Croatian University Students’ Acceptance of Swearwords in Subtitles: A reception study

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Prihvaćanje psovki u podslovima kod studenata u Hrvatskoj: Studija recepcije
• Author: Josip Biondić
• Mentor: Kristijan Nikolić (mentor)
• Committee member: Anda Bukvić Pažin (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Nataša Pavlović (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Kristijan Nikolić (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2024-09-10, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

Swearwords in subtitles have always been a hot topic in audiovisual translation (AVT). In Croatia, public broadcasters tend to censor them, while content providers such as Netflix do their best to include them in their subtitles. Previous international studies have found that gender, political orientation, and religiousness influenced the reception of swearwords in original language audience, but few AVT studies focused on how these factors impact the reception of swearwords. This research aims to fill that gap by examining how gender, political views, background (rural or urban), and religiousness affect Croatian university students’ acceptance of swearwords in subtitles. A survey containing two film clips was distributed to students of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Students had to rate two subtitle variants, one with swearwords and the other without, on a 5-point Likert scale. While the results indicate that these factors do not affect reception across the entire respondent pool, they do reveal that, for certain segments of the population – specifically male respondents – religiousness and political orientation do influence the reception of swearwords in subtitles. These results underscore the importance of considering audience preferences to produce culturally sensitive and appropriate content.

• Keywords: AVT; subtitles; swearwords; reception study
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:177144
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation; Course: Translation; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Repository: ODRAZ
• Created on: 2024-09-16 16:25:28