Bridging Cultural Divides: A Comparative Study of Subtitling English and Arabic Films in Saudi Context

Abstract

This study explores the intricacies of translating contemporary English and Arabic audiovisual content, especially cultural-specific-items (CSI) on issues of race, gender, religion, customs, ecology, and colloquialism. The investigation focuses on comparing the different translation techniques related to cultural concepts in the genre of popular fiction. To fulfill that aim, four films (two originally in English and two originally in Saudi Arabic) featured on online streaming platform (Netflix-MENA) are chosen: Rustin (2023), Angels and Demons (2009), Raven song (2022), and The Tambour of Retribution (2020). Those four films are under the category of "trending in Saudi Arabia"; consequently, they comply with the Saudi context. The main objective is to identify the overall translation strategy used in film subtitling. Accordingly, to evaluate the strategy in line with the general vision of Saudi Arabia 2030. Results show that the translation strategy of foreignization is used when subtitling English films. Thus, preserving Western culture in the linguistic features of the subtitles. While the translation strategy of domestication is used when subtitling Saudi films. Eventually, losing the local Saudi culture in the linguistic features of the English subtitles. Consequently, the current research shed lights on the importance of maintaining the foreignization strategy when subtitling Saudi films to assure that local Saudi culture is received by the English-speaking audience all over the world. Keywords: corpus based, Excel AI Analyze, criticism, Saudi films, subtitles, cultural-specific-items, translation strategies.