Cover not available
Article published In:
Audiovisual Translation: Theoretical and methodological challenges
Edited by Yves Gambier and Sara Ramos Pinto
[Target 28:2] 2016
► pp. 302–313

The importance of being relevant?

A cognitive-pragmatic framework for conceptualising audiovisual translation

| University of Surrey
Inspired by the belief that cognitive and pragmatic models of communication and discourse processing offer great potential for the study of Audiovisual Translation (AVT), this paper will review such models and discuss their contribution to conceptualising the three inter-related sub-processes underlying all forms of AVT: the comprehension of the multimodal discourse by the translator; the translation of selected elements of this discourse; and the comprehension of the newly formed multimodal discourse by the target audience. The focus will be on two models, Relevance Theory, which presents the most comprehensive pragmatic model of communication, and Mental Model Theory, which underlies cognitive models of discourse processing. The two approaches will be used to discuss and question common perceptions of AVT as being ‘constrained’ and ‘partial’ translation.
Keywords: Relevance Theory, Mental Model Theory, multimodality, audiovisual translation, audio description
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Modelling discourse processing
    • 2.1Mental Model Theory and Relevance Theory
    • 2.2Multimodal discourse
  • 3.Modelling Audiovisual Translation
    • 3.1AVT as constrained translation?
    • 3.2AVT as partial translation?
  • 4.Evaluation and conclusion
  • References
Published online: 9 August 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.28.2.10bra
References (35)
References
Arnold, Derek, and David Whitney. 2005. “Adaptation and Perceptual Binding in Sight and Sound.” In Fitting the Mind to the World, ed. by Colin Clifford, and Gillian Rhodes, 339–360. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bell, Victoria, and Philip Johnson-Laird. 1998. “A Model Theory of Modal Reasoning.” Cognitive Science 221: 25–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benecke, Bernd. 2014. Audiodeskription als partielle Translation — Modell und Methode. Berlin: LitVerlag.Google Scholar
Bogucki, Łukasz. 2004. “The Constraint of Relevance in Subtitling.” JosTrans 11: 71–88.Google Scholar
Braun, Sabine. 2007a. “Audio Description from a Discourse Perspective: A Socially Relevant Framework for Research and Training.” Linguistica Antverpiensia NS 61: 357–369.Google Scholar
. 2011. “Creating Coherence in Audio Description.” Meta (56) 3: 645–662. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, Gillian, and George Yule. 1983. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Desilla, Louisa. 2012. “Implicatures in Film: Construal and Functions in Bridget Jones Romantic Comedies.” Journal of Pragmatics (44) 1: 30–53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diaz Cintas, Jorge, and Aline Remael. 2007. Subtitling. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Dicerto, Sara. 2015. From Multimodal Translation to ‘Multimodal Pragmatics’: Developing a Theoretical Framework for the Study of Multimodal Translation. PhD diss. University of Surrey.Google Scholar
Fels, Deborah, John Patrick Udo, Jonas Diamond, and Jeremy Diamond. 2006. “Comparison of Alternative Narrative Approaches to Video Description for Animated Comedy.” Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness (100) 5: 295–305. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Forceville, Charles. 2014. “Relevance Theory as a Model for Multimodal Communication.” In Visual Communication, ed. by David Machin, 51–70. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Fresno, Nazaret. 2014. La (re)construcción de los personajes fílmicos en la audiodescripción. PhD diss. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. [URL].
Gambier, Yves. 2009. “Challenges in Research on Audiovisual Translation.” In Translation Research Projects 2, ed. by Anthony Pym, and Alexander Perekrestenko, 24–33. Tarragona: Intercultural Studies Group.Google Scholar
Gutt, Ernst-August 2000. Translation and Relevance. Cognition and Context. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
. 2005. “On the Significance of the Cognitive Core of Translation.” The Translator (11) 1: 25–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Herman, David. 2002. Story Logic. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Jamieson, Harry. 2007. Visual Communication: More Than Meets the Eye. Bristol: Intellect.Google Scholar
Johnson-Laird, Philip. 1983. Mental Models. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
. 2006. How We Reason. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kohn, Kurt, and Sylvia Kalina. 1996. “The Strategic Dimension of Interpreting.” Meta (42) 1: 118–138. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kovačič, Irena. 1993. “Relevance as a Factor in Subtitling Reduction.” In Teaching Translation and Interpretation 2: Insights, Aims, Visions, ed. by Cay Dollerup, and Anne Lindegaard, 245–251. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Kress, Gunther. 1998. “Visual and Verbal Modes of Representation in Electronically Mediated Communication.” In Page to Screen, ed. by Illana Snyder, and Michael Joyce, 53–79. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kruger, Jan-Louis. 2012. “Making Meaning in AVT: Eyetracking and Viewer Construction of Narrative.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology (20) 1: 67–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lemke, Jay. 2006. “Toward Critical Multimedia Literacy: Technology, Research, and Politics.” In International Handbook of Literacy and Technology, vol. 2, ed. by Michael McKenna, 21, 3–14. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Martínez, Juan José Sierra. 2010. “Approaching the Audio Description of Humour.” Entreculturas: revista de traducción y comunicación intercultural 21: 87–103.Google Scholar
Matamala, Anna, and Pilar Orero. 2007. “Accessible Opera in Catalan: Opera for All.” In Media for All, ed. by Jorge Díaz Cintas, Pilar Orero, and Aline Remael, 201–214. Amsterdam: Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McGonigle, Frances. 2013. Audio Description and Semiotics: The Translation of Films for Visually-Impaired Audiences. PhD diss. University of Surrey.Google Scholar
Orero, Pilar, and Anna Vilaró. 2012. “Eyetracking Analysis of Minor Details in Films for Audio Description.” MonTI 41: 295–319. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Setton, Robin. 1999. Simultaneous Interpretation. A Cognitive-Pragmatic Approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sperber, Dan, and Deirdre Wilson. 1995. Relevance. Communication and Cognition. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Van Dijk, Teun, and Walter Kintsch. 1983. Strategies of Discourse Comprehension. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Vercauteren, Gert, and Aline Remael. 2014. “Audio-Describing Spatio-Temporal Settings.” In Audio Description: New Perspectives Illustrated, ed. by Pilar Orero, Anna Matamala, and Anna Maszerowska, 61–80. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Yus, Francisco. 2008. “Inferring from Comics: a Multi-Stage Account.” Quaderns de Filologia. Estudis de Comunicació 31: 223–249.Google Scholar
Cited by (11)

Cited by 11 other publications

López Rubio, María
2024. An Approach to Audio Description of Humour in Different Cultural Settings. Estudios de Traducción 14 ► pp. 133 ff. DOI logo
Starr, Kim & Sabine Braun
2023. Omissions and inferential meaning-making in audio description, and implications for automating video content description. Universal Access in the Information Society DOI logo
Doherty, Stephen
2021. Introduction. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 4:2 ► pp. 244 ff. DOI logo
Kravchenko, Natalya & Oleksandr Yudenko
2021. Visual metaphor in commercial ad: effectiveness or failure?. Cognition, Communication, Discourse :23 ► pp. 62 ff. DOI logo
Sasamoto, Ryoko
2021. Onomatopoeia, translation and relevance. Pragmatics & Cognition 28:2 ► pp. 347 ff. DOI logo
Zhang, Junchen
2021.  Re-dissecting Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from the Perspectives of Cognition, Translation and Reconfiguration of Culture . Comparative Literature: East & West 5:1 ► pp. 103 ff. DOI logo
Bogucki, Łukasz
2020. Towards a Relevance-Theoretic Model of Decision-Making in Subtitling. In A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to Decision-Making in Subtitling, ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Pedersen, Jan
2020. Audiovisual Translation Norms and Guidelines. In The Palgrave Handbook of Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility [Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting, ], ► pp. 417 ff. DOI logo
Dicerto, Sara
2018. Multimodal Meaning in Context: Pragmatics. In Multimodal Pragmatics and Translation, ► pp. 37 ff. DOI logo
Zheng, Binghan & Mingqing Xie
2018. The effect of explanatory captions on the reception of foreign audiovisual products. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 1:1 ► pp. 119 ff. DOI logo
Fotheringham, Christopher
2017. A cognitive-pragmatic model for translation-shift analysis in descriptive case studies. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 35:1 ► pp. 79 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.