From political filter to commercial habitus: The diachronic evolution of censorship in Romanian audiovisual translation

This article investigates the transformation of censorship mechanisms in Romanian audiovisual translation (AVT). The study moves from the overt state-controlled ideological manipulation of the communist era to the subtle commercial and linguistic self-censorship of the post-1989 market. Based on historical records and translation accounts, it identifies a systematic "ideological filter" that targeted religious terminology and Western imagery. The research is based on a diachronic approach, which bridges the gap between rudimentary manual subtitling—characterized by a "muffled" voice under totalitarianism—and modern digital practices. It documents how the historical legacy of political restriction has mutated into modern corporate norms and cultural "habitus". The historical approach and longitudinal view show how translation may serve as a support for changing orders of social domination.