Gauging the reception of Arab translators to the subtitles of taboo language in Hollywood movies

This investigation analyzes the appropriateness of Arabic equivalents of English taboo words according to the perceptions of the Arab translators. It also detects if there is a difference in the perceptions of the male and female translators in the subtitles of such taboo words, according to the strategy used in the subtitling of taboos. The study asked translators to suggest their translations for the unacceptable sentences. A self-prepared scale of 16 sentences containing taboos was administrated to Arab translators. Sixty translators responded to the scale. The results showed that Arab translators moderately (M=3.38) accept the translation of the taboo language. Results also showed that males (M=3.41) accept the rendering of taboos more than females (M=3.31), however, the difference was not significant (Sig. =.831). Male translators prefer omission, cultural substitution, and reformation higher than female while female translators prefer direct translation over male translators. The findings also showed that translators provide some translations depending on using cultural substitution for the taboo expression, followed by reformation. Omission was also preferred by some translations, especially where direct subtitling was adopted. This study concludes that subtitling taboo expressions poses difficulties to translators that may not be easily worked on. This study recommends that subtitling companies to a balance between euphemizing the offensive or taboo expressions and preserving the intended meaning provided.