Screen Translation

Screen Translation

There are three fundamental issues in the field of screen translation, namely, the relationship between verbal output and pictures and soundtrack, between a foreign language/culture and the target language/culture, and finally between the spoken code and the written one. All three issues are raised and discussed by contributors to this special issue of The Translator. The topics covered include the following: the use of multimodal transcription for the analysis of audiovisual data; the depiction and reception of cultural otherness in Disney animated films produced in the 1990's; the way in which subtitles in Flanders strengthen the already streamlined narratives of mainstream film stories, and how they 'enhance' the characteristics of the films and their underlying ideology; developing a research methodology for testing the effectiveness of intralingual subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing; the pragmatic, semiotic and communicative dimensions of puns and plays on words in The Simpsons; the reception of translated humour in the Marx Brothers' film Duck Soup; and non-professional interpreting in live interviews on breakfast television in Finland. The volume also includes a detailed profile of two postgraduate courses that have been successfully piloted and run at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona: the Postgrado de Traducción Audiovisual and the Postgrado de Traducción Audiovisual On-line.

Understanding Translation

Topics in Audiovisual Translation

The late twentieth-century transition from a paper-oriented to a media-oriented society has triggered the emergence of Audiovisual Translation as the most dynamic and fastest developing trend within Translation Studies. The growing interest in this area is a clear indication that this discipline is going to set the agenda for the theory, research, training and practice of translation in the twenty-first century. Even so, this remains a largely underdeveloped field and much needs to be done to put Screen Translation, Multimedia Translation or the wider implications of Audiovisual Translation on a par with other fields within Translation Studies. In this light, this collection of essays reflects not only the “state of the art” in the research and teaching of Audiovisual Translation, but also the professionals' experiences. The different contributions cover issues ranging from reflections on professional activities, to theory, the impact of ideology on Audiovisual Translation, and the practices of teaching and researching this new and challenging discipline.In expanding further the ground covered by the John Benjamins' book (Multi)Media Translation (2001), this book seeks to provide readers with a deeper insight into some of the specific concepts, problems, aims and terminology of Audiovisual Translation, and, by this token, to make these specificities emerge from within the wider nexus of Translation Studies, Film Studies and Media Studies. In a quickly developing technical audiovisual world, Audiovisual Translation Studies is set to become the academic field that will address the complex cultural issues of a pervasively media-oriented society.