SubComm Symposium: AVT Research for Practice
Friday 27th February 2026 – online
in partnership with Subtle
Register at this link
To view the abstracts, please click on the relevant presentation title below.
9 – 9.20 Introduction from SubComm, Dr Hannah Silvester (University College Cork) & Prof. Tiina Tuominen (University of Turku)
9.20 – 9.50 Max Deryagin, Subtle, Keynote Address
9.50 – 10.40 Panel A – Audiodescription (Chair: Meredith Cannella)
Laura Martínez Urtiaga, The Graduate School of Korean Studies
Navigating Cultural Horror: Audio Description Challenges in Translating Korean Supernatural Elements in ‘Sweet Home’
María López Rubio, Universitat de València and Universitat Jaume I
Between Objectivity and Fear: Audio Description in Spanish Horror Films
10.40 Break
11.00 – 12.15 Panel B – Subtitling and the Audience (Chair: Adriana Tortoriello)
Anqi Guo, Newcastle University
A Reception Study: Assessing the Impact of Subtitles on the Viewing Experiences of Senior Population
Jan Pedersen, Stockholm University
Autobahn subtitles and ghost subtitles: Can everyone handle current and future reading speeds?
Ayşe Sungur, Gendarmerie and Coast Guard Academy (GCGA) in Ankara, Türkiye
Beyond Fidelity: Ethical and Practical Choices in Subtitling Offensive Turkish Humour
12.15 -1.15 Lunch Break
1.15 – 2.30 Panel C – Theory and Practice (Soledad Etchemendy)
Laura Ivaska, University of Turku
Indirect Translation in Subtitling: From Theory to Practical Applications
Khadidja Merakchi, Heriot-Watt University
Countering the Trampoline Effect in Pivot Subtitling: A Case Study of a Reciprocal Collaborative Intervention
Jerneja Umer Kljun, University of Ljubljana
Translation Work Placement as a Bridge Between AVT Scholars and Practitioners – a Case Study
2.30 – 3.45pm – Panel D – The Subtitling Industry (Chair: Rachel Jones)
Rita Menezes, University of Lisbon, Polytechnic University of Leiria
Efficient and Effective Subtitling Revision. Techniques Drawn from an Empirical Experience
Ceri Pollard, University of Geneva
Understanding and Managing Information Asymmetry in the Subtitling Industry
Tinka Stössel, University of Geneva
Subtitling for Netflix: A (small) survey on the process, working conditions, and considerations for the future
3.45 – 4.00 Break
4.00 – 4.45 Discussion
4.45 – cocktail hour and prize giving
(happy hour open until 6pm)
Thank you to our sponsor:
Call for Papers
SubComm Symposium:
AVT Research for Practice
A conference for AVT academics and practitioners
Friday 27th February 2026 – online
in partnership with Subtle
SubComm was co-founded by Dr Hannah Silvester (University College Cork, Ireland) and Professor Tiina Tuominen (University of Turku, Finland) to offer a platform for academics and practitioners interested in subtitling to come together and learn from each other. We see this project as a kind of Public Translation Studies initiative, in line with Kaisa Koskinen’s (2010, p.24) argument that engaging with and disseminating research findings to stakeholders both across disciplinary boundaries and outside academia is a crucial task for translation studies. Since we founded SubComm almost five years ago, we have been using it to engage with practitioners and developing it into a platform that provides a means of knowledge exchange, and of generating and gauging impact among the people doing the work we study. Now we want to take that idea a step further.
In our conversations with practitioners, we have discovered that they are often not even aware of what kind of research is being done on audiovisual translation, how they could access it, and how this research might benefit them. Therefore, we want to explore new ways of disseminating research findings to audiovisual translation practitioners. Interacting with practitioners is naturally also beneficial to academics. It can provide new ideas, valuable feedback and useful contacts for developing new projects, as well as increasing the impact of research. Therefore, we want to offer this new opportunity for everyone to get together virtually, exchange ideas, and, in particular, to disseminate information about research to practitioners.
SubComm will host the first ever virtual SubComm Symposium on Friday 27th February 2026. The event is free and open for anyone to attend. We hope to be able to showcase many examples of audiovisual translation research that has practical relevance. The day will also provide a space for exchange between academics and practitioners, in which they can share their views on research. We welcome abstracts on any topic that is relevant to and applicable in audiovisual translation practice. SubComm has mostly focused on subtitling, but for this symposium, we also welcome talks on other specialisations in audiovisual translation. Relevant topics may include:
- audience and reception studies
- research on the translation process and working conditions
- investigations of technological tools
- discussions on how to solve difficult translation challenges
- subtitle reading speed and readability research
- studies of the industry
Topics are not limited to the ones listed above, and anything that can support audiovisual translators in their work is suitable for our event. Please make sure that the relevance of your research to practitioners is clear from your abstract, as that will be a central selection criterion.
The event will be held in English, and the presentations will be 15 minutes long, plus time for questions. We will also hear from practitioners, and there will be time reserved for informal interaction and networking. Following the event, there will be a permanent resource on our website, hosting further information on the topics of the presentations, including blog posts, presentation slides or links to articles.
Please submit your abstract of approximately 200 words, the title of your presentation, up to 5 keywords, and a 100-word bionote by 28th November 2025 to hannah.silvester@ucc.ie and tiina.k.tuominen@utu.fi. We will send notifications of acceptance by 9th January 2026. Further details on the symposium will be published in early 2026. You are also welcome to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the event, or if you would like to discuss a presentation idea informally.
We hope this symposium will be an opportunity for everyone to engage in fruitful discussions about audiovisual translation and research. We look forward to receiving your abstracts and seeing you at the symposium in February!
References
Koskinen, K. 2010. “What Matters to Translation Studies? On the Role of Public Translation Studies.” In Why Translation Studies Matters, edited by D. Gile, G. Hansen, and N. K. Pokorn, 15–26. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Silvester, H., and T. Tuominen. 2021. “Collaboration Between Subtitling Academics and Practitioners: A Proposal for SubComm.” Journal of Audiovisual Translation 4 (3): 108–125. https://doi.org/10.47476/jat.v4i3.2021.188.
