Qualitative analysis of the impact of deleting swearwords on their communicative effect in Arabic subtitling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17509/ervx8495Keywords:
Amateur subtitling, deletion, equivalent effect, subtitling constraints, swearwordsAbstract
In movies, swearwords are purposefully utilized to achieve certain communicative effects, including the expressions of the characters’ inner feelings, their social and educational background, and the relationship amongst the characters. Such traits need to be preserved in the interlingual subtitling of these movies so that the effects of swearwords on the source recipients are duly transferred to the target audience. However, for religious and cultural considerations, swearwords are either toned down or completely deleted in the subtitling process. In light of this, this study adopts a qualitative approach to examine the effect of deleting swearwords on conveying their communicative effect in the amateur subtitling of American crime drama movies into Arabic and identify the probable causes of deletion. Data collection included collating swearwords from the dialogues of two American crime drama movies (Alpha Dog, 2006, and Harsh Times, 2005) with high occurrences of swearwords and their subtitles in Arabic. In the analysis of these data, Nida’s principle of equivalent effect was adopted to examine the loss of the communicative effect of swearwords due to deletion. The findings of the study indicate that the deletion of swearwords has resulted in drawing an inaccurate portrayal either of the character’s personal feelings, the depiction of his/her socio-cultural traits or the relationship s/he holds with other characters in the movie. It is argued that the probable cause of deletion is to abide by the target socio-cultural and religious norms. Thus, careful consideration of swearwords handling in subtitling is essential to avoid such losses.
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