The Impact of Translation Strategies on Meaning Preservation and Cultural Context in Thai-English Subtitling: A Case Study of ‘The Undertaker’

Background and Aim: Translation strategies are crucial for preserving the original meaning and cultural nuances while translating from Thai to English. Effective strategies guarantee that viewers understand both the material and the cultural context, maintaining authenticity and clarity. This study investigated the translation strategies used to subtitle Thai idiomatic expressions into English in The Undertaker, a Thai film rooted in Buddhist funeral traditions. Materials and Methods: The strategies were identified and assessed for their impact on preserving meaning and cultural context by employing Baker’s (1992) taxonomy as the primary framework. The data were collected by identifying, categorizing, and analyzing processes. The total number of translated phrases found in the movie was 671 tokens. Among this number, there were only 25% of all phrases that could be counted under the idiomatic translation strategies. This study then analyzed these idioms by using a qualitative case study approach, validated by experts for accuracy and cultural relevance. Results: The findings revealed that paraphrasing (15%) was the most frequently applied strategy, while 75% of translations notably fell outside Baker’s framework; it consisted of direct or literal translations that prioritized accessibility over cultural fidelity. Conclusion: The study highlights the challenges of balancing cultural fidelity and audience comprehension in idiomatic translation for audiovisual media. It emphasizes the need for cultural sensitivity, innovative multimodal translation strategies, and interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance subtitling practices in cross-cultural communication.