Researching Subtitling Processes

Subtitling is almost as old as the motion picture itself. It is a very specific form of translation that goes well beyond the transferring of written texts - given that the source text (the film) is a complex combination of spoken and written text, together with dynamic images, music and sounds. But how does one 'read' a film in order to translate it? In this volume, Anke Radinger investigates what happens in a subtitlers' mind, especially in various working environments. An example of one of these conditions is the introduction of innovative assistive language tools such as AI-powered speech-to-text into traditional subtitling workflows. Using methods like eye tracking and keylogging, Radinger reviews computer (or rather AI-) assisted subtitling processes, practices, and workflows, while concentrating on aspects such as effort and quality. Her work is a valuable contribution to subtitling process research (SPR), a young and greatly under-researched subfield of audiovisual translation. Anke Radinger, née Tardel, is a research associate and teaches at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. She is a team member of the TRA&CO Center at the Faculty of Translation Studies, Linguistics and Cultural Studies in Germersheim. Her research interests within Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies focus on audiovisual translation, translation revision and the application of technologies in the translation process such as eye tracking.