The Reception of Persian Dubbing: A Survey on Preferences and Perception of Quality Standards in Iran

Abstract

Dubbing is Iran’s main modality for translating audiovisual content. There has been, however, relatively limited research on public recipients of dubbing in Iran. This article reports the results of a mixed-methods study that uses qualitative data to create a quantitative instrument to survey the reception of Persian dubbing among a selection of Iranian lay viewers (n = 477). In the qualitative phase, using focus group interviews (n = 5), a pool of items on dubbing reception is generated and used to design an original questionnaire. The quantitative survey results indicate that the reception of Persian dubbing could be manifested in six broad dimensions: technicality, agents, faithfulness, censorship, domestication and preferences. Most notably, technicality, including character synchrony and isochrony, is the highest-rated and most valued quality standard by participants. It is also revealed that dubbing reception does not vary significantly across gender, or with regard to different fields of study as a factor, except for two dimensions – technicality and domestication.