Carol A. Chapelle - The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics

Precisely because audiovisual materials are meant to be seen and heard simultaneously, their translation is different from translating print. Written works are primarily meant to be read. Illustrations in books, newspapers, journals, and magazines such as photographs, diagrams, and graphs, are there to accompany and enhance the verbal content. On the other hand, the verbal and visual contents of audiovisual products function inseparably to create a meaningful whole.

Audiovisuals are made up of numerous codes that interact to create a single effect. On one level, audiovisual products contain a series of verbal messages that will be perceived both acoustically and visually. In filmic products, as well as what the actors say, audiences may also hear the lyrics of songs while simultaneously being exposed to a range of written information such as street signs, billboards, letters, notes, and so forth. Also, at the beginning and end of a program, substantial written information about it, such as the names of the director, producers, the cast, and the production team will also be visible. On a different level, but together with such acoustic and visual verbal input, filmic products also contain nonverbal sound effects and background noises, body sounds (breathing, laughter, crying, etc.), and music. At the same time, actors' facial expressions, gestures and movements, costumes, hairstyles, makeup, and so forth convey additional meaning. Furthermore, scenery, colors, special effects, and three‐dimensionality are also part of the filmic whole. AVT needs to take all this diversified verbal and visual information into account, bearing in mind that this inseparable link between verbal and visual codes may often constrain the translation process.

Audiovisual products are typically created with the support of technological apparatus. Movie making traditionally involves the use of cameras and celluloid, the creation of Web pages requires a computer and specialized software, and so on. Similarly, many audiovisual products are also consumed by means of diverse technological media. Cinema screens, television sets, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and videogame consoles are examples of equipment normally adopted in order to make use of audiovisuals. Furthermore, filmic products can be accessed by means of terrestrial, satellite, or cable networks, in DVD format or in streaming from a computer connected to the World Wide Web. Likewise, their translations are both created and accessed through one or more electronic devices, hence the overlap with the alternative and all inclusive term, “multimedia translation.” For example, an AVT modality such as subtitling involves the use of sophisticated software while dubbing and voice‐over require specific hardware. In addition, users access these translations by means of screens (i.e., cinema, TV, computer, and smartphone screens) hence another overlapping term “screen translation.”

However, not all AVT involves screens. Theatrical productions such as musicals, as well as opera, are examples of audiovisual products that are traditionally performed live on stage. Typically, operas are performed in their original languages while audiences follow the written lyrics in translation in librettos. Speakers of the language in which the opera is performed also resort to librettos to help them understand what the characters are singing as the lyrics may be difficult to understand owing to the particular stress, pitch, and rhythm required by the conventions of the genre. Librettos thus exemplify intralingual translations which, unlike interlingual translation that regards language transfer between two different languages, concern the interpretation of verbal signs into a different system of signs in the same language (see Jakobson, 1959). Nowadays, however, opera translation is becoming highly technological with translations projected onto the proscenium in the form of surtitles or else provided in electronic librettos on the back of theatre seats.

Again, while not being strictly audiovisual, in the sense that the reader cannot actually listen to them, comic books have much in common with audiovisual products and the process of their translation involves similar constraints. Comic books consist of a series of framed images with dialogues contained in speech and thought bubbles linked to characters' mouths in such a way that evokes real dialogue. Furthermore, much of the conventional language in comic books has a highly aural flavor reflected in words, often placed outside speech bubbles, such as “boom!,” “vroom!,” “zoink!,” and “zzzzzzzz.” Graphic frames and dialogues come together to create a narrative that unfolds in real time rather like that of a film. So, although comic book images are static, readers are able to imagine speech and noise while following the sequential framework. Thus they can be placed on the interface between print texts and screen products such as films and video games. Significantly, there is a strong tradition of comic characters that subsequently developed into filmic, animated, or both filmic and animated form (e.g., Batman, Spiderman) while the late 20th century saw the expansion of traditional Japanese comic books, manga , into a new form of animated cartoon known as anime which have since flourished into a global industry; for example, Pokemon and Dragon Ball (see Zanettin, 2008, 2014).

The main modalities for screen translation of fictional products are dubbing and subtitling. Traditionally, Western Europe has been divided into a subtitling block that included Scandinavian and Benelux countries, Greece and Portugal, while the so‐called “FIGS” countries (France, Italy, Germany, and Spain) made up the dubbing block. However, nowadays the situation is no longer so clear cut. The spread of DVD technology followed by widespread cable and Internet services highlighted the cost‐effectiveness of subtitling that allowed this modality to enter many dubbing strongholds as an alternative. Furthermore, many cinemas in dubbing countries now also offer screenings with subtitles while digital television provides viewers with the choice of both modalities. In addition, political entities such as Wales, Catalonia, and the Basque country choose dubbing as a support for minority languages (O'Connell, 1996; Izard, 2000) while Scandinavian countries which traditionally only dubbed children's television programs, now also dub some programs for adults (Gottlieb, 2001a). English‐speaking countries tend to prefer subtitling for the few foreign‐language films that enter these markets which tend to be restricted to educated arthouse cinema audiences (Chiaro, 2008, 2009a). Outside Europe, dubbing is strong in mainland China, Japan, Latin America, and Québec, while subtitling is the preferred mode in Israel, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

The aim of dubbing is to make the translated dialogue appear as though it is being uttered by the actors in the target language by means of “the replacement of the original speech by a voice track which attempts to follow as closely as possible the timing, phrasing, and lip‐movements of the original dialogue” (Luyken, Herbst, Langham‐Brown, Reid, & Spinhof, 1991, p. 31).

In the early 20th century, the birth of talking film and the rise of Hollywood led producers to come to terms with the issue of marketing their products in different languages. Initially producers inserted short dialogues in the target language within the English dialogues, but when this proved to be unsatisfactory with audiences, they began producing multiple‐language versions of the same film. Paramount Pictures, for example, set up a large studio in Joinville, France, dedicated to the production of these multiple versions which, however, turned out to be economically unfeasible. The idea of substituting the original voice track with one in another language is generally attributable to the Austrian film producer Jakob Karol, who in 1930 realized that the technology to do this was already available (see Paolinelli & Di Fortunato, 2005, pp. 45–6). At first, dubbing into European languages was carried out in the USA; Hal Roach famously had Laurel and Hardy read off prompts in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, but by the early 1930s each European country had begun to set up its own dubbing industries.