Subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing in multilingual films

Agnieszka Szarkowska , Izabela Krejtz , Jagoda Żbikowska

Abstract

In this article, we examine different ways in which multilingualism can be manifested in subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH). First, we propose a set of strategies to tackle multilingualism in SDH. We then present the results of an online survey conducted among deaf and hard of hearing Poles (N=135) on their preferences regarding the SDH strategies. Our results show that participants prefer more informative strategies, such as vehicular matching and explicit attribution, rather than less informative ones, such as linguistic homogenisation. The results also indicate that current SDH practices could be improved by using a more varied set of strategies, especially by including foreign language text in the subtitles, so that multilingualism present in films is better reflected in SDH.