Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual Subtitling

This research scrutinizes the representation and impact of verbal bullying in audiovisual (AV) content, focusing specifically on the Jordanian Netflix show AlRawabi School for Girls. Differences in British and American English interlingual subtitling are examined as tools for regulating subtitled co...

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Main Authors: Hussein Abu-Rayyash, Said M. Shiyab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Translation and Intercultural Communication (TICC) 2023-09-01
Series:Media and Intercultural Communication: A Multidisciplinary Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.micjournal.org/article_175730_844137d922bd25303a0661700f1db070.pdf
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author Hussein Abu-Rayyash
Said M. Shiyab
author_facet Hussein Abu-Rayyash
Said M. Shiyab
author_sort Hussein Abu-Rayyash
collection DOAJ
description This research scrutinizes the representation and impact of verbal bullying in audiovisual (AV) content, focusing specifically on the Jordanian Netflix show AlRawabi School for Girls. Differences in British and American English interlingual subtitling are examined as tools for regulating subtitled content for adolescents. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study uses a parallel corpus of source (Jordanian Arabic) and target texts (British and American English) to explore patterns, bullying language themes, and subtitling practices’ role. Five principal categories of verbal bullying are identified: threats, insults, taunts, rumors, and deflection through humor. Subtitlers mitigate these themes using adaptive strategies such as neutralization, substitution, and stylistic amplification. The research reveals that British English undergoes greater censorship than American English due to differing cultural sensitivities and stricter UK regulations. These findings stress the importance of censoring verbal bullying in adolescent-targeted AV materials and highlight the pivotal role of subtitling practices and effective regulatory measures. The study suggests a need for a uniform, global approach to managing harmful subtitle language to protect young viewers.
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spelling doaj-art-d8545f13ab234cf9b685c1f896df69572025-01-25T04:10:14ZengTranslation and Intercultural Communication (TICC)Media and Intercultural Communication: A Multidisciplinary Journal2980-98942023-09-011212010.22034/mic.2023.175730175730Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual SubtitlingHussein Abu-Rayyash0Said M. Shiyab1Kent State University, USAKent State University, USAThis research scrutinizes the representation and impact of verbal bullying in audiovisual (AV) content, focusing specifically on the Jordanian Netflix show AlRawabi School for Girls. Differences in British and American English interlingual subtitling are examined as tools for regulating subtitled content for adolescents. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study uses a parallel corpus of source (Jordanian Arabic) and target texts (British and American English) to explore patterns, bullying language themes, and subtitling practices’ role. Five principal categories of verbal bullying are identified: threats, insults, taunts, rumors, and deflection through humor. Subtitlers mitigate these themes using adaptive strategies such as neutralization, substitution, and stylistic amplification. The research reveals that British English undergoes greater censorship than American English due to differing cultural sensitivities and stricter UK regulations. These findings stress the importance of censoring verbal bullying in adolescent-targeted AV materials and highlight the pivotal role of subtitling practices and effective regulatory measures. The study suggests a need for a uniform, global approach to managing harmful subtitle language to protect young viewers.https://www.micjournal.org/article_175730_844137d922bd25303a0661700f1db070.pdfbritish-american englishcensorshipinterlingual subtitlingnetflixverbal bullying
spellingShingle Hussein Abu-Rayyash
Said M. Shiyab
Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual Subtitling
Media and Intercultural Communication: A Multidisciplinary Journal
british-american english
censorship
interlingual subtitling
netflix
verbal bullying
title Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual Subtitling
title_full Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual Subtitling
title_fullStr Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual Subtitling
title_full_unstemmed Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual Subtitling
title_short Taming the Beast: Bullying and Censorship in Interlingual Subtitling
title_sort taming the beast bullying and censorship in interlingual subtitling
topic british-american english
censorship
interlingual subtitling
netflix
verbal bullying
url https://www.micjournal.org/article_175730_844137d922bd25303a0661700f1db070.pdf
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