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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 63:3 (2017) ► pp.423–441

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Dubbing versus subtitling yet again?

An empirical study on user comprehension and preferences in Spain

 | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
 | University of Trieste
 | C. Mondino National Neurological Institute
Published online: 3 November 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.63.3.07mat
Abstract
The dubbing versus subtitling debate has been a recurrent topic in the audiovisual translation literature, but empirical research into the reception of both modes is still lacking. This article presents the results of an experiment that aimed to investigate to what extent comprehension, memory, and enjoyment of a film differ in a dubbed and a subtitled version in a country that traditionally uses dubbing, like Spain. Fifty-one young Spanish adults participated in the study, which measured general comprehension, dialogue recognition, face-name association and visual scene recognition, as well as evaluative measures including film appreciation, self-reported effort related to film viewing, and metacognitive judgments of memory.
Résumé
Bien que le débat opposant doublage et sous-titrage constitue un thème récurrent dans la littérature sur la traduction audiovisuelle, une recherche empirique sur la réception réservée aux deux processus continue de faire défaut. Cet article présente les résultats d’une expérience destinée à examiner dans quelle mesure la compréhension, la mémoire et le plaisir de voir un film diffèrent selon qu’il s’agit d’une version doublée ou sous-titrée, dans un pays qui, comme l’Espagne, utilise habituellement le doublage. Cinquante et un jeunes adultes espagnols ont participé à une étude qui a mesuré la compréhension générale, la reconnaissance des dialogues, l’association visage-nom et la reconnaissance des scènes visuelles. Elle a en outre évalué certaines mesures, comme l’appréciation du film, l’effort consenti pour visionner le film et les jugements métacognitifs de la mémoire.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Dubbing versus subtitling again?
  • 3.Beyond the “eternal dilemma”: Audience reception studies
  • 4.Methodological aspects
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Experiment design
    • 4.3Video
    • 4.4Questionnaires
      • 4.4.1Cognitive measures
      • 4.4.2Evaluative measures
    • 4.5Procedure
  • 5.Results and discussion
  • 6.Conclusions and future research
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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