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Article published In:
Specialised Translation in Spain: Institutional dimensions
Edited by José Santaemilia-Ruiz and Sergio Maruenda-Bataller
[Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 30:2] 2017
► pp. 538–558

The audio describer as a cultural mediator

| Universitat de València

Audio Description (AD) is a modality of audiovisual translation that consists of making cultural products accessible to people who are blind or partially-sighted. Our study focuses on the contrastive analysis of the AD of four films in English and Spanish, our objective being to determine how the same visual cultural reference is described in two languages and for two target cultures. Using a descriptive methodology, we categorise and analyse cultural references following Díaz Cintas and Remael’s (2007) classification and determine the translation strategies used. Our research shows that the decisions that the describer makes are conditioned by the distance, not only geographical but above all cultural, that exists between the audience and the culture that is reflected in the film. The describer becomes a mediator between cultures; that is why the greater the cultural distance, the higher their presence and involvement.

Keywords: audiovisual translation, accessibility, audio description, cultural references
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The profile of the describer
  • 3.Cultural references and AD
  • 4.Descriptive comparative analysis of the AD of cultural references
  • 4.1Quantitative analysis of strategies used in the AD of cultural references
    • 4.2Qualitative analysis of the AD of cultural references
      • 4.2.1Geographical references
      • 4.2.2Ethnographic references
        • 4.2.2.1Art and popular culture
        • 4.2.2.2Religion
        • 4.2.2.3Food and drink
        • 4.2.2.4Clothing
        • 4.2.2.5Transport
      • 4.2.3Socio-political references
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 26 March 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.00006.san
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Filmography

Goodbye Lenin!
(Becker 2003)Google Scholar
Broken embraces
(Almodóvar 2009)Google Scholar
Inglourious basterds
(Tarantino 2009)Google Scholar
Memoirs of a geisha
(Marshall 2005)Google Scholar
Slumdog millionaire
(Boyle 2008)Google Scholar
Juno
(Reitman 2007)Google Scholar
Little Miss Sunshine
(Dayton & Faris 2006)Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Rizzo, Alessandra & Cinzia Giacinta Spinzi
2023. Authorial (audio) description. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 9:3 ► pp. 419 ff. DOI logo
Zajdel, Alicja, Iris Schrijver & Anna Jankowska
2024. What goes on behind the scenes? Exploring status perceptions, working conditions and job satisfaction of audio describers. Perspectives ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

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