Preferences of Non-Iranian Audience of Iranian Films towards Subtitling Cultural Elements: A Case Study of Food Names

This study aims at investigating the preference of non-Iranian (Western) audience of Iranian films towards the subtitling of food names in the films. To extract the food names as well as to analyze the subtitling techniques applied in translating the names, a corpus of 30 Iranian films and their official English subtitles are scrutinized. In addition, in order to find out the preference of the subjects, a questionnaire is developed and distributed to 223 non-Iranian viewers of the films. Venuti's (1995 / 2008) theory of invisibility and the concepts of domestication and foreignization are applied in analyzing the audience's preference. The results of the study show a domesticating preference in subtitling food names in the films. Conversely, the subjects of the study preferred a foreignized approach in the subtitling of the food name. Hence, a foreignized approach in subtitling food names is the recommended strategy. Foreignized strategies are not only in line with the audience's preference, they can lead to a mutual and cultural dialogue between Iranian culture and Western culture in the unbalanced power relations in the current world.