Subtitles
A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards in Europeby Fotios KaramitroglouPhD Audiovisual Translation
UMIST, Manchester, UK
European Association for Studies in Screen Translation (ESIST) | PREFACETranslation Studies is nowadays overwhelmed by a number of attempts to discard prescriptive standpoints and adopt new, descriptive directions. As a consequence, the research effort has been shifted from an investigation of things that should be done to an investigation of things that are being done. Audiovisual/Screen Translation is not left out of the trend. In Europe, current research into subtitling is oriented towards an attempt to describe the various subtitling practices around the countries of the continent rather than to dictate what practices should rather be followed. In other words, the attempt nowadays is rather to describe the various subtitling conventions being followed throughout urope, rather than to impose new ones. However, there are a few undeniable realistic parameters that cannot pass unnoticed: a) the movement towards a United Europe necessitates the adoption of common practices that would enable the participating countries to operate as a unified body, b) new technological developments in mass media and communication (e.g. digital TV) are bound to overcome the limited physical borders of the participating countries, leading to the creation of a pan-European market audience. In such a unified framework of European mass communication, subtitling—as a means of overcoming linguistic barriers between the nations—will come to play a critical role. Large satellite broadcasting companies around the continent have already stressed the need for a unifying code of subtitling practices, a code that would enable them to reach the various individual country audiences through a unique set of subtitling standards that would not violate the already established conventions within the various countries. At a first glance, such an attempt or a “desire” looks
UMIST, Manchester, UK
European Association for Studies in Screen Translation (ESIST) | PREFACETranslation Studies is nowadays overwhelmed by a number of attempts to discard prescriptive standpoints and adopt new, descriptive directions. As a consequence, the research effort has been shifted from an investigation of things that should be done to an investigation of things that are being done. Audiovisual/Screen Translation is not left out of the trend. In Europe, current research into subtitling is oriented towards an attempt to describe the various subtitling practices around the countries of the continent rather than to dictate what practices should rather be followed. In other words, the attempt nowadays is rather to describe the various subtitling conventions being followed throughout urope, rather than to impose new ones. However, there are a few undeniable realistic parameters that cannot pass unnoticed: a) the movement towards a United Europe necessitates the adoption of common practices that would enable the participating countries to operate as a unified body, b) new technological developments in mass media and communication (e.g. digital TV) are bound to overcome the limited physical borders of the participating countries, leading to the creation of a pan-European market audience. In such a unified framework of European mass communication, subtitling—as a means of overcoming linguistic barriers between the nations—will come to play a critical role. Large satellite broadcasting companies around the continent have already stressed the need for a unifying code of subtitling practices, a code that would enable them to reach the various individual country audiences through a unique set of subtitling standards that would not violate the already established conventions within the various countries. At a first glance, such an attempt or a “desire” looks
Bibliography: * Baker, Robert et al. 1984. Handbook for Television Subtitlers. Engineering division. Independent Broadcasting Authority. London. England. * Dries, Josephine. 1995. Dubbing and Subtitling: Guidelines for Production and Distribution. The European Institute for the Media. Düsseldorf. * ITC (Independent Television Commission) (eds.). 1997. ITC Guidance on Standards for Subtitling. ITC. London. England. * Ivarsson, Jan. 1992. Subtitling for the Media. Ljunglöfs Offset AB. Stockholm. * Luyken, Georg-Michael et al. 1991. Overcoming Language Barriers in Television: Dubbing and Subtitling for the European Audience. The European Institute for the Media. Düsseldorf. * Minchinton, John. 1993. Sub-titling. Minchinton J. Hertfordshire, England. * D’Ydewalle, Géry et al. 1987. “Reading a Message when the same Message Is Available Auditorily in Another Language: The Case of Subtitling.” In Eye Movements: From Physiology to Cognition, Regan & Lévy-Schoen (eds.). Amsterdam. p. 313-321. * d’Ydewalle, Géry et al. 1991. “Watching Subtitled Television: Automatic Reading Behaviour.” In Communication Research 18:5, October 1991. p.650-666. Author’s Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/7917/fotios.html | © Copyright Translation Journal and the Author 1997 Send your comments to the Webmaster URL: http://accurapid.com/journal/04stndrd.htm Last Updated: 12/20/2010 13:09:56 |