STFL Public Lecture – How Much Do You Know About Subtitles Translation?

Professor Gilbert Fong, Dean of the School of Translation and Foreign Languages, delivered a well-attended online talk entitled “How Much Do You Know About Subtitles Translation?” on 9 March 2021.

In the age of audiovisual culture, subtitles can be seen in different media channels. Professor Fong kick-started his talk with an introduction of the uniqueness of subtitles translation. He gave the audience a glimpse into the history of subtitling from silent to sound movies. Some clips of famous films were shown to illustrate the format and constraints in subtitles translation.

Professor Fong elaborated on the theories applied in subtitles translation to overcome the constraints, such as foreignisation, neutralisation and naturalisation. He concluded the lecture with a few notes on the use of Cantonese in subtitles translation.