Introduction to Audiovisual Translation
Adriana Şerban
Centre for Translation Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Talk map
a few words about translation types of audiovisual (AV) translation AV translation and language policy main issues involved in subtitling text compression the technology
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Translation
approaches to translation: source versus target oriented linguistic, functional, cultural studies-oriented, cognitive,
philosophical examples of issues:
equivalence, e.g. formal versus dynamic strategies to be adopted, e.g. domesticating versus
foreignising textual features such as deixis, presupposition, lexical
choice, modality, politeness markers ideology
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Translation (cont’d)
audience design translation and publication patterns in the world translation and (post) colonialism translation and gender universals of translation
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Types of audiovisual translation
Inter-lingual translation subtitling dubbing voice-over
Intra-lingual (monolingual) subtitling for the hard-of-hearing and the deaf
Audio description for the blind Live subtitling (e.g. news broadcasts) Subtitling for opera and the theatre
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Subtitling, dubbing, or voice-over?
Subtitling advantages: not expensive, does not take a very long time,
original soundtrack is preserved, may have a role in language learning, is better for the
hard-of-hearing and the deaf and for immigrants and tourists
disadvantages: ‘contaminates’ the image, greater loss of information due to compression, the attention of the audience is split between
image, soundtrack, and subtitles
Note: oral text written text
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Subtitling, dubbing, or voice-over?
Dubbing advantages: does not distract attention from image, is
better for children and for people with poor reading skills, less reduction of the original dialogue compared to subtitling
disadvantages: expensive, takes more time, loss of the original soundtrack, the voices of dubbing actors can become repetitive after a while
Note: oral text oral text
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Subtitling, dubbing, or voice-over?
Voice-over advantages: not expensive, does not take a long time to
make, may be appropriate to some audio-visual genres (such as documentaries, particularly when it comes to translating the narrator’s part)
disadvantages: it ‘contaminates’ the original soundtrack, if used in genres such as feature films it may create confusion as to who is speaking
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Subtitling for the hard-of-hearing
indicate relevant noises in your subtitles (music, phone or doorbell ringing, footsteps, shouting). Otherwise, scenes may become incomprehensible
make it easier to understand who is speaking (especially if off-screen): use colour codes and/or change the position of the subtitles
avoid paraphrase; use as many of the ST words as possible (unlike in interlingual subtitling!)
take into consideration the issue of reading speeds
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Audio description for the blind
the ‘usual’ soundtrack is not enough to understand what is going on in the programme
but why does someone blind need to ‘watch’ TV? Can’t they listen to the radio instead? Issues of social integration and access to information
different views on how to best do audio-descriptions the skills of an audio-describer
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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AV translation and language policy
the right of linguistic and/or ethnic minorities to have access to audio-visual programmes in their own language;
the role of nationalism in decisions with respect to form of audio-visual translation;
the right of the hard-of-hearing and the deaf to have access to audio-visual programmes;
the role of screen translation in language acquisition.
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Subtitling
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Main issues involved in subtitling
linguistic, cultural, and cognitive issues involved in subtitling
spoken versus written language the audience time/space constraints in subtitling text
compression
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Linguistic issues involved in subtitling
transfer from spoken to written text cohesion swear words and slang dialects and accents broken language use of several languages in the audio-visual
programme etc
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Cultural issues
cultural references intertextuality cross-cultural politeness humour etc
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Cognitive issues
reading speed efficiency (processing ease), effectiveness (processing
depth) and appropriacy (correlation between text, current occasion, and receivers).
considerations of relevance (see Sperber and Wilson 1986)
Note: the importance, for the audience, of experiencing
the audio-visual programme in a holistic way
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Time/space constraints Text compression
Constraints time constraints: a minimum of 1.5 to 2 seconds
display per chunk of subtitles, and a maximum display of 6.5 to 7 seconds
space constraints: not more than two lines per screen, and not more than 34-37 characters/line
rhythm cuts
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Text compression (cont’d)
Text compression the original may need to be reduced with as much as
1/3 (e.g. fast speakers, several people speaking at the same time, programmes where it is felt that the audience should be left to focus on the image)
involves reformulation, summarisation, adaptation simplification of syntax
So, how do you decide what to leave out? Examples: false starts, interjections, (some) repetitions,(some) interpersonal markers
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Text compression (cont’d)
considerations of relevance the importance of having a strategy
TIME FOR AN EXERCISE!
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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Child audiences what is a child audience? books versus audiovisual programmes prevalent ideas about childhood adults creating programmes for children the role of programmes for children controversies and censorship parents will often watch with children, hence there
are two very different audiences at the same time. So, frequently, there is double-coding
dubbing is preferred
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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The technology
analogue technology digital subtitling software
Leeds, 6 May 2004 Intro to Audiovisual Translation A. Serban
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THANK YOU!