Subtitlers Going Professional: The Professional Project and Virtual Community of Finnish Subtitlers

Tuominen, T. (2015) Subtitlers Going Professional: The Professional Project and Virtual Community of Finnish Subtitlers. mTm Journal, 7, pp. 103-126.

Abstract

In recent years, significant changes in the Finnish subtitling field have created instability in subtitlers’ working conditions. The subtitlers have responded to this challenge by working together towards a more unified professional community. One important means for building the subtitlers’ community has been an active online presence consisting of, among other things, a website and a blog created by the subtitlers themselves. This article will analyse the Finnish subtitlers’ website and blog to investigate their role in the subtitlers’ efforts to improve their working conditions. The analysis will focus on the ways in which this online presence has been used by the subtitlers both as a means of a professional project to foster social recognition for the profession and as a tool for constructing a virtual community uniting the subtitlers. The subtitlers’ website and blog serve as an enlightening example of a translators’ community searching for new ways of uniting a fragmented professional field and counteracting uncertain working conditions.

• Item Type: Articles (Other)
• Keywords: translation studies, subtitling, workplace studies
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Tuominen, Dr Tiina
• Authors: Tuominen, T.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology; P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics; P Language and Literature > PH Finno-Ugrian, Basque languages and literatures
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures
• Journal Name: mTm Journal
• Publisher: Diavlos Publications
• ISSN: 1791-8421