In the context of today’s multimedia society, audiovisual translation (AVT) is gaining great visibility and relevance as a means of fostering communication and dialogue in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual environment. AVT is the umbrella term used to refer to the translation of programmes in which the verbal dimension is only one of the many shaping the communication process. The concurrence of different semiotic layers through the visual (images, written text, gestures) and audio (music, noise, dialogue) channels makes the translator’s task particularly challenging in this field. Of the several modes available to translate audiovisual programmes (Gambier 2003), subtitling is arguably the most commonly used because it is cheap and fast. Other professional practices are interpreting, voiceover and dubbing.
