Dubbing Melodramas in the Arab World; Between the Standard Language and Colloquial Dialects

This paper addresses the phenomenon of dubbing foreign non-Arab media content, particularly melodramas, using Arabic colloquial varieties instead of the Standard language. It attempts to discover what dialect or variety is preferred most by the participants included, and if the choices made were driven by any suggested criterion. The sample is randomly formed through a mainly quantitative online questionnaire, including 279 participants from Saudi Arabia. A good number of the sample opted for the Standard language over the colloquial varieties, and when they had to choose one from the colloquial, they opted for the Syrian dialect. The strong affinity to the Turkish soap opera, which achieved its success through the Syrian dialect, seems to nourish a more positive attitude toward the Syrian dialect compared to other dialects used and provided by the study, such as the Khaleeji, Hijazi, and Egyptian dialects. However, with foreign dramas other than the Turkish, whatever the criterion behind selecting certain varieties for dubbing, the Standard comes in at first place, then the Syrian. That is, the Khaleeji with the Indian drama, and the Hijazi with Korean drama are not favoured by the participants. This latter finding is interesting, since the Khaleeji and Hijazi are the participants’ own dialects (or those closest to them), yet were rejected nonetheless.