Assessing the quality of subtitles using FAR model: a case of the English subtitles of five Persian films

Subtitles, as the most common form of audiovisual translation, allow international viewers from all backgrounds to access, comprehend, enjoy, interpret, and remember audiovisual products. However, if not performed properly, they may occasionally restrict the viewer’s interpretive options, resulting in the loss of many literary or dramatic features of the original films. Focusing on the emotion words/expressions as a distinctive feature of drama, the current study evaluated the quality of the English subtitles of five top Persian drama films. Johnson-Laird [Johnson-Laird, Philip Nicholas, and Keith Oatley. 1989. “The Language of Emotions: An Analysis of a Semantic Field.” Cognition & Emotion 3 (2): 81–123. doi:10.1080/02699938908408075] list was used to identify the emotion words/expressions in the corpus. Pedersen’s [Pedersen, Jan. 2017. “The FAR Model: Assessing Quality in Interlingual Subtitling.” Journal of Specialised Translation 28: 210–229] FAR model was employed to evaluate the emotion words/expressions as used in the English subtitles. The results of the study showed that, although the films were subtitled for international film festivals, about four-fifth of subtitles were erroneous of a serious type. The findings reveal that a crucial aspect of maintaining the emotional burden of the genre of drama in translation, particularly subtitling, is conveying equivalently the emotion words/expressions. The findings will be of use not only to researchers and students but also to future audiovisual translators/subtitlers seeking further knowledge in the transfer of emotive language.