In this article Action Research (AR) is addressed to determine its limitations and affordances as a research approach in audiovisual translation studies. A specific case of Participatory Action Research (PAR) is presented in the context of a Museum Project in Portugal – the MCCB project –, serving as a focus for the discussion of the main characteristics of AR: planning, putting into action, reflecting upon and starting anew, in spiralling continuums that start with the AR project itself but that go beyond it to spin off into new research and development projects.
When, in 2009, Gambier addressed the “recent challenges in research on audiovisual translation” he ended his work by stating “it is time to train researchers beyond the traditional ‘textual’ paradigm” (Gambier 2009, 24) in what might be understood as a call for approaches that will account for more than products and the outcomes of translation practice. This closing statement might also be read as a demand for a better understanding of ‘the process,’ of ‘the agents’ and of ‘the systems’ involved in the numerous translation types that are now fitted under the “dynamic umbrella [of] audiovisual translation” (Orero 2004, vii). As posited by Cravo and Neves (2007), Action Research (AR) could be a valuable tool when researching into translation (in general), training translators or teachers of translation – and even more so when these are within audiovisual translation (AVT), given the complex multimodal, multimedial and multidisciplinary nature of the domain. Accounts of how AR served the purpose of getting a comprehensive understanding of an AVT type may be read in “‘There is Research and Research’: Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing” (Neves 2007a) and “Subtitling Brazilian Telenovelas for Portuguese Deaf Audiences: An Action Research Project” (Neves 2007b). In that particular context, subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) was researched in the process of being introduced on Portuguese commercial television stations, subtitlers were trained for the purpose, deaf viewers were ‘led’ to appreciate the service, and all those involved were ‘empowered’ to continue their (individual and collective) learning processes once the project was over.
References
ADLAB
2014Pictures Painted in Words. ADLAB Audio Description Guidelines. ADLAB Project. http://www.adlabproject.eu/. Accessed December 22, 2015.
ANACED
2014A Arte Pertence a Todos. Manual de Boas Práticas Artísticas e Culturais. Lisboa: ANACED/INR.
Bogucki, Łukasz
2010 “The Applications of Action Research to Audiovisual Translation.” In Perspectives in Audiovisual Translation (Lódz Studies in Language 20), ed. by Łukasz Bogucki, and Krzysztof Kredens, 7-18. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Burns, Danny
2007Systemic Action Research: A Strategy for Whole System Change. Bristol: The Policy Press.
2009 “Developments and Challenges in Audiovisual Translation Research.” In Translation Research Projects 2, ed. by Anthony Pym, and Alexander Perekrestenko, 17-25. Tarragona: Intercultural Studies Group.
Greenwood, Davydd J., and Levin, Morten
1998Introduction to Action Research: Social Research for Social Change. London: Sage.
Halverson, Sandra
2011 “Foreword.” In Methods and Strategies of Process Research. Integrative approaches in Translation Studies, ed. by Cecilia Alvstad, Adelina Hild, and Elisabet Tiselius, xi-xii. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
2001 “Exploring the Relevance of Critical Theory for Action Research: Emancipatory Action Research in the Footsteps of Jürgen Habermas.” In Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice, ed. by Peter Reason, and Hilary Bradbury, 91-102. London: Sage.
Kemmis, Stephen, and Robin McTaggart
2008 “Participatory Action Research. In Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry, ed. by Norman Denzin, and Yvonna Lincoln, 251-330. London: Sage.
Lima Devile, Eugénia, Ana Garcia, Filipe Carvalho, and Josélia Neves
2012 “Turismo Acessível em Portugal – Estudo de casos de boas práticas.” Revista Turismo and Desenvolvimento 17/18: 625-638.
Maguire, Patricia
2001 “Uneven Ground: Feminisms and Action Research.” In Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice, ed. by Peter Reason, and Hilary Bradbury, 59-69. London: Sage.
Maier, Carol
2007 “The Translator as an Intervenient Being.” In Translation as Intervention, ed. by Jeremy Munday, 1-17. London: Continuum.
Martins, Cláudia
2015Longe da Vista, Perto da Imaginação – análise de audioguias em museus portugueses. PhD diss. University of Aveiro.
Morse, Janice M., Michael Barrett, Maria Mayan, Karen Olson, and Jude Spiers
2002 “Verification Strategies for Establishing Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 1 (2): 1-19.
Munday, Jeremy
ed.2007Translation as Intervention. London: Continuum.
Neves, Josélia
2007a “ ‘There is Research and Research’: Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.” In Traducción y accesibilidad. La subtitulación para sordos y la audiodescripción para ciegos: nuevas modalidades de Traducción Audiovisual, ed. by Catalina Jimenez, 27-40. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Neves, Josélia
2007b “Subtitling Brazilian Telenovelas for Portuguese Deaf Audiences: An Action Research Project.” In TRADTERM 13. Revista do Centro Interdepartamental de Tradução e Terminologia FFLCH/USP, ed. by Eliana Franco, and Vera Santiago, 121-134. São Paulo: Humanitas.
Neves, Josélia
2010 “Soundpainting: Audio Description in Another Light.” Conference Catalogue of the 8th International Conference and Exhibition on Language Transfer in the Audiovisual Media – Languages and the Media. ICWE GmbH. Berlim 6–8October, 43-45.
2012 “Inclusion and Accessibility in Action Research Unit. When Research Actively Works towards Change.” Design for All Institute of India 1–7 (8), 169-183.
2004 “Audiovisual Translation: a New Dynamic Umbrella.” In Topics in Audiovisual Translation, ed. by Pilar Orero, vii-xiii. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Reason, Peter, and Kate McArdle
2004 “Brief Notes on the Theory and Practice of Action Research.” In Understanding Research Methods for Social Policy and Practice, ed. by Saul Becker, and Alan Bryman, 114-122. London: The Polity Press.
Rocha, Natália
Acessibilidade nos Museus: um Caminho para a Inclusão Social. MA diss. University of Lisbon.
Stanley, Liz, and Sue Wise
1983Breaking Out: Feminist Consciousness and Feminist Research. London: Routledge.
Stern, Thomas
2013 “What is Good Action Research? Reflections about Quality Criteria.” In Action Research, Innovation and Change. International Perspectives across Disciplines, ed. by Thomas Stern, Andrew Townsend, Franz Rauch, and Angela Schuster, 202-220. London: Routledge.