This special issue provides a diachronic, critical examination of the accelerating challenges and transformations facing audiovisual translation (AVT)’s practice and research due to constant technological innovation. By tracing AVT's historical evolution, from silent film intertitles to modern AI-driven localization, this introduction to the special issue identifies precedents of adaptive practices and professional resilience. The transition from silent film to sound, which necessitated new workflows (dubbing/subtitling), is presented as a crucial historical analogue for interpreting the current AI upheaval. This analysis demonstrates that technological shifts invariably force the creation of new professional avenues and skills. The papers in this collection investigate the dynamic interplay between technology, evolving audience consumption (e.g., "Netflixication") and the expanding scope of AVT, particularly in accessibility modalities (audio description and SDH). The ultimate objective is to provide a nuanced perspective on how AVT can not only survive but also adapt and redefine the human factor within this rapidly evolving global media ecosystem, positioning the field at a critical juncture between automation and professional expertise.

Social online platforms offer a user-friendly venue for individuals to voice their opinions on virtually any topic, including dubbing. Naturally occurring data, such as Instagram comments, are valuable for their ecological validity, as they reflect authentic interactions beyond controlled settings. A few studies have leveraged such data to advance research on the reception of audiovisual translation. Adopting a netnographic approach, this study examines how Iranian viewers perceive censorship in Persian dubbing, as reflected in users’ comments on Instagram posts and sheds light on their reactions and perspectives concerning dubbing censorship in Iran. Findings show strong opposition among Iranian users to the censorship of dubbed content. Many users expressed that censorship distorts the storyline and narrative of the original product, resulting in a less immersive and enjoyable viewing experience. Nonetheless, some users acknowledged the potential benefits of censorship in certain contexts, such as foreign audiovisual content aimed at children and young adults, to safeguard their mental well-being. The paper underscores the need to reevaluate censorship policies in Persian dubbing. Lay summary When you sit down to watch the latest hit show or film with Persian dubbing on Channel 1 or one of the Iranian streaming services, you may notice some changes, such as different clothes on the characters, unusual ways of speaking, or awkward dialogue that doesn’t quite match the visuals. If so, you’ve likely faced censorship. This can be frustrating enough to make viewers stop watching the dubbed version and instead download the original film online with Persian subtitles, and of course, uncensored. But have you ever voiced your frustration with dubbing censorship on social media, like Instagram? This is what our study explores. We are interested in how Iranian Instagram users feel about censorship in Persian dubbing. Social media, especially Instagram, presents a space where people share their opinions openly, and these comments offer valuable insights beyond controlled experiments. By analyzing Instagram comments, we want to understand Iranians’ reactions to censorship in dubbing. Our findings show that most Iranian users strongly dislike censorship in dubbing. They feel it alters the original storyline and makes the viewing experience less enjoyable. But some people support limited censorship for children and teens, believing it helps protect their well-being. Overall, our study suggests it may be time to rethink censorship policies in Persian dubbing to better align with viewers’ preferences.

This study examines the treatment of taboo topics and offensive language in the subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH) of Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (Segura, 2011), a Spanish comedy known for its provocative humour on sex, race, politics, and disability (Juan-Navarro, 2018). Using quantitative and qualitative content analysis, the types and frequency of taboo elements in the source text (ST) and their treatment in the target text (TT) are identified. The analysis reveals a high retention rate (94.29%) of taboo language in the SDH, demonstrating a strong commitment to preserving the film’s satirical tone and humour. In the remaining 5.71% of non-transferred taboo language, minor omissions (1.90%) and partial transfers (2.86%) result mainly from time and space constraints, while compensation strategies (0.95%) occasionally introduce additional taboo elements to enhance the impact of the SDH. Despite these efforts, reproducing the unique speech patterns and humour of the characters poses challenges, sometimes leading to inaccuracies, including some reversals of meaning. The findings underline the delicate balance required to ensure accessibility while maintaining narrative and stylistic fidelity in SDH. The study concludes by advocating for reception studies to assess how effectively SDH conveys the taboo elements, the humorous aspects, and the provocative essence of the original content. Lay summary How do subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH) handle films with offensive language and humour? Our study explores this question by analysing the SDH of Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis (Segura, 2011), a Spanish comedy full of provocative jokes about sex, race, politics, and disability. We wanted to understand how subtitles for people with hearing impairments deal with offensive language and to what extent they meet the purpose of the original text. To do this, we compared the original dialogue with the subtitles to see how much of the tone, humour, and style of the film was retained. Our results show that 94.29% of the offensive language in the original dialogue was preserved in the subtitles. This indicates a strong effort to preserve the satirical humour of the film. The remaining 5.71% includes examples where offensive terms were omitted (1.90%) or only partially conveyed (2.86%), mostly due to technical constraints such as space and timing. Notably, in a small number of cases (0.95%), the subtitles introduced new offensive expressions to keep the humorous effect. Despite this high retention rate, there were challenges. Characters with fast or unique speech patterns were more difficult to subtitle, resulting in minor errors such as the meaning of some lines being reversed. This study highlights the importance of balancing accessibility and fidelity in SDH. Subtitles should be clear and easy to understand, while remaining faithful to the tone and content of the film. This is essential to ensure that deaf and hard-of-hearing people can fully experience the humour and themes of the original work. The relevance of this research lies in its contribution to improving SDH practice. By understanding how offensive language and humour are handled, we can create better subtitles that respect the needs and expectations of all viewers while preserving the essence of the original film. Our work also encourages further research, including feedback from deaf and hard-of-hearing people using SDH, to refine subtitle quality and accessibility.

In this article, we test the findings by Leveridge and colleagues (2024) regarding the reception of aesthetically integrated subtitles (AIS), and most critically, we explore the role of gender in these outcomes. We explore psychophysiological (skin conductance and heart rate) and self-report responses (questionnaires) among three different subtitle deliveries (no subtitles, standard subtitles, and aesthetically integrated), and between male and female participants in a series of clips from the Russian thriller-horror film Night Watch (Bekmambetov, 2004). This research involves an entire array of film clips, including AIS from Night Watch. We use null-hypothesis-significance-testing (NHST) and Bayesian analyses to explore the claim that AIS enhance psychophysiological arousal and viewing experience quality compared to standard subtitles (STS) and investigate the gender characteristics and differences in the reported outcomes. We provide a replication of previous findings. Critically, we show that female participants exhibited higher arousal for AIS, also separately for all subtitle types, which was not reflected in significant between-gender differences for self-reports for intensity and arousal. In another novel section of this research, we show that AIS increased interest in film genres for both genders, suggesting their significant potential for future audiovisual translation practices. Lay summary In this article, we look at how different types of film subtitles affect viewers, focusing on whether gender plays a role in these effects. We tested three types of subtitles: no subtitles, regular subtitles displayed in white letters at the bottom of the screen, and a special type called aesthetically integrated subtitles (AIS), which are designed to blend more seamlessly with the movie through the use of visual effects, colour, or font. Using clips from the Russian thriller-horror film Night Watch (Bekmambetov, 2006), we measured people's physical responses, like heart rate and skin conductance, as well as their feelings about the experience through the use of questionnaires.Our findings build on previous research and show that AIS can enhance the viewing experience. Interestingly, we found that women showed higher physical arousal (like increased heart rate) when watching movies with subtitles, especially AIS, but this did not translate into significant differences in how intense or engaging they said the clips felt compared to men. We also discovered that AIS made both men and women more interested in different film genres, suggesting that these subtitles could be useful in future audiovisual translations and productions.

Using my documentary Where Memory Ends (2022) as a case study, this article tracks the journey from the standard audio description offered by the production company to the alternative approach I ended up using. An initial section on standard, compliance-based access currently implemented in Spain and the UK is followed by a discussion on alternative media access viewed from the wide lens of disability justice. This section draws on disability studies to explore the notion of disability that underpins standard and alternative media access. It focuses on the discrimination suffered by disabled people in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it follows the link between participation, representation and (alternative) media access. The second part of the article presents the notion of access intimacy as it applies to the alternative audio described version of Where Memory Ends, looking at how it can be built into media accessibility research, practice and training, not as an obligation, but as a socially and politically transformative form of human connection. Lay summary Using my documentary Where Memory Ends (2022) as a case study, this article tracks the journey from the standard audio description that I was offered by the production company to the alternative approach that I ended up using. An initial section on standard, compliance-based access as currently implemented in Spain and in the UK is followed by a discussion on alternative media access viewed from the wide lens of disability justice. The focus is then placed on the notion of access intimacy and, more specifically, on how it applies to the audio description of Where Memory Ends and how it can be built into media accessibility research, practice and training.

In this study of dubbing for children, a quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis of a popular TV series were conducted. The corpus consists of 12 episodes of the animated series PJ Masks, and its corresponding Dutch (Pyjamahelden [Pyjamas heroes]) and Swedish (Pyjamashjältarna [Pyjamas heroes]) audiovisual translations. The focus of the analyses is the portrayal of the main characters. In the light of ongoing criticism of children’s animation, regarding gender stereotyping and a lack of diversity, this translation analysis studies potential changes in gender representation. First, the character portrayal in all language versions was systematically analysed based on the characters’ utterances which were categorised into four categories (team spirit, problem-solving, need of assistance, and attention to relations). Subsequently, a closer qualitative analysis revealed some interesting translation shifts, particularly, in the Dutch target text. These were contrasted against the Swedish translation to check if this results in subtle or less subtle changes in the depiction of the heroes vis-à-vis the source text. Needless to say, such translation shifts in audiovisual translation for children and their effect on the representation of children in this multimodal glocal product is highly relevant amidst ongoing criticism of gender and diversity issues in children’s television. Lay Summary Several episodes of a popular animated series, PJ Masks, were analysed to check if the portrayal of the main characters changes when it is dubbed into Dutch and Swedish. This analysis was done because some people are concerned that animated series portray boys and girls in stereotypical ways. Both translations were closely compared to the original English version and revealed some interesting differences. This type of study helps us understand how children's animation can display different gender portrayals when dubbed into other languages.

In Soviet Estonian official cinemas, foreign films were always dubbed into Russian with Estonian subtitles. Founded at the end of the Thaw, film clubs and other semi-official screening locations became popular as part of the alternative scene and unauthorised discourse. They screened uncensored original Western European and Hollywood films and thus the works of forbidden film directors and cinema movements from the West were introduced to a limited audience of film enthusiasts. Compared to other Soviet Socialist Republics, Estonia was in a privileged geographical and linguistic position to be able to access the films of the West via Finland. Film clubs looked beyond the Iron Curtain and opened up a cultural dialogue between the West and Soviet Estonia. This article analyses the repertoire of foreign films and different translation modes, social relations and the agency of the interpreters, and it looks at their interpretative act from theoretical perspectives discussed by Juri Lotman and Naoki Sakai. Lay Summary: In the era of Soviet Estonia, where foreign films were typically re-edited and dubbed into Russian, film clubs emerged as underground screening locations that offered uncensored original Western European and Hollywood films. These clubs played a crucial role in introducing the works of forbidden film directors and cinematic movements from the West to a limited audience of film enthusiasts. Soviet Estonia stood out in three significant aspects: 1) it was the only SSR to subtitle all films in the official cinema into Estonian; 2) it had a vibrant film club culture in universities with diverse repertoires from Finland, and all films had a live translation into Estonian, 3) and it had access to Finnish television broadcasting Western movies that were otherwise not shown in the Soviet Union (Estonian and Finnish are closely related languages that share many semantic and grammatical structures). Compared to other Soviet Socialist Republics, Estonia had the advantage of its geographical and linguistic position, facilitating a socio-cultural dialogue with the West. The various translation methods employed, often conducted on an ad hoc basis, social dynamics, and the role of interpreters in the film clubs, played a transformative role in dismantling the barriers of the Iron Curtain. Interpreters, by navigating the boundaries between the original films and their translations, significantly influenced the understanding of Western cinema and culture in Soviet Estonia.