Norms of subtitling taboo language and the role of censorship in Jordan : a case study of the Arabic subtitling of 'Friends'

This study, which draws on norm theory (Toury, 1995; 1999), investigates thetranslation norms in subtitling taboo language (moral, religious and political) inJordanian Television and Institution B's Arabic subtitles of the American sitcomFriends. This study aims to compare the textual-linguistic and preliminary norms inJordanian Television and Institution B, on one hand, and to identify the changes inthese norms across time in Jordanian Television and Institution B when renderingtaboo language in Friends, on the other one. In order to obtain the required data threedata collection methods were used in this study. Semi-structured interviews wereconducted with directors, subtitlers and censors in both institutions, in addition to thecontent analysis of the documents related to the code of practice and censorial reportsof Jordanian Television (JTV) and a linguistic analysis of twelve episodes of Friendstaken from seasons one, two, three and four broadcast during the period from 1996 to2000.The results of the empirical study show differences in textual-linguistic norms used inJTV's Institution B's Arabic subtitled version when rendering taboo language inFriends. In addition, the results show changes in textual-linguistic norms in renderingmoral and religious taboo across time in JTV and Institution B. The study concludesthat differences in textual-linguistic norms between these institutions and within theinstitution itself are conditioned primarily by preliminary norms.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral (Level 8)

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Krishan, TMA

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337519

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:salford-repository.worktribe.com:1337519