Tuuli Ahonen

Multimodality in Subtitling

Introduction

Multimodality in subtitling. Explore Finnish subtitlers' experiences with audiovisual text multimodality. Learn how they use visual & auditory cues for meaning-making and condensation in subtitling processes.

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of multimodality of audiovisual texts in relation to results from an online questionnaire targeted to professional Finnish subtitlers. Audiovisual texts, such as movies, are multimodal; they use both visual and auditory channels to convey meaning. The aim of this study is to examine the experiences and opinions of Finnish subtitlers regarding audiovisual texts’ multimodality and how they use the pictures and sounds in the subtitling processes. Research data was collected with an online questionnaire that was answered by 42 subtitlers. The results indicate that, even though professional Finnish subtitlers are a heterogenous group with varying experiences and opinions, they recognize the importance of audiovisual texts’ multiple modes in the translation process. Multimodality is an asset to subtitlers; they can use the different modes, for instance, to make condensations and reductions in the subtitling process. Based on the results, I suggest that subtitling and subtitles should be characterized foremost by their multimodal nature as they create meaning through various modes in interaction with each other. It is this intertwined web of meaning-making in which subtitlers operate to convey messages of audiovisual texts to other cultures and languages.

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