Subtitling for the DVD Industry

Abstract

We all know what subtitles are. Luyken et al. (1991: 31) define them as:…condensed written translations of original dialogue which appear as lines of text, usually positioned towards the foot of the screen. Subtitles appear and disappear to coincide in time with the corresponding portion of the original dialogue and are almost always added to the screen image at a later date as a post-production activity.Interlingual subtitling is a type of language transfer in which the translation, that is the subtitles, do not replace the original Source Text (ST), but rather, both are present in synchrony in the subtitled version. Subtitles are said to be most successful when not noticed by the viewer. For this to be achieved, they need to comply with certain levels of readability and be as concise as necessary in order not to distract the viewer's attention from the programme. So, what are the techniques used to make subtitles unobtrusive? And what is the subtitler's role? The answers to these questions can be found if we take a closer look at the technical, textual and linguistic constraints of subtitling.