This research addresses the understudied area of subtitling Saudi Arabic slang into English. While audiovisual translation, particularly subtitling, is a growing field, research on the specific challenges of translating Arabic slang, especially from Arabic to English, is limited. The rise of streaming services like Netflix has increased the visibility of Arabic content to English-speaking audiences, making this a timely research topic. The study uses the 2020 Netflix film "The Book of the Sun," which features Saudi adolescents, as its data source because their dialogue provides rich examples of contemporary slang. The objectives are to identify and analyze characteristics of Saudi Arabic slang (originality, conciseness, humor), to investigate the subtitling strategies used, and to assess their effectiveness in conveying meaning to an English-speaking audience. The study is structured to include sections on slang, subtitling, subtitling strategies, methodology, findings and discussion, and conclusions.

The study defines slang, drawing on various sources which highlight its informal nature, its use in establishing social identity, its variation across and within cultures, and its challenges for translators. Existing research on slang translation often focuses on other language pairs, with limited work specifically addressing Arabic-to-English subtitling. Most research on English-Arabic subtitling focuses on the opposite direction, translating from English to Arabic. The authors note that Al-Kharabsheh and Yassin's (2017b) work on subtitling Palestinian slang into English highlights challenges such as misinterpretation, omission, and loss of cultural meaning—issues this study intends to explore within the context of Saudi slang. The review also touches upon the field of audiovisual translation and subtitling, its challenges (space and time constraints), and the evolution of Netflix as a platform for global content distribution.

The research analyzes 36 slang terms from the film "The Book of the Sun" identified by native Arabic speakers through repeated viewings and using the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of slang. The slang terms are categorized into negative, positive, and neutral, and analyzed for humor, originality, and conciseness based on the framework provided by Zhou and Fan (2013b). Pedersen's (2005) typology of subtitling strategies for cultural references is used to analyze the subtitler's choices. The film was chosen due to its abundance of slang, stemming from its focus on high school-aged characters and its scarcity as the only Arabic film on Netflix with exclusively teenage protagonists at the time of research.

The analysis revealed 22 negative slang terms (61%), 5 positive (14%), and 9 neutral (25%). A representative sample from each category was analyzed, showing that the subtitler employed various strategies: omission (7 instances), generalization (13), paraphrase (11), official equivalence (8), direct translation (2), and cultural substitution (3). The study found that originality, conciseness, and humor were often lost in the translation process, even when an English slang equivalent was used. Generalization and paraphrase were the most frequent strategies, resulting in a loss of nuance and cultural specificity. The limited use of direct translation and official equivalence underscores the significant linguistic and cultural differences between Arabic and English slang.

The findings indicate that while the subtitler attempted to convey meaning, the chosen strategies often resulted in a loss of the original communicative effect of the slang. The study highlights the limitations of simple translation strategies in conveying culture-specific expressions like slang. The frequent use of generalization and paraphrase, while contributing to comprehension for the target audience, significantly diminished the original humorous and creative aspects of the Saudi Arabic slang. The lack of direct equivalents in English often necessitated adaptation, and the choices made by the subtitler prioritized comprehension over cultural accuracy.

This study contributes to the understanding of subtitling challenges related to Saudi Arabic slang. The findings demonstrate the inadequacy of simplistic translation strategies for effectively rendering slang in subtitles, emphasizing the need for subtitlers to possess a deep understanding of both source and target cultures, and to employ more nuanced strategies to preserve the communicative function of slang. Future research could explore other Saudi films and expand this analysis to other dialects of Arabic, or compare subtitling practices across different streaming platforms.

The study's focus on a single film limits the generalizability of the findings. While "The Book of the Sun" provides rich data, a wider corpus of films would strengthen the conclusions. The analysis is also limited to the English subtitles available on Netflix and doesn't account for alternative subtitling choices that might have been made. The subjectivity involved in categorizing and analyzing slang also represents a limitation of this work.