Lost In Translation: Audience Preferences Concerning Dubbed or Subbed Foreign Media

Introduction

The 2020 Academy Awards marked the first time a non-english film won the Oscar for Best Picture. Written and directed by Bong Joon Ho, Parasite (2019) was also awarded Best Director, Best International Film, and Best Original Screenplay. This is not the first foreign project to be a big hit in the States; Amélie (2001), Squid Games (2021), and Oldboy (2003) are just a few more award-winning examples of the rising interest in non-english media among American audiences. Parasite’s big win at the Academy Awards forces viewers everywhere to acknowledge that these stories are well worth watching despite lingering language barriers; and with the growing popularity of foreign entertainment and the expansive networks created by social media and streaming services, it is clear that audiences have never been more in tune with foreign media in today’s globalized landscape.

How is this possible? Since films have become accessible beyond the constraints of their original language and cultural context, audiovisual translation methods have become essential tools of the growing entertainment markets. Audiovisual translation is a broad term that encompasses various methods of translating audio and visual content, such as subtitles and dubbing. Subtitling is the process of transcribing and translating the original dialogue and printing the written word in a continuous scroll at the bottom of the screen, while dubbing concerns rerecording the original language with a new voice-over recording done by actors in the target language. These two audiovisual translation methods, or AVT methods, have their respective advantages and disadvantages, and the preferences for each differ among varying demographics and individuals.

This qualitative research paper will investigate these two methods of media translation by analyzing previous research and texts as well as conducting interviews that offer empirical data to explore the advantages and disadvantages of the AVT Methods. In doing so, my research intends to answer the question: which Audiovisual Translation Method, between subtitling and dubbing, is preferred by audiences as the most accurate when translating themes, messages, and the tone of a film? Researching and understanding these concepts is important to the study of communication because it affects how audiences interpret and comprehend themes and messages within a show or film. If not done effectively, producers and distributors run the risk of audiences misunderstanding their media, thus making it harder to consume and less accessible in a global marketplace.

Overall, this research paper aims to contribute to the understanding of audiovisual translation methods and their impact on an audiences' experiences of foreign media, especially film and television. By examining the general preferences between subtitled and dubbed film media, I hope to deepen our apprehension of the factors that influence these preferences and help editors, translators, and media distributors make more informed decisions about how certain translation methods affect content for global audiences. Ultimately, by analyzing the ways in which people consume translingual media, filmmakers will progress towards finding more effective ways to share and enjoy global entertainment together.

Literature Review

The research for this paper was conducted by means of a thorough textual analysis of several academic articles, research studies, and ebooks concerning the topic of audiovisual translation methods. I began by using the AIC (Abstract, Introduction, Conclusion) method to establish running themes and patterns between the article findings before delving into deeper examinations of each. Then, compiling all the ideas and findings that my research had to offer I treated an outline that explains the important details behind the debate of subbing vs. dubbing, canonical beliefs and findings of past studies, and potential queries or phenomena that still go unanswered.

Perhaps the most pervasive, generally accepted fact about the debate between Subtitles and Dubbing foreign film is that everyone’s preference is different, “decisions and attitudes regarding the employment of these techniques vary considerably. In some countries, the dominant method is dubbing, in other countries subtitling prevails. (Perego, Missier, & Straga, 2018). In fact, the choice between dubbing and subtitling is far too individualistic to be accurately represented on the national scale. Due to the severe subjectivity of this phenomena, an individual’s preference on AVT methods can be affected by any number of causal factors including: age, gender, general viewing habits, choice of genre, peer group habits, “degree of familiarity with foreign languages and cultures” (Ghia & Pavesi, 2021), degree of access to proper viewing services and support, and countless more personal traits. To appreciate the complexity of the argument, it is necessary to examine each of the methods for their advantages and disadvantages.

Starting with perhaps the more prevalent and engaging of the two forms, subtitling is appealing to distributors because of how inexpensive it is compared to dubbing which requires recasting and rerecording dialogue in every marketable language. Instead, dialogue is translated through captioning on-screen, making the film easily adaptable to countless demographics. My research yielded lots of data in support of subtitling; the most convincing of which was that the audio can be left entirely unaffected while simultaneously being rendered unnecessary. “Despite a lack of complete linguistic comprehension, the flavor of the language, the mood, and the sense of a different culture come across clearly... (even) when the sound of the television is drowned out by other noises in the room, subtitled programmes can still be followed” (Pagani, Goldsmith, & Perracchio, 2015). Therefore, the original performance is left unaltered for attentive viewers and still digestible for foreign viewers with or without the sound. Many faithful cinephiles regard this as the purest form as it best preserves the performances of the original actor.

Furthermore, projecting dialogue on the screen has had the added effect of educating audiences. In a study performed with schools in Germany, the viewing habits of students were tracked, “they usually add subtitles, commonly in their native language. These tend to be progressively replaced by English subtitles when the participants’ proficiency level improves” (Ghia & Pavesi, 2021). Eventually, this reliance on subtitles led to students gaining confidence in their ability to understand the foreign dialogue and in some cases outgrowing the use of any translation method, opting to view the content fully in its original form. Now, while this study was investigated in Germany, similar patterns can be seen growing in the U.S. as well. Fans of foreign content have created an ethos of dedication that praises those who choose to watch films ‘the way they were originally intended’ instead of dubbing. “In these contexts, popular choices in a peer group can affect viewing habits, and sometimes watching audiovisual products in their original version can grant individuals additional recognition among their peers” (Ghia & Pavesi, 2021). This means that people who choose to watch with subtitles over dubbed films are sometimes perceived as more engaged and more knowledgeable fans within their community of viewers.

Despite the supposedly positive educational effects and faithful translation of captioning, “large sections of the population still opt for dubbing, which remains a widespread practice in many parts of the world” (Ghia & Pavesi, 2021). Dubbing was the original form of audiovisual translation and goes all the way back to the first talking movies or ‘talkies’. As mentioned, it requires far more labor and expenses to produce than subtitles and can be difficult to create a seamless integration of dialogue; however, the best dubbed content can often be almost indistinguishable from the original in terms of quality.

Perhaps the main gripe that audiences have with subtitled media is that the screen gets too polluted with lines of text that partially cover the picture. In fact, there are some researchers who genuinely believe that “poorly done subtitles are detrimental to cinematic illusion and overall comprehension of the topics covered by video.” (Kravgić, 2019). Which can certainly be true in many scenarios; for example, many televisions in public spaces rely on captions so that the audio does not interrupt the day-to-day happenings, but the formatting of the captions may be awkward or the screen may be too far away to properly read the letters. Prior researchers have tried to examine the effectiveness of captions at relaying complex conceptual messaging in film media, some conclude that “highly complex material is more difficult to process and to integrate when translated via subtitling (vs. dubbing), and that this can even lead to less effective performance in terms of memory and comprehension” (Perego, Missier, & Straga, 2018). So at a certain point, the question becomes how much of the visual content are you willing to sacrifice for proper understanding of the dialogue? Many viewers don’t want to miss a single visual detail and do not want the distraction of the text, and others might rather be able to look away from the screen and still hear the dialogue in a language they understand. In both cases, dubbing would be the preferred option.

Methodology

This qualitative research aims to investigate the perceptions, attitudes, and preferences of university students towards the use of subtitles or dubbing when watching foreign films or TV shows. The research design for this study involved conducting structured informant interviews with subjects who have moderate to extensive experience with foreign film and television dubbing and subbing. The interviews were conducted in-person, in naturalistic and convenient settings of the subject’s choice (i.e. subject’s house, University Cafeteria, local restaurants, etc.). I utilized consistent open-ended questions supplemented with improvised elaborative queries to encourage participants to share their experiences, opinions, and preferences towards the use of subtitles or dubbing when watching foreign films or TV shows. This was done to regulate the consistency of answers while also allowing participant’s the freedom to elaborate their thoughts and opinions making the interview more collaborative. Though I allowed for this conversational freedom throughout the interviews, five consistent questions were presented to each of the interview subjects to be used as comparable data:

1. Do you consume a lot of foreign media? Why or why not?

a. What genres do you like?

2. Tell me about a memorable experience with a foreign film or foreign language in a film?

a. Were you confused? Delighted? Irritated? Did you feel at all different from a domestic/English film?

3. Can you describe an experience with films where the presence of foreign language, or foreign themes, led to confusion for you.

a. What confused you so much? Was it related to the translation?

4. When offered the choice, do you use subtitles or language dubbing? Why?

a. Why don’t you like the alternative?

5. Do you feel that more people should watch foreign media in the form that you use?

a. Why or why not?

Subjects were all students with a focus in cinema studies selected from the winter and spring course sections of Comm 30 Digital Filmmaking at Santa Clara University. This was done to ensure that they might already have a preference between the two AVT Methods as well as a preexisting passion and knowledge for film and television. Beyond this, interviewees were vetted on their specific viewing habits so that a wide breadth of genres could be represented in the data (i.e. live-action, anime, straight-to-DVD, streaming, etc.). After asking around the current and previous class sections and creating a general list of possible subjects I began inquiring with students if they would be willing to sit down for an interview about Foreign Films for my Qualitative Research Class. Subsequently, the resulting subject pool consisted of four individuals (Subjects A, B, C, and D) - three men and one woman ranging in age from 19-21. They were told their responses would be anonymous and that they could opt out of the study at any time, thus nullifying their responses. This study relied on purely empirical data gathered from first hand sources; therefore, it should not be applied to the greater general public. However, this study can yield deeper reasoning and reveal more about the subjectivity of this phenomena.

Findings

Interview 1: Subject A
I spoke to the first interviewee at a local coffee shop. He was heavily invested in subtitled anime, which is a style of Japanese animation. Like other forms of foreign media it has seen a spike in popularity in the last decade or so and has been the direct inspiration for some english made properties as well. Similarly to the students from Germany that I discussed in the literature review, Subject A has taken an educated approach to some of his favorite, most watched shows by using it to learn Tokyo-style Japanese dialect. “It started with simple phrases - yes, no, thank you - but then I started picking up questions and responses”, said Subject A, “I downloaded Duolingo to learn more and I just started my favorite show again but without the subtitles”. He continued to explain that he enjoys being confused by these shows as it tends to spark his curiosity. When asked about a favorite memory he traced his interest back to the first ‘anime style’ film he ever watched as a kid, Spirited Away (2001). Subject A described watching it with his sisters and how it primed him to get interested in anime later on. In fact, three of the four participants of this study mentioned Spirited Away (2001) as the first translated movie they had ever seen, and even one of them hadn’t even realized it was until it came up in the interview. Subject A’s genre preference has changed a bit since he was a kid, and now he holds too much respect for the original product to even try English dubs. His mindset aligns with the purist stance that original performances should be preserved above all, “dubs are the worst, they never sound right. People who don’t watch the Japanese version are almost always watching a completely different, usually worse, show”. When asked how he feels about captions taking up the screen Subject A explained that most drawn animes tend to linger on the same shot so captions come and go allowing viewers to both understand dialogue and view scenes somewhat unobstructed.

Interview 2: Subject B
The second interview took place at Subject B’s house in their living room. He, like Subject A, was an avid user of subtitles. Not only does he rely upon them for foreign films and television but for English media as well. “A lot of people come in and out of here while I am watching, sometimes it gets really loud or I just can’t hear an important piece of dialogue but most of the time I just like to read what’s being said”. Since Subject B felt seemingly no distraction from on-screen captioning I asked him if he thought that others should watch with subtitles as well, to which he said that everyone should just watch it however they feel most comfortable. “I originally watched Squid Game in Korean and loved it, but when I went to my friend’s house he insisted we watch it dubbed in english and the actors went from compelling to laughable. I thought it was so much worse but my friend still liked it”. This, of course, was a big internet conversation around the release of Squid Game; interest arose when people began comparing the English dub and original version and noticing a severe disparity in voice acting quality. Subject B talked about how he felt that reading the captions engaged him more, but he also offered that, “some people don’t absorb information that way” as an excuse to why people may feel differently. So although Subject B was not as immersed in foreign media as the other participants, he did offer some data in support of captioning that is in line with our research as well as some explanations as to why some people might choose otherwise.

Interview 3: Subject C
Subject C was another individual that was introduced to foreign media by Spirited Away (2001). Throughout her life she has spent a lot of time traveling including living in Paris for much of her childhood. Therefore, she has the unique perspective of viewing English productions being dubbed into other languages in European countries. To a certain extent, Subject C enjoys watching dubbed content because it can sometimes be comedically lacking in quality. She recalled heroic superhero dialogue playing more cowardly in overseas theaters and romantic finales falling short. Subject C watches films both subtitled and dubbed, but she prefers the dubbed version as she believes it actually gives more opportunities to the voice actors that adapt these films. She said she would sometimes look up the voice actors listed for the dub of a huge film and they would only be some small-time actors. She feels that by watching dubbed media we offer more opportunities to talent in different countries which was perhaps the most altruistic argument I had heard for either side of the conversation. When asked about the amount of foreign media she watches she stipulated that, “all media is foreign in some way, all these filmmakers take so much inspiration from each other it doesn’t really matter anymore, last week I watched Top Gun in French just for a laugh!”

Interview 4: Subject D
My final interview was with Subject D who refuses to use subtitles. He feels that they are a distraction and would prefer to watch films as he always has through dubbing. He is not against foreign media, he’ll watch the occasional Netflix special and any popular movies that people are talking about, but when it comes to translation he needs to hear it in English. He explained, “if I wanted to read the whole thing I would’ve picked up the book, I think movies and television are visual mediums first and foremost”. I think that a lot of viewers might agree with Subject D; after all, filmmakers are always encouraged to ‘show not tell’ in their productions. Sometimes people just care more about what is being shown than what is being said.

Discussion and Conclusion

This research paper aimed to explore the attitudes, perceptions, and preferences of individuals towards the use of audiovisual translation methods in foreign film and television. Though my findings confirmed some of the theories discussed in the literature review as well as offering supplemental arguments, it is still very unclear as to which is the best AVT Method. What I found fascinating about this study was how audio and visuals were represented in both realms of the argument. While subtitles are seemingly devoted to the accuracy of the original audio by taking up screen space to translate that also makes it the best format to watch a film on mute in a crowded space. Conversely, dubbing prioritizes the screen by recording and replacing brand new audio, but that only incentivizes audiences to check their phone or look away because they don’t need to rely upon captions to understand the flow of conversation. This concept is what initially drew me to the phenomena, the fact that these methods are uniquely their own best and worst enemies. I believe it is these offsetting drawbacks that makes this choice such a controversial one and what has resulted in so much subjective line drawing between subjects. Consequently, the question really comes down to personal preference. Either you respect the original voice acting or want to support acting opportunities in foreign circles. Perhaps you can’t read so fast, the dubbed dialogue is goofier, or you’re actively trying to learn a new language. For some people it comes down to whether they consider it a visual or audio medium, and others never even realized there was an option or perhaps even a difference. In the end, the differences have little effect on the quality of the content because “both modalities lead to similar appreciation and satisfaction, regardless of viewers’ habits” (Perego et al. 2015).

As a qualitative research study, this paper was able to offer detailed respondent accounts of a communications phenomena. However, in its focus on a few key individuals it was limited by the scope of information that could be applicable to the greater population. Perhaps by applying this question to a quantitative study that surveyed a larger pool of participants I could test the theories and arguments stipulated here against greater societal perceptions. One aspect in which study fell short was not being able to analyze a wide range of ages as I feel this has a great impact on the preferences of AVT Methods, and is something I had wished but was unable to incorporate into this study. Nonetheless, these results support many of the previous studies that I examined and added another facet to the conversation in the form of support for voice actors in foreign countries which has furthered our understanding of audience preferences of Audiovisual Translation Methods.