Chapter 13 | Spoken Discourse and Conversational Interaction in Audiovisual Translation

 

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Publication date: 13 September 2018
Copyright date 2019
Hardback ISBN: 9781138859524
E-book ISBN 9781315717166
You can order this volume on the Routledge website

 

 

 

 

 

This chapter discusses the main features of spoken discourse and conversational interaction in audiovisual dialogue and translation. The organizational structure of conversation proves to be more complex to mediate in subtitling where, due to space constraints, it is frequently altered — with inevitable and serious consequences in terms of the way in which interpersonal dynamics and characterization in the subtitled version may differ from the original film. The number of expressive and orality markers is reduced in both subtitling and dubbing, although in distinct ways and for different reasons. In subtitling, their meaning can sometimes be retrieved thanks to the other semiotic channels, whereas in dubbing they are preserved when used in turn initial and final position, even though this does not necessarily result in natural-sounding translations. Formulaic speech acts like greeting, parting, and wishing-well routines are used strategically in audiovisual diegesis as keys to orality. They are always translated, although they may sometimes result in differences between the representation of power relationships and relative closeness between interactants in the original and translated dialogues.

 

 

Silvia Bruti is Associate Professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Pisa, Italy. Her current research focuses on intercultural pragmatics and audiovisual translation, with particular emphasis on the translation of compliments, conversational routines and terms of address in interlingual subtitles and dubbed interaction.

 

 

The Routledge Handbook of Audiovisual Translation Studies provides an authoritative and straightforward overview of the field through thirty-two specially commissioned chapters written by leading scholars in the field.

This state-of-the-art reference work is divided in four sections. The first part focuses on established and emerging audiovisual translation modalities, explores the changing contexts in which they have been and continue to be used, and examine how cultural and technological changes are directing their future trajectories. The second part explores the interface between audiovisual translation and a range of theoretical models that have proved particularly productive in steering research in audiovisual translation studies. Some of these models are associated with disciplines that have long intersected with audiovisual translation, while others are drawn from areas of knowledge that are only now beginning to make their presence felt in the audiovisual translation literature. The third part surveys a range of methodological approaches supporting traditional and innovative ways of interrogating audiovisual translation data. The final part addresses a range of themes pertaining to the place of audiovisual translation in society: these include the institutionalization, academization and technologization of audiovisual translation, as well as its role as a force for social change, both within and outside the industry. This Handbook gives audiovisual translation studies the voice it needs to make its presence felt within the Humanities research landscape.

 

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