THE SUBTITLING STRATEGIES OF ISLAMIC EXPRESSIONS NUSSA’s SHORT MOVIE ‘Kamu…Antta’

Abstract

This study examines the subtitling strategies used to translate Islamic Expression in the animated short film Nussa: “Kamu… Anta”. It aims to identify the subtitling strategies employed in translating Islamic expressions and to describe the frequency of each strategy. This research adopts a descriptive qualitative approach. The data consist of 13 dialogues containing Islamic expressions selected from Nussa: “Kamu… Anta”. Data were collected through observation, note-taking, and documentation by examining the English subtitles together with the corresponding multimodal elements. The analysis was conducted using the subtitling strategy taxonomy proposed by Díaz-Cintas and Remael (2020), while the identification of Islamic expressions was based on the concept of Islamic Cultural Items (ICIs) developed by Al-Shlool and Alkhomayes (2025). The analysis identified five subtitling strategies, namely Loan (38.5%), Literal Translation (30.8%), Substitution (15.4%), Compensation (7.7%), and Condensation (7.7%). The predominance of Loan and Literal Translation indicates that the translator generally preferred source-oriented strategies to preserve the theological meaning and cultural identity embedded in the original expressions. The analysis also shows that multimodal elements, including facial expressions, gestures, visual context, and voice intonation, play an important role in supporting the interpretation of untranslated or culturally specific expressions, allowing their intended pragmatic meanings to remain accessible to the audience. Overall, the subtitling of Nussa: “Kamu… Anta” demonstrates an effort to maintain authentic Islamic values while presenting the dialogue in a way that remains understandable and communicative for international young viewers.