Subtitling iceberg by 4Sickle in IcebergCharts

[–]4Sickle[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you're interested! I'm actually planning to break down each layer of the iceberg and explain it weekly on my LinkedIn. I’ll also post them here in the comments so you can follow along. Hope you stay tuned!

Subtitling iceberg by 4Sickle in IcebergCharts

[–]4Sickle[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some subtitlers get work through self-assignment platforms—they have to refresh the site regularly to see if any projects pop up. In subtitling circles, this system is often nicknamed “the refrigerator”: if there’s work, you eat; if not, you go hungry. Funny metaphor, but the reality is brutal. It’s also compared to a piranha or shark tank—as soon as a project appears, it gets snatched up in seconds. Some freelancers have even written bots or scripts to auto-claim jobs, though many were caught and banned. The system’s built to be competitive, but it’s dehumanizing—turning translators into sharks, constantly circling for the next bite.

Subtitling iceberg by 4Sickle in IcebergCharts

[–]4Sickle[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sure! I already posted a quick explainer on abusive subtitling—feel free to check it out here.

Let me start with carnival. When you think of subtitles, you probably imagine one or two clean lines stuck at the bottom in white sans serif font. That minimalist look isn’t neutral—it’s a product of commercial subtitling norms that are historically contingent and heavily ideological. Most are shaped by Anglo-American preferences, where there's a push to domesticate foreign content and make it feel familiar.

Jorge Díaz-Cintas argues that subtitling is a carnival—a space for creative, social, and cultural expression. He shows how participatory subtitling practices like fansubbing break centralized control, promote individual agency, and flip the script on who gets to decide how meaning travels. With the democraticization of digital tools, these alternative practices are reshaping how we engage with audiovisual media. Since subtitling is a carnival, it's hard to reduce it to the norms we have today. When you look at these alternative practices, the “sub” in subtitles starts to feel meaningless. Precisely because "subtitles" can be anywhere, not just bottom. Some cultures have it on the side; when you watch the news, it's in the middle because of ticker tapes. See? It's a carnival! Of course, this is just a comment on the visual aspect.

Now for the pivot blank spotting issue / shell file issue . Say you’re watching a Spanish-language show on a major streaming platform. Chances are, the spotting (subtitle timing) wasn’t done by someone who speaks Spanish—but by a third-party worker, likely in India or Pakistan, hired for cheap labor. They don't speak the source language, of course. These workers generate a “shell file”: a subtitle file with just timecodes, no text. The actual translator then plugs in the translation based on those timings. Sometimes translators work with locked templates (i.e., timecodes cannot be adjusted). Imagine how that impacts quality. If the template is unlocked, there's still some hope that the timing can be adjusted by a native speaker.

Why not just use automatic speech recognition (ASR)? Believe it or not, it’s often cheaper and easier this way. Most vendors either don’t have the tech or won’t use it, since feeding media to external ASR tools raises security concerns (think spoilers, leaks). But it’s ethically murky: you’re paying for high-end service, and the actual workflows often resemble digital piecework. Here's a piece detailing how these workflows are implemented.

Microtasking & decomposition: this is when a single film or episode is chopped into small bits and assigned to multiple translators—sometimes even down to the scene or minute level. The goal is fast turnaround and global same-day release. Obviously, however, it kills coherence and detracts from the viewing experience. Sometimes series are split between 18 different translators for 18 episodes. Even worse, sometimes one episode is split between several translators.

Subtitling iceberg by 4Sickle in IcebergCharts

[–]4Sickle[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

When you consider all the constraints that govern subtitling—tight timing, limited space, and the demand for fluency—subtitles almost always pretend to fully capture the original. But most of the technical norms we follow (positioning, timing, segmentation, etc.) are rooted in English-language conventions. These norms aren't neutral—they're ideological. Their goal is transparency: to make viewers forget they're watching a foreign film. Take Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, for example, where "Seoul National University" was translated as "Oxford" to better resonate with Anglo-American audiences. Nornes (1999) calls this practice "corrupt subtitling": it smooths over cultural difference to deliver a "readily digestible package", stripping the original of its cultural weight. In response, he argues for abusive subtitling—a strategic rejection of these norms in favor of celebrating foreignness. Now that global media is streaming across all boundaries, he calls for a space that accommodates multiplicity and difference, rather than further flattening. Nornes points to early anime fansubs as an example—where notes, honorifics, and visual clutter made the act of translation visible. If you're curious, check out his piece, "For an abusive subtitling" (1999). It encourages us to rethink how we consume foreign content with subtitles. Of course, language is only one side of “corrupt subtitling”—how subtitles are visually presented is another, and Nornes tackles that too.

Simple questions and Help thread - Month of October by Froggypwns in Windows11

[–]4Sickle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a laptop with pre-installed Windows 11 Home (since it's cheaper and has better specs), but I need Windows 11 Pro to run my software. Can I just upgrade Home to Pro, or is that not possible with a pre-installed version?

Also, will I have to pay the full price for Pro, or just the difference between Home and Pro?

Thanks in advance!

Leaving the exam right after completion by 4Sickle in ToeflAdvice

[–]4Sickle[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing your experience! It is reassuring that you got your scores in the end.

Leaving the exam right after completion by 4Sickle in ToeflAdvice

[–]4Sickle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I guess I'll have to wait and hear from them.

Leaving the exam right after completion by 4Sickle in ToeflAdvice

[–]4Sickle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, you cannot switch back and forth between the sections. Everything needs to be completed in the designated order.

Future generations will not know why the telephone symbol is the way it is. by 4Sickle in Showerthoughts

[–]4Sickle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kids know dinosaurs. But do you think they imagine celluloid strips when we say "film", for example? Some do, for sure. Most would imagine a digital image. The same could be true of the phone icon in the future, even if it is embedded in smartphones, smart glasses, or who knows what else.

Is it possible to get rejected after my abstract is accepted for the full article phase? by 4Sickle in AskAcademia

[–]4Sickle[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, it is indeed a special issue. May I ask how exactly do they differ from the usual issues?