The Investigation of Ideological Representations in Subtitling: A Critical Discourse Analysis Approach

Abstract

The present study investigates how ideologically-laden words and expressions are subtitled from English into Arabic by taking into account various translation strategies and lexical choices. It also sheds light on the role of the subtitler in this ideologically-constructed transfer. For this purpose, a mixed methods approach is followed to analyze and calculate the occurrence of the selected words and expressions from English movies and their Arabic subtitles by adopting the eclectic model of Farahzad’s critical discourse analysis model (2011), and Baker’s (2011) and Pedersen’s (2011) translation strategies. The results of the study show that the subtitlers try to convey different ideologies from the ones presented in the original dialogues by depicting Muslim characters as negative individuals and American characters as positive individuals who are saviors and defenders. This is revealed through omission, translation by more expressive words, addition, and generalization. The findings further highlight that the subtitlers attempted to match the subtitles to the religious beliefs of the target viewers through cultural substitution. Regarding shifts of agency or participants, the subtitlers employed addition by adding action verbs in the subtitles to change the meaning of the sequence or to alter the focus toward specific agents by using different pronouns. The study thereof shows the role of the subtitler as an unfaithful transmitter of reality in the subtitles.