Between Languages and Screens
An introduction to a series about translation, media, and rediscovering what makes stories universal
There’s something fascinating about the way stories travel. A film made in Seoul, a series written in Los Angeles, an anime broadcast in Tokyo, all can find their way into living rooms across the world. Yet the journey from one language to another is never simple: somethings change and are reinterpreted in order to reach audiences for other countries. Something is lost, and something new is created.
This series is about that space in between, the one that connects language, culture, and media. It explores how we experience foreign stories through audiovisual translation: dubbing, subtitling, fansubbing, and the cultural forces that shape them. Each essay builds on my research in translation studies, but without the academic scaffolding. The goal isn’t to teach theory, it’s to observe how translation reveals who we are: our habits, our humour, our way of seeing others and ourselves.
What This Series Covers
Over the next few months, I’ll be unpacking how language changes on screen and what those changes mean, how translation reshapes the way societies consume media, why dubbing became a national tradition in Italy, how online fan communities created their own underground translation networks, and how the line between professional and amateur translation has blurred in the age of streaming and AI.
Every post focuses on a specific aspect of audiovisual translation, using examples, cultural insights, and references to the research that inspired this work. Think of it as a long, ongoing essay, published piece by piece, like subtitles of a bigger story.
Why I’m Doing This
This project started as a way to reconnect with a field I love, and with the curiosity that first led me to study translation. After a few years in a corporate environment, I realised how easy it is to forget what once excited me: the creative, human side of language. The side that isn’t about metrics or strategy, but about understanding and expression.
Translation, at its core, is an act of empathy. It’s how we listen across difference, it’s a way of saying your story matters, even if I need to find new words to tell it. Somewhere along the way, that idea got buried under the machinery of productivity and deliverables. This series is my way of digging it out again, piece by piece, post by post.
We’re all shaped by the media we consume, and by the invisible work of the people who make it accessible to us. By looking closely at translation, I hope to rediscover not only a professional interest but a personal sense of purpose and maybe help others see this field with the same renewed fascination.
What You’ll Find Here
Each essay is a standalone read, but together they form a narrative about language, mediation, and meaning. If you follow along, you’ll discover how audiovisual translation works in practice, the social and cultural implications of translation choices, and, I hope, a renewed curiosity about how language connects art and audience.
This is not a newsletter about technicalities or academic jargon. It’s about the human side of translation, and the beauty of stories that cross borders.
The Path Ahead
The journey will start with the foundations: what audiovisual translation really is, and how it operates at the crossroads of sound, image, and language. From there, we’ll move to the Italian context, exploring the nation’s deep-rooted dubbing culture and how it shaped generations of viewers.
Then we’ll turn to the rise of fansubbing, where communities of viewers became translators themselves, reshaping access to media in the early internet era. Finally, we’ll look at how audiences receive, interpret, and reshape meaning, how translation continues long after the subtitles end.
Together, these essays form a map of how language mediates art and how, through translation, we build a shared cultural space that’s both global and deeply personal.
Join the Conversation
Between Languages and Screens is a slow, deliberate exploration, a space to think, to notice, and to reconnect with what storytelling means across languages.
The first essay, What Happens When We Translate a Movie, sets the stage by exploring the foundations of audiovisual translation, how language, image, and sound come together to create meaning, and what happens when that meaning travels.
If these topics resonate with you, I hope you’ll read, share your thoughts, and be part of the discussion as it unfolds.