Ideological manipulation in subtitling: a case study of a speech fragment by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President of the Islamic Republic of Iran)

Abstract

This study sets out to investigate the translation strategies, especially within the domain of non-equivalent options, applied by the subtitler to the English version of a speech by Iran's current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The overall aim is to see whether there is any ideological manipulation in the subtitled version and also whether or not the emphasis and implications of the speech remain intact. To this end, we will apply a twofold theoretical framework based on the dichotomous categorization ‘euphemism’ versus ‘derogation’ developed by Hodge and Kress on the one hand, and on van Dijk's framework of critical discourse analysis with some supplementary elements on the other. The findings of the study suggest some degree of manipulation concerning some ideologically-loaded terms.