Dubbing and subtitles in Flanders and Wallonia

Picture this: it’s Tuesday evening and somewhere in Gent, Belgium, someone puts on an episode of Jujutsu Kaisen. What they hear is the original Japanese voice acting, with Dutch subtitles at the bottom of the screen. But little farther south, in Liège (or Luik, by the Dutch name), someone clicks play on the same episode but the characters speak French.

The difference might seem like a matter of personal taste, but it actually points to the decades-long cultural and linguistic divide that runs through the heart of Belgium: the Flemish north has largely grown up with subtitles, while the Walloon south has often preferred dubbing.

Traditionally, in Flanders, dubbing is for children shows. The norm is that the moment content steps into teenage or adult territory, subtitles take over. Flemish viewers have grown up reading subtitles while watching shows and most of them would tell you they wouldn't have it any other way. Even more, the Flemish Public Broadcaster VRT is mandated through it's Management Agreement to add teletext subtitles to all of its news and current affairs programmes, and almost all of the other types of programmes. This is not only for translation reasons, but also because subtitles are more accessible for people with impairments. (UNESCO, 2021)

However, cross the border into Wallonia and you'll quickly notice French dubs taking over. They are the standard for everything. Wallonia is influenced by the French media culture, and it shares channels, streaming libraries, and dubbing studios with France itself. The French dubbing industry is one of the largest in the world, covering everything from Hollywood movies to anime series. And because of this, Walloon viewers have an entirely different way of watching shows than viewers from Flanders.

Neither approach is better or worse than the other one. While subtitles maintain and preserve the original voices and emotion, and expose audiences to other languages, they also require more attention and can be difficult for younger viewers or people who struggle with reading. Dubbing can make content accessible to a wider audience than using subtitles, and can certainly create (or re-create) memorable performances in the target language, but it also replaces part of the original acting, it can make foreign works feel less foreign, or it can fail to deliver the original emotion of the media.

In Belgium, these two habits exist very close together. A train ride of less than two hours can take you from a media culture where original voices are preferred to one where dubbed content in French dominates. Streaming platforms have made this contrast even more visible because viewers can now choose between audio tracks and subtitle options more easily than before. Many Flemish viewers will simply look for subtitles, while the Walloon viewers will stick to the French dubs.

If you'd like to share your experience with dubs and subs please visit our map and cast your vote at DubsOrSubs.com.