The Joys and Challenges of Subtitling

In this talk, Tiina Tuominen will describe the special characteristics of subtitling that distinguish it from other types of translation. She will discuss the skills a subtitler needs, the challenges subtitlers may face in today’s media localisation industry, and the benefits of building your career in collaboration with a network of colleagues.

After this presentation, you will be able to

• analyse the ways in which subtitles convey information and viewers process that information
• describe what skills are needed to become a professional subtitler
• recognise both healthy and problematic practices in the media localisation industry
• start building your own collegial network

Speaker bio:

Tiina Tuominen is a Professor of English with a specialisation in translation at the University of Turku, Finland. She has previously taught translation at the universities of Glasgow and Tampere, and she has worked as a developer of subtitling and translation for the Finnish public broadcaster Yle. Her research focuses on subtitling, particularly the reception of subtitled content, user-centered translation, subtitlers’ working conditions and professional communities, and translation in the audiovisual setting. She is also interested in facilitating collaborations between practitioners and academia, and she has worked as a translator and subtitler for several years. She has been a member of the FIT (International Federation of Translators) Council since 2022, and she was the Chair of FIT’s standing committee on audiovisual translation in 2022–2025.

Programme timings:

10am - Welcome

10.05am - Talk

10.50am - Q&A

11am - End of event