scholarly journals Creating Coherence in Audio Description

2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Braun
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Verbal Descriptions

As an emerging form of intermodal translation, audio description (AD) raises many new questions for Translation Studies and related disciplines. This paper will investigate the question of how the coherence of a multimodal source text such as a film can be re-created in audio description. Coherence in film characteristically emerges from links within and across different modes of expression (e.g., links between visual images, image-sound links and image-dialogue links). Audio describing a film is therefore not simply a matter of substituting visual images with verbal descriptions. It involves ‘translating’ some of these links into other appropriate types of links. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to examine the means available for the re-creation of coherence in an audio described version of a film, and the problems arising. To this end, the paper will take a fresh look at coherence, outlining a model of coherence which embraces verbal and multimodal texts and which highlights the important role of both source text author (viz., audio describer as translator) and target text recipients in creating coherence. This model will then be applied to a case study focussing on the re-creation of various types of intramodal and intermodal relations in AD.

scholarly journals From Translation Studies and audiovisual translation to media accessibility

Target ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Remael ◽  
Nina Reviers ◽  
Reinhild Vandekerckhove
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Hybrid Form ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Translation Practice ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The One

Abstract Recent developments in Translation Studies and translation practice have not only led to a profusion of approaches, but also to the development of new text forms and translation modes. Media Accessibility, particularly audio description (AD) and subtitling for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH), is an example of such a ‘new’ mode. SDH has been evolving quickly in recent decades and new developments such as interlingual SDH and live subtitling with speech recognition bring it closer to established forms of translation and interpreting. On the one hand, interlingual SDH reintroduces Jakobson’s (1959) ‘translation proper’ while the use of speech recognition has led to the creation of a hybrid form that has affinities with both subtitling and interpreting. Audio description, for its part, cannot even be fitted into Jakobson’s ‘intersemiotic translation’ model since it involves translation from images into words. Research into AD is especially interesting since it rallies methods from adjacent disciplines, much in the same way that Holmes ([1972] 1988) described TS when it was a fledgling discipline. In 2008, Braun set out a research agenda for AD and the wealth of topics and research approaches dealt with in her article illustrate the immense complexity of this field and the work still to be done. Although AD and SDH research have developed at different paces and are concerned with different topics, converging trends do appear. Particularly the role of technology and the concept of multimodality seem to be key issues. This article aims to give an overview of current research trends in both these areas. It illustrates the possibilities of technology-driven research – particularly popular in SDH and live-subtitling research – while at the same time underlining the value of individual, human-driven approaches, which are still the main ‘modus operandi’ in the younger discipline of AD where much basic research is still required.

Taming iconicity in the Spanish and Italian translations of Shakespeare’s Sonnets

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Gonzálvez-García
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Perception ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Literary Translation ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Selected Lines ◽  
Causative Constructions ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
Secondary Predication

Abstract Building on Tabakowska’s (1993, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2013) full-blown defense of a cognitive linguistic approach to literary translation as well as on previous research dealing with the implementations of Construction Grammar(s) for translation studies (Szymańska 2011a, 2011b; Serbina 2015), this paper critically examines the role of iconicity in selected lines from Shakespeare’s Sonnets capitalizing on the passage of Time-Death and their corresponding translations in present-day Spanish and Italian. Specifically, drawing on Cognitive Construction Grammar (Goldberg 2006) and Contrastive Construction Grammar (Boas 2010a; Boas & Gonzálvez-García 2014), I focus on instances of secondary predication with verbs of sensory perception, causative constructions and aspectual constructions iconically connected with the above-mentioned motif and demonstrate that iconicity emerges as a very useful communicative ‘filter’ that can help to minimize any undesirable arbitrariness which may obscure the semantico-pragmatic interpretation of the source text and/or its rendering into the target text.

scholarly journals Investigating how we read translations

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 482-512
Author(s):  
Callum Walker
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Reading Experience ◽  
Equivalent Effect ◽  
Skin Response ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Research Questions

Abstract Since its inception, Translation Studies has hinged on theoretical concepts of effects and reception, with various reader-oriented notions such as equivalent effect, skopos, acceptability and adequacy, and user-centredness, to name but a few, having pervaded the discipline for decades. Despite this preoccupation with the phenomenology of translations, we still know very little about how translations are actually experienced – written translations especially. This article calls for an expansion of research into the reception and experience of source texts and their translations, reviewing the opportunities afforded by recent technological developments in eye-tracking, galvanic skin response sensors, echocardiogram monitors, and other multi-sensory devices. Using a short case study, a number of research questions and an outline of an experimental method are proposed to contrast the reading experience of two translations of the same source text, serving as a prompt for future research of this kind. By drawing inspiration from the few existing examples of research in this incipient paradigm and the considerations offered in the example, this article aims to stimulate future research to explore the vast untapped potential in this area and to arrive at a better understanding of the effects that different translation approaches yield and the potential variation in effects between source and target text.

scholarly journals A Functional Approach to Audio Description

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Mazur
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Functional Model ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Text Types ◽  
Selection Of

The article discusses a functional approach to audio description (AD) and first proposes a classification of text types, followed by a model of source text (ST) analysis which encompasses three layers: the contextual, the macrotextual and the microtextual. The functional model helps identify the functional priorities in a given ST, which may then guide the audio describer’s decision-making process: the results of contextual and macrotextual analyses will assist the describer in the selection of the so-called macro strategy, while the microtextual analysis may help in making lower-level decisions called micro strategies. Although the model has been designed primarily for didactic purposes, its principles may also be useful for more experienced describers. Additionally, the model constitutes a theoretical conceptualisation of AD and attempts to better integrate AD within the field of translation studies.

scholarly journals A Matter of Principles: Empirical Treatments of Translation Principles – A Case Study

2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 495-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Zhong
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Design Research Methodology ◽  
Translation Principles

Abstract In this paper, the author will discuss findings of an investigation into the real life experiences of 21 trainee translators with two types of translation principles, one that is biased towards the source text and its author and the other biased towards the translation and the translator. The investigation centred on the translators’ preferences of principles, rationalization of their preferences, their difficulty in tackling the principles via a translation task and their strategies for coping with the difficulties. The author believes that this investigation is the first of its kind in translation studies as it examines practitioners of principles rather than the principles themselves and, therefore, it warrants special attention. Readers will find in this paper summary discussions about research design, research methodology, a brief quantitative analysis, detailed qualititative analyses and a case study.

scholarly journals The Visual Aspect of Translation Training in Multimodal Texts

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-319
Author(s):  
George Damaskinidis
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Translation Efficiency ◽  
Multimodal Approach ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Multimodal Text ◽  
The Subject ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Subject Specialist

This paper explores the wider issue of translation training in multimodal contexts. The multimodal text represents a complex semiotic canvas on which the various systems of signification (verbal, images, colour, layout, etc.) interact in complex ways to produce a coherent meaning. Such interactions affect translation students’ understanding of multimodal texts and as such their training must also be visually-oriented in order to improve their translation efficiency when dealing with these texts. The paper is primarily (though not exclusively) concerned with the print multimodal text, and examines how the various aspects of the visual semiotic elements affect the teaching of its translation into another language. One such aspect is the new challenges that have been imposed by the visual on the field of translation studies. A second aspect is the visual implications for translation trainers and students. A third aspect is the wider multimodal context in which they have been found and involves the necessary multimodal approach to translation training, the development of a relevant awareness of multimodal texts and a number of other issues such as students’ creativity and the role of the subject specialist in the translation classroom. Finally, suggestions are made for further development of relevant teaching areas that are driven by the visual aspect of the multimodal text.

scholarly journals Translating Postcolonial English: The Italian Translation of D. Walcott’s The Odyssey: A Stage Version

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 229-241
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Zurru
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Italian Translation ◽  
The World

In postcolonial writing the English language is often intentionally appropriated: it ceases to represent the vehicle of expression of ‘Englishness’ only and becomes the means of communication of a wider part of the world. Therefore, many strategies are used in postcolonial works as a means of cultural assertion on the part of the writers. Such strategies, however, are extremely difficult to convey in languages which are not directly concerned with issues such as postcolonial resistance to colonial control in literature, as in the case of Italian. Using as a case study the only Italian translation of Derek Walcott’s The Odyssey: A Stage Version, I will analyse in this paper a number of strategies employed in the Source Text (ST), concurrently analysing the difficulties related to their translation into Italian. Besides the tools provided by stylistics, structural grammar, translation studies and postcolonial studies, the frameworks of ethnostylistics and translational stylistics are particularly useful in the scrutiny of this text.

scholarly journals The role of moving images in the conference interpreting classroom

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 262
Author(s):  
Susi Septaviana Rakhmawati
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Transcription Analysis ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Moving Images ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Regular Mode

This paper reports on the study of the student interpreters’ performance in conference interpreting classes in an Indonesian university when multimodal texts were provided as part of the teaching methods. It aims to answer how multimodal texts can influence interpreting performance among students. A case study design was used to allow an in-depth analysis of the students’ interpreting performance as the phenomenon described (Yin, 2003) using triangulation of data analysis. Observation, interview, and seven transcription analysis from three students were carried out. Observation and interview result shows that the students used visual information such as lips movement, running text on video, moving images, and the speakers’ gestures in their interpreting processes. Moreover, the students said that the existing method of teaching interpreting using multimodal texts is really helpful for them in developing their interpreting skills. Furthermore, transcription analysis also confirms that the student with multimodal strategies (facing the speaker, the screen/the video) performed better during interpreting process. However, a student who faces both did not seem to perform well. The indication is that he was unable to focus, being distracted and nervous. Thus, overall the student interpreters used visual information as part of multimodal communication, in addition to speech, working on the regular mode of listening and speaking during interpreting process, which suggest significant contribution of multimodal texts to better rendition in the target language.

scholarly journals Enigma: Aspects of Multimodal Inter-Semiotic Translation

2016 ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Judith Leah Cross
Keyword(s):  
Primary Source ◽  
World War ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Original Source ◽  
True Story ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Alan Turing ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

 Commercial and creative perspectives are critical when making movies. Deciding how to select and  combine elements of stories gleaned from books into multimodal texts results in films whose modes of image, words, sound and movement interact in ways that create new wholes and so, new stories, which are more than the sum of their individual parts. The Imitation Game (2014) claims to be based on a true story recorded in the seminal biography by Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing: The Enigma (1983). The movie, as does its primary source, endeavours to portray the crucial role of Enigma during World War Two, along with the tragic fate of a key individual, Alan Turing. The film, therefore, involves translation of at least two "true" stories, making the film a rich source of data for this paper that addresses aspects of multimodal inter-semiotic translations (MISTs). Carefully selected aspects of tales based on "true stories" are interpreted in films; however, not all interpretations possess the same degree of integrity in relation to their original source text. This paper assumes films, based on stories, are a form of MIST, whose integrity of translation needs to be assessed. The methodology employed uses a case-study approach and a "grid" framework with two key critical thinking (CT) standards: Accuracy and Significance, as well as a scale (from "low" to "high"). This paper offers a stretched and nuanced understanding of inter-semiotic translation by analysing how multimodal strategies are employed by communication interpretants. 

The effect of audio description on film comprehension of individuals with visual impairment: A case study in Turkey

2021 ◽  
pp. 026461962110200
Author(s):  
Zeynep Zengin Temırbek uulu ◽  
Çiğdem Sağın-Şimşek ◽  
Elena Antonova-Ünlü
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
The Other ◽  
Causal Network ◽  
Audio Description ◽  
Film Comprehension

The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which audio description contributes to the visually impaired individuals’ comprehension of a film by examining the visually impaired and sighted participants’ comprehension of two versions of the same film, one with and the other without supplementary audio description. The results of the study showed that the visually impaired participants were able to comprehend and narrate the events to the same extent as the sighted participants did when the film was supplemented with audio description. The qualitative analysis validated this finding and demonstrated that the visually impaired participants were able to comprehend the film to a great extent with the assistance of audio description. These findings emphasized the role of audio description assistance and its effects as an important resource in converting visual information to vocal information, which greatly aids the visually impaired individuals’ film comprehension. Also, the use of “Causal Network Model” showed that understanding the plot better could enable the audio description creators to provide better assistance for the visually impaired if they applied this model.

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