Exploring the Strategies Used in Subtitling Nicknames from English to Arabic

Abstract

Nicknames in audiovisual content serve multiple purposes including, highlighting character traits, adding humor, fostering familiarity, and revealing relationships within the narrative. Subtitling these names can be challenging, due to their culture-specific and connotative nature. However, there is a noticeable lack of research on the strategies involved in subtitling them, particularly from English to Arabic. Therefore, this study aimed to address this gap by identifying, analyzing, and assessing the strategies subtitlers used in subtitling nicknames from English to Arabic. To achieve this, 41 subtitles containing nicknames were selected from the first season of the TV series Lost and analyzed based on Pedersen’s (2011) taxonomy of strategies. Data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results showed frequent use of Retention, Direct translation, Situational Substitution, and Omission strategies which failed to convey the intended meaning causing a deviation from the original effect. The used strategies suggested a tendency to untranslated them. Therefore, it was recommended to consider the functional aspects of the nicknames and the significance of conveying their intended meaning to enhance the effectiveness of nickname subtitling and improve viewer experience. Instructors of translation are also recommended to pay sufficient heed to the teaching of strategies of nickname subtitling.