Sex and sexuality are traditionally taboo topics in Arab societies. As a result, their public discussions and media representations—whether heterosexual or homosexual—are typically avoided or censored (Abdelaal 2019). However, with the rise of globalisation and uncensored access to Western films via streaming online platforms, Arab audiences are increasingly exposed to explicit sexual content. This study investigates how Arabic subtitles render sexually explicit language and queer discourse in the translation of Western erotic and LGBTQ +films, focusing on the British-American Fifty Shades trilogy (2015, 2017, 2018) and the American romantic comedy Bros (2022). Drawing on non-professional subtitles from the OpenSubtitles corpus, the research conducts a comparative, qualitative analysis (Lindlof and Taylor 2002) between the English source texts and their Arabic translations. While previous studies have shown a strong tendency towards censorship through omission or euphemism, this study explores whether more direct, source-oriented strategies, such as loan translation, paraphrasing, or taboo-for-taboo equivalence, are now being employed. The findings aim to reveal a potential shift in translational practices that may reflect evolving social attitudes towards sex and sexuality in the Arab-Muslim society, suggesting and contributing to a potential gradual openness to modern, globalised perspectives on sexual representation.
Translating Sex and Sexuality: Fifty Shades and Bros in Arabic Subtitling
Lucia La Causa
2026-01-01
Abstract
Sex and sexuality are traditionally taboo topics in Arab societies. As a result, their public discussions and media representations—whether heterosexual or homosexual—are typically avoided or censored (Abdelaal 2019). However, with the rise of globalisation and uncensored access to Western films via streaming online platforms, Arab audiences are increasingly exposed to explicit sexual content. This study investigates how Arabic subtitles render sexually explicit language and queer discourse in the translation of Western erotic and LGBTQ +films, focusing on the British-American Fifty Shades trilogy (2015, 2017, 2018) and the American romantic comedy Bros (2022). Drawing on non-professional subtitles from the OpenSubtitles corpus, the research conducts a comparative, qualitative analysis (Lindlof and Taylor 2002) between the English source texts and their Arabic translations. While previous studies have shown a strong tendency towards censorship through omission or euphemism, this study explores whether more direct, source-oriented strategies, such as loan translation, paraphrasing, or taboo-for-taboo equivalence, are now being employed. The findings aim to reveal a potential shift in translational practices that may reflect evolving social attitudes towards sex and sexuality in the Arab-Muslim society, suggesting and contributing to a potential gradual openness to modern, globalised perspectives on sexual representation.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
