Dubbing and the non-verbal dimension of translation

Translation scholars may, at different times, disagree on almost every issue of their field of interest, with, possibly, the one following exception. Both in its practice and as an object of study translation is a highly complex aspect of human activity. Indeed, we might almost say that the difficulties involved in grasping the full nature of this complexity is at the root of so much disagreement among scholars. This chapter is meant as a contribution towards showing how the translation of audiovisual texts forces us to rethink some of the recurrent issues of translation, especially a traditional division that was quite widely accepted. This division distinguished three types of translation, namely, intralingual, interlingual and intersemiotic. New forms of text production (e.g. cinema, television, hypertexts and multimedia), new discoveries and models describing and explaining language variation and semiotic factors, and even changes in social attitudes and practices, all help to show some of the limitations in the applicability of these categories. Maybe the three types mentioned above do not have such clear-cut borders as they were perceived to have. It may be more useful to think of all of the many different types of translation as a matter of degree, where many different factors come into play, so that one type of translation is distinguished from another because certain factors are more important or more restrictive in one type and not so much in another. Such an approach as this hopes to define the limits of the field of translation and translation studies; outline the parameters by which to study translations and understand the choices involved; and finally, identify the exact force of each factor for each type of translation. Thus, we can build a two-way road that will enable specific case studies to contribute towards a general theory, while general theoretical considerations can help towards a better understanding of each case. This chapter will attempt to describe some of the specific features of audiovisual translation and account for them within a model based on the variability of the priorities and restrictions involved in the translating process.