The social relevance of research to practice : a study of the impact of academic research on professional subtitling practitioners in Europe
Abstract
The relevance of research to practice has long been debated and in recent years, the
topic has returned to prominence as academics are increasingly required to demonstrate
the impact of their scholarly activity outwith the academy. As the field of Audiovisual
Translation is now firmly established as a sub-discipline of Translation Studies and
digitalisation has fundamentally transformed subtitling practice, it is timely to explore
the contribution that academic endeavours in subtitling make to its professional
practice. Work to date has been based on argumentation, with scant empirical evidence
and lacking the practitioner’s perspective. This study aims to investigate the extent to
which academic research in subtitling impacts on professional practice. This mixed
method, participant-oriented research surveyed subtitling practitioners in Europe to
generate empirical data on the topic for the first time. Drawing on the sociology of the
professions and the emerging field of Research Impact, this thesis deconstructs the
relationship between research and practice to provide a systematic analysis of the
impact of research on practice, based on the professional reality of subtitling
practitioners. It highlights shortcomings in previous conceptualisations of research
relevance to practice and the findings move the debate from a falsely dichotomous
‘theory versus practice’ argument towards a revised definition which accounts for a
wider, more nuanced understanding of impact. The findings are discussed in terms of
their implications for academia, practice, industry and pedagogy.