Lingua e traduzione inglese: Audiovisual text and translation

Introduction

We can define a text as any instance of communication. By saying that, we assume that an audiovisual (AV) text is an act of communication as well, which includes not only words, but also sounds and images. One of the main issues in the definition of AV text is whether the presence of words is an absolute must, if they are an essential component or the only component. If we examine many of the features that are supposed to define textuality, we see that they can be presented by nonverbal means as well as by words.

Let's think about cartoons. Cartoons are able to tell a story by using a series of images, even though they don’t always include words to be seen or heard. They have an author, a reader or viewer (which is a text user); often they have a beginning, a middle and an end; also, there are characters, there is action and description. So, even though words are not the essential component, cartoons can be definitely considered as a text.

Also painting can be considered as a text. Indeed, even though they consist in a single picture which represents an object, they have a story of some sort to tell. The issue is that an object (animal, vegetable or mineral) is not necessarily a text. For example, a book may be seen as an object in physical properties or as a commodity with its personal, social or market value, but under certain conditions it can also be considered as a text, as related to somebody trying to communicate something through it. It’s all about how we perceive it, that’s the key that allows us to distinguish an object from a text.

So we can say that there are verbal and non-verbal texts, and that there are texts that combine both of verbal and non-verbal signs.

What do we mean by audiovisual?

Since we have two types of signs (verbal and non-verbal) and two different channels of communication (audio and visual), we get four different types of signs: audio-verbal (words uttered), audio-nonverbal (all other sounds such as music and special effects), visual-verbal (words read, so writing) and visual-nonverbal (all other visual signs such as the picture and the photography).

The prototypical audiovisual screen should satisfy three criteria:

• A combination of these four elements to the same degree of importance: the text users have to use their eyesight (to look, to watch and to read) and their ears (to listen, to speech and other sounds) and, in case of interactive screen communication, also speech, writing, body language and other semiotic systems such as phone-ins, emails and web-cams;
• These four elements are meant to be complementary and inseparable: so, for example, the music has to be chosen to go with the pictures and words and it doesn’t matter if it is original or not; the most important thing is that the combination of the music, the script and the photography can be interpreted in certain ways by the viewers;
• There are three main stages of production: pre-shooting or planning (which includes script writing, casting, rehearsing and so on), shooting (including directing, camera operating, make-up and acting) and post-shooting (editing and cutting). These dynamics obviously change for revoicing and subtitling, because in this case the picture and effects are untouchable.

Plotting text items and text types

An AV text could not be without an audio component, nor without the visual component. It should include any combination of audio, visual, verbal and non-verbal elements. Based on the map in the figure above, these combinations may be:

• Basically verbal
• 1A – Oral speech with no visual contact or aid, for example on the radio.
• 1B – Oral speech with the presence of paralinguistic facial expressions or body language.
• 1C – As of 1B, plus important written material (such as writing on blackboard) or performative acts of reading out sentences or other legally binding documents that must be heard as well as seen.
• 1D – Group reading led by someone (for example a teacher or a preacher) reading out loud from a book.
• 1E – Silent reading of a message where layout and format cannot be altered, so they are not regarded as having any potential meaning.
• More verbal than non-verbal
• 2A – Oral speech with some sound effects (as in coughing or screaming) for greater impact or enjoyment, as in storytelling (especially in audio books).
• 2B – Oral communication with some visual props and aids, for example prototypical stand-up comedy.