Who is currently audio describing in China? A study of Chinese audio describer profiles.

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Published: May 8, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2020.12.03
Keywords:
media accessibility, access services, audio description, Chinese audio describers, volunteers

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Irene Tor-Carroggio
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2924-014X
Helena Casas-Tost
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4023-9070

Abstract

Access to culture and information is recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by China in 2008. Access services like audio description facilitate the consumption of audio-visual products such as films by those who suffer from sight loss. This paper attempts to contextualize this access service in China and focuses on those in charge of preparing it – audio describers. In order to provide a profile of these audio describers, a questionnaire was distributed in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. The results show that an overwhelming majority of those audio describing are volunteers aged 20-50, and most have a university education background which is not related to Audiovisual Translation. They come from a varied professional background, most have only been audio describing for a few years, they lack formal training in audio description and mainly audio describe films in Standard Chinese.

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How to Cite
Tor-Carroggio, I., & Casas-Tost, H. (2020). Who is currently audio describing in China? A study of Chinese audio describer profiles. MonTI. Monographs in Translation and Interpreting, (12), 78–107. https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2020.12.03
Issue
No. 12 (2020): Translation and Media Accessibility: from Theory to Practice / Traducción y Accesibilidad en los medios de comunicación: de la teoría a la práctica
Section
Articles

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Author Biographies

Irene Tor-Carroggio, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Irene Tor-Carroggio is a Ph.D student in Translation and Intercultural Studies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), where she also teaches Chinese. Her doctoral research focuses on the study of audio description in Mainland China. She holds a B.A. in Translation and Interpreting from UAB and an M.A. in International Business from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. She is also a member of the research group TransMedia Catalonia (2017SGR113). She is part of the EU-funded project EasyTV, http://easytvproject.eu, which aims at fostering wider availability of accessible media. Her research interests include media accessibility, Chinese literature and Chinese- Spanish/Catalan translation.

Helena Casas-Tost, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Helena Casas-Tost holds a Ph.D. in Translation and Intercultural Studies. She lectures in Mandarin Chinese and Chinese-Spanish Audiovisual Translation for the Department of Translation and Interpreting and East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona since 2003. She is a member of the research group TransMedia Catalonia (2017SGR113). Her research interests include audiovisual translation, media accessibility and teaching Chinese as a foreign language. She has published a number of papers on translation from Chinese to Spanish and Catalan, Chinese linguistics, and teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

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