The audience strikes back
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Published:2023-07-20
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ISSN:0924-1884
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Container-title:Target. International Journal of Translation Studies
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Target
Abstract
Abstract
Newer distribution models and delivery mechanisms for audiovisual content have, over the years, contributed to the
emergence of different dynamics between the consumers (or end-users) of these audiovisual texts and their providers on a global
scale. Fans and casual viewers alike have now become more vocal in expressing their dissatisfaction with subtitled or dubbed
content that is not up to their standards. In this article, I take a macro-level approach to audience studies in audiovisual
translation (AVT) by reflecting on if and how viewers’ perspectives are being incorporated into streaming platforms’ policies and
sense of accountability towards their subscribers. By analysing a recent case study from Netflix Italia – the Japanese anime
Neon Genesis Evangelion (Netflix 2019–2020) – I consider the ways in which the streaming platform took on board the subscribers’
complaints about the quality of the Italian adaptation and modified its offering accordingly. This new dynamic seems to suggest
that distributors who are more sensitive to their subscribers’ needs may foster a process of co-creation and meaning-making of the
localized content that concretely acknowledges the consumers’ point of view. At the same time it raises issues concerning the
impact that the opinions of viewers who are mostly untrained in the standards and practices of AVT might ultimately have in
localization and distribution choices.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Subject
Linguistics and Language,Communication,Language and Linguistics