the translation procedures. The audience preferences is analysed quantitatively through 223 responses gathered from the questionnaires distributed through Facebook, and at international film festivals in London, Sydney, Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur in 2015. The corpus is built from those films nominated for Oscars and the films screened in International film festivals. The findings of the study reveal that Iranian films and cinemas are in peripheral position within the global film polysystem. This is further supported by the dominancy and inclination of domestication procedures employed by the subtitlers and the outcome coincides with the preferences of the audience. In this context, the findings also show that besides domestication, foreignizing approach will also likely to provide opportunity for minor languages and cultures to become both visible, as well as to cater wider audience preferences.
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Keywords
Preferences of the international audience of Iranian films , towards the subtitling of Cultural Elements