Conversation as a unit of film analysis. Databases of L3 translation and audiovisual samples of multilingualism

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Published: Oct 15, 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2019.ne4.2
Keywords:
conversation, multilingualism, audiovisual translation, L3, unit of analysis

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Patrick Zabalbeascoa
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4027-5178
Montse Corrius
Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5032-1246

Abstract

This chapter argues in favour of analysing audiovisual texts (cinema and TV) by using the concept and unit of “conversation”, theoretically (Bakhtin 1982; Grice 1975; Sidnell 2010) and practically, for the purpose of creating an audiovisual corpus or database. The point is illustrated and defended from the experience of research carried out within the Trafilm project (trafilm.net), whose aim is to create a database of instances of multilingualism in films and samples of how they are rendered in dubbing, subtitling (including SDH) and audio description, mostly (but not exclusively, because it is open to researchers with other interests) from English into Spanish. Conversations are seen as the smallest possible units that contain instances of L3 (any language which is not the main language) with sufficient contextual and pragmatic information, and possibly useful for analysing other audiovisual (AV) features (e.g., representation of identities), too, and not only L3. 

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How to Cite
Zabalbeascoa, P., & Corrius, M. (2019). Conversation as a unit of film analysis. Databases of L3 translation and audiovisual samples of multilingualism. MonTI. Monographs in Translation and Interpreting, 57–85. https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2019.ne4.2
Issue
2019: Special Issue 4. Multilingualism and representation of identities in audiovisual texts
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Articles

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Author Biographies

Patrick Zabalbeascoa, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Patrick Zabalbeascoa Terran is Full Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He lectures and researches in translation theory and audiovisual translation, and FLL through translation. He has published widely and internationally in these areas and played a leading role in several EU funded and Spanish research projects, such as ClipFlair. He is currently working on the Trafilm. net project. He is well-known for his research in the field of humour translation ever since his PhD (1993) proposed a typology of humour translation and theoretical model of Priorities and Restrictions based on a study of the BBC sitcom Yes, Minister. For further details visit http://upf.academia.edu/PatrickZabalbeascoa

Montse Corrius, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya

Montse Corrius holds a PhD in Translation and Interpreting from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a degree in English Philology from the University of Barcelona. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), where she teaches English for specific purposes at the undergraduate level and audiovisual translation at the postgraduate level. She is a member of the research group TRACTE (Traducció Audiovisual, Comunicació i Territori), where she leads the line of research on translation. Her main research interests include audiovisual translation (with a special focus on multilingual texts) as well as advertising translation, language learning and lexicography. She has published several articles and lectured on these areas of research. She is one of the main researchers of the funded project trafilm.net.

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Online Resources:

Imdb, Blade Runner (1982). URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/trivia

Filmography:

A Passage to India (David Lean 1984)

An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli 1951)

Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu 2006)

Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982)

Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise 1991)

Bread and Roses (Ken Loach 2000)