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Article published In:
Languages in Contrast
Vol. 19:2 (2019) ► pp.173–204

Comparing introductory sections in city audio guides in Italian and English

ORCID logo | Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy)
The aim of this paper is to analyse introductory sections in Italian, British/Irish and American city audio guides from a contrastive perspective, in order to identify possible differences in the type and distribution of content. Three main content types and their corresponding subtypes were identified in the introductions of fifty professional city audio guides and were both quantitatively and qualitatively compared across the three groups. Differences between audio guides in Italian and in English are identified and discussed in reference to Hall’s ‘contexting’ theory (1983, 1990), and the findings are then compared to existing guidelines for audio guides production provided by scholars and professionals in the field. Finally, on the basis of the results, translation issues are addressed by providing a list of aspects that could be taken into account when producing English versions of Italian audio guides.
Keywords: city audio guides, content types, high context vs. low context communication, English/Italian
Article outline
  • 1.The audio guide genre: An overview
  • 2.The study: Key assumptions
    • 2.1The data
    • 2.2Theoretical background
      • 2.2.1Classification of content types: Savoir, vouloir, pouvoir
      • 2.2.2Contexting
      • 2.2.3Existing guidelines for creating audio guides
  • 3.Analysis of content types in the introductions
    • 3.1 Savoir content in the introductions
    • 3.2 Pouvoir content in the introductions
    • 3.3 Vouloir content in the introductions
  • 4.Summary and discussion
  • 5.Implications for producing audio guides
  • Notes
  • References
  • Websites of the audio guides (all last accessed February 2015)
Published online: 7 November 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lic.16017.fin
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Websites of the audio guides (all last accessed February 2015)