Subtitles making meaning - much more than meets the eye
AALTONEN, OUTI (2008)
2008
Tiedotusoppi - Journalism and Mass Communication
Yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2008-07-31
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-19326
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-19326
Tiivistelmä
The thesis focuses on the meaning-making potential of subtitling in television programmes.
It aims to an interdisciplinary approach combining research into audiovisual translation work and media research. The medium television, the institution of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio, the professional practice of subtitling as well as subtitling as a convention are analysed in the context of meaning production.
The method used in this research is based on text analysis and the ethnography of the author as a television translator. Media research concentrates on meaning-making, cultural reception of subtitled television programmes and the service qualities of subtitling on public service television. Special attention is paid to the various ways of interpreting and creating opportunities for meaning production by each member of the audience. Watching subtitled programmes and meaning making are connected with identity construction and rethinking the perspectives on audiences in media research.
Theoretical support for the ideas presented in this paper is to be found especially in the works of researchers of media audience and cultural power (Alasuutari, Corner, Ellis, Morley). Subtitled programmes are part of the televisual look and media culture in Scandinavia. Combining subtitling with contexts like culture, society, audience and audiencehood open up new ways of perceiving meaning making and its impact on us as members of the audience.
Subtitles are an everyday phenomenon, yet they have been rarely analysed from the angle of media research. They are a popular service to all viewers, not to mention special target groups like the hearing-impaired, the elderly, immigrants, children and other language learners. They are our daily reading material and offer a source of written communication to strengthen our literacy skills in a wider sense.
The development of the services, including subtitles, provided by a public service broadcasting company is a most current and interesting issue in Finland. The threats and opportunities emerging from digitalisation are many, and as it seems, subtitling that has been a rather overlooked and taken-for-granted phenomenon, is gaining ground with all its add-on features and languages.
Asiasanat: subtitles, meaning production, audience reseach, television culture
It aims to an interdisciplinary approach combining research into audiovisual translation work and media research. The medium television, the institution of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio, the professional practice of subtitling as well as subtitling as a convention are analysed in the context of meaning production.
The method used in this research is based on text analysis and the ethnography of the author as a television translator. Media research concentrates on meaning-making, cultural reception of subtitled television programmes and the service qualities of subtitling on public service television. Special attention is paid to the various ways of interpreting and creating opportunities for meaning production by each member of the audience. Watching subtitled programmes and meaning making are connected with identity construction and rethinking the perspectives on audiences in media research.
Theoretical support for the ideas presented in this paper is to be found especially in the works of researchers of media audience and cultural power (Alasuutari, Corner, Ellis, Morley). Subtitled programmes are part of the televisual look and media culture in Scandinavia. Combining subtitling with contexts like culture, society, audience and audiencehood open up new ways of perceiving meaning making and its impact on us as members of the audience.
Subtitles are an everyday phenomenon, yet they have been rarely analysed from the angle of media research. They are a popular service to all viewers, not to mention special target groups like the hearing-impaired, the elderly, immigrants, children and other language learners. They are our daily reading material and offer a source of written communication to strengthen our literacy skills in a wider sense.
The development of the services, including subtitles, provided by a public service broadcasting company is a most current and interesting issue in Finland. The threats and opportunities emerging from digitalisation are many, and as it seems, subtitling that has been a rather overlooked and taken-for-granted phenomenon, is gaining ground with all its add-on features and languages.
Asiasanat: subtitles, meaning production, audience reseach, television culture